I thought it was a FREE sample
By glords
@glords (2614)
United States
November 18, 2008 12:50pm CST
So the other day I was sucked in by an add for Acai Berry. It said it would give me energy and a body cleanse, so I decided to try the "free sample." In tiny print at the bottom of the webpage it said that if I did not call before the end of the month I would be sent another bottle and would be billed $89.00. I ordered the "free sample" and canceled before the week was over... to my surprise they had already knocked my cc for $89.00. So much for a free samples. Have you ever been victim to a scam like this?
1 person likes this
6 responses
@camomom (7535)
• United States
18 Nov 08
Yes, a "free" credit report. They actually sign you up for an onging cost for some report that doesn't even tell you anything
@camomom (7535)
• United States
19 Nov 08
Some truly are free so just be careful and read the fine print. If they ask for credit card info, they will charge you something. If they don't ask, you're safe.
@Chelsea1992 (44)
• United States
18 Nov 08
That is just horrible. They say it is a free sample and they charge you for it anyway. I don't have a credit card yet, so I have not been subject to this yet and I hope to never be. I hope you fight that because it was supposed to be free.
@sudalunts (5523)
• United States
18 Nov 08
Something similar happened to me. I requested a product and all I had to pay for was Shipping and handling. When I received the product I canceled it, not reading the fine print. The next month I was billed $59.95, when I called, I was told that when I canceled I was supposed to send the product back. It was facial cream and I had already opened and used it, so I didn't think I had to send it back when I canceled the order. Yeah they will get you one way or the other.
@philjas (1134)
• United States
18 Nov 08
You have to really read the fine prints on any of these offers. Sometimes they will put a hold on your credit card for the full amount, but it's not actually a charge and will drop off in a few days. Usually if you read everything carefully before you order you won't get any surprises.
@glords (2614)
• United States
18 Nov 08
That is interesting about the hold, I've never heard of that before... I thought I'd read all the fine print. I almost missed the info about having to cancel, but thankfully did catch it before exiting the site and forgetting where I'd ordered it from.
@fasttalker (2796)
• United States
18 Nov 08
I do two things to try to avoid scams. First of all I have a paypal account and I use it more than any. They have a resolution center where you can dispute a charge such as this. The other option I use is a pre paid Visa card. I have to keep a #10.00 balance all the time on it. If I decide to make an online purchase that I cannot use paypal I deposit the exact amount that I intend to pay into the prepaid account then use that card. They aren't going to over charge me becasue it will turn the charge down. I like the option but it is a lot of work.
I have a friend that works at a bank and she was the one that advised me to do this. Never ever for any reason disclose account numbers that they could possibly have access to more than you agree to. You can file charges and get it back but a lot of times it costs more to retrieve it than what the amount is. And they know this before they do it.
I would contact the company very aggressively and very persistant in your case. What are you going to loose? Tell them you are prepared to gt an attorney (whether you do or not the threat may be enough to make them refund the money)I wish you the best.
@glords (2614)
• United States
18 Nov 08
Thank goodness Visa offered to take care of this for me. They refunded the money and offered to take care of any legal issues...
I wonder if lots of people complain about the same business Visa could sue them for fraud and make 10x the profit... I don't know if this is true, but it is strange how willingly they took this matter off my hands.
Anyhow I love the idea of a prepaid card, I'm going to look into that today.
Thanks for the tip and happy mylotting
