Thursday, May 5, 2016

Be careful when you sign up for an online shopping account

The user agreement may say that they're going to charge you every month to "join" their club:
A first-time visitor to Adore Me’s website can peruse bras, undies, and pajamas, just like any other online retailer, and no subscription is required to make a purchase. But the startup says nearly all of its sales come through its VIP Membership. These subscribers get access to discounted underwear—and they are billed at least $39.95 every month for store credit, even if no purchase is made. Want to avoid the charge? You must act during the first five days of the month.  
The specifics of the membership model were unclear to Taylor when she opted for what appeared to be a fabulous introductory discount on her first purchase. “‘Free’ was blasted everywhere on their website,” she says. “I felt really misled.” (Adore Me has made adjustments to its membership model and says customer complaints have been falling.) 
Once freed from the hold music, Taylor got the bad news: Adore Me would refund her the current monthly membership charge and provide store credit for two past months; the rest of the billings, totaling nearly $240, would be lost forever under a use-it-or-lose-it policy that has since been rescinded. No, she couldn’t speak to a manager.
The End User License Agreement (EULA) - you know, that thing that you click "I agree" without reading - is a mystical, magical place.  There be dragons.

You should read it.  Srlsy.

3 comments:

Michael said...

Moneygram .... if your moneygram is lost, stolen, never cashed ... they will charge 20 dollars to provide and image of the cashed document. Then expect to pay 60 dollars for them to investigate the issue. These 'services' were required when a stolen 200 dollar moneygram that had the name crossed out and over written was cashed.

abnormalist said...

so you say stupid people do stupid things, and get separated from their money?

Film at 11?

Archer said...

I never agree to ANYTHING online without reading the EULA, in full.

It drives my kids nuts ("No, you may not join XBOX Live for the 'free' membership deal; it's $40 per month after the first month, you have to provide payment information up-front, and there's no easy way to cancel. No." ... "No, you may not download this game onto the tablet; it will have access to all information and data sent to/from the tablet, and the agreement says they get to use or sell that information for whatever they feel like." ... "No, if anything goes wrong with this one, we get to take them to court, in Cambodia." -- Srsly, real life examples), but I don't mess around with these things.