The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Cannot Wait! on June 25, 2018, 09:36:21 AM
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I was approached by a promoter at a home show and was told that if I subscribed to The Star for a min of 3 months, I would receive a blender as a gift.
I was skeptical, but he assured me this was a promotion being offered.
When he asked me to sign a contract, I told him that I didn’t have my reading classes on me and he, again, went over the terms of the contract I was signing, that there would be no problem if I cancelled the subscription after 3 months. He further stated that if I didn't keep the subscription for the 3 months that I would have to return the blender, and, that he wouldn't get paid for signing me up.
At least 3 times he assured me that my only obligation was for 3 months.
I paid $26/month for a weekend subscription for 3 months through automatic withdrawal on my CC then tried to cancel. They said i signed a contract for a year and proceeded to debit my credit card for the remaining 9 months ($236) and stopped delivery.
Any suggestions?
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Paste or read exactly those words to your credit card company. It will go through a simple dispute process and likely be sorted with no further effort on your part.
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I wish!
I have tried that already. :(
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Oh! What happened?? (I've had my credit card company successfully resolve every dispute except one, including where businesses used sneaky "contract" strategies.) If your CC company sucks at this, I would seriously considering switching CC companies after this is sorted.
If the CC company fails you, I would contact the relevant Ombudsman/consumer protection office about the vendor issue.
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They just agreed that I had signed a legitimate contract.
I will however follow up with Visa in case I just happened to get an off customer service rep when I called that day. Thanks for giving me a little hope!
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Yes, call credit card company. And remember this lesson. Remember the burn so you don't get burned again.
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I just called Visa again. They told me I have to call back tomorrow as the money is pending and I have to wait until it is posted. That's frustrating as surely it's easier to get the money back BEFORE they actually receive it but he said there was no way to hold it.
It's kind of the principle of the thing. Would the TO Star really take money from a blind person or some other disability if that person relied on the representative to inform them of the terms of the contract?!? Disgraceful.
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It's kind of the principle of the thing.
Absolutely. That's what has me fight for each one, even if an initial request for resolution is ignored or rejected.
In one case, my cell phone bill suddenly had $10/mo added to each month. What? I looked into it, and it was for some horoscope service. I don't use horoscopes, I don't use extras (Apps, services, minutes) on my phone... I asked the phone company to refund it, saying I had not purchased this. They insisted I had. In fact, they went on to tell me a little story about how surely my child had gotten ahold of my phone and responded to the offer with "yes" because there's no other way this could possibly have landed on my phone. Well, no, phone company, that didn't happen.
Every single month, this repeated. As if!
I pushed hard for all the money back and for this to stop. I put in a complaint with the CCTC or whatever that was.
Many months later, what did I see in the newspaper? This very matter. The "service" had been billed to countless people, all without their permission, for many months. Most would not get their money back because they hadn't protested early enough (!).
I fight for my cash, but I also fight for good practices. Every time I stand up around one of these issues, I know I may well be helping others.
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Hey, Happy Update!
I contacted the Better Business Bureau and told them my situation, they contacted the TO Star, the next day the Star replied that they would return the whole year's subscription price! I got to keep the blender too. Better deal than I hoped for!
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Excellent, Cannot Wait! :))))
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Hey, Happy Update!
I contacted the Better Business Bureau and told them my situation, they contacted the TO Star, the next day the Star replied that they would return the whole year's subscription price! I got to keep the blender too. Better deal than I hoped for!
Well done!