DD Got Scammed

[goldberry]

DD is at college and ordered two vitamin things from the internet.  She did not read the fine print.  :glare:   This was a thing where you pay shipping only $4.95 for a "free trial" but then if you don't call before 14 days they ship more and bill you large amounts.

 

Only now she is calling to try and cancel and of course can't get through, on hold forever, leave a message, etc.  I know that's what these places do to make it impossible for you to cancel.

 

What should she do at this point, since she can't get through to these places?

 

 

(Ah, the hard lessons of adulthood...)

Edited October 24, 2017 by goldberry

[Hilltopmom]

Did she use a credit card? Perhaps they can help.

[goldberry]

Did she use a credit card? Perhaps they can help.

 

No, debit.  She's going to the bank though to find out what can be done.

[OneStepAtATime]

Have the bank cancel her bank card and issue a new one.

[goldberry]

She's cancelling the card.  She's very upset, because her boyfriend will be home after bootcamp for a visit, and that was money she had saved for their visit.  :sad:

[Arcadia]

No, debit. She's going to the bank though to find out what can be done.

A hold can be put on the debit card for recurring payments but she likely have to lodge a complaint about difficulty of cancelling to get whatever money is already deducted back.

 

From https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/you-have-protections-when-it-comes-to-automatic-debit-payments-from-your-account/

“Even if you have not revoked your authorization with the company, you can stop an automatic payment from being charged to your account by giving your bank a “stop payment order.†This instructs your bank to stop allowing the company to take payments from your account.â€

Edited October 24, 2017 by Arcadia

[klmama]

So sorry your dd is having this problem.  I hope she can get it worked out so she isn't stuck paying more.

 

 

[goldberry]

This is painful to watch.  She's mad at the companies right now, which is justified, but I need to make sure she understands this is her doing also for not reading and being careful.  She is one of those kids very smart academically and clueless in common sense.  *sigh*

[J-rap]

That's frustrating and a lesson learned.  My dd got a free 30-day Hulu account, only to realize 6 months later that she was supposed to have cancelled it and they'd been taking money from her account every month for membership.  (They actually reimbursed her the money when she called them -- that's unusual!  I think they could see that she hadn't watched anything after the first 30 days.)  

 

I think it's one of those life experiences that kids learn from.  Rarely is something really free!  Most things like that require you to cancel within a certain number of days.

 

ETA:  I would report that company somewhere though!  Better Business Bureau??  I don't know where.  But not having an email address or number to call and cancel does make it sound more like a scam than anything!  Does she have the original email address where she ordered it from or anything like that?

 

 

Edited October 24, 2017 by J-rap

[MissShellyA]

Ooof that's a tough lesson to learn, but it's good to learn it now. I understand her frustration, but you're right to want to gently remind her this is her fault for being careless. Don't let her have to learn this lesson twice.

[SparklyUnicorn]

If she can't get through I would consider this a scam and treat it as an unauthorized payment.  Call the bank and explain the situation.  She should be able to get the money back (you have to write a letter explaining what you've done to try to fix the situation with the company and that they have not responded, etc.)  In the meantime, cancel the card and get a new one to stop further payments.

 

 

[jewellsmommy]

This is painful to watch.  She's mad at the companies right now, which is justified, but I need to make sure she understands this is her doing also for not reading and being careful.  She is one of those kids very smart academically and clueless in common sense.  *sigh*

 

I don't know that it is a common sense thing or young thing. The exact same thing you described happened to a very mature person I know. She is very cautious by nature and swears that she looked for the fine print before initiating the trial.

[Twolittleboys]

I would cancel in writing (i.e. per mail, maybe registered?), try to keep cancelling other ways, and note in my letter that this is not appropriate business behavior. Cancel the card. If she can't cancel in spite of doing all she can it is a scam and she could maybe complain to some agency? Generally, if you make a stink they will let you go (this happened years ago to me when I accidentally clicked on something without realizing I was signing up for it)

 

I guess I would try to see whether this is a case of a) her not paying attention (e.g. if you order Netflix and forget to cancel it or b) the site being set up to scam people. My recommendation above is in case of b). For a) I would just tell her to suck it up (but likely that one wouldn't be too expensive).

Edited October 24, 2017 by Twolittleboys

[OneStepAtATime]

If she can't get through I would consider this a scam and treat it as an unauthorized payment.  Call the bank and explain the situation.  She should be able to get the money back (you have to write a letter explaining what you've done to try to fix the situation with the company and that they have not responded, etc.)  In the meantime, cancel the card and get a new one to stop further payments.

This.  If she has tried contacting the company with due diligence then I agree, I would consider this a scam and explain that to the bank in writing.  She might get her money back.  My bank has done this for me.