This may be slightly off-topic, but that doesn't seem to stop you all from giving great advice, so I figured I'd try.
My GF recently saw an ad on facebook for a $9 online course in permaculture. She went through the process of paying for the course, but didn't notice some fine print. They include some fine print saying that they are including a "risk-free" trial, for $199, with no option to opt out. Since she wasn't given the option to opt out and didn't read the small print carefully, she completed the purchase. Here is a screen-shot of the order form - the scammy bit is on page 3.
She received an email confirmation of the purchase, and noticed the extra $199 charge. She sent an email to the company to protest that she never intended to make that purchase. The company responded, saying:
- They were "100%" transparent about the $199 charge.
- If she completes the courses in 30 days and is not satisfied, she can apply for a refund. (There are 18 courses, and completing them in 30 days is not really feasible.)
- In their contract, they state that they will charge $225/hr, with a 2-hr minimum, on any time they have to spend processing credit card disputes. This is a protection that they feel they need against "credit card fraud," i.e. people trying to get their money back after realizing they'd signed up for more than they'd intended. (I think this is a bluff? Seems like bullshit.)
So obviously my GF fucked up, but is she screwed? She has contacted her CC and cancelled the card and filed a dispute, but how likely is she to get a refund? This is obviously a scam, but is it a legal scam? Is there anything else she should do? Is there an appropriate forum to report this fraud?
The company is called Regenerative Leadership Institute - there are many reports of this scam if you google them.
EDIT: Thanks for all the advice. She has contested the charge with her CC and was told she would hear back within about a month. There's some debate about what will happen, so I can update with the result. I also contacted Facebook about the ad - if they respond, I'll update. They may have bigger problems at the moment, though...
EDIT #2: Noticed I'd screwed up the formatting.
Submitted March 24, 2018 at 12:50PM by theycallmevroom https://ift.tt/2IR5HMa
