Questia Media is an online subscription service offering access to scholary journals and other periodicals for academic research. I signed up for the service and paid for a three - month subscription with the intention of canceling it when the three month period was over.
I was unable to cancel the subscription and the company automatically renewed it and charged my bank card, taking the money from my account without notifying me.
When I called the company to explain what happened and request a refund, they explained that they don't notify the customer when they renew the subscription and they don't have to. They also told me that they never issue refunds for anything and they told me that I agreed to all of this when I signed up.
I think all of this is unreasonable. It has only been a week since they renewed and it wouldn't hurt them to issue a refund right now. How is it legally possible for a company to have a "NO REFUNDS EVER" policy?
They should at least have a two-week grace period that applies to the renewal only. I can understand their need to protect against consumers who would try to abuse the policy and sign up and use the service and then try to get their money back, but that isn't what has happened in my case. I used the service for three months. I don't want it now, and I shouldn't be penalized for this small oversight.
When you return something to a store, you usually have a 30 day window in which to do so. Based on my encounters with their customer "service" department, it appears that Questia doesn't want to make any reasonable attempt to maintain good customer relations.
I am in the process of trying to resolve the issue with management. I have composed a written request and if I don't get my money back, my next step will be to warn as many people as I can about the service.
It seems that Questia's profit-making strategy hinges upon this renewal policy and procedure, which victimizes the very customers who have already signed up and paid for the service. I think this is deplorable. They're counting on us to not challenge their policies and to not complain.in fact, I couldn't find one Questia complaint on the Internet. If anyone else has had a similar experience with this company, please come forward and post your story!
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