My daughter is writing this on my behalf due to English being my second language.
On October 25th, I landed on the opening page of the website Blogtoolkit.com. The page gives a synopsis of their "5 minute Self Publishing" Blogkit. When you click the link to sign up, it leads you to a page where you sign up and you receive the Blogtoolkit for "free" by mail, just pay shipping and handling at $1.97. The small print stated that it would be a free 14 day trial period and you would be charged $39.95 subsequently on a monthly basis. Sounded like a fair arrangement to try the product before commiting to buy it, but it turned out to be a rip-off.
November 9th, they charged me $39.95 for the membership and I hadn't even received my toolkit yet! I received the kit on November 10th, seeing the product was datestamped November 2nd. I called on November 13th for a refund. The customer service rep by the name of Justin explained that the 14 day trial began the day you sign up because you were given access to their products on the website. If the cdrom contained the toolkit - how could you use the products on the website?
It was then that Justin stated that the products on the website were the SAME ONES on the cdrom. You immediately received access to the same information on the website as you would have downloaded on the cdrom.
Why bother to pay the $1.97 for the shipping and handling of a "Free" Blogtoolkit when the product was immediately available upon signing up? If it's the same information, applications, software available online the day you sign up - why would you pay to have the same information on a cdrom sent to you by mail?
This is misleading advertising - if the Blogtoolkit is "free" - they make it appear that you can only receive it by mail, they charge you the shipping and handling for the cdrom when the SAME information is available on the website and they reason that your 14 day trial begins immediately. When asked, "If it's the same information on the website and on the cdrom - and you are giving away the Blogtoolkit for free - why even offer to mail out the tool kit?" Instead of giving a straight answer, Justin referred to a confirmation email that stated the 14 day trial was already activated and that you could get the membership without having to order the cdrom by reading the terms of service. There is nothing on the website, terms of service or in subsequent emails from the website that states the information on both the cdrom and the website are the SAME. You do NOT have the option to order the service without paying the shipping and handling for the cdrom. Again, this is misleading advertising - leading a consumer to believe that you need the cdrom to utilize the service. The other misleading factor - if you are being given a "FREE" blogtoolkit - why would even bother paying for the shipping and handling of the cdrom if the website offers the same information through their "Free 14 day Trial"?
A complaint has been filed with the BBB of Nevada because of this misleading advertising.
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