I was looking online for possible grant funding for a small business. I came across a site that offered a cd containing grant search information for only $1.98 shipping and handling. NO WHERE on the site did it say anything about a $69.95 additional "membership" fee.
After ordering the initial cd online, I got a call from a gentleman who wanted to verify my information for shipping purposes. He tried talking me into some sort of "membership" which I immediately declined. Before the call ended, I specifically asked him if the $1.98 was the only charge that would hit my bank. He told me it was. I told him verbatim that "I authorize no other charges to my account".
To my shock and surprise, about 2 weeks later I had a $69.95 charge hit my bank account. I called my bank and got the phone number to call to dispute the charge. It turned out to be a call center in the Phillipines where a young woman kept telling me there was nothing she could do because "the site says if you don't contact us within 7 days you authorize us to charge you for the membership".
After several minutes of getting nowhere with her, I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told there were none and that she was the one who had the ultimate say-so in what happened. I then asked to speak to another representative and was told they were "all tied up with other satisfied customers" (yeah, right!). After several more minutes of demanding information and getting nothing, she finally told me she would have a supervisor call me back within the hour.
Believe it or not, the supervisor did call me back and tried giving me the same story as the first lady. After several minutes of arguing with her, she finally agreed to return $59.95 of my money into my checking account within 3-5 business days. I felt like that was the best deal I was going to get, so I agreed to it.
By the way, I did mention that I was looking at 35 entries on consumer complaints and was on my way to filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, so that may have helped!
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