I took advantage of VistaPrints website offer more than a year ago. They charged my credit card $6.98 per month which I thought was very reasonable. As a matter of fact, I maintained 3 separate websites from VistaPrint using Sitebuilder to effectively design the sites.
I contacted VistaPrint while having a problem with one of the sites.
At that time, a young lady told me that VistaPrint was offering a promotion for 2 free months of web hosting if I turned my monthly paying account to an annual paying account. I specifically asked the young lady if she was stating that I would get 14 months of internet hosting for the price of 12 months. She stated yes. She stated that my charge card would be charged $83.76. I thought this was a deal, so I changed the other two websites to annual pay as well in order to receive 2 months free.
When I got my bank statement, VistaPrint had overcharged each account by more than $60. Each website account was charged a different amount for the same promotion, instead of the amount that was authorized by me.
I went through so very, very, very, much just to get the adjustments. I finally worked out the adjustments with a supervisor of VistaPrint in November. She did apologize and re-confirmed my two additional months free for each site.
Today, I received a notice that my sites were in jeaopardy of shutting down unless I furnished an updated credit card with VistaPrint. I changed credit cards in December after my original was stolen.
I contacted VistaPrint and asked them why they needed an updated credit card so soon when my billing cycle wasn't up until January. I was told that they saw my credit card was about to expire, so that is why the email was sent to me. The gentleman then explained that my billing cycle will start in November. I asked him what about the two months free promotion I received for changing my monthly account to an annual account. He said there was no such promotion given to me. I believe VistaPrint is now stating that annual now means 10 months instead of the 12 months I paid for. Really, they are ripping me off about 2 months for paying annually. I was just fine with paying $6.98 per month. There would not have been any reason for me to change my accounts to annual unless a too good to be true offer was made. VistaPrint did just that and I was scammed into that promotion. Well, here is the actual help ticket of our conversation below:
You wrote on 5/1/08 at 6:55am:
I have received the following emails concerning my websites expiration. They all indicate that my websites will expire May. However, I believe I paid annually for these websites in November. I was promised 12 months with 2 extra months for paying annually. Why then is VistaPrint getting ready to charge me in May?
My 3 Website addresses are:
Your Web Site Information
Dear Jacque,
Our records indicate your credit card is about to expire. Please update your credit card information so that your web site can remain active. If it does expire, you could lose both your domain and web site. Keeping your web site active will allow you to attract and keep in constant contact with your customers, and continue to give your business a branded look and feel that goes with your other materials.
Please click here and click on "Edit" to enter your updated credit card information.
Sincerely,
Lori Holt
Director of Customer Benefits
Ben wrote on 5/1/08 at 10:20am:
Hi Jacque,
Thank you for contacting us.
Your renewal date for your web package is 11/09. We will not charge you untill then. Your credit card on file is expiring that's why you were asked to update it.
Ben
Internet Product & Support Specialist
Homestead Technologies
You wrote on 5/1/08 at 1:51pm:
Thanks Ben. What about the two free months I was to receive for paying annually. Shouldn't my billing renewal date be January 9?
Ben wrote on 5/1/08 at 4:59pm:
Hi Jacque,
The two months free is only for the Gold or Platinum package. How it works is you pay for 10 months in advance and you'll get 12 months of service. This offer is only available if you switch your account to Homestead.
Ben
Internet Product & Support Specialist
Homestead Technologies
You wrote on 5/1/08 at 10:22pm:
Dear Ben,
This is not the deal that I received from the young lady who made the offer to me. She promised me 12 months plus 2 additional months for paying annually.
There always seem to be some tricks to VistaPrint offers no matter what you order. I am starting to believe all of those scam emails on the internet. I seem to be spending so much time fighting VistaPrint for unfair advertisement and offers.
Now, you are mentioning Gold and Silver to me that was never mentioned in our agreement for 2 extra months after one year. The customer service representative made it very clear to me that I would receive 14 months of service that included two additional months after 12 months.
Ben wrote on 5/2/08 at 4:13pm:
Hi Jacque,
We never had a 14 months for 12 months promotion. Our promotion is you'll get 2 months free if you annualize your account, which means that you'll get 12 months of service for the price of 10 months. Our billing system is setup to run monthly, yearly or bi-yearly only, it cannot run every 14 months.
Ben
Internet Product & Support Specialist
Homestead Technologies
You wrote on 5/2/08 at 11:23pm:
Then you should take that up with the Young Lady who gave me 2 extra months in addition to me paying for 12 months. This is just another scheme of VistaPrint. I will report this situation to the BBB and post it on the web. VistaPrint never really means what they say, in every instance. My entire experience with VistaPrint has always been misconceptions no matter what the issue is, it always come out the same. VistaPrint didn't really mean what they say or advertise. I will pray that you will find another job where you don't have to play in the devil's den by deceiving people to make a living.
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