Have You noticed that there are many direct marketing companies lately that charge a large entry fee and than a monthly recurring subscription fee? Lately I am having a terrible time with the bizop continuing to charge the recurring fee after I have quit the business and it is getting quite disturbing! My current situation is with EDCGold, I quit last month, wrote them an email and called them to say I had quit and please discontinue debiting my account, TODAY they charged my creditcard with the $39.95 monthly fee! I am really angry about that!! Anyone else have that happen with any business and how did you resolve the issue?? My attorney is standing by..... Be very careful when getting any bizop that has a recurring monthly charge, thing is they don't have anything in writing that states you must agree to the monthly billing or I will now say absolutely NOT!! No more must agree to monthly billing! Would love to hear any comments about this. Terri
Hi Terri, Sorry to say this is not limited to business opportunities. There are a lot of companies that are doing that these days and getting away with it in many cases. I think they count on the fact that many people don't check their statements carefully, or don't want to the hassle of fighting it. Even if you order something like a supplement, makeup, even a service that is billed monthly, it is like pulling teeth to get out of it. They always SAY "cancel at any time" but that is easier said than done. I've had to chase up my money a few times. I refuse to be cheated so I either hound the company or my credit card company or both until the matter is resolved. I've never gotten a lawyer involved, though. With a bit of persistence you can usually handle it yourself. If it was a large sum of money, I suppose I would get a lawyer if it became necessary. My advice is this - first time they overcharge you, inform them as kindly as you can of their "mistake." Try to remember that it really isn't the person on the other end of the phone line, in most cases, who has done the dirty on you. It's the company. However, human nature is that if you get stroppy with them right off the bat, they will probably react in a similar vein. If they refuse to credit you the money or continue to make the "mistake" the next month, that's when I'd get a bit more firm and forceful. Ask to speak to superiors, etc., and go from there. Hope you get it sorted out. Don't let it steal your joy - or they win.
Hi Terri, If the company is reputable there should be no problem with them reversing the charges.The company I am currently with double billed me one month and to correct this they reversed both charges and gave me the month free.I had also cancelled with EDC but had no problem.Hopefully they resolve this for you and yes we must all be vigilant in checking our monthly statements.
I was promoting EDC Gold at one time as well. When I decided to make a break from them, Craig did a great job in removing me from their system; no questions asked. I now promote an opportunity that is completely awesome!
Interesting, This happens with many companies, some on purpose, some on error, but you are right, this has happened more and more in recent years. Sadly, many let it go for it is not worth the time and hassle trying to get back a payment, and this is why some companies will do what they do, they know they will win out on average, and that is a shame. Good luck to all, Mike
I had a company charge me for 2 additional months until I finally got it taken care of. It is things like that that give all companies a bad name.
This has happened to me before, in fact I was looking at charges on my cc I use for my business' and see two charges on there for advertising services I had stopped using. I never even joined EDC but somehow was on their list and they send many emails with no opt out, which is definitely a big "No". I also have one wierd ongoing issue, someone online got my bank acct. info a while back and started writing themselves online checks for $19.75. There were about six using a few company names. When I went to the bank, we looked them up and many had complained about this same amount, and they little company names used. Thought it was finally fixed, and got another one the other day. These things are quite frustrating, but I have learned to go over statements with a fine tooth comb now so I can get it straightened out as soon as possible.
You know how paypal has an option that allows you to cancel a billing agreement through them rather than having to do so through the business you have the agreement with? I wish credit card companies were the same way. Instead of having to cancel your membership directly through the company, which can be a big hassle sometimes, you can just log into your credit card account online and cancel the agreement there. That way your credit card company will know to refuse all future charges from that company unless you create a new billing agreement with them. I think that would be good.
Unfortunately, this is a pretty common practice. This is the exact reason I try to avoid businesses with recurring monthly fees or sizable upfront investments. These companies always have no problem debiting money from your account but then claim it takes an act of Congress to stop it.
