Fraudresponder
07-15-2011, 05:17 AM
I am sure most of you have seen the 'Free or reduced fee trial offers for goods and services being offered everywhere online.
The idea of buying a product for $3.95 for a 10 day Trial is very enticing indeed.
The reality is that most of these merchants are automatically enrolling you at the end of the trail period for the full cost of the product and you are being enrolled in the automatic 30 day billing and shipment of this product.
PRIOR TO enrolling in these trial programs, READ THE FINE PRINT-TERMS AND CONDITIONS
These sites may also represent liberal cancellation and refund policies. However, often times these operators make it very difficult to get a refund
The Refund Process-
1st you call Customer Service. You may have to speak with multiple 'managers' in an effort for them to talk you out of cancelling. Often times they will try to upsell you a different discounted product as an inducement to not cancelling.
2nd-They may require an RMA process. They issue you an RMA number. Then, you are required to ship the product back with the RMA # writen on the package--all at your cost of course. Then, 3-4 dfays later you will have to check your credit card or check card balance to see if the refund has posted. It may take 10-14 days to see the actual refund/credit post to your account.
BTW, refunds to credit cards can take 3-5 business days to post to an account. This is standard between acquiring banks and issuing banks......
Visa has mandated changes in regulation to shorten the timeframe that a refund will post once the merchant processe the refund....Once a merchant issues a refund, the refund transaction is processed between the merchants processor and the card issuing bank-this may take 3-5 days.
Of course, most operators are hoping the effort to send back the package will outweigh the charge.
3rd. You may have to call back again and go through the process again
**The threat of a chargeback is the most powerful threat to an online merchant*****
Merchant are held accountable by their processing bank to maintain their overall chargeback occurrances on a monthly basis. Basically, without going into the specifics, the merchant must remain below 1% of total sales or sales volume processed per month. This is how Visa and Mastercard hold both the merchant and processor accountable for minimizing scam-merchants in the payment network.
Anytime a business appears to either not honor stated refund policies or makes you jump through hoops, simply advise them they are 'violating their own refund policies and you are contacting you bank to issue a chargeback...Believe me, this will work !!!!
Not all merchants who utilize a Free or Trial marketing campaign are bad. In fact, some very successsful large, national companies use this marketing method. The difference is they follow the FTC Best Practices guidelines to the letter of the law. Consumers are clearly aware of the program, the terms and conditions. Further, they honor the program, answer the phones and do not usually require an RMA process to obtain a refund. Good indicators;
Hours of Operation extend before and after 8am-5pm
Consumers receive email communication for tracking, billing reminders
Upsells for completely different products are NOT offered . They may offer a free gift with the purchase--this is common
Consumer chooses during checkout process to be enrolled into 'monthly auto-ship program rather than automatically being enrolled
If consumer enrolls, there is a starting date and expiration date for the auto ship program
Also, merchants are required to define exacty what is free and whether there is a seprate shipping and handling fee. One thing to note; If the initial trial cost appears to be less than what you would expect the actual cost to ship the product to be, do your homework...............
The idea of buying a product for $3.95 for a 10 day Trial is very enticing indeed.
The reality is that most of these merchants are automatically enrolling you at the end of the trail period for the full cost of the product and you are being enrolled in the automatic 30 day billing and shipment of this product.
PRIOR TO enrolling in these trial programs, READ THE FINE PRINT-TERMS AND CONDITIONS
These sites may also represent liberal cancellation and refund policies. However, often times these operators make it very difficult to get a refund
The Refund Process-
1st you call Customer Service. You may have to speak with multiple 'managers' in an effort for them to talk you out of cancelling. Often times they will try to upsell you a different discounted product as an inducement to not cancelling.
2nd-They may require an RMA process. They issue you an RMA number. Then, you are required to ship the product back with the RMA # writen on the package--all at your cost of course. Then, 3-4 dfays later you will have to check your credit card or check card balance to see if the refund has posted. It may take 10-14 days to see the actual refund/credit post to your account.
BTW, refunds to credit cards can take 3-5 business days to post to an account. This is standard between acquiring banks and issuing banks......
Visa has mandated changes in regulation to shorten the timeframe that a refund will post once the merchant processe the refund....Once a merchant issues a refund, the refund transaction is processed between the merchants processor and the card issuing bank-this may take 3-5 days.
Of course, most operators are hoping the effort to send back the package will outweigh the charge.
3rd. You may have to call back again and go through the process again
**The threat of a chargeback is the most powerful threat to an online merchant*****
Merchant are held accountable by their processing bank to maintain their overall chargeback occurrances on a monthly basis. Basically, without going into the specifics, the merchant must remain below 1% of total sales or sales volume processed per month. This is how Visa and Mastercard hold both the merchant and processor accountable for minimizing scam-merchants in the payment network.
Anytime a business appears to either not honor stated refund policies or makes you jump through hoops, simply advise them they are 'violating their own refund policies and you are contacting you bank to issue a chargeback...Believe me, this will work !!!!
Not all merchants who utilize a Free or Trial marketing campaign are bad. In fact, some very successsful large, national companies use this marketing method. The difference is they follow the FTC Best Practices guidelines to the letter of the law. Consumers are clearly aware of the program, the terms and conditions. Further, they honor the program, answer the phones and do not usually require an RMA process to obtain a refund. Good indicators;
Hours of Operation extend before and after 8am-5pm
Consumers receive email communication for tracking, billing reminders
Upsells for completely different products are NOT offered . They may offer a free gift with the purchase--this is common
Consumer chooses during checkout process to be enrolled into 'monthly auto-ship program rather than automatically being enrolled
If consumer enrolls, there is a starting date and expiration date for the auto ship program
Also, merchants are required to define exacty what is free and whether there is a seprate shipping and handling fee. One thing to note; If the initial trial cost appears to be less than what you would expect the actual cost to ship the product to be, do your homework...............