Six months after federal regulators accused a group of online marketers of promoting deceptive “free” and “risk-free” trials of golf and kitchen products, the companies have agreed to pay hefty fines and revamp their billing practices to settle the allegations.
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free trials
Marketers Of “Risk-Free” Golf, Kitchen Products Must Pay $2.5M To Settle Deceptive Marketing Claims
By 9.13.17
Watch Out: That “Free” Trial Of Wrinkle Cream Could Cost You Big Bucks
By 3.6.17
It’s always good to keep in mind that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Like an empty subway car on a hot summer day, or the email telling you you’ve just inherited millions from a dead Nigerian king. Or an offer for a “free” trial of beauty cream that ends up actually costing you hundreds of dollars. [More]
11 Million People Are Trying Apple Music, Some Might Actually Pay In September
By 8.6.15
Can Apple’s music-streaming service convert its users into paying customers once the service’s trial period is done? How many people have signed up for Apple Music so far, anyway? The company has finally provided the world with an update on its shiny new streaming service, including actual subscriber numbers. [More]
Apple Music Offers Musicians Royalties Of 70% Of Nothing During Free Trial
By 6.15.15
Apple’s streaming music service is coming to a device near you at the end of this month, since it’s likely that there’s some kind of device with iTunes on it near you right now. Yet while Apple is promising musicians over 70% of the revenue from the service as royalties, that also means musicians will get around 70% of nothing for the first three months of Apple Music, since the service will be free to users. [More]
Here’s Why You Should Always Read The Details Of Free Trials
By 12.11.14
When you sign up for a free trial of a service, but don’t have to hand over your payment information on the spot, do you assume that the free trial will simply go away? That’s what many people who signed up for a trial of Amazon Prime seemed to do, and the Iowa Attorney General has arrived at a settlement with Amazon over auto-enrollment in Prime. [More]
Beware Of The Not-So-Free Trial At Gold's Gym
By 9.14.12
There is no such thing as a free trial. Well, sometimes there is, but be wary of any “free” trial that requires you to hand over your credit card or banking information. Craig’s wife signed up to try the local Gold’s Gym, then decided not to do business with them and end the trial before she ever broke a sweat. [More]
Netflix Offers Ex-Customer Disappearing Free Trial
By 12.6.09
Dana used to be a Netflix subscriber, and they want her back. To entice her back, they sent her an e-mail offering a free trial. She decided to try it out…but Netflix wouldn’t let her. Because, according to their system, she is an existing Netflix customer. Who received an email addressing her as a former customer. [More]
iReel.com Offers Free Trial, Downloads Your Money Instead
By 8.23.09
iReel.com seems like a pretty neat and reasonably priced service, which allows you to harness the power of the interweb to beam recently released movies directly to your home computing device. However, two Consumerist readers have contacted us about the company, and their misleading or just plain dishonest “free trial” billing practices.
Best Buy Attorney Admits To Falsifying Emails In Racketeering Case
By 6.6.07
The racketeering case against Best Buy and Microsoft has taken an ugly turn. An attorney for Best Buy has admitted to altering emails that were to be used as evidence in the case. If you’re new to this class action lawsuit, Microsoft is accused of paying Best Buy to collect and use customer’s credit card information without their permission, signing them up for “free trials” of MSN that they didn’t want and or weren’t aware existed. When the free trial period was up, MSN began to bill them without their knowledge or consent. A former Best Buy employee wrote in to confess to pulling this sort of scheme on customers, if you’re looking for more detail on how it all worked.
