Here’s a great take on broadcast news. Too bad the parody is so accurate! I ran into it on Xark!, which credited the link to LostRemote.com.
A visitor to Star-Bulletin yesterday was disturbed to see prominent advertisements by a company called “Advanced Acai” offering a special free promotional offer of what is billed as a “miracle” weight-loss product. Click through the link and you would see something like this promo for a trial dose for the cost of shipping and handling.
Her story: She had, on a whim, taken advantage of a similar offer. For about $6, she received a trial dose of the product. It arrived as promised. Then she noticed charges appearing on her charge card, several for $80, another for $20. Calls to the company to stop the charges were answered by someone in India who could offer no assistance. Finally, unable to find get any assistance from Advanced Acai, she couldn’t find any solution except to close that charge account in order to stop the unauthorized charges.
You don’t have to look very far to see that her experience was far from unique. The online Complaints Board features many similar complaints.
This is typical:
I provided my credit card account to authorize a $5.95 order. My account was charged accordingly. The next month, my account was hit for an addition $79.95. I did not authorize a full 30-day order of the product or authorize my credit card to be charged $79.95. Yet they did and they will not refund the amount. Because they have a tracking number for a 30 day supply, they are holding my account hostage. Even though they do not have my signature saying I received the product (which I didn’t) or my authorization to charge my card.
The Better Business Bureau reports similar problems with this company.
Complainants allege misleading advertising, unauthorized credit card charges, receipt of unwanted merchandise, and difficulty implementing cancellation procedures. Some complainants allege that they agreed to a trial offer only, and was not aware they were enrolled in a continuity program. Customers complain after repeated attempts to cancel, shipments are stopped, but the company continues billing them monthly. In some cases complainants allege that the product made them sick or did not perform as advertised. The company responds to most complaints by agreeing to refunds and canceling shipments. Some complaints are unresolved meaning the company failed to properly address the complaint allegations or their response was inadequate. Some complainants dispute that credits or refunds are actually received.
Oh, and how were unwary customers notified that they were subscribing to something with substantial ongoing charges? Jump back to that promotional offer. Way down at the very bottom, in tiny gray type, after the asterisk, you’ll find this notice:
* Try Advanced AcaiTM FREE for 20 days with Club Advanced Acai autoship program. Just pay $1.97 shipping & processing. Terms and conditions apply.
If you didn’t follow-up by finding and clicking the link to those “terms and conditions”, you were on the way to big charges for stuff you didn’t order and didn’t want.
So, back to the Star-Bulletin. What’s their responsibility, if any, for putting readers at risk of this kind of scam?
Well, scroll down to the bottom of the page at Starbulletin.com, check through the tiny type, and find the “Terms of Use“. You’ve probably never done that. I hadn’t until yesterday. You’ll find a long page of legalese, including this summary:
Under no circumstances, including, but not limited to, negligence, shall StarBulletin.com, its subsidiary and parent companies or affiliates be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages that result from the use of, or the inability to use, StarBulletin.com materials, products or services, or third party materials, products or services made available through StarBulletin.com even if StarBulletin.com is advised beforehand of the possibility of such damages.
And then the bottom line:
If you are dissatisfied with any StarBulletin.com materials, products or services or with any of StarBulletin.com’s terms and conditions, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using StarBulletin.com.
I can readily sympathize. I let Google place ads on this site and rarely check what’s there. In some cases, though, I’ve barred certain companies or products after seeing their ads. No easy solutions here.
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Ian, that could have been MY story! I clicked on a Google ad on YOUR site and signed up for free trial offers of 2 skin care products. After I did so, I noticed that they would be billing me every 30 days for new shipments of the products.
I immediately called the company and they gave me a code number.
After I received the inital products, I returned them with the code number written inside and outside the envelope.
So far so good. I have not been billed since then.
Maybe, people should do what Idid — call the company and get a code number for returns.
ALSO, one can reverse the charges on one’s credit card. Just call or email the credit card company and request that it be done, and it will be done.
Though the credit card company preferred that I work it out with the seller, they did reverse the charges when I explained the situation. (This was for a different transaction, not the one described above.)
Ah, the dilemma. Media companies make money by selling ads. Companies want to grow their business and after a selection process, they buy ads through the media outlet of their choice. Media delivers ads, in theory ads deliver results.
In my many years in the ad business, it was never implied that a media company endorsed the ads they ran. However, any time an advertiser proved to be of concern to consumers, the media company would cease to run the ads. The S-B should do so immediately.
I would bet every media site in the country has the same “use terms” so the SB term is industry standard. The Tizer.com has even more “terms”….
Was this a trick story? now on your site you has Google serving up Acai Berry diet ads. Were are your terms of use?
Be careful the FTC published their final guidelines, which govern endorsements and testimonials and specifically addresses online advertisers and bloggers. As a blogger you probably need to disclose if you are getting paid by an Acai company to post this post.
that video was great!
The video is highly rec0mmended