Avoid Cell Phone Free Trial Services – Episode #104
Avoid Cell Phone Free Trial Services
Perhaps you’ve seen an online advertisement like this – “Tim Tebow’s IQ is 129, What’s Yours?” I was curious to see what kind of business was behind this ad and was surprised to see the outcome was a quiz where by typing in my cell phone number – not a credit card – simply a cell phone number, I’d be signing up for a $14.99 per month service.
I wonder just how many $100s of millions are being made off this business model. Especially among pre-teens and teenagers, even though the product does say you need to be 18 to sign up or have parental consent. Some of these services not only charge a monthly fee, but also charge a 79 cent fee for each text message update. There’s another $23.70/month.
I remember reading a few years ago how 40% of people don’t read their credit card statements, I would assume that even less review their cellular phone bills.
Canceling is actually not that painful. Look at your cell phone bill for a charge that looks like this:
You can also cancel but texting “STOP” in reply to any received message in most cases.
In my case, AT&T offered immediately to refund the past two monthly charges with the caveat that AT&T must wait until they get refunded to get the amount before I see the refund. So, I’m forced to check my bill diligently for the next few months to see if the refund is recorded. An interesting marketing/customer service strategy as it makes me feel good [i.e. avoid filing a Better Business Bureau complaint, perhaps] yet, I’m unclear that the refund will happen. When I asked how many months I’d been signed up for, the customer service agent replied that he didn’t have that info. Sneaky.
In conclusion, with so much at stake with a weak economy right now, I’m wondering how much people can save by avoiding these types of businesses. Sure, some people might be getting their $14.99 value, but I suspect many people never use the service.
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