Millions of people are victims Internet frauds every year, losing significant amounts, and it cannot be said that most of them were uneducated dummies on the Internet. Free trials and Autoship programs are another type of frauds that expanded a lot, due to the free offerings.
If you’re interested in a particular product or service, trying it out before buying might seem like something easy and convenient. But what starts as a free trial – or at a very low cost – could end up costing you hard and fast cash.
How it works
You get a ‘unique’ offer, which is hard to refuse. For example: ‘Only today you can join a fitness marathon for free’. Sometimes you need to pay a minimum amount for an account, but the offer does not cease to be tempting.
A variety of services are being advertised that offer free trial benefits such as watching videos, listening to music, and subscribing to books. In most cases, these are free until you register for the first time and a certain period elapses, but then you will automatically be charged.
When you apply for a free trial service, you may be required to apply for other optional services together. In such cases, you may forget to cancel without recognizing the existence of optional services.
Also, since charges are incurred regardless of whether or not the service is used, it is necessary to perform cancellation procedures by yourself, including optional services, if unnecessary.
Information on cancellation of the following free trial services is sent to consumer service centers nationwide:
“I should have canceled during the free trial period, but I am still charged.”
“I didn’t know how to unsubscribe from the official website, so I went through the procedure I checked from the search site. However, I was able to unsubscribe only some services.”
Where’s the catch
Some scammy businesses make it hard for you to cancel the subscription by hiding the terms and conditions of their free trail, stating them in a small font, using pre-filled boxes as a default option on their websites.
Or the ‘free trial period‘ may be accompanied by a small shipping and handling charge. You think that you are only paying a couple of dollars, but in reality you are giving your credit card information, which could result in charges for higher amounts to that same card when the trial period ends.
It is written in small print that after the free trial you will be required to pay monthly fees, and now they will no longer be so harmless.
Free trial programs often come with a few tricks – expensive tricks. If you receive an offer to try a ‘free ‘ product or service, be sure to read the fine print to find out what you have to do to get a company to stop billing you if you’re not interested in buying anything else after the end of the period. test.
When you apply for the free trial service, you may be in trouble because you do not notice that you are also applying for other optional services at the same time. If the service you applied for is not canceled, you will be charged as a flat-rate service even if you are not using it.
Make sure to confirm the contract details and contract conditions in advance. If you do not want to use a paid service, be sure to carefully check the cancellation method for each service and make sure to cancel it.
What to do
Read all the conditions of the offers that come to you, and do not trust the wonderful ‘transformations’ in the photos. Most often this is Photoshop.
It’s easy to calculate the fiction: check where else the picture appeared by using Google or TinEye search. If the white-toothed beauty appears on a variety of resources, then about the veracity of advertising is worth considering.
Check the points before subscription
Before applying for the free trial service, be sure to check ‘ the conditions of the offer’.
Are you contracting for services other than the one you want? Is there a contract period, cancellation fee, etc. set?
Check cancellation rules
Check the following points regarding cancellation regarding the documents, emails, and official website that were issued when you applied.
How do you cancel?
Is cancellation acceptance limited to specific methods such as websites and telephones?
Also, if you have contracted multiple services, the procedure may differ depending on whether you cancel all the services or partially cancel the service.
If you have any questions, ask the operator for confirmation. Also, look at your credit card details regularly, and check carefully for any unexpected charges.
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