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The Forced Continuity Credit Card Dance
By TheAntiHype | April 26, 2008
Image via Wikipedia
Homer has been very quiet for the past week or two.
I thought maybe he’d found “the light” and settled down to get on with building his business.
I should have known better!
Marge called and told me the sad story…
“Marge, this is the one! And it is only $1. We can’t go wrong. Get the catalog out and order up them new pajamas – Homer’s going to town”
“Mr Anti Hype, I knew right then it would end in tears but there’s no talking to him when he’s got those $ signs in his eyes.”
“He’d seen an offer from a retiring Bad Guru who was selling everything for just $1. He couldn’t fail. An established business, high levels of loyal traffic – I just carried on with the ironing (he has so many pairs these days) because I’ve heard it so many times before. Well, he whipped out the credit card as quick as you can say “guru fodder” and he was up and running.”
“I was waiting for the one time offer – but no, I didn’t hear another word. Maybe the download failed. No, everything was fine.”
“Of course, he did nothing with the information but then it happened. The credit card bill arrived. There was the $1 charge but then recurring monthly payments for $30″
“Marge, I honestly didn’t sign up for that!. I know I overspend – I know I try my hardest to make you rich” – he’s such a romantic at heart – “but this time I really didn’t agree to a continuity program. It was my last $1.”
So poor old Homer got caught in the Forced Continuity Program scam.
He’s lost the sales page. For $1 only he didn’t bother to keep a record and now can’t remember what he downloaded or from where.
The credit card company don’t care. “You’ll have to cancel with the vendor” they state. But when you don’t know who the vendor is that’s a tad difficult!
Yes, I’m afraid this one is for real.
Do the guys intend to steal like this?
Does it matter? If you get caught you have a major job unraveling it, whether it was intentional or not.
In many cases, if you have loads of credit card transactions you may not even notice the payments going out for months – then it’s too late. No refund even if you can track the vendor down – it’s outside the Money Back period.
Work out your business strategy. Decide what you need and only buy what you need to move your business on when you need it.
Check carefully whether you’re signing up for a one-off payment or some regular recurring membership site. And above all – keep records of what you’ve done.
I use Flock – I love it – and create a folder in the sidebar immediately I see a site I’m interested in. Simply name the folder the name of the product and drag the URL of the sales page from the address bar into the folder. Do the same for any One Time Offer and Thank You page and the Download page when you get there. Everything stored to refer back to.
It won’t prevent scams but it may make life a little easier to sort out if you get caught.
Be careful out there
The Anti Hype
Topics: Bad Gurus, Fun, General Guru Fodder, Humour, The Anti Hype | 8 Comments »
April 28th, 2008 at 6:13 am
Just dugg for you after nearly falling off the chair in hysterics, So sad at the same time- Flock suggestion is great
Maybe I need to provide cushions along with the popcorn and tissues? Glad you found it amusing but as you say – sad reflection of reality also. Thanks for the Digg Suzie. Mark
April 28th, 2008 at 1:13 am
Just dugg for you after nearly falling off the chair in hysterics, So sad at the same time- Flock suggestion is great
Maybe I need to provide cushions along with the popcorn and tissues? Glad you found it amusing but as you say – sad reflection of reality also. Thanks for the Digg Suzie. Mark
April 28th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
[...] known as TheAntiHype asks in his witty but fundamentally serious post on this subject, titled The Forced Continuity Credit Card Dance, if we are going to get into these low cost (or no cost) trials, we need to have a plan and a [...]
Thanks for the highlight Des. You’ve added some clarity for those readers who aren’t familiar with this approach. Mark
July 31st, 2008 at 4:53 pm
[...] The first, we dealt with here a few weeks ago in “The Forced Continuity Credit Card Dance” [...]
December 2nd, 2008 at 5:47 am
I call this listening for the point of need. When a customer expressed a point of need (i.e. Image via Wikipedia), then the marketer has an invitation to respond.
December 2nd, 2008 at 8:01 am
ffxii gil – I’m afraid I disagree – the marketer “enticed” the customer with an extremely attractive offer and then without his knowledge set up a regular debit to his credit card. The marketer created his own “invitation” as you put it, on the back of an offer so good that the customer wanted it regardless of whether there was a need.
September 10th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
September 10th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Hi Sandra, thanks for stopping by – glad you like it