July 30, 2011
A year ago, I accessed the ecard site "Blue Mountain". I'm not sure what card I sent or who I sent it to, but for some reason I saw fit to open a membership with the site. I suppose I figured that the inexpensive membership fee was fair, and that if I didn't make use of it, I could simply let the membership lapse after the subscription ended.
Oh, but if only it were that easy!
About a month ago, I got a subscription renewal email from Blue Mountain. Since I had not used the service since joining, I simply ignored the email, passing it into my junk folder as I do with any service for which I do not wish to renew.
2 days later, I got a letter from my pre-paid credit card provider (the safest and most secure way to shop online) saying that they had rejected a transaction. Well, I only load my pre-paid card if I'm planning to buy something, so it was no surprise that an unexpected charge would be rejected. I was curious though, to see who was trying to use my card without my authorization.
It was BLUEMOUNTAIN*MEMBERSHIP 888-254-1450 OHUS.
Oh well, no problem. I had already decided not to renew, so I ignored the notice (the charge was rejected anyway, right?).
The next day I received another notice of a rejected transaction. And the next. And the next.
After a week of this company continually trying to access my credit card, I logged into their website, and using the customer service feedback option entitled "Cancel my Membership", I sent this letter:
Unauthorized automatic renewals are a common practice of pornography sites! I expected more from Blue Mountain!
What I did not expect, was that my credit card would be billed for a renewal that I have no interest in (and did not ACTIVELY request) from a greeting card site.
Your charges have been rejected, and my credit provider has been advised not to allow further access to my account by your company.
I allowed my membership to lapse, because I WISHED FOR IT TO LAPSE! I did not open any correspondence from Blue Mountain, because I had no further interest in your services. Further, I most certainly made no active indication that I wished for my subscription to continue past its expiry date.
Of course you HOPE that a $5.00 charge will go unnoticed, as I'm sure it does by most of your credit card victims. Honestly, how many people do you bill regularly who have not used your service for years?
DO NOT make further unauthorized attempts to access my Credit Card, or I WILL take further action. This may not technically be credit card fraud, as I'm sure there is some fine print which I did not read, but it certainly comes close.
Automatic renewal billing is the epitome of sleazy business practices. I subscribe to several card/artwork sites, and yours is the first I have seen that makes use of automatic renewals.
Perhaps you should consider moving your business into the realm of adult entertainment. You'd likely find kindred spirits among the operators of those businesses.
I WILL be advising all of my friends and associates to avoid your site at all costs, and will be blogging about your questionable billing practices, as well making use of social networking to spread the word.
This is not about a small fee being billed to me without my consent, this is about abuse of my privacy by a company in which I placed my trust! It is also an attempt to charge a fee to former clients for whom your records will CLEARLY indicate have not continued to make use of your services!
FOR SHAME!
I should know better but SO SHOULD YOU!
The following week, they once again tried to access my credit card.
...and again and again.
After this (obviously irate) online cancellation request I not only received repeated messages from my credit card provider, but I also received more letters from Blue Mountain telling me that my subscription had been cancelled because their attempts to bill me were rejected. But they continue (another 6 times as of today) in their attempts to access my credit card!
A Google search has turned up repeated complaints about Blue Mountain's automatic renewal policy. With a charge this small, it would cost most people more to reverse the charge than to simply accept it, meaning Blue Mountain, a division of Greeting Card giant "American Greetings", is intentionally profiting off of billing people for services they are fully aware are no longer being accessed!
Taking money without providing a product or service is called stealing.
As I mentioned in my letter to them, this is a standard practice of porn sites. The difference being that porn sites DO let you cancel your subscription.
Now to be fair, Blue Mountain is emailing me, telling me that they are attempting (incessantly) to bill me.
You see, a pornography site would never remind you that you have a subscription. They know that people who join adult-content sites often have no idea who the various numbered companies are on their monthly statements, and since they have no idea what site to log into to cancel, they just pay the fees each month.
This may sound unbelievable, but I freelanced in webdesign a few years ago and one of the companies I contracted with, had a series of adult sites. They claimed that 75% of their billing had never visited the site again after the first month, but had continued to pay for years. I wanted to run a couple of email promotions as marketing initiatives, but I was told, in no uncertain terms, that I could NOT contact their clients (if I planned to name the site), as I would be reminding them that they are members, thereby giving them an opportunity to cancel.
Unlike Blue Mountain however, they would at least honour a cancellation request once they got one. Blue Mountain doesn't care if you know who they are, because they have made cancelling virtually impossible. They're pretty much assured of getting at least one more year out of you as long as your payment method remains valid!
I am contacting my pre-paid card provider today to cancel my card, and get a new one issued with a different number. It seems that this is the only way to stop this sleazebag company from continually trying to bill me for services I don't use. It's going to cost me a service fee greater than the Blue Mountain bill, but at least it will finally sever my ties. My card has been rendered useless anyway, since I cannot load it or Blue Mountain will immediately swoop in take their fee! I have written to them on two more occasions, but I highly doubt that anyone there even reads their cancellation requests.
If you already subscribe, attempt to cancel your membership about a month before it expires, as this may prove to be very difficult. The Blue Mountain website has a notorious reputation (Google it!) for having non-functional cancellation functions ("We're sorry, we cannot process your request") and as I've pointed out, cancellation emails through their customer service link are ignored.
The long and short of it is, bluemountain.com is going to automatically access your credit card if you don't cancel your membership, and they have deliberately made it impossible to cancel your membership online. Remember, if you are forced to contact a company by phone, you are providing them with the ultimate personal data tracking tool. Anyone can use a reverse phone directory (just one of many tracing option if you have a phone number in hand) to find out both WHO you are and WHERE you are!
As I've mentioned, I use a pre-paid 'credit' card which only gets loaded when I plan to use it. If I used a regular credit card online, Blue Mountain would have already acquired their funds - scratch that... MY funds!
This is a company for which a portion of their income is, by design, collected from people who no longer use their service. Otherwise, why not simply send an expiry notice, and allow the member to actively seek renewal? (Duh! Because the user might decide not to!)
I highly recommend that you examine your credit card statements more carefully in future and see if any websites are charging you a fee that they hope you won't notice, for a service you'd forgotten you'd subscribed to. American Greetings may be guilty of sleazy renewal practices, but they're far from alone! Automatic renewals are not illegal, and their sole purpose is to dip quietly into your finances periodically, hoping you won't notice - or be quick enough to stop them! (Tell me, how is this different from being a pick-pocket?)
When you find a site you've joined uses automatic renewals, tell them what you think about this blatant form of thievery (in fact, why not proactively tell bluemountain.com or parent company American Greetings about this post, insisting on a comment!) If you have friends that use Blue Mountain, warn them! Spread the word on Facebook and Twitter!
But whatever you do...
Oh, but if only it were that easy!
About a month ago, I got a subscription renewal email from Blue Mountain. Since I had not used the service since joining, I simply ignored the email, passing it into my junk folder as I do with any service for which I do not wish to renew.
2 days later, I got a letter from my pre-paid credit card provider (the safest and most secure way to shop online) saying that they had rejected a transaction. Well, I only load my pre-paid card if I'm planning to buy something, so it was no surprise that an unexpected charge would be rejected. I was curious though, to see who was trying to use my card without my authorization.
It was BLUEMOUNTAIN*MEMBERSHIP 888-254-1450 OHUS.
Oh well, no problem. I had already decided not to renew, so I ignored the notice (the charge was rejected anyway, right?).
The next day I received another notice of a rejected transaction. And the next. And the next.
After a week of this company continually trying to access my credit card, I logged into their website, and using the customer service feedback option entitled "Cancel my Membership", I sent this letter:
Unauthorized automatic renewals are a common practice of pornography sites! I expected more from Blue Mountain!
What I did not expect, was that my credit card would be billed for a renewal that I have no interest in (and did not ACTIVELY request) from a greeting card site.
Your charges have been rejected, and my credit provider has been advised not to allow further access to my account by your company.
I allowed my membership to lapse, because I WISHED FOR IT TO LAPSE! I did not open any correspondence from Blue Mountain, because I had no further interest in your services. Further, I most certainly made no active indication that I wished for my subscription to continue past its expiry date.
Of course you HOPE that a $5.00 charge will go unnoticed, as I'm sure it does by most of your credit card victims. Honestly, how many people do you bill regularly who have not used your service for years?
DO NOT make further unauthorized attempts to access my Credit Card, or I WILL take further action. This may not technically be credit card fraud, as I'm sure there is some fine print which I did not read, but it certainly comes close.
Automatic renewal billing is the epitome of sleazy business practices. I subscribe to several card/artwork sites, and yours is the first I have seen that makes use of automatic renewals.
Perhaps you should consider moving your business into the realm of adult entertainment. You'd likely find kindred spirits among the operators of those businesses.
I WILL be advising all of my friends and associates to avoid your site at all costs, and will be blogging about your questionable billing practices, as well making use of social networking to spread the word.
This is not about a small fee being billed to me without my consent, this is about abuse of my privacy by a company in which I placed my trust! It is also an attempt to charge a fee to former clients for whom your records will CLEARLY indicate have not continued to make use of your services!
FOR SHAME!
I should know better but SO SHOULD YOU!
The following week, they once again tried to access my credit card.
...and again and again.
After this (obviously irate) online cancellation request I not only received repeated messages from my credit card provider, but I also received more letters from Blue Mountain telling me that my subscription had been cancelled because their attempts to bill me were rejected. But they continue (another 6 times as of today) in their attempts to access my credit card!
A Google search has turned up repeated complaints about Blue Mountain's automatic renewal policy. With a charge this small, it would cost most people more to reverse the charge than to simply accept it, meaning Blue Mountain, a division of Greeting Card giant "American Greetings", is intentionally profiting off of billing people for services they are fully aware are no longer being accessed!
Taking money without providing a product or service is called stealing.
Now to be fair, Blue Mountain is emailing me, telling me that they are attempting (incessantly) to bill me.
You see, a pornography site would never remind you that you have a subscription. They know that people who join adult-content sites often have no idea who the various numbered companies are on their monthly statements, and since they have no idea what site to log into to cancel, they just pay the fees each month.
This may sound unbelievable, but I freelanced in webdesign a few years ago and one of the companies I contracted with, had a series of adult sites. They claimed that 75% of their billing had never visited the site again after the first month, but had continued to pay for years. I wanted to run a couple of email promotions as marketing initiatives, but I was told, in no uncertain terms, that I could NOT contact their clients (if I planned to name the site), as I would be reminding them that they are members, thereby giving them an opportunity to cancel.
Unlike Blue Mountain however, they would at least honour a cancellation request once they got one. Blue Mountain doesn't care if you know who they are, because they have made cancelling virtually impossible. They're pretty much assured of getting at least one more year out of you as long as your payment method remains valid!
I am contacting my pre-paid card provider today to cancel my card, and get a new one issued with a different number. It seems that this is the only way to stop this sleazebag company from continually trying to bill me for services I don't use. It's going to cost me a service fee greater than the Blue Mountain bill, but at least it will finally sever my ties. My card has been rendered useless anyway, since I cannot load it or Blue Mountain will immediately swoop in take their fee! I have written to them on two more occasions, but I highly doubt that anyone there even reads their cancellation requests.
!WARNING! Subscribe to bluemountain.com with informed caution!
If you already subscribe, attempt to cancel your membership about a month before it expires, as this may prove to be very difficult. The Blue Mountain website has a notorious reputation (Google it!) for having non-functional cancellation functions ("We're sorry, we cannot process your request") and as I've pointed out, cancellation emails through their customer service link are ignored.
The long and short of it is, bluemountain.com is going to automatically access your credit card if you don't cancel your membership, and they have deliberately made it impossible to cancel your membership online. Remember, if you are forced to contact a company by phone, you are providing them with the ultimate personal data tracking tool. Anyone can use a reverse phone directory (just one of many tracing option if you have a phone number in hand) to find out both WHO you are and WHERE you are!
Tell your friends, or send them links to this article.
As I've mentioned, I use a pre-paid 'credit' card which only gets loaded when I plan to use it. If I used a regular credit card online, Blue Mountain would have already acquired their funds - scratch that... MY funds!
This is a company for which a portion of their income is, by design, collected from people who no longer use their service. Otherwise, why not simply send an expiry notice, and allow the member to actively seek renewal? (Duh! Because the user might decide not to!)
When you find a site you've joined uses automatic renewals, tell them what you think about this blatant form of thievery (in fact, why not proactively tell bluemountain.com or parent company American Greetings about this post, insisting on a comment!) If you have friends that use Blue Mountain, warn them! Spread the word on Facebook and Twitter!
But whatever you do...
DO NOT GIVE BLUE MOUNTAIN YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER!!
Look, I don't want to diss a website that offers a simple-to-use and entertaining web-based greeting card service. And I will admit that the amount that they're attempting to bill me (under $5) is a bargain for anyone who would make use of Blue Mountain services.
BUT I DON'T!
Further, Blue Mountain's own membership logs will clearly demonstrate that I haven't even visited the site since I first joined! How does this provide a justification to bill for continued service?
So listen guys, regardless of the fine print on your site...
- if you insist on an automatic renewal model, then fix your cancellation functions. The web is replete with scenarios where you have been advised that your cancel option is broken (as long ago as 2007!!!) You have clearly left it broken intentionally.
- when a billing attempt is unsuccessful, take the hint and give up! Feel free to contact and advise, but there should be no further attempts to acquire a payment without a renewed authorization. Repeated attempts to bill is harassment, plain and simple!
- before processing an automatic renewal, check usage. If a member has not logged in within the past 6 months, do not renew without consent. You are not simply entitled to perrenial payment, where no further service is likely to be provided.
- respond to all posted customer service web requests with an immediate auto-responder, followed by an email from a company representative within 48 hours. In the case of a cancellation request, simply close the account and auto-respond immediately with a confirmation. If you cannot adhere to this final point, then you should not be operating online!
Show a little respect and common courtesy to your clients,
especially when you're in the process of taking our money!
(you shouldn't have to be told this stuff ladies and gentlemen!)
1 comment:
Hi there,
We apologize for the difficulty you've experienced in canceling your membership. Please contact us at altsupport@americangreetings.com so that we can fix this for you.
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