Q: I called Time-Life to subscribe to the Animal Babies video for $4.95. They said it would be a series, but I was under no obligation to purchase further videos. What has upset me is that they have used my charge card number to pay for new subscriptions, without my written permission. The first time I called, they said I would be credited within 14 days. Then they did the same thing after sending me a second video that I didn't order! To me, it is a very deceptive sales tactic to charge additional videos without my order. Mail-order buyers should
check the offers carefullyTime-Life customer service supervisor Kerri Collins said customers ARE forewarned of the automatic credit card charges for items subsequently sent as part of the deal. Prepayment with credit cards are asked for items sold as a series and the cards charged whenever items are sent, generally once a month. That fact "should be verbally stated or written in the commercials," Collins said.
If viewers don't catch that explanation, however, "with the first item, we send a welcome letter letting them know that we will charge" subsequent orders to their credit cards, she said.
You may ask to be taken off credit card billing, she said. Call 1-800-621-7026.
Your complaint is not uncommon, said JoAnn Uchida, executive director of the state Office of Consumer Protection.
Her office gets a "disproportionate number of complaints" from people who sign up with mail-order buying clubs, which offer free or cheap merchandise, followed by subsequent items, which the consumer is under no obligation to buy.
But consumers often complain that they did not agree to items or that they say "no more" and still get billed, she said.
Uchida advises consumers to fol
low detailed instructions regarding billing disputes given by credit card companies.
"Don't rely on the merchant telling you it will be taken care of because you have a very limited window of time in which to act, usually 60 days from the date of billing."
She says to file a dispute and if the merchant comes through, then you don't have a problem. "But if you don't file the dispute, then you're flat out of luck."
She advises using "an abundance of caution anytime you use any of these introductory offers - to think about it carefully - because we've had situations where people have had to contact their credit card company every month.
Most cases get resolved eventually, Uchida said. "But in the meantime, it does create a lot of a headaches for the consumer."
- Mahalo and Auwe
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