My attempt to get a refund through customer service via email was unsuccessful - I received an email from "Michelle" informing me that trial membership fees are not refundable. So, nothing left to do but dispute the charge with my credit card company, which I will definitely do.
The site is a complete scam. If you are not logged in, you can type ANY garbage into the search field, and they'll claim they have it -- just added it this week, in fact. Once you log in, they don't actually have anything.
WHOIS says the website itself was only registered in August 2008, but how many people check WHOIS beforehand. DownloadNova was registered in January 2008; I guess their reputation for bait-and-scam finally got around, so they're hanging out a new shingle.
I'd recommend that anyone who did give them credit card info just bite the bullet and cancel the card altogether. DownloadNova has a reputation for adding more bogus charges once they get your info, and they clearly don't have any scruples. Their method is outright fraud, so don't believe them when they say they've cancelled your membership, or $4.87 is all you'll ever be charged. They lie. They make their money by lying. They're lying to you. If you've given them information, you need to make that information worthless to everyone as soon as possible.
Call your credit card company, cancel the card, and ask for a new card with a new number. Tell them the $4.87 charge is fraudulent, and not to accept any further charges from ANYONE. If you don't, you're just asking for trouble, because they'll pass your information around to all their crooked friends, who will try to charge your card themselves. Sure, since it's fraud, you should be able to get the money back, but why expose yourself to the hassle? |
91 days ago by Damian Ritter [
90 days ago by Ken [
81 days ago by Charlie [