Crap, crap, crap! [inserts lots of curse words] I'm one of the ones who also got suckered in. And I'm particularly ticked because I usually catch the "fine print" on every website.
I went back to the website and entered in dummy information, this time scanning the page from top to bottom, because I just had a feeling...and sure enough, at the bottom of the confirmation page where you enter in your credit card information, in tiny print, is this statement:
"By submitting this form I am ordering the Grant Resource Information and trial membership. After the seven day trial I will be charged $49.50 a month thereafter if I do not cancel. I have read and agree to the PRIVACY POLICY and Terms & Conditions. Cancel any time by calling 1-800-235-1364."
Because of the presence of this statement the company has legally - not morally, but when does that ever matter? - absolved itself of any wrongdoing. Never mind that it is in small print at the bottom of the page, where 90% or more of people are likely not to see it, especially if they don't scroll ALL the way down. You should still report them to the BBB, but as far as an actual case of fraud is concerned there is probably not much of an argument on your side, initially. Now if they continue to charge your membership after you've cancelled it, or they purposely evade cancelling your membership after your repeated attempts to do so, then you have a case.
I "ordered" this on May 12. I checked my account Thursday and of course was treated to quite the shock, but I figured that I must have had some terrible luck and misbalanced my checkbook or not realized something was going to come in early. I got the terrible luck part right, but I was reviewing my bank account activity again tonight trying to figure out what I did wrong, and that is how I finally saw the $49.50 charge. So I have tomorrow (May 19) to get this cancelled because of course, there is no one there to answer the phone now - according to the automated machine their business hours are M-F, 9-5 MST. They've ALREADY charged the $49.50 to my account though. It's even post-dated for May 19 even though it is just now May 18!
This may be the one thing that gives me a leg to stand on - it says in the above statement that I will be charged AFTER the seven day trial period but clearly I was charged I bet the assholes will say that tomorrow is the "eighth" day, and that there is no leeway given for the fact that Saturday and Sunday are not business days. We'll see, though.
Oh, and another other way they sucker punch you is with a 0.04 "international service fee" - what they need the extra four cents for, I have no idea, except apparently they get a big laugh out of knowing that I just got charged another $35 NSF fee for FOUR FREAKING CENTS.
The saddest part about this is that I chose this program based on a recommendation from http://www.grants-revealed.org/. This website says:
"Over the last 2 years we have reviewed 47 government grant websites. We purchased their systems and conducted extensive background checks on each company. Out of the 47 government grant sites only 4 were even worthwhile! These are companies that send you information for free, all we had to pay were shipping costs.
<b>Our top pick is Grant Search Guide which is %100 free all you have to cover is the shipping costs ($2.95). This was our #1 pick because they issued out grants to their members on a daily basis & they included 24/7 live support to assist you in getting your grant money.</b>"
So avoid that website and all of its "recommended" resources as well!
Only now do I know that the only reliable site for grants, period, is www.grants.gov. There is also www.usa.gov, which will direct you to all pages concerning government grants, benefits, loans, sales, auctions, and other good information. (So you can skip all those pages promising you "inside" information on government auctions and sales, as well.) And this is all for FREE, I must stress. No shipping charges, no memberships, no trial periods.
That information is too little too late for me but hopefully I just helped someone coming behind me to avoid a scam artist. |
172 days ago by Linda S. [
152 days ago by Anonymous [