Stamps.com

Stamps.com is a SCAM. Do not get caught up in this mess. I signed up last year and saw nothing about there added cost on their site until it was to late. I called many times to cancel my this mess. They said there was nothing they could do . In the mean time I still get billed. I am in the process of collecting as much info about this company so I can send it to the better business bureau in their city

Thanks to all of you for posting your stories with this scam. I have tried for months to figure out what this thing was. After reading all of your emails, I have taken them to my bank; changed my ATM card (a total inconvenience because of other accounts); ordered a stop payment; called the company to get this mess cancelled; and filed a complaint with the Atty General of my state. I hope everyone caught by this scam reads these emails sooner than I did. By the way, y'all were lucky...I've been charged $19+ for months.

~rebel, St. Louis

In October, I sign up with stamps.com thinking it was a apart of the USPS but found out it wasn't. How can a company charge way less than the United States Post Office, that's unheard of.

I didn't sign up for it because I don't send mail or packages out often to use the service. I thought I see what this company has to offer, it offered a scale which I didn't have or owned. It offered several free $10 to my account which I didn't need. And for the last three or more months which I didn't know, they were charging me 17.99 a month. I am a student and have a car, why would I need such a plan. I don't even have netflix. I called and they said they were charging for a "postage license". I don't understand it at all.

I am feed up with this company. I called and complained, they wont issue my refund so I'm taking up here. I am willing to sue this company for those who are hurt. CLASS ACTION!

Stanley
San Francisco, California.

I have just noticed that I also have been being charged for this since May of last year! i never knew of it, and most certainly did not agree to it. I amcall my bank right now! There are over 74 report on rip-off.com

Checking my account today showed the same $17.94 pending charge. I found this site (and many others like it) by Google'ing SCI*STAMPS.COM. There were a few other unknown/unauthorized charges pending as well - a total of $25+. I called my bank right away and they were able to tell me which debit card was used (joint account -- 2 debit cards) and that it looks like the companies must have shared my information and all charged me on the same day - odd coincidence, I think. I requested that my card be cancelled and my bank rep gave me a bunch of 800-numbers to call to cancel the "subscriptions". Otherwise, they will simply charge me again next month. I told him that I never signed up for any of these services and that I wanted to cancel my card. If they want to try to recharge that card again next month - so be it; the number won't work anymore. The phone number my rep gave me, if anyone is interested is [protected]. Maybe I will give them a call tomorrow - just to see what they try to tell me. The only internet company that has charged me within the last 60-90 days is Netflix. I don't see Netflix selling my information or signing me up for anything, but.. you never know, I suppose.

Likewise, my January bank statement has a $17.99 charge. I will issue a complaint to my bank and have payment stopped.

What the ****? I signed up for stamp.com in november and their service didn't work for mac. There is no login on their website to access any billing info. Their help page suggests that we MUST use the downloaded client provided by stamp.com... Out of nowhere im hit with a 17.99 fee...

I have received a total of $107.70 in bogus charges on my credit card from Stamps.com. After the first charge, they told me that were going to refund my card and even gave me a "confirmation number." I did not receive a refund, in fact they charged me AGAIN.

I called to complain a couple of times. They told me that "so and so" dropped the ball and that's why I didn't get my first refund. And they said I got charged again because I actually have TWO accounts with them linked to this credit card and they were both past due. Again, they gave me confirmation numbers for the refunds and for the cancellation of the accounts.

If I don't see the refunds hit my statement by Friday I am going to dispute all the charges and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. You should too if you cannot get satisfaction from Stamps.com. The URL is

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

I have never used this site nor have I ever ordered anything from them. what is going on this is really unscruplous for the people that work for a living and then someone gets your account debit card and use it for there personal gain. How come these people have not been prosecuted there acts of thief. I am discussed with the way these work . This occurred on Jan. 17, 2009 and I had not ordered anything from the internet this month.

How did these people get my credit card number? My card is in my wallet all the time and they signed me up for stamps, gevalia.com coffee & more ( There was a bundle of fraudulent bills that hit this month) so they must operate as a team--they need incarcerating vacation together.

In December I tried shipping packages using USPS, however their site was down for over a week, during the busiest time of year! They refer their customers to www.stamps.com ... so since I really needed to ship stuff urgently for my business, I decided to try them out. After a very lenthy sign up procedure, I entered my card number so they could put any SHIPPING charges on my card. I was supposed to get an email with password etc, but that never happened. In the mean time USPS is back up an running, so I never even used stamps.com.

Now a few months later, I am catching up with business bookkeeping and notice that I have 3 charges for CSI*Stamps.com on my business credit card !?

I call them up, they are willing to close the account and refund me one months' worth of charges, but tell my I AGREED, to pay a monthly service fee. I say, I did not agree to that at all. Again, one of those places that tuck away the truth in small lettering and inconspicuous places on their site.

USPS is also at fault, they should not be referring their customers from their site, which you can use for free to a site where a monthly fee is being charged. USPS of course doesn't think it is their responsibility!

JUST BE AWARE!

I did dispute this with my bank and will have to wait and see what happens with that.!

I recieved a call from a company to tell me about a "free gift" that I had ordered, but I had never even contacted the company to recieve a free gift... luckily, the young man on the phone quickly realized that someone had stolen my cc #. after checking my online banking I found several charges pending from this SCI*STamps.com. I have never even heard of them or had given my cc# to them. Thank God for the internet because I was quickly able to Google the name and realized the scam. Someone needs to shut these a$$holes down.

I saw the charge on my husband's card, after signing up for a "Free" 30 day trial. I called them, mentioned all the scam reports, and the cancelled my account AND credited my money back right away. I had no problem with them at all. Infact they were polite, and helpful.

Tried to buy stamps from the USPS on line and got signed up by this outfit without any explanation of any monthly charges. I am trying to cancel it and they are resisting.

No mention was made of monthly charges

I have never heard of this company and a 17.95 charge appeared on my credit card. I have not not any business with them and believe this to be identity theft, fraud, and phony business.

I have never been on SCI*Stamps.com website - they are chargin my credit card 15.95 month for something I am receiving nor ordered. I want a refund!

I had an erroneous charge of $17.95 on my credit card from this vendor, that I did not make. I called the company and they said they will close my account and refund the charge on my next statement, and gave me a confirmation number.

I have about 10 such charges for the same amount, $17.95 and have never done business with this company. I reported them as fraudulent and changed my credit card number.

When I contacted them after an erroneous charge, they were polite, but very, very aggresive about maitaining my account. When I made it very clear that I did not wish to continue service and would really appreciate a refund for the service I never used, I was told the refund would not be possible, but they would discontinue service. I had to be very firm with the customer service rep. to get her to stop trying to push me into staying with the service (highly annoying). In my opini0n, it is surprising that the U.S.P.S. aligns itself with a company that obviously works it's people on commission.

I have been receiving upwards of $100 worth of charges from this scistamps.com, and I have never heard of this site. However, I do apparently have a user name and account number through the site, which I found out about because of the letter I received from them stating that the account was overdue by over $50!

I work at a class action law firm and we are investigating this issue. I am interested in talking to people and hearing about their experiences. Please contact me at abby1100ny@yahoo.com if you have had trouble canceling your account with stamps.com, have been billed fraudulently by stamps.com, or have any questions on this investigation. Thanks, Abigail.

You can do the same exact thing from USPS.gov as you can on stamps.com. The only thing that stamps.com provides that you cannot get from USPS.gov is the ability to print postage for First Class mail from your home or business. That may seem like a significant advantage that stamps.com has. But keep in mind that you can only ship packages or envelopes up to 13 ounces via First Class. Otherwise, you have to use Priority mail which you can print and pay for on the USPS.gov website. If you are shipping things less than 13 ounces, you can always use normal stamps.

So, stamps.com does not provide much benefit over using the post office website. And for $17.99 a month, forget it. Their service only really appeals to people with very specific needs and for most people simply does not have the value add to justify the monthly fee. Perhaps there are other value add services they have of which I am not aware. I don’t know.

In addition, I got stung by the monthly charge after I let the trial period slip. Most companies will refund you your first monthly charge if you let a trial period lapse then call as soon as you realize you were charged for a service you are not using. Well, the brass at stamps.com institute policies that don’t agree with that. They would rather entice you with a trial period, then ding you when you make a simple mistake by forgetting to cancel before the trial runs out. In today’s day and age where many people have accounts with dozens of websites and do much of their shopping, shipping, travel plans, etc. on the internet, it is unfair to hold people that sign up for trial to a charge them for a service they do not use then refuse to refund their charge if they cancel shortly after the trial period ends. Maybe unfair is not the right word since trial users do have to agree to a terms of service which outlines they will be charged. Maybe the better word would be disreputable. Actually, that is the perfect word to describe stamps.com. Not to mention I never recall seeing anything about a monthly charge. I suspect it was buried in a multipage agreement with an accept/decline button that I assume many people simply accept without reading at all.

I will never use stamps.com now simply because of this encounter. And I will advise against using stamps.com to anyone that may potentially use them. It has left such a bad taste in my mouth, that I am taking the time to post this. What a great way to build a solid reputation for a publicly traded company.

Your comment

They've stolen $19 from me so far, they refuse to cancel my account too so ill be charged again next month. When I signed up it clearly stated my account would NOT be charged for the first month. ###ers.

Im going to have to close my bank account.

They are still a fraud! This is exactly what I just sent them...

I want to close my stamps.com account.

I have been a customer for a year or more. I signed up thinking I would get a scale...never got one even thou that was your big bait and switch to get people in! I paid $15 a month, in fact you made $309 off of my acct, and always had issues. I have several other people I know doing this same thing. Leaving because you don't reply to messages on your phones, you probably won't reply to this. You take 2 months to refund postage that's mailed to you.

I had one thing to mail recently, tried to login to the software, it told me I couldn't because my monthly fee wasn't there, so I tried and tried to change the card, there was no space to put and expiration so you repeatedly denied my card obviously. So I come online to do it...change the card # and get the message change your card over and over. Then I got no funds add a card, IT WAS ADDED! It was a valid card because I went over to a competitor of yours and had NO ISSUES!

I did a ton of business with you. Even referred a lot of fellow sales people who work from home. I am done. In fact your software continues to get stuck and I have to stop it in Task Manager! What a joke... I will tell the sales people on my team to now go to the company like yours I just joined that is the same but a lot more professional.

thanks,

(No Response From Them, And Their Software Is Locking Up My Computer and Can't be Unistalled)

I received a CD in the mail that appeared to be updated software from the U.S. Postal Service. I installed it, and THEN discovered that I had signed up for an ongoing service at something like $17.99 per month. My mistake.

I immediately attempted to cancel this account, but there is no mechanism to do this online.

I called the customer service number to cancel this today, and, although I was successful, the person on the phone continued to give me the hard sell. This wasn't a quick or easy process.

Stamps.com fooled me into signing up on their page saying it is a "No Risk" trial. I was just exploring the possibility of printing USPS stamps online. Three months later, in a sneaky manner, they charged my credit card without any notification. After two subsequent monthly charges I discover the transaction. I call them up asking them to reverse the charges, that I did not use their services. Their response is that they charged based on me having an active account (i.e. because I signed up for a "No Risk" free trial). Usage does not count. They did not send me any invoices or notices because the did not want to bother me! What a scam! Unbelieveable that the USPS partners with such a c****y website.

I canceled my account in Aug '09 but have been billed $17.99 every month since then. The customer relations person Virginia said that I had agreed to a one year contract which I would be responsible paying for until the contract ran out in July 2010. To intice me to stay she said they would drop me to a "Basic Plan" that would only cost me $9.99 per month until the contract was up. I then went to her supervisor Bryan who said that he would cancel my account as of today and would reverse todays charge of $17.99. Based on everything I have seen so far I wait with baited breath to see if it really happens. SjO

unauthorized carges for stamps. never ordered or received ONE STAMP. Called their customer service- They will treat you like S==t and refuse to stop billing you, while LAUGHING at you ! We have contacted the United States Postal Service Inspector General's complaint hotline [protected] or email: hotline@uspsoig.gov or fax:[protected] or mail: 1735 North Lynn Street, Arlington, VA [protected]. If enough of us contact the Inspector General, maybe the Government will shut down these crooks. We are also sueing these ### in Small Claims Court, so they will have to spend $$$$ to hire an attorney in our state. Lets stop thses ### !

I signed up for a 4 week trial and ordered the start up kit and scale. They never came. A month later I checked with them, nothing. Two months later and BAM, $48 in "service fees" charged to my CC, but still no ordered supplies.

I called to cancel, asked them what I was paying for if I could not use the service and they said "access". So it costs $16 a month for "access" the then go buy postage from them. They acknowledged that they never sent the ekit but still charged me. The lady in cancellations was terribly rude and high pressure, keeping me on the phone for 25 minutes trying to talk me out of it. Her name was Terry B. Stamps.com is like a bad used car lot that valets your car and holds the keys hostage while they pound you.

I'll be filing a complaint with me credit card company over the charges.

Stay away!

Stamps.com is a huge rip-off! Nobody should even consider signing up for their "free trial." Apparently I must be naive, but I was under the impression that my "free trial" was for the use of their software, which I downloaded to see if it would be appropriate to print the postage on my daughter's Sweet Sixteen invitations. I decided it was not, and instead purchased stamps from the post office. A few months later, I was being charged $15.99 per month from Stamps.com because my "free trial" had exprired. Imagine that! All I did was download their software to take a look at it, and now I was being charged a monthly fee! FOR WHAT? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! So don't be suckered by these people like I was, and benefit by my $31.98 lesson and steer clear of stamps.com.

BUYER BEWARE! Stamps.com hides the fact that they don't work on MAC computers (apple) and charge you service charges $15.99/month plus shipping and handling of additional machines until you figure it out on your own. THis is such a scam! They later admit that if you look in the fine print under terms and conditions, you will see it does not work with Mac computers. Legalized stealing is what I call it! They have opportunity after opportunity to end the service - but they continue to suck you dry until you figure out on your own. WHY doesn't it say in large print on the cover page -NOT compatible with MAC computers. This is a service to use your computer for your mailing needs as opposed to going to the post office for stamps... Considering this is the main use your COMPUTER ! you think they would let you know upfront it doesn't work with MAC's So sick of scams - Also, they selectively use terms to make you think they are part of the US Postal system NOT TRUE - they have nothing to do with the US Postal Service! Don't get snowed like me - STAY AWAY !

I fell for the slick advertising "$100 free postage." So I thought why not give them a try? I got the material and could see it was a joke. You pay for the labels, you pay for the laser ink, and you do the work of printing a stamp every time you need one. I didn't finish setting up my account and didn't use the $5 free postage they gave(not $100). They told me that you only get the $100 worth of stuff after paying $17.95 for several months. No thanks. Well, we got charged $17.95 so I called to ask them to remove the charges and cancel any future ones. They made it very difficult to cancel and they WOULD NOT refund my $17.95 even though I never used their service and did not finish verifying my account (on purpose). Oh, and all the raving reviews on stamps.com appear to be posted by stamps.com themselves as advertising. I could find no place to add my negative review. Of course! This would be right in line with the ways of this unscrupulous company. All the "reviewers" who say the service saves them from having to go to the post office are not making an intelligent argument. Avoiding the post office does not require paying stamps.com! Stamps can be mailed to you and you can go to usps.com to print postage for packages. It's a free service. All you need is a postage scale. Why not let the P.O. do the printing of stamps for you - for free? We keep first class and second ounce stamps on hand and rarely see the inside of a post office. Don't get ripped off by this company as we did.

I added $$ to my account to ship packages, when I found out the service I needed was unavailabe I called to cancel my service and was told it could take over a YEAR to refund my money.

I got the runaround from this CS person for 20 minutes about all the other options I had. I am a very capable person, having this person try to show me something I already know wouldn't work for me was insulting. Stamps.com should teach thier employess the USPS services so they know what they are talking about.

Very dissapointed in this service and refund policy for postage in your account is a joke.