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Read The Fine Print: Don’t Cash That Check (It’s The Latest Scam)
By Molly's Brother | October 4, 2006
I’m always amazed at how the financial industry comes up with new ways to get a hold of our money. According to an article on msnbc.com, banks are selling our information to third party marketers. These marketers then send you a check in the mail for a specific amount of money ($10 or so). But, unless you read the fine print, you won’t know that by cashing the check you are “signing up” for their service. They will then automatically charge you a membership fee (unless you cancel within the 30 day trial period).
Amazing. I can’t believe that banks are so fast with our personal information AND I can’t believe that there is always a new and deceptive way to separate you from your money. Ridiculous.
Topics: Personal Finance |
October 4th, 2006 at 3:25 am
I always sign up for those things and cancel the service after 20 days. Free money! A lot of times they come from within the bank itself (I have Chase.)
October 4th, 2006 at 5:31 am
There’s no way I would remember to cancel in time.
October 4th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
I tried that once, and then when it came to cancelling, the company ignored my emails and phone calls (there was a machine for messages, not even a real person). They charged me for 3 months on a credit card before my cc card company got them to stop and did charge backs for the 3 fees. Learned my lesson- free isn’t worth it when you have to give them a charge card first!
October 4th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
This lawsuit is something akin to the people who sue because coffee is hot. It doesn’t matter if something is in small print, you should read things! I especially love the guy who says that he didn’t think there was any way for them to bill him so he didn’t bother to cancel - would you order phone service and then cancel your credit card so they couldn’t bill you? If people expect the companies to act honorably towards them, maybe they started doing this program because people never paid for services they used. These programs have been around for a LONG time before they started sending out checks.
I think this whole thing is just stupid. Then again, people are probably going to start suing their mortgage brokers for selling them ARMs, when they didn’t bother to read any of the paperwork. Caveat signor.
October 4th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
MB, I am with you. I rarely remember to cancel these “free money” offers, which is why I don’t participate. Kira, I am impressed with your diligence.