I was looking for an easy and more anonymous way to get therapy and came across 7 Cups. They advertise that you can talk to a therapist online for $5 per day, and you can cancel within a few days if you're not happy with the service. I went through the entire member sign up, including providing my card, after which point I was told the charge was actually $150. I never used the service, never spoke with my assigned therapist, and immediately - within an hour - e-mailed their support team to cancel my membership and avoid this charge. After days and days of back and forth, I received this e-mail:
"Hi there,
Thank you for providing your information and feedback. I appreciate your concern and frustration; however, we do not generally offer refunds. 7 Cups is an automatically renewing subscription service and it is ultimately the member's responsibility to cancel their subscription, or to take cancel within the trial period.
Furthermore, 7 Cups has a strict no refund policy, except under certain criteria listed below, and as stated in our Terms of Use (which you, the subscriber, agreed to), and as a result we will not be able to offer further refunds. No exceptions will be made.
Except as set forth by the below criteria, 7 Cups subscriptions are nonrefundable, and there are no refunds or credits for partially unused periods. Exceptions for charges specifically may be made if your account meets the following criteria (please note that this exception applies only to the most current charge):
- Your account has not been used since the most recent charge, AND
- Your request for a refund is made within thirty (30) days of the most recent charge.
I have reviewed your situation with the team and given that the above scenario applies in your situation, we have agreed to refund you for 50% of your subscription fee. Your refund of $75.00 has been processed and you can view your receipt using this link. It may take as long as 7-10 business days for your financial records to reflect the refund--every bank is different. Please check with them for more information on that timeline. Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions.
Take Care,
7 Cups Community Team"
I should never have been subject to a charge, or their rules on refunds because I cancelled the same day I signed up. To shorten this report, here is my reply:
"I didcancel within the trial period. I requested cancellation the same day I signed up for the service. It is no fault of mine that it has taken your customer service team weeks to respond to me. As you can see, my first e-mail to your team was on August 18, which your records should show was also the day I signed up. It took your team 3 days to respond. I then followed the instructions provided to me within 24 hours. It then took your team another 4 days to respond, requesting a form, which should have been requested in the initial e-mail on August 21. I filled out the form and waited 12 days for a response before e-mailing again. See the e-mail records below
Now you refuse to grant me a full refund because it was not within the trial period. I jumped through all of your hoops. It took your company a full 20 days to respond to my request, which was made timely and well within the trial period. To reiterate, I requested cancellation within a matter of hours, not days, and by the fault of your customer service team I was not granted the same. Your company also charged me for a service I never used, and tried to cancel within 24 hours, while I was in the midst of attempting to cancel.
Please process a full refund on my card or I will be forced to take legal action here in Virginia up to and including reporting your false and misleading business practices to the Better Business Bureau."
It is extremely low to take advantage of people who are seeking help for mental illness. 7 Cups is a scam and they do not care about helping people - only getting that $150 as quickly as they can.