DS Water Sparkletts Used deceptive sales and billing tactics to bury the $100 cancellation fee Los Angeles, California
I should have seen this one coming. I rent an office in an executive office building. I encountered a nice, but fast talking water serviceman at my door, asking if I wanted service. He opened with "the person here in the office before me used the service" (which wasn't actually true... duh) and "that this is easy, cheap and only a few bucks a month". It made sense... rent the cooler for a few bucks a month and they would be by to change out the water.
I asked about canceling, and he said it would be easy breezy... and if I wanted I could always just put a hold on the account for a few months, no problem. Next thing I know I had a contract in front of me... but since he was one foot out the door already and needed to run, I did take the time (shame on me) to see buried in the contract that technically this is a year commitment, and an early termination fee is $100 (with a three day grace period. three days).
In the scheme of scams, this isn't "the worst" by any means, but the sales tactics are designed to make you overlook the cancellation fee and not make you realize you are obligating yourself to a year contract. Fool me once, shame on me. But this is your first warning people... so fool you twice, then shame on you. Be careful with DS Waters.