Complaint Review: High Beam Research

Sometime ago I signed up for a "free" trial with High Beam Research when the monthly fee was 9.95. I failed to cancel so my bank account was charged 9.95/month. To be honest, I forgot about it and didn't notice electronic withdrawals from my bank account until just recently, only now the fee being withdrawn was 29.95/month!
I never use this service. I don't agree but can understand that according to their terms of agreement, they could continue to take my 9.95 per month even if I was not using the service but I never authorized anyone to continue the service when they raised the monthly fee to 29.95. I have paid literally hundreds of dollars for this service but when I called seeking a refund I was told they absolutely did not provide refunds under any circumstance even when they knew the service was not being used. They had just removed 29.95 from my account on 1/25/08. I was told that my High Beam account would be active for the next month; however, when I logged in on 2/4/08, I received the message that my membership had expired. After all the money I had given them for nothing, they now blocked me from using the service at all.

When I called I was told that Mr. Pedraza had authorized a refund of my last payment; therefore, my service was canceled immediately. No e-mail to advise me, not even a response to my online contact. I can't believe how a business can be so oblivious to customer service. My impression is that this is just a big scam. It isn't even a very good research tool. Definitely not worth even 9.95/month. I would strongly discourage anyone from subscribing to this service.

P
Akron, Ohio
U.S.A.

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