Complaint Review: Highbeam Research - Chicago Illinois

Hi. I was also scammed by HIghbeam and some other victims and I are working on filing a class action lawsuit against them and would love to speak with you.  Fortunately, a class action firm has agreed to take the case.  Thank you. Angela E of EastLongmeadow MA.  Here's my story:

Ultimate bait-and-switch rip-off and unauthorized charge for unrequested, unauthorized, unused and in-advance cancelled "yearly" membership! I was shocked at the blatant consumer protection violations by highbeam in charging in advance for a "yearly" membership despite the fact that I 1)did not request it, 2) did not utilize the services beyond the free-trial because I found the site worthless, 3)was charged a "monthy" $17.04 membership fee on 8/28/10 and THE SAME DAY charged a whopping $318.70 for what, upon inquiry, I was later informed was a "yearly membership" on top of a monthly membership, neither of which I wanted or authorized. Even the "free trial" was essentially worthless in what it offered so I had absolutely no interest in or use for a paid membership. I immediately called the company when I opened my MC bill and saw these outrageous and unauthorized charges. I spoke with a representative who identified herself as "Glenda" and was uncooperative and spewed out the standard company script about the "contract" and "terms." I informed her that these charges were 100% unauthorized and represented payment for their "service" for a whole year IN ADVANCE! I immediately cancelled the membership and demanded a full refund. After informing her that Highbeam was operating in direct violation of State and Federal consumer protection statutes and threatening to report them to the Attorney General's Office, she spoke with her supervisor "Karmen" and yes, they would issue a full refund immediately and cancel the billing for the "future" subscription. Imagine my surprise when I was notified by e-mail that, yes, they would and had cancelled my subscription (hold on for this...) However ... the "subscription" was to expire in September 2011!!! NO REFUND! I followed-up again (by e-mail) to again reiterate my cancellation and get the refund I requested and was promised, since I had no intention of using and had cancelled their "service" yet they refused to refund any money. The same alleged supervisor "Karmen" said "no refund" despite what I was initially told on the phone by Glenda who said Highbeam would refund the charges after discussing the matter with Karmen her "supervisor." I am looking into filing a class action case and seek certification on a nationwide-basis since it appears that they are scamming victims all over the country, over and over again with no accountability and there are certainly grounds for such a case. They are getting away with ripping people off because they know no individual can afford to bring an individual case since it would cost more than their claim. Sadly, they are stealing people's money because they can do it. I am grateful for this website to inform and hopefully protect and educate other unsuspecting consumers and to give us a voice. Fortunately, as a class action, there is strength and power in numbers and is the only mechanism to make Highbeam and other predatory internet companies financially accountable!!!

Highbeam Research is a site which allows you to search through news archives and pull up articles written years ago on a certain person, place or thing. Nothing terribly innovative, I believe there are dozens of sites offering this service... Highbeam.com is your run-of-the-mill auto-renewing free-trial scam. You sign up for a free trial, neglect to cancel it, and subsequently get charged. In this case, I needed some research which I would have been happy to pay for, maybe 10 or 20 dollars, but these monkeys charge $30 per month, which is a rip-off by itself. What really irks me is that I was on the site for one day, will likely never use it again, had planned on cancelling it, and have recently been charged $200 for a full year subscription. Most auto-renewal scams only get you for one month if you forget or can't cancel in time. This is non-refundable, period. I was charged for a full year subscrption and this cannot be changed. I asked to switch to a monthly account to try to recoup the other $170. The highbeam.com representative kindly informed me, after reading section 2.4 of the user agreement: You can change to monthly billing after the subscription expires... in February 2009. Normally, I don't get upset by this sort of thing but $200 is a lot of money. If they can charge $200, why not $1,500? I guess $200 must be the right amount: You can steal it and people won't make quite enough noise or cause enough problems to force the you to give it back. It's about as close to fraud as you can get, if you ask me. I truly hope the day will come when auto-renewal is something that you must expressly agree to apart from the user agreement. Companies like Highbeam Research make 99% of their money off this sort of thing and it drives me nuts. I should have gone to "WWW.ACCESSMYLIBRARY.COM" to get the exact same information for free.

Highbeam Research is a site which allows you to search through news archives and pull up articles written years ago on a certain person, place or thing. Nothing terribly innovative, I believe there are dozens of sites offering this service... Highbeam.com is your run-of-the-mill auto-renewing free-trial scam. You sign up for a free trial, neglect to cancel it, and subsequently get charged. In this case, I needed some research which I would have been happy to pay for, maybe 10 or 20 dollars, but these monkeys charge $30 per month, which is a rip-off by itself. What really irks me is that I was on the site for one day, will likely never use it again, had planned on cancelling it, and have recently been charged $200 for a full year subscription. Most auto-renewal scams only get you for one month if you forget or can't cancel in time. This is non-refundable, period. I was charged for a full year subscrption and this cannot be changed. I asked to switch to a monthly account to try to recoup the other $170. The highbeam.com representative kindly informed me, after reading section 2.4 of the user agreement: You can change to monthly billing after the subscription expires... in February 2009. Normally, I don't get upset by this sort of thing but $200 is a lot of money. If they can charge $200, why not $1,500? I guess $200 must be the right amount: You can steal it and people won't make quite enough noise or cause enough problems to force the you to give it back. It's about as close to fraud as you can get, if you ask me. I truly hope the day will come when auto-renewal is something that you must expressly agree to apart from the user agreement. Companies like Highbeam Research make 99% of their money off this sort of thing and it drives me nuts. I should have gone to "WWW.ACCESSMYLIBRARY.COM" to get the exact same information for free.