- Report: #1045041
Complaint Review: Stamps.com - Internet
-
Author Confirmed
Why?
Stamps.com
Internet, United States of America
Phone:
Web:
http://stamps.com/welcome/
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good?
Stamps.com Not illegal but Not scrupulous Internet
I received a Stamps.com solicitation in the mail and, after some deliberation, bought the package with the scale and some coupons that expired before I could straighten out the hiccup with software [incompatible with Mac OS]. I had some nagging feelings, considered sending the stuff back but rationalized the so-called savings.
I did not realize -- i.e. didn't read the fine print -- I was signing up for subsequent monthly charges when I "registered" my account on line with Stamps.com. I also believed the USPS logo up there, thinking they were
connected. Clever marketing, that.
Unfortunately I did not realize that I'd been assessed $15.99 per month on my VISA card until 6 months had passed. I do not remember authorizing that subscription and told the service rep Jay that when I called the toll-free number on my cc statement.
I told Jay that I'd only used the service a couple times for packages [not saving a darn thing, in fact making those packages quite expensive!]. He was smoothly apologetic but wouldn't let me just cancel. He offered perks -- reduction in monthly fee to $9.99/month & more coupons -- but wouldn't reimburse me for my newest payment [since it reflects FUTURE service, they can't reimburse. Funny logic that].
They try to keep you as a customer by offering up these "bargains" or promises of waivers if you'd just continue. If GoInternet.net can be brought down by their shady ways perhaps Stamps.com can also be exposed.
I should've known better. I worked as a telemarketer [for the briefest time allowed by the company so I could collect my only paycheck, essentially giving notice on my first day of work at GoInternet.net in Philadelphia in 2003.
They were fined and shut down eventually].
Scams like this take advantage of peoples trust, hoping you don't read the fine print. Its a totally unnecessary service set up with the intent to bamboozle un- or half-wary folks to signing up for something they dont reallyneed. Im embarrassed, thinking I was fool-proof. All it takes is a distracting
moment and you can get hooked.
I did not realize -- i.e. didn't read the fine print -- I was signing up for subsequent monthly charges when I "registered" my account on line with Stamps.com. I also believed the USPS logo up there, thinking they were
connected. Clever marketing, that.
Unfortunately I did not realize that I'd been assessed $15.99 per month on my VISA card until 6 months had passed. I do not remember authorizing that subscription and told the service rep Jay that when I called the toll-free number on my cc statement.
I told Jay that I'd only used the service a couple times for packages [not saving a darn thing, in fact making those packages quite expensive!]. He was smoothly apologetic but wouldn't let me just cancel. He offered perks -- reduction in monthly fee to $9.99/month & more coupons -- but wouldn't reimburse me for my newest payment [since it reflects FUTURE service, they can't reimburse. Funny logic that].
They try to keep you as a customer by offering up these "bargains" or promises of waivers if you'd just continue. If GoInternet.net can be brought down by their shady ways perhaps Stamps.com can also be exposed.
I should've known better. I worked as a telemarketer [for the briefest time allowed by the company so I could collect my only paycheck, essentially giving notice on my first day of work at GoInternet.net in Philadelphia in 2003.
They were fined and shut down eventually].
Scams like this take advantage of peoples trust, hoping you don't read the fine print. Its a totally unnecessary service set up with the intent to bamboozle un- or half-wary folks to signing up for something they dont reallyneed. Im embarrassed, thinking I was fool-proof. All it takes is a distracting
moment and you can get hooked.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
StampsComCorp
Los Angeles,California,
Stamps.com Response
#2UPDATE Employee
Tue, April 23, 2013
Hi Pearl-in-Woods,
Stamps.com appreciates your feedback, and apologizes for any misunderstanding.
We offer a four week no-risk trial so that you may use our online postage service and determine if the service fits your mailing and shipping needs. If you do not like the Stamps.com service, you may cancel at any time during the four week trial period and you will not be charged any subscription fee for using the service. However if you do not cancel the Stamps.com service and go past your four week trial period, you will be charged $15.99 for using the service during that first "trial" month. After you pass the four week trial period and become a regular customer, you will be charged $15.99 each month moving forward. You may cancel at any time -- there is no long term agreement.
We do provide and disclose terms that we do expect all potential customers to read, review, and agree to before they create their accounts. During the registration process for Stamps.com and before a customer's account has been created, (on the page called Postage Account Credit Card Authentication) all prospective customers will see the following text:
Why do you need my credit card information?
Your credit card is required by the USPS to set up your USPS postage account. Your credit card will not be charged unless you buy additional postage or Stamps.com products, or if you continue past the NO-RISK 4-week trial period.
We do not represent ourselves as the United States Post Office, but as an approved USPS PC Postage vendor. From your comment, it also sounds like you had a difficult time cancelling the service. While our Customer Service Representatives will try to explain the benefits of the software, the entire cancellation process should not have taken more than 5 minutes on the phone. You should also have been provided with a cancellation reference number and this information should have been emailed to you shortly after. Was this reference number not made available to you? We record all calls for quality and if any of our internal procedures were not followed, we would be happy to further research your particular cancellation call and account. Could you e-mail us your full name, phone number and details of your conversation to [email protected]?
Sincerely,
Divya
Stamps.com
