Complaint Review: WPI* IFRIENDS - Internet

I filed a complaint against this site earlier in the year, with the Better Business Bureau. One of their chathosts misrepresented herself to me, so she could hustle money from me. In an MSN messenger chat, she presented herself as an employee. Granted she didn't utilize a part of their site to it. But any misrepresentation of oneself is illegal. I brought this to ifriends attention, and they accused me of making accounts using someone else's credit card. But showed no proof to me of doing so. They sent me emails with the alleged account usernames in the subject line, but did not authenticate any of them being made by me. When the BBB comlaint was closed. They slandered me with accusations of making threatening and defamatory comments against them. None of which is true or proven by them. They provided me a number for one their representatives in the report as well.After I spoke with him. Later that day I found a nasty email from their lawyer. He was rude and threatening me with a lawsuit, but had no basis do so. I would of contacted a lawyer to represent me, but ifriends representatives and their legal department would of only twisted the facts around so much. Just to further discredit me. I can't even afford a lawyer, so the chathost was allowed to get away with her scamming me by deliberately attaching a misrepresentation of herself to their site.

That the majority of complaints on here are those that say they did not sign up for the site themselves and are disputing the charges for that reason. I do not feel that it's iFriends fault if someone gets a hold of someone's information and uses it unbeknownst to the owner of the card. That is not fraud, scamming, or a rip off on iFriends part. That's fraud, scamming, and ripoffs on the part of the person that "allegedly" used the owner's card and information. If someone really did use their card that wasn't themselves that's who these people need to be going after. Not saying that if it indeed was someone else using their card that they shouldn't ask for their money back. I do totally agree it should be refunded ( and from what I have seen it does get refunded ). But to go and attack iFriends personally for being ripped off by someone using their information. Sorry, that's just wrong in so many ways. iFriends is just as secure as any place on the internet that allows CC transactions and has been around a very long time with obviously more customers being pleased than not. I happen to be a host and a member and I'm very pleased. I also see a few that say they actually signed up, but it's obvious they didn't read the site well enough to know that Elite and VIP memberships do create more charges along with the fact they may have signed up for either fanclubs or have gone to see the chathosts in live video shows. When you sign a contract offline, don't you read EVERY detail of that contract or do you skip through it and sign it? I seriously doubt that you do the latter, so it's no different online. All details ( links, fine print, large print, FAQ ) should be read CAREFULLY and with diligence. I'm not saying iFriends is perfect. It's an online business that has glitches and faults just like any other online business. Stuff happens. This however, has nothing to do with other people stealing your info, you signing up for something you didn't read carefully, or denying you signed up to something because you are hiding the fact you looked at porn on the internet *gasp* ;) If I were iFriends, I'd sue every single one of the people that are causing them to lose business because of their rash and inexcusible temper tantrums and not to mention irrationable statements of scams, fraud, and rip-offs! However, that's just me and they tend to handle things on a much better level. Thank you, iFriends!

Well, they told me they reversed the $8.95 charge, which they said was probably a monthly fee for the supposedly FREE membership. But of course I'll keep a sharp eye on my credit card statement. Maybe they think if they repeat that "clear and conspicuous" line often enough someone will believe it. I encourage anyone who has had problems with this company to file a report with the BBB, even if they've given you a refund. At least they should know the number of people who have had problems.

Well, they told me they reversed the $8.95 charge, which they said was probably a monthly fee for the supposedly FREE membership. But of course I'll keep a sharp eye on my credit card statement. Maybe they think if they repeat that "clear and conspicuous" line often enough someone will believe it. I encourage anyone who has had problems with this company to file a report with the BBB, even if they've given you a refund. At least they should know the number of people who have had problems.

Well, they told me they reversed the $8.95 charge, which they said was probably a monthly fee for the supposedly FREE membership. But of course I'll keep a sharp eye on my credit card statement. Maybe they think if they repeat that "clear and conspicuous" line often enough someone will believe it. I encourage anyone who has had problems with this company to file a report with the BBB, even if they've given you a refund. At least they should know the number of people who have had problems.

Well, they told me they reversed the $8.95 charge, which they said was probably a monthly fee for the supposedly FREE membership. But of course I'll keep a sharp eye on my credit card statement. Maybe they think if they repeat that "clear and conspicuous" line often enough someone will believe it. I encourage anyone who has had problems with this company to file a report with the BBB, even if they've given you a refund. At least they should know the number of people who have had problems.

I don't think I've read a response yet that someone was satisfied that this company took care of their "mistake" (of conveniently blaming all those who have an issue with being ripped off). The age verification is a crap excuse anymore anyway as all a minor needs to do is grab a parent's CC.

I don't think I've read a response yet that someone was satisfied that this company took care of their "mistake" (of conveniently blaming all those who have an issue with being ripped off). The age verification is a crap excuse anymore anyway as all a minor needs to do is grab a parent's CC.

I don't think I've read a response yet that someone was satisfied that this company took care of their "mistake" (of conveniently blaming all those who have an issue with being ripped off). The age verification is a crap excuse anymore anyway as all a minor needs to do is grab a parent's CC.

I don't think I've read a response yet that someone was satisfied that this company took care of their "mistake" (of conveniently blaming all those who have an issue with being ripped off). The age verification is a crap excuse anymore anyway as all a minor needs to do is grab a parent's CC.

If their charges are so "clearly and conspicuously disclosed" then why are so many people complaining? I signed up for this ONLY because it stated it was free and that word was used multiple times as I stated above. Had there been any indication at any point in the registration process that I was going to be charged for this "FREE" membership I would have stopped immediately. They could easily fix this by not representing the membership as FREE if it isn't and making it clear to the user that his credit card will be charged instead of saying it will be used for age verification only. But apparently they have built a successful business model by continuing to misrepresent their product, making unauthorized withdrawals from unsuspecting victims, then "cheerfully" reversing the charge if you're lucky enough to notice it, and using the same boilerplate response when someone complains on a site like this. Somehow they manage to maintain a "satisfactory" rating with the BBB, which apparently is happy as long as each customer who complains gets his money back.

Shortly before posting this RipOffReport complaint, Ken contacted us directly to discuss a charge that he received on his credit card. While the standard iFriends membership carries no charge, the charge mentioned by Ken in the above complaint was for premium membership services expressly requested by him. The membership in which he opted to enroll was a premium-level membership, and included the fees mentioned in his report. This charge was clearly and conspicuously disclosed in advance. No customer can incur charges as specified in Ken's complaint without advance disclosure of such charges and numerous multiple click-throughs by the customer to indicate his acknowledgement and affirmative consent to such charges. Although, as detailed above, it is not possible for any customer to be charged if he has not affirmatively chosen to access premium services, because customer service is our number one priority, we have issued refunds for the charge in question. At the time of Ken's phone call, the customer service representative verified that the charge would be refunded. However, it seems that Ken was not completely satisfied with our handling of the situation. We recognize that Ken was frustrated with his experience on iFriends, and we sincerely regret any misimpressions that Ken has regarding our company. We strongly encourage Ken to contact our Customer Service Department and ask to speak to a Customer Service Manager, who can resolve any issues that may remain. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by calling (800) 243-9726. Our company has a spotless 11-year-record with all of the leading consumer protection agencies, and we are an industry leader in the development of model online consumer best practices. Every one of our web services is verified by TRUSTe to be on its sealholder list of "the most trustworthy online businesses." All prices and terms on our service are clearly and conspicuously disclosed, including use of prominent icons and multiple clickthroughs, in any instance in which a customer will incur charges. In addition, our "Customer is Always Right" policy ensures that we take action sufficient to obtain each customer's complete satisfaction, including making refunds for any charges which a customer has incurred but disputes.

In my haste to write the above I neglected to verify the number of complaints about these rip-off artists. I should have said "over 250" rather than "300".