One of the down sides to business, especially online and TV sales business, is that for every ten honest small companies, there is one that practices with shady ethics; WC Budget Savers is a prime example. Look I am not one to ridicule, but the laundry list of offenses by this company is so long that it would take putting Neo back into the Matrix to stop the scamming and fraudulent activity and figure out what it is this company actually does.
Here’s what happens. You either go online or call some phone number from an infomercial to receive a product that you are intrigued by and purchase. During that conversation you unknowingly consent to a “Free Trial” for another service. Sometimes you will receive a call from these people offering you a free gift, but sometimes you don’t even get that! The reason why I say not at all, is because in some cases they do not even list what other companies they are affiliated with, but do tell you that they can sell or “share” your information. Here is an example of that from Flirty Girl. This happened to a client of mine who purchased their fitness DVDs from their TV commercial. Here is what their site says:
http://flirtygirlfit.com/privacy.html
Other Disclosures. We may share your personal information with carefully selected vendors, business partners and other organizations that are not a part of the Savvier Family. These companies may use the information we share to provide special opportunities and offers to you. If you do not want us to share information you provide to us with vendors, business partners and other organizations that are not part of the Savvier Family, please click here.
You have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the front page to get to the privacy link, which by the way is very small. Then after you get there you still have to read about 65% of their terms before you find this “other” portion. They do offer an “Opt Out” option, but it is set up in a way that you have to look for it. So if you have no idea where or what it is, POOF! You’re open to their offers!
Companies like WC Budget Savers pay for this information and then do whatever it is they do with it. In most cases consumers are being charged an array of different amounts from as little as $1.00 in the beginning to as much as $29.99 per month without even authorizing the charges. After the consumer discovers these charges, they begin a merry-go-round of phone calls to the different numbers that they have been provided. In some cases, the numbers listed are not even to the company but to personal cell phones of people who are not even involved. When the consumer finally gets through, they are promised a full refund. In some cases this has come to pass, in other cases not at all. Not only have these customers had to fight these charges, but some cases they were forced to close their bank accounts to ensure even further charges!
I can’t stress enough the needs for ethics in business, but if you are doing something like this, it probably won’t matter to you. The sad thing is it appears that WC Budget Savers might actually have a real service to offer, but at this point who cares? Why would anyone want to do business with a company that conducts themselves in this manner.
If you know of a fraudulent service or a company that is conducting themselves in a less than ethical way, please submit it to me at www.theworldbyphil.com. I will investigate it and tell everyone!
Until Next Time….
