By partnering with Better
Business Bureau and Visa, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) intends to
educate people about deceptive ‘free trial’ offers,
which can become expensive commitments in the long run.
Who doesn’t like to try out new products, especially if
someone offers
them free? We certainly do! However, the one thing you need to be
careful about
when signing up for a free trial is the terms and conditions. Because
if you
aren’t, you could find yourself signed up and, worse still, paying for
a product or service that you really don’t want.
This is why the FTC has decided to team up with Visa and
Better Business Bureau
to warn customers about such false free trials offered by spammers and
bogus
companies. Apart from issuing warnings, the FTC should also release a
pamphlet
containing specific parameters which marketers will have to comply with
when
they offer free trials.
For one, it should be mandatory for all companies offering
free trials to
disclose all the terms and conditions attached with the offer
conspicuously.
This will prevent situations like the one where a company called
Commerce Planet
was giving customers a "free online auction kit" to guide them for
selling items on sites like eBay and earning some extra cash.
The only snag about this arrangement, as discovered by the
FTC, was that Commerce
Planet did not inform consumers who were signing up that they were also
automatically
signing up for the company's "Online Supplier" program priced at
$59.95 per month, if they didn't cancel inside a few days of the order.
It may also be a good idea to introduce a new legislation for
the same purpose
so that companies will know exactly what they need to do. The aim of
such legislation
should be to increase transparency on terms and conditions so that
customers
have access to complete information about the product or service they
are signing
up for.
If the free trials are given with information provided clearly
up front, customers
will be encouraged to try products without fear and companies can
expect better
response from their customers.
At Benchmark Email, we make a conscious effort to keep
customers informed
about ALL the costs involved so that you know exactly how much you are
paying
for our best-in-class service.
See for yourself : free email
marketing services for life!
Source: http://www.clickz.com/3635943
