TACOMA, Wash. - Don Arsenault is a big guy with a huge problem. It started when he saw a commercial for the Video Professor offering training CD's for Excel, "And if you call right now, I'll send any lesson of your choice free."
Free? That's a great price! Or is it?
"I went to my credit card statement and I saw that I had two charges on my credit card."
Yes, the Video Professor training series is not free entirely free. Don had 10 days to call and cancel. If not, the company keeps sending CD's and charging customers $189 a pop. So after his Excel training CD's arrived, guess what?
"Then I got another one. I thought it was a mistake," he said.
Don again raised his hand and asked the Professor to just stop. But by that time another package and charge had arrived.
"Then I told my secretary to just send it back, don't even open it, I don't want it, they are not living up to what they said," he said.
Don got caught up in "negative option billing" - popular with TV offers.
Here's how it works: Don calls the company and agrees to try a free product, but if he doesn't cancel within a certain amount of time, the business will start sending products and charging his card until he says stop.
"I think it's real sneaky, I really do," he said.
But when Don called and the company did not provide a refund, he called me. I reached the company who apologized for the problem and immediately issued a $400 refund.
"I don't know what kind of magic you have, but you get through, man," said Don.
Here's a tip: If a product is advertised as free and they ask for your credit card number, you may want to think twice before making the deal.
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