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FTC Takes Action Against Misleading ‘Free Trial’ Offers

Dec 28 2009, 10:44 AM 

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

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