It’s been a while since I’ve posted due to some unforseen difficulties and my recent move to Florida. Anyway, I’m back and have been wanting to share a story with you that will hopefully alert Internet Marketing Newbies as to how important it is to read the fine print when purchasing and/or joining work at home opportunities online.
A couple of months ago a friend of mine went online looking for work she could do from home. She came across a work at home opportunity that looked good to her and was seemingly inexpensive. She paid the small amount to join and got started on trying to figure out what to do to start making money. A few days later she called me and said she thought she had messed something up with the blog she was given and I told her I’d see if I could help her fix it. When she told me the name of the program and said that it cost her under $2.00 I asked if she had read the TOS “Terms of Service”. She said she did and that the $1.97 was all they were charging her.
When I went into her account for this program the first thing I did was pull up the TOS (Terms of Service). Well, in the TOS it did state that they charge $1.97 for a 7 day trial period. But, after the trial period the cost would be $69.00/mo.! Of course I called her right away so she could cancel before the 7 days was up (knowing she couldn’t afford it).
So why did my friend think that she had read the TOS? Well, a lot of sales pages have a little box for you to check agreeing to the Terms of Service. It’s possible to think that what you’re reading above the box you have to check is what the terms are, but they aren’t the terms. Under the box there is usually a tiny link in fine print you can click on to read the TOS (although it could be somewhere else on the page). This link is easily overlooked since the sales page states that all you need to pay is $1.97. Well, there isn’t much out there for $1.97, so most likely you get a trial period then a monthly fee immediately after. Always, always click on the TOS link and read the terms.
Some sales pages will have a clause in fine print stating the trial period and monthly fee (this could be located anywhere on the page), so make sure to look closely and read everything on the page before purchasing.
I’m not saying that any of this is illegal, just that it’s a little deceiving, especially if you’re new at internet marketing.
You don’t want to end up overdrawing on your bank account or spending money you don’t have because of overlooking the TOS agreement. And yes, I admit it, this happened to me plenty of times when I was just starting out!
So, remember to….READ THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND EVERYTHING ELSE ON THE SALES PAGE BEFORE PURCHASING! This will save you a lot of headaches and money!
Take care,
Lori
