I've Tried That - We lose money so you don't have to!

Be honest.

How many times have you actually read the ‘Terms & Conditions’ page that you agree to every time you sign up for something? I’m not here to lambaste anyone. It’s a simple question. I’ll start.

I pretty much never read them. Hey man. I’m only human. The only time I actually give them a once-over is when I’m signing up for something that requires my credit card information. You won’t believe some of things you’d find tucked away in there. Things like negative option billing offers that could cost you a lot of money if you’re not careful.

Negative option billing has been rearing it’s ugly head a lot on the Internet lately. Here’s how it works and why it sucks. You order something for “free” or for cheap (think “Just pay shipping & handling!”) but with your order comes a monthly subscription to one or a number of services. Regardless of whether you use them, or even know about them, you’ll be billed on a recurring basis for enrollment.

A reasonable person would ask, “Why not just not sign up for those services?” Because these subscriptions are usually hidden deep in the ‘Terms & Conditions page’ and thus you have the basis for this post.

Two Years of Loral Langemeier

I first covered Loral Langemeier and the Millionaire Maker Books nearly two years ago. Her business is still up and running and the complaints are still rolling in. Here are some recent horror stories I’ve received.

I am SO ANGRY!!!!

I am late into this. This morning I looked at a credit card statement because I wanted to pay off the card. I don’t really look at this account often because I don’t really use it; just autopay each month at this point. I found some charges for Loral Langemeier, $67.00 and $29.95. WHAT THE HECK??? Shoot, I couldn’t even remember who they were or what I had charged originally.

I went online to find out more about who the heck Loral Langemeier was and what was I thinking. Oh yeah….Millionaire Maker. I got the book in August, paid the $9.95 for shipping (another smart move) and a couple of weeks later got a call from the snottiest 20-something salesperson I have every spoken to in my life. He insulted me because obviously I was in my 40′s and still dumb enough to rely upon 401Ks and Deferred Comp plans and obviously if I had any ambition I would have started doing something about my retirement before now.

Then he proceeded to ask me what I wanted to do, what I didn’t even know what he meant. He said something about how they can find everyday things that people do but with their “special mentoring” can make bazillions but if I’m not willing to act ‘right now’ than obviously I’m not ready and I could just plan on staying on the same dumb track I was on now. Unbelievable.

I actually got so irritated with him that I asked him what kind of a stupid sales policy this was; to insult everyone of their potential customers after a one minute conversation where it was clear they had no idea what they were talking about.

I’ve been involved in International Sales & Marketing for years and now in the Transportation business at a level where some level of brain power is required.

I told him no, I wasn’t interested, you have no idea what you’re talking about, I had no interest in working with such rude people anyway. He kept coming at and I kept getting more surprised at how rude he was. Finally, I hung up on him!

I have never done that before! When I get sales calls I am usually polite and respectful because I know what it’s like to be on the other side.

Now I am on a rampage. I called the bank and they can’t help me until after I talk to LL. And I will be next week. They will get a very Merry Christmas from me.

After that first $9.95 in August, they have charged me $96.95/month ($67.00 +$29.95) for four months. I am now out $387!!

I will be demanding my refund, I will allege fraud to my State Attorney General’s office, the Attorney General for the state they operate in, I will call the radio station from which I heard the original commercial, and I will look at getting ad space on the very same radio station to warn the rest of the people about this fraud. These people are frauds. This will not happen to me again!

And another reader has written in with a similar story…

I just had the same thing to me!!! I ordered the program and before the 30 days was up called to cancel. Evan offered to let me have the program for $98 for life and said I had a few more days to decide on that and call back if I wanted it. I thought I had cancelled the $67 per month program, and we decided we didn’t want the lifetime offer so I didn’t call back. I just now discovered a $67 charge from them in Aug. so called my credit card company to dispute the charge .That’s when I learned that I had been charged in July and for Sept. already as well!!! for a total of $201!!!!!!!!!!!

I MADE A HUGE MISTAKE IN NOT CHECKING MY STATEMENTS REGULARLY SINCE THEY ARE AUTO PAY!!!!!!!!!! IF I HAD CHECKED I WOULD HAVE DISCOVERED IT AFTER THE FIRST CHARGE!!!!!! I HAD BEEN TRAVELLING A LOT AND GOT LAX ABOUT CHECKING MY STATEMENTS CLOSELY—BIG MISTAKE!!!!!!!!!!!

I also was told by the supervisor I spoke to, Amanda, that a refund was impossible. When I said I had cancelled she asked for my cancellation #, which I don’t have and don’t know if I got one. Her comment was that everyone knows that if you don’t get a cancellation number–then it wasn’t cancelled!!!!!! I went on to explain that I thought I had cancelled and that the other lifetime offer was separate and independent from my first offer of $67 per month. But I got no where!!!

They went ahead and started charging me every month knowing that I had called to cancel and also knowing that I didn’t want the lifetime offer either!!!!

These are just two of a rather large number of complaints out there. Here are a few links for more reference:

http://www.scamdetective.com/Real-Estate/Loral-Langemeier/Loral-Langemeier-honest-scam-reviews

http://www.friendsinbusiness.com/board1/index.cgi/noframes/read/156284

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/loral-langemeier-millionaire-maker-c300921.html

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080306133525AA0bSSQ (this is especially rich with complaints about Loral Langemeier!!)

http://www.johntreed.com/Langemeier.html

http://www.reviewopedia.com/loral-langemeier.htm

I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ll see of Loral Langemeier and we’re definitely nowhere near the end of negative option billing. You need to do your part and make sure you know who you’re dealing with online and start reading those ‘Terms & Conditions’ you usually ignore!

Five minutes could save you hundreds of dollars. Be safe out there!