Free Sample: No Obligation to Buy?
Who doesn’t like free samples, right? So when this offer of a free sample of PainVanish pain relieving cream arrived, a Mouse Print* reader was anxious to give it a try.
It promised to bring “freedom from your aches and pains.” And all you have to do is cut out the little “I want relief” sticker and place it on the free sample coupon for mailing back to the company.
There is small print repeated multiple times that says the free sample is just “for trying our ‘No-Obligations-To-Buy’ Service”. While one might reasonably conclude that the sample you are going to get is the way this company will try to induce you to place future orders if you like the product, they have something else planned. This disclosure is on the back of the brochure, not the back of the tear off coupon:
*MOUSE PRINT:
Translation: This is really a “pain cream of the month” club. If you don’t tell them to cancel, a month after your free sample arrives, you will first get a two ounce tube of cream for $14.99 plus unspecified shipping and handling charges, and then every month thereafter you will get a four ounce tube for $24.99 plus shipping and handling. You are not just getting a simple free sample by replying to this offer.
Negative option plans such as this are required to clearly and conspicuously disclose the continuing nature of the offer and to get you to affirmatively agree to it. Whether this disclosure meets that test is for a judge to decide.
This pain relief offer may turn out to be a pain itself if you didn’t read the fine print.
This is one of my biggest pet peeves and I thing these kind of “negative option plans” should be outlawed all together.
Comment by Shawn — June 2, 2008 @ 8:20 amI agree. Negative option programs should be prohibited. Let the product sell itself. This is one of the most deceitful programs I have seen recently.
Comment by John P. — June 2, 2008 @ 1:07 pmI take the old adage to heart – “Nothing in this word is truly free.” when I see such offers. Either they stick to you in “handling & shipping fees” or these negative options. Best to avoid any product that ask for credit card, when it’s suppose to be free. If you do take one of these offers, will a one-time credit card number suffice in preventing such abuse?
Comment by Pietro W — June 2, 2008 @ 5:06 pmDid anyone else notice that the special price of the introductory 2oz tube is more than half the price of the 4oz tube? Special price indeed.
Comment by Drak — June 4, 2008 @ 5:59 amno, a one time cc num will not suffice (such as the one that citicards offers on its site) because they will have your name and info. they may continue to send you bills or send the payment off to a collection agency.
Comment by scir91 from YouTube — June 4, 2008 @ 8:33 amI just called these people to “let them have it” and now they are sending me one of the 2 oz. tubes absolutely free . . . no shipping, no handling, no strings attached. They were actually pretty nice when I talked to them. I can’t wait for all my pains to just vanish away!
Comment by Shawn — June 6, 2008 @ 11:54 amSorry I meant to post their phone number so you can get your own FREE tube!
PainVanish®
Comment by Shawn — June 6, 2008 @ 11:59 am1-877-842-8637
I just called them and they gave me a free sample.. and im getting another one two weeks after I receive my first order!!!
Comment by Kristen — June 10, 2008 @ 7:42 pmAm I imagining things. But it sounds like some of these comments are coming the company itself.
Comment by lorna — June 25, 2008 @ 5:40 amIf it sounds too good to be true, then it is.
Comment by Jerry Russo — July 14, 2008 @ 7:28 amThis one really urked me. I received the free sample. Tried it, didn’t work.
Comment by j — August 7, 2008 @ 1:35 pmDidn’t mail anything back either. About a month later I received a tube of Vanish
that I did NOT order. Along with a bill. I sent it back, postage due. Then I kept
receiving bills saying I had to pay for it. Finally, I wrote and told this company
off. I explained everything and refused to pay the bill. I never heard
anything again. These offers are ridiculous and are just trying to get you to
use their product. When you receive a free sample from anywhere that you did not
ask for, put it back in the mailbox, mark it REFUSED. Hopefully that will get
the message through.
And this is why I don’t accept free samples of anything anymore. They literally count on you forgetting 30 or 60 days from now to call and cancel the product, subscription, etc. It’s ridiculous. If you really want me to have a free sample, give it to me and if I like it, I will order from you after I try it out. I don’t need to be automatically enrolled in anything.
Comment by Greg — November 16, 2008 @ 5:55 pmI had the same sort of experience with ProActive acne treatment, a few years ago. Except, it was NOT a free sample. I ordered a kit of the various products (from their website), at the regular price. Then they sent me another, unsolicited kit the next month, with an invoice! When I called about it, they told me that, when ordering the first kit, I had agreed to a monthly subscription, simply by ordering the first one! Apparently, it was in tiny “mouseprint” writing, somewhere on the website. They did agree to take the kit back, pay the shipping, and cancel the “subscription”. (By the way, the combination of ProActive solutions did work very well on my teenaged son’s acne. But it was too expensive to keep buying every month.)
I had another such experience with “Hercules Hooks”, one of those “as seen on t.v.” products. The hooks are good, but they started sending them to me every month, and debiting my credit card! It took several calls and a threat of legal action to get them to stop.
Comment by Linda — March 4, 2009 @ 7:12 pm