Electronics

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30 Day Risk Free Trials and Lowball Prices

Most of us are used to seeing infomercials where a product is offered with a free trial period. You pay the advertised price, and then if you decide you don’t like the product, you return it, and get your money back.

Now, there is a new breed of promotion,  like this PowerMeter ad. It appears you pay $9.95 for the device that measures the speed of your golf swing, and if you don’t like it, you can return it within 30 days.

If on the other hand you like it,  you might assume that you just keep it. Not so fast.

*MOUSE PRINT:

“If after 30 days you still like the Medicus Power Meter, then it’s just 4 payments of $19.95” … PowerMeter website

So the $9.95 advertised price is the price of the “risk free trial”, not the price of the item. If you keep the PowerMeter, it will cost you a total $89.75 . 

The total price of the item may come as a surprise to purchasers who assumed the price  that was advertised was in fact the price of the product. To make matters worse, most infomercials that use this new technique of advertising, don’t disclose the actual cost of the product itself in the commercial even in mouse print. 

Incidentally, if you don’t keep the product, it isn’t even clear if you get your $9.95 back because this was not a “free trial” but a “risk free trial.”

Thanks to Eric from the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection for this submission.

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Which Company Really Offers the Most HD?

For a while last year, it seems like every cable and satellite provider was claiming to have the most HD programming. If they all claim to have more, someone’s not telling the truth.

Here is DirecTV’s “To Tell the Truth” commercial claiming to have more HD than Dish Network or cable.

But then you had Comcast claiming to have more HD than satellite:

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Can you believe anyone? DirecTV challenged Comcast’s claims before the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Better Business Bureau, where the organization reviewed Comcast’s claims in TV commercials such as:

· “More HD”
· “Comcast has more HD than satellite. More HD than anyone.”
· “More HD choices”
· “More HD Options”
· “You might think DIRECTV has more HD than Comcast but you’re wrong!”

Here is part of NAD’s ruling.

*MOUSE PRINT:

“Following its review of the evidence, NAD determined that DIRECTV currently offers the most HD channels and Comcast, by combining its HD channels and HD On Demand library, currently offers the broadest selection of HD programming. NAD also determined that “claims like ‘More HD Choices’ or ‘More HD Options’ is a logical way to describe the combination of linear HD channels and HD content On Demand available to Comcast subscribers.” However, NAD also found that, depending on the context in which such claims appear, they could also be reasonably interpreted to mean “More HD channels” – as the challenger argued. NAD recommended that that the advertiser modify five separate commercials to avoid consumer confusion.”

The bottom line is that both companies confused the public as to the quantity of HD offerings they had. So if you are shopping for a new provider, look at the channel lineup of each company to see what is actually being offered in your area.

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When is a Wal-mart Rollback Not a Price Reduction?

T.B. of Ohio wrote to Mouse Print* about a V. Smile V. Motion learning system he saw in April at Wal-mart advertised at a “rollback” price of $49.00.

He questioned the legitimacy of the discount, given the fine print and his personal experience in buying the item previously.

*MOUSE PRINT: The rollback sign was posted on 2/17/10.

What’s wrong with that? T.B. bought the very same item at the very same price at the very same Wal-mart two and half months earlier —  in December 2009. He even provided his sales receipt as proof:

So how could there be a rollback with no savings? A Wal-mart spokesperson responded to Mouse Print*:

“Walmart has recently said that we are stepping up both the number and depth of Rollbacks and communication of those Rollbacks to our customers. Yes, this toy was on Rollback last fall for the Christmas Holiday. We have simply extended the savings beyond our normal 90-day Rollback period on this toy, and the date on the sign reflects the date the Rollback was re-posted in the store.”

Who knew that a rollback was only temporary, first of all, let alone that it could be renewed?