Health

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Free Sample: No Obligation to Buy?

pain cream smallWho 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:

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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.

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Levitra Pulls a Boner

On the promotional package of Levitra (a pill like Viagra used to make Mr. Happy stand at attention), the company boldly claims that “Levitra is clinically proven to work for men with erectile disfunction, even those with high blood pressure…”

Levitra

At the bottom of the page is this typical warning:

*MOUSE PRINT: “Please see Important Safety Information on back panel.”

The back panel spells out various possible dire consequences such as erections lasting longer than four hours, and sudden loss of vision or hearing. It also warns:

*MOUSE PRINT:

Levitra

One has to wonder how many people with high blood pressure may have only seen the big print representation that Levitra was seemingly safe for those with high blood pressure, but missed the smaller but stiffer warning to steer clear.

Clarification: The warning is actually a two-part one for those with high blood pressure: (1) For those with high blood pressure but taking drugs to control it, you are advised to consult your doctor before taking this drug; and (2) for those with uncontrolled blood pressure, you are advised not to take the drug at all. This is substantially different on both counts from the unqualified advertised claim that Levitra is suitable for people even with high blood pressure.

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Kaiser Health Insurance: $3 a Day?

Everyone knows that health care costs are going through the roof, and as a result so is the price of health insurance. So when Kaiser Permanente advertised coverage for only $3 a day, it caught Mouse Print*’s attention.

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Coverage for prescriptions, doctors’ visits, hospitalization, and emergency care for only $3 a day?  Wow!

After trying zip codes in Massachusetts, New York, and Illinois with no coverage available, a Maryland zip code finally yielded some policies and prices. 

*MOUSE PRINT:  A policy for one 50-something male would cost monthly:

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No policy was anywhere close to the advertised $3 a day, and the best plan was seven times higher. In fact, at least in Maryland, you would have to be in your 30s or younger to find a policy at the advertised price. And what do you get for your premium dollar even at over twice the advertised price?  You must first pay $8,000 out of your own pocket (in addition to the premiums) before you get “free” doctors’ visits and hospitalization coverage.

Kaiser’s $3 ad is a come on without adequate disclosure that it applies with severe coverage limitations and applies to a narrow segment of customers.