Peel Inc. is an Internet company that sells a variety of products under multiple names and Web site addresses. If you like Seattle coffee, you may have seen one of their ads through seattlecoffeedirect.com. Looking for inexpensive art décor? Peel’s EspeciallyPosters.com and PosterPass.com sell a variety of posters just right for your new dorm or apartment. And even though a consumer complained the jewelry looked like the inexpensive children’s “pretend” jewelry, the company wasn’t pretending when they sold jewelry at a nearly $100 per order through shopdani.com. So, what’s the problem with the company and their 19 Web sites? Well, consumers throughout the US including Maryland allege they were hit with undisclosed and unauthorized charges, received shipments for products that were never actually ordered or authorized and are unable to stop the ongoing charges or get a refund. One consumer reported she ordered five pounds of coffee for $5.00 and was charged $38.00 for two pounds – and when she complained, they informed her she was now automatically signed up for another $38.00 shipment of coffee every three business days!
The complainants are fairly consistent. Consumers surf the Web or see a Facebook ad for a variety of products but if they order a pound of coffee, they receive multiple shipments and incur ongoing charges. Back to the “cheap jewelry” complainant...This woman reported after the initial $15 jewelry order, she received four additional orders at $89 each over the next four weeks. As a single mom with four kids and the holidays approaching, those unexpected charges caused serious overdraft fees, bounced checks and a holiday nightmare! Consumers such as “jewelry mom” have been forced to cancel their credit and debit cards as a last resort to stop the charges.
We are proud to say that after BBB went “public” with this story throughout the US, Peel Inc.’s Web sites are no longer active, but offer a phone number regarding refunds. Let’s just hope this time they answer the phone!
So what can you do to minimize the risk when ordering products online? BBB offers the following advice while shopping online:
- Make sure you read all policies, agreements, guarantees, and instructions (terms and conditions are often at the bottom of the site) before signing or giving a credit card number.
- Look for and be wary of vaguely worded provisions, exclusions or limitation or contradictory language on a Web site.
- Be extremely cautious of “free” or reduced price trial offers. Often the point of the trial offer is to get you to agree (in some cases – force you to agree) to enroll in a long-term program to purchase the items each month with no cancellation policy in sight!
- If you receive items you did not order, contact the company and then contact the bank and dispute any charges ASAP!
- And of course, check out any company’s report by visiting www.bbb.org. If you don’t know the company’s name, you can search using the URL.
Online shopping continues to grow leaps and bounds, but slipping on a “peel” is an easy thing to do unless you do your homework. Be careful out there and we’ll talk soon! Angie J
