Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  13/03/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I signed up for a free trial from HR Insider--likely agreed to terms and conditions, thinking those are pretty standard. There was nothing overtly expressed about being charged some $700 (laughable for a digital subscription to any magazine) when the free trial ended. I did receive phone calls but assumed they were marketing and am dedicated to prioritizing my actual job. I was sent an invoice--reached out to cancel the membership, I did not find it useful, and the company responded to tell me I cannot cancel the membership. I definitely did not use the service past the first few days I looked for some information on a couple of topics. Thought I should file a complaint with the BBB before turning this over to corporate.

  Business response

  13/03/2023

  It is clearly documented on the landing page that the trial auto-converts after 14 days to a full membership, and this must be agreed upon before being able to gain access, download a special report, attend a webinar or receive any other marketing incentive used to generate interest.

  Our process is meticulously followed and it includes outreach of a minimum of 7 emails and 8 phone calls, with messages, always confirming the agreed upon conversion to a full membership, but that you can let us know you don't want to proceed at any time.

  *************** opted in to the conversion at 4:05pm on Feb 23rd.

  First email and phone call at 5:33am Feb 24th, left a voicemail at 10:02am

  Another email and call on the 27th, with confirmation that the email was opened.

  Another email and call on the 28th, with confirmation that the email was opened.

  Another email and call on March 1st, with confirmation that the email was opened.

  Another email and call on March 2nd, with confirmation that the email was opened.

  Another email and call on March 3rd, with confirmation that the email was opened.

  Another email and call on March 7th, with confirmation that the email was opened.

  Another email and call on March 9th, with confirmation that the email was opened.

  Another email and call on March 10th, with confirmation that the email was opened.

  We received an email today saying she did not want the membership after it had been processed, her account migrated and the invoice sent. I also have records of *************** accessing the resource multiple times through the engagement.

  There is a resolution path for canceling after a close, but I have no record of contact made other than the email late Friday evening and this BBB complaint on Monday. We are completely transparent in all our communications of our processes and aim to deliver the highest value HR compliance solutions in ******.

  If *************** would like to reconcile with the company, I would invite her to speak directly with *****, her sales rep, to find a solution that works for all.

   

  Customer response

  13/03/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Emails were received Friday, Feb 24th, Mon Feb 27th, Wed Mar 1 and then the invoice on Mar 10.  Only one of the emails prior to the invoice being sent on March 10 had a disclaimer at the bottom about the terms and conditions which was easily overlooked because it's all advertising.  Also do not see any reference to procedure for resolution in the terms and agreements.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  Business response

  14/03/2023

  I have attached a screenshot of the trial form, with the language for the conversion process highlighted as well as the checkbox and link to the terms.

  I have also attached a screenshot of the last paragraph of each of the emails received that also document the conversion process and link to the terms.

  There is a dispute resolution process with the business development rep that closed this trial and has sent the invoices, emails, and made the calls. What I do not understand is why a complaint was filed with BBB when we have been 100% transparent in our communication, the process was agreed to, and there is a process to communicate directly with the company to resolve it. The first email communication to dispute was received less than 4 days ago (2 days after the conversion of your membership), after hours on the Friday, but the BBB complaint was filed on Monday. Such complaints can be detrimental to a business. Our process of auto-conversion is a common online purchase agreement, like that used by streaming and other **** services. This was opted into, and reminders were sent out throughout the initial trial period. It was only after the invoice was received that communication to cancel was sent out, at a cost to our business for processing & fulfillment.

  Of course we would prefer to keep you as a member, and your business development rep had been alerted to respond to you by phone the next working day (Monday) after initially responding in email that you had lapsed in your cancellation notice period, but you had already filed a complaint with BBB and escalated this to a level that seems intentional.

  We pride ourselves on:

  - helping businesses with their compliance and training needs, being compliant with all regulatory standards ourselves, and offering a **** solution that saves time and money

  - repeatedly communicating the purchase process, allowing people full access to the **** solution to review before becoming full members

  - on communicating the terms associated with this full access and giving you multiple channels to opt-out, whether online, via email, or telephone

  - doing multiple outreaches via different channels to engage you and help you get the most value out of this open access (not something you get from a streaming service).

  It is absolutely critical that the BBB fully understand that we have NOT done anything illegal or unethical; that we have been transparent throughout the entire marketing and purchasing funnel; that we have also been burdened with additional cost of time and resources to respond to this complaint, filed within a business day of the first notification to cancel, after the expired trial period.

   

• Initial Complaint

  02/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Someone in the HR department at my work signed up for an HR insider free trial. I was away on maternity leave when this happened. Then I kept getting emails from this company about this free trial. I did not respond because I thought it was just spam. Then one day I randomly got an email invoice for a whole year subscription which I had never signed up for! I emailed the Representative back saying to cancel right away, and she refused. This person had not even entered in the right information for sign up, yet they went and found out my personal information anyway and decided to start the trial without my approval and then charge me for a whole year subscription also. They never confirmed anything with me, did not even get a credit card number to confirm if the subscription was even wanted. They are just trying to get money and don't even confirm it with you in person, they just charge without getting consent. To come back from maternity leave after having to leave my kids all day to come to work and provide for them, then dealing with this is just complete nonsense. This company is a ****

  Business response

  16/11/2022

  We offer a free 10-day trial on HR Insider. This 10-day free trial auto converts to a full membership after the trial ends. This is outlined in our terms and conditions which is included in 5 emails directed to the subscriber during the 10 day memberships. These emails state that the trial is bound by our terms and conditions. Additionally, there were 5 voicemails left which notified her of the free trial converting to a paid membership if the trial was not cancelled before the end of the trial.

  
  Modern Beauty and more specifically, ****** ******, has been signing up and using HR Insiders content for years (dating back to 2019): Free webinars, trials, free downloads and we have the records to back this up. ****** is well aware of our company and products.

  
  She did not cancel her free trial and as a result her trial converted into a paid membership. This is the first time ****** has received an invoice directly as a result of not cancelling the free trial. Her first reaction was to complain to the Better Business Bureau, however, we have been providing her with free resources for years.

  We are surprised by the hostility in her complaint by simply following company processes and abiding by our terms and conditions, as I'm sure her company does as well.

  Customer response

  18/11/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: ****** is not even an employee of Modern Beauty, she is an independent contractor consulting for us. She doesn't work in-office, she does not have access to VM, and she only works part-time on the side. One of the team members used her account to sign up for the trial as they couldn't sign up with the hr@modernbeauty.com email since it was used before, (and not charged in the past after completing a free trial)

  This was not approved as a Modern Beauty expense, and should not be billed to Modern Beauty.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  19/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Bongarde approached me for a trial subscription for *** Insider in 2021 but Sydney W******* had to help me many times to login. I found the subscription irrelevant to my job (accountant, not HR) and cancelled it. They kept sending emails including one on Jan 28 2022 offering a Feb 2 webinar ******** ******** ** ***** ****** ******* * ********* (no mention of cost). I registered for the webinar. On Feb 3, I got an email with credentials for another trial. Out of curiosity I did check that the credentials worked this time. But I already knew the site, and it was unsolicited. So it didn't occur to me to cancel the trial. On Feb 17, I received an invoice of $780.64 for a 1-year subscription and the reminders about this invoice kept coming. I emailed Sydney on Feb 17, Feb 28, Apr 6 but there was never any reply. I finally called her on Apr 18. 1. She said that I requested a trial when signing up for the webinar and the invoice is due since I didn't cancel during the trial. I DID NOT REQUEST A TRIAL (see signup page). Going through my emails now I found an email on Feb 3 confirming my registration for the webinar, which is standard procedure so I just read the first paragraph. 2 PARAGRAPHS LATER, it actually said that Sydney would like to set me up for my free trial *** **** ** **** ************ *** *** ******** and that she would call me the next day. Then the welcome email has a LINK at the END referring to "terms and conditions" and a reminder to cancel during the trial. There were more emails about Sydney calling me about the trial but she never did in 2022. This is very ******* (Emails attached) 2, Sydney said she can't cancel the invoice because it has been too long. I could cancel but have to pay Feb-Apr. But I disputed the charge MANY times starting from Feb 17. 3. Sydney said that I used the trial in Feb. Since they can track usage, they should be able to see I didn't use the UNSOLICITED 1-year subscription. * **** ****** **** ********* **********

  Business response

  19/04/2022

  We are investigating this complaint and see that there was considerable usage on the resource during the auto-converting trial. We also see that there were multiple trials taken in the past where the terms and conditions were communicated and the prospect cancelled within the timeframe.

  This has been escalated to the highest level at the company and is getting an immediate and direct response.

   

  Customer response

  28/04/2022

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me WITH SOME QUALIFICATIONS.  On April 19, Rick T****, the CEO offered to reverse the invoice and extend the subscription at no charge.  I have written back the same day accepting the reversal of the invoice but have also stated that we DO NOT NEED the extended the subscription does not continue automatically until we have someone in the company who could use it.  Since then, I haven't received any correspondence, and there is also no reply from Sydney (as usual).  I hope by documenting this, we will not get any more unexpected charges.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* *****

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩