Forced Continuity - Good or Evil?
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Is Forced Continuity this years Exit-Pop?
Every so often, an IM celebrity uses (or sells) a powerfully effective marketing method. It isn’t necessarily a new technique but, the sheer volume of JV partners that support it, ensures maximum visibility.
The consequence is a glut of marketers imitating or plagiarising the idea for the next 6-12 months… sometimes longer.
Some will love it.
Others will hate it.
And a vocal minority will flood the forums with a vitriolic mix of anger, hatred and bad speling.
In just a few days time, a sizeable new promotion will begin that will, in my opinion, elevate “Forced Continuity” to this status.
In anticipation of the deluge of information (and mis-information) that is likely to follow, I’ve decided to pre-empt the backlash with a some calm and measured consideration.
Forced Continuity - Definition
Within the marketing industry, forced continuity refers to an offer that requires the customer to commit to one or more future payments, each of which will be taken without seeking further permission.
Forced Continuity - Examples
- An internet DVD rental company offers you free DVD rentals for two weeks, after which time your monthly payments of $X will begin. Monthly payments will continue indefinitely until you cancel your membership.
- A mobile phone company offers a free mobile phone when you open an account with them. The terms require you to pay a monthly line rental charge for a minimum of 12 months. Canceling the contract before the 12 months are up often incurs a sizeable penalty.
- A publisher offers a free magazine subscription for three months. After the three months are up, unless you cancel the subscription, a direct debit will begin taking subscription payments out of your bank account every quarter.
And so on… I’m sure you can think of many more instances.
Forced Continuity - Evil?
I’ve used these three examples because one of the comments you are likely to hear from some quarters over the coming weeks and months, is that forced continuity is inherently wrong and unethical (and maybe even illegal).
You will, of course, draw your own conclusions, but most people will look at the above instances of forced continuity without seeing anything wrong with them.
In fact, I would guess that the majority of people are already paying for something through a forced continuity scheme. If you pay your rent, or utility bills through a standing order or direct debit, then you are, by definition, experiencing forced continuity.
So what’s the problem?
Why have some marketers, in recent times, been so quick to condemn forced continuity?
The answer is that they probable haven’t. Recent examples of forced continuity that have inspired anger have done so, not because the continuity has been forced, but because the continuity has been HIDDEN or made DIFFICULT TO CANCEL.
Hiding the recurring costs and the cancellation procedure in the small print have all been cited in recent times as bad examples of forced continuity (see end of article for recent example) and the damage to reputations, for some, has been heavy.
But they are the obvious examples.
It doesn’t take a degree in ethical business practices to figure out that manipulating forced continuity so that future payments are made unwittingly, is pretty sleazy.
But what about the legitimate use of forced continuity?
If the offer states clearly on the order form that recurring payments will take place and cancellation is made simple, why are some still finding cause for complaint?
What’s the difference between a marketer using forced continuity to monetize a special offer, and a cable television subscription that you pay via standing order?
Why would some consider the latter to be normal, but the former, devious and manipulative?
I would suggest four possible reasons:
- The Internet Marketing industry offers many reasons for cynicism and any marketing practice beyond pay X and receive Y, generally sets off alarm bells for people that have had bad experiences before.
- Sometimes the subscription payments are for a passive service that that the customer may not use every month. In that situation, the customer may forget about the service until they check their bank account and spot the monthly payments from the last six months.
- 3) It’s not uncommon for the special offer to be, to some degree, unrelated to the product that requires the forced continuity. To get the free chocolate brownies, you have to agree to subscribe to Carpentry Monthly magazine.
- 4) Some people see the words “Free” and “Offer”, and develop a temporary amnesia, that makes it impossible for them to remember the required continuity that was clearly labelled on the order page.
The last example here may seem glib, but I have personal experience of this.
Membership to one of my websites required a monthly subscription and despite:
- referring to it on the sales page,
- highlighting it in red on the order form,
- PayPal informing them of the subscription terms (on screen and by email),
- and providing clear cancellation instructions (via PayPal, email, phone or letter),
I still received occasional emails from people angry that I had taken additional payments without their permission.
One gentleman even berated for me doing so, complaining that his subscription to my newsletter (that he had never read) had not increased the traffic to his website.
But I digress…
The four possibilities above all offer pause for thought but don’t, as far I’m concerned, offer substantial reason to condemn the practice of forced continuity.
Forced continuity, done in the correct way can benefit customer AND vendor. Not least because it provides the customer with an opportunity to sample the product for free (or at a low cost), before making the first, full payment.
After all, if the offer is a good one, is it really such a hardship to remember to cancel a subscription if you decide it’s not worth keeping?
In conclusion, I’d like to suggest the following basic standards for anyone using forced continuity as part of their marketing strategy.
Forced Continuity - Best Practice
- State the terms of the subscription CLEARLY on the order form. It doesn’t have to be in ugly, six-foot high letters, but highlight it in some fashion so that it stands out.
- 2Remind the customer what they have signed up for in the “Welcome” email or on the “Thank You” page.
- Make it easy for the customer to cancel by offering, at a minimum, an email address AND a phone number. If the customer can cancel via PayPal, offer some instructions on how to cancel through their PayPal account.
- The cancellation date should be when the customer SENDS the request, and not when you RECEIVE the request. If an additional payment is taken in the interim, then refund it.
Let me know your opinions on the above (and stories, if you have them) by leaving a comment below.
Additional reading and opinions can be found at:
Ken McCarthy: Forced Continuity - The good, the bad, the questionable
Copywriters Board: Disappointed in Dan Kennedy: “Phenomenon” Forced Continuity
June 3rd, 2008 at 5:34 pm
David
A continuity program is an important part of a passive income and is totally legitimate.
I have a big problem with any sales page if the typeface with the conditions is small or obscure. And if you have to cancel through a so called helpdesk.
If it ain’t paypal i don’t subscribe in the first place.
If some dodgy I.M. people scam the public then we will all suffer and the government will be forced to intervene
Alex
June 3rd, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Alex,
You’re right that continuity is important to passive income. Yes, it’s totally legit.
But springing an unannounced continuity program on people is the problem.
Forget a small typeface or making it tough to cancel…I’m talking about never announcing the continuity program to begin with. People buy, then all of a sudden they get charged for a monthly deal they never signed up for.
That’s fraud.
If you announce your continuity program in clear terms, make it obvious how to cancel and make it EASY to cancel, that’s a winner.
In some ways, the problem comes down to definitions.
What is “forced” continuity? Does it mean the clearly announced variety of continuity program, or does it mean the sneaky unannounced kind? I’ve always heard the term in connection with the latter.
The former isn’t “forced” in any real sense of the word, because the continuity program is optional. If you’ve clearly stated what the offer is and made it as obviously optional as possible, there’s no force being applied at all. But if the billing kicks in without somebody opting in, then there’s force and that’s what people justifiably complain about.
I think the terms are a little hard to pin down, and the other articles David linked to above confirm my suspicion that people are talking about different things with the same words.
Roy
June 3rd, 2008 at 5:53 pm
I love forced continuity…
As a customer: because it will often save me time and money by automatically ensuring monthly delivery of something I want.
As seller: because it can make me more money. But mostly because it saves me time and money as well (less effort to make the same amount of sales).
As an affiliate: because I get paid over and over again on the same sale.
I think there are 3 key components a good continuity program must adhere to:
1) Make it very clear that it’s a recurring subscription
2) Make it easy to cancel said subscription
3) Deliver content that is worth the monthly subscription
A good example would be pro upgrade at Dragon Surf. That is a continuity program and it’s made very clear to you. It’s also very easy to cancel through Paypal - and of course it delivers the monthly benefits of being an upgraded member.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:52 pm
While I also ‘love’ continuity and the concept of residual revenue that continuity creates - I also have over 20 years in the payment processing industry - and not just as a sales rep. I work as a consultant to some of the largest ecommerce companies online, and in some very high risk industries, and believe me when I tell you that just the TERM ‘forced continuity’ is going to start causing some serious problems for the merchants using both the term and the concept.
This is, in essence, a concept brought over from the adult industry - ’sign up for a 3 day trial to see everything we have!!’ and then it would automatically roll over to a $29.95 monthly subscription that was almost impossible to track down and cancel. Or - even better (or worse, depending on your point of view) the FREE trials, that required a credit card just to verify that the person was over 18…..and of course, the cc details were rolled into the subscription.
Yes, it worked really well to get ‘forced continuity’ subscribers - it also generated so many complaints that MasterCard shut down many of the industry’s largest processors a few years ago. It was a complete bloodbath and as a consequence, the small merchants today in the adult industry are lucky if they can get a processor - and if they can, they are paying anywhere from 8% to 20% for processing.
Visa & MasterCard do NOT like the concept or the term - by their guidelines you MUST make it very clear that there is a recurring charge, and the customer must authorize it. Continuity is not supposed to be “Forced” - it is supposed to be ‘voluntary’ and Visa/MC want to make darn sure the customer has a clear idea of what they are purchasing and EXACTLY what the charges are, and for how long.
The current wave of forced continuity programs, where the recurring billing is tucked away in the middle of all of the over the top features you are getting may be deemed really clever by the ‘gurus’ doing it - but wait until they get their merchant account shut down for excessive chargebacks, or get blacklisted by Visa. Life gets real fun then………
It’s only a matter of time before we see some major blow-ups - and the sad part is that it will affect the entire industry - not just the ‘guilty’.
In 20+ years in processing - I have seen this happen in the adult, mlm, phone card etc industries - the IM biz is well on path to be the next in line for serious intervention by Visa & Mastercard, and that is going to make everyone’s life very very difficult.
So - this is really beyond a discussion of ‘moral’ opinion - this SHOULD be a discussion of legally compliant business practices.
Melody
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Hi David,
Good post mate….
Not that it takes a lot of guessing that Mr Filsaime will be using some for m of FC program for all his freebies…lol
But - as has been rightly said here.
It’s Fine IF - people know what they are getting into.
It’s only when it’s done in a deceitful or underhanded way that people get extremely vocal!
By the same token - people really should read the salespage and order link before getting excited. I have on numerous occasions clicked through to something and decided I didn’t fancy having to remember to cancel a subscription - so I closed the page and didn’t take the freebie.
Other times I do and I know I can still cancel the subscription whenever I feel like it.
I’ve not been caught out by one I didn’t notice yet — but maybe I’ve been in sales for too many years….lol
Chat soon & I hope you’re well
Randy
http://www.SalesLetterABC.com
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:49 pm
HELLO! I am mixed up. When I get started with a continuine processing, business or an automated business possibility I have to realise that from that very little amount I have to pay off (from monthly $ 250) that money and when I can sense that in charge I don,t get back anything at all than I begin to be a little nervous and interrupt that continuing membership and that will be a lost of money for me and a winning for the partner who has invited me.
So that is why I am in trouble. In continuing I need for the continuing connection with the other part.
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Okay, Melody gets the prize for having the most experience related to forced continuity
I didn’t realize it came from the adult industry. I remember it from the old record clubs (or CD clubs) that sent you a free CD and then started billing you for more if you “did nothing”, meaning you didn’t cancel.
The bottom line is that there are two kinds of forced continuity, I believe:
1) The kind where you’re “forced” to keep paying, but signing up was definitely your obvious choice
2) The kind where you were essentially forced to sign up because the fact that you would be billed was buried in a place you (and most other people) would miss…or there was no notification at all
The easiest way to avoid any kerfuffle at all is to make any continuity program you start 100% obvious, 100% voluntary and absolutely easy to cancel.
Correct me if I’m wrong, Melody, but that kind of continuity program is like a magazine subscription, or a cellular account, or…name your other membership-based service.
Can’t see anything wrong with that.
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Roy - Again, from the perspective of Visa and MasterCard - there is a HUGE difference between clearly displayed subscription/continuity/service subscription model, and the kind of “hide and seek” forced continuity that is taking place in the IM market right now.
Yes, the concept offline originated with Columbia House and Book of The Month Clubs, but the adult industry was the first to bring it online.
Just about every industry you can think of that is a competitive and aggressively marketed field has tried the model at some point - and they have all been slapped down for it.
And we haven’t even talked about the companies that have been fined by the FTC or sued by various AG’s offices…….
What is going on now with the IM gurus is NOT new - but they don’t seem to have really done their homework to see what the long term result of these tactics has been in virtually every industry.
I have nothing against the continuity model - and neither does Visa/MC or the FTC - but you have to do it according to their rules - or you risk losing everything you are trying to build, and the industry as a whole gets ‘tainted’ as far as Visa/MC are concerned.
And again - this is not about the concept of continuity - it is about the legally acceptable way of doing it!
Melody
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Melody,
I think we might be violently agreeing.
I see the difference between the obvious flavor and the “hide and seek” variety. The latter is clearly fraudulent, and Visa/MC and the FTC will come down on people like a ton of bricks for it. IMers who are doing it need to be very afraid.
Based on your experience, is the clearly displayed subscription/continuity/service subscription model what it means to do things according to the Visa/MC/FTC rules? My understanding is that yes, that’s “by the rules”. Please correct me if I’m off in the weeds.
Roy
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Hi,
I am with the rest of you. Automatic (not “forced”) continuity programs (as my partner David calls them) can be good all around (as Soren said).
I also agree that hiding it is very short term thinking and over the line in “profit is the most important thing.”
We’re working on a membership site that will use automatic continuity but we will be very explicit in numerous places. We want good long term customers and so we want to make sure people know what they are “buying” and made a conscious decision to join the continuity program.
Melody, can you point me to those “rules” you spoke about. I’d like to read them and compare them to how we will be doing it.
Thanks,
Woei Yu
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Roy -
Yup! You ‘get it’ totally! The bottom line is that there is no problem with the continuity model - it’s just that the customer has to be made clearly aware at the time of sign-up what they are signing up for.
Follow that model and you will probably win just about any refund dispute too - follow the gurus model and you can kiss your money and your merchant account goodbye.
Did you know that if you exceed 1% chargebacks that you can lose your merchant account? Or that if you get blacklisted for ‘violations’ by Visa or Mastercard that they can fine any company or bank that gives you an account in the future?
It’s a very serious situation that these guys are taking very lightly.
If you use PayPal, you will see that it clearly states you are buying the item for $XX today, and it will be rebilled every 30 days at $XX or whatever the structure is, even if you are getting the $1 trial today.
PayPal has learned the hard way over the years - they don’t do much today that is ‘over the line’
I really don’t think that most of the people using these tactics have really thought them through or are aware of the potential consequences. I know one person that I spoke with last week was shocked at the possibility of losing his merchant account or being fined - seems that he had done the continuity deal on the advice of a ‘guru’ marketer from the adult industry.
The not so funny part is that when confronted - the guy apparently admitted that it ‘could’ happen - but his attitude was ’so what? go start another web site and get another merchant account under another name’.
The difference between IM and adult is this: In IM - we are all marketing ourselves - we ARE the brand. In adult -it’s the product - no one cares about the name of the site or the company. If they shut down today, the ‘guru’ is right - just flip website to a new domain, and do it all again.
But if you are a well known IM persona - you can’t do that quite as easily.
Instead - you are risking everything you have built to sneak in a recurring billing opportunity.
So - do it the way you outlined, Roy, and you will have a happy subscriber base, that will stay, and a merchant account that will be yours for as long as you want it!
Sorry to have taken so much space here, everyone - but this is a real sore spot with me right now!
Mel
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Woei Yu -
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to get access to the ‘rules’ of Visa/Mastercard - they do not make them easily accessible to the general public. Just remember that everything must be clearly stated, and easy to find, from the outline of the program to the method of cancellation, and you will be okay.
As long as you are not trying to hide anything - you won’t have an issue with them!
Melody
ps - you can contact me through my website if you have any questions. Happy to help out!
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Both our membership sites use forced continuity, but we make it easy to cancel AND we provide our phone number if people need help.
But some companies are poor with the service on cancellations. I am still having problems getting payments reversed on a subscription I canceled months ago.
One of the reasons I like paying with PayPal instead of my credit card is because I can easily control my own subscriptions in it.
Garland
June 4th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Great Post.
I don’t have a problem with the Upfront subscription ie Get the first 3 months Free just pay for postage then we will charge you monthly if you don’t cancel.
Recently there have been a whole spate of offers where the initial information is either free or cheap (there is always postage) but the subscription is hidden in the small print. I have even seen one that was very devious.
They what I call crooked marketers only interested in the Money not the customer.
I am now very good at spotting them and there is one running at the moment with a twist. You get like this when you have been bitten by this type of scam.
It is now time to reinforce BUYER BEWARE.
John
June 5th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
The GOOD of payment subscription:
That honesty, clarity and integrity needs to be used in marketing is not even up for discussion. It has to be a given. And it has to be part of any recurring payment subscription.
But one point that has not been made is the benefit of recurring payments to the customer.
The customer is far closer to being guaranteed a good service. Why? For the simple reason that if the product/service is less than promised and/or les than the value of the payment, the customer can/will/should simply cancel their subscription. This mean that if the merchant wants to keep taking payments this way, they have to KEEP giving excellent service and excellent products.
For example, a site-builder software we offer is on its 11th edition in under 12 months. Keep them happy and they will keep wanting it.
On the flip-side, if you buy a product as a once-only payment, it is not so much in the merchant’s immediate financial interest to totally satisfy you – the merchant has your money, you have their product – job done.
(Obviously a wise marketer will totally satisfy the customer either way so the customer DOES come back and buy again, irrespective of whether it was originally a single-purchase or recurring payment)
For this reason, after-sales customer care is always going to be far superior for recurring payment subscriptions rather than single-purchase products/services.
A separate point:
I would suggest that it is a good idea, where possible, to offer a Pay-Once option for the same product/service – a lifetime subscription. You can work out your own price-point based on a fraction/multiple of the average subscription length.
The reason for offering both recurring AND single-purchase payment options is simply that there are different people for each.
Some people want to just pay it all up front and not have to worry about keeping up with future payments or having to pay into infinity (which adds up to far more), while others prefer the smaller monthly payment options because it makes less of a dent in their wallet right now.
So please them both.
June 5th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Hi all,
I really appreciate the comments from Melody Wigdahl.
Though, I still have some problems. In the event of a problem with a free mobile phone deal, then you can march on down to the local retailer and sort it out. In the event of a problem with a free connection for cable TV, then you can phone or email the company in your own country(ie the supplier)
However, with a problem in IM, where the supplier is on the other side of the world, where they will only accept communication via a phone call that requires you to stay awake untill the middle of the night to get on to american working hours.
And then you have to hang on to the phone for ever while you wait to be served, while you are being charged expensive overseas call rates.
If the IM marketer is genuine in making the offer that you can cancell, then the cancellation should be as simple as the initial sign up.
One step, online. Finished.
Further they shouldn’t try to charge extra postage costs to ship the book to the other side of the world. We don’t all live in america. It is a marketing cost that should be absorbed by the seller to allow every purchaser to be on an even footing.
cheers - greg
June 5th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Hi,
It do totally support membership subscriptions as an excellent passive income model, just not the way that some people are trying to do it at the moment i.e. trying to hide the presence of them.
It seems to me that, at the moment, it’s the big ‘guru’ marketers that are mainly doing this. They seem to have spotted a technique being used in another market that seems to be pulling in a lot of money and have implemented it in our market without really researching it and thinking through the consequences.
As Melody says, it’s not just the consequences for them that need to be thought about, but for the rest of us in the IM market too. As someone once said: With great power comes great responsibility.
Surely, if you are a big “guru” marketer with a lot of influence, it’s your responsibility to consider the bigger picture before you introduce something like this to the IM market that could have quite a devastating effect on the industry as a whole, as it has done in the other industries in which it has been tried.
Perhaps, we could all send a message to those who are attempting to use the shady technique of trying to hide the presence of a back-end membership by not signing up for them at all. Money really does talk, especially when you’re not making any …
Debbie
June 5th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Personally, I think it’s kind of funny that the industry is throwing the term ‘forced continuity’ around like it something that is new, and they just invented it, when that’s far from the truth.
A few months ago all the hype was making money on ‘membership sites’ and no it’s being called ‘forced continuity’ to give a newer, edgier, sexier spin.
Personally, I love the membership/subscription model because it is a recurring, residual income stream for me, and I don’t touch much of anything these days if it doesn’t offer residual income.
There is nothing wrong with the basic model - but when you combine it with subterfuge and deception - you are seriously crossing the line legally.
Everyone in the IM world knows what the ‘Google’ slap is - wait til they find out about the ‘Visa slap’!
The key? Just simply make sure your customer knows what they are buying on the sales page - and explain it again on the check-out page. If the checkout page says “Free 30 day trial, rebilled every 30 days at $29.99″ or something to that effect - you should be covered.
But leave out that rebill blurb…and just focus on those ‘mega bonuses’ and freebies - and we do indeed have a crises that could bring down the whole industry.
Melody
June 5th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I think what is at issue here is something that is often referred to in political and legal circles as “appearance of impropriety.”
Whether a particular tactic or regimen is legal within the letter of the law or not is not as important as the perception by the market being served of the practice of it. And that perception is a direct result of its representation.
Regardless of whether you can prove that you gave your customer ample and clear notice of additional charges beforehand, in the final analysis if they feel they’ve been cheated somehow you will not be able to change that opinion - even when in your righteous indignation you point out all of the instances where it was explained in detail before they clicked the “buy now” button.
Bottom line - if you’re getting complaints from a significant number of your customers, you’re not doing something right. Find what it is and fix it, or you will be righteously broke!
I agree with the others that forced continuity has become an integral part of many business models’ strategy for ensuring repeat sales, resulting in stability and continuance of the revenue stream.
However, I think most of us will agree that a growing contempt and suspicion of IM marketers is present in the marketplace - and in many cases is quite justified. As such, people will be quick to grab hold of anything which reinforces that stereotype in their own mind, regardless of our own protestations of “unfair.” We have the hordes of inexperienced people acting on headlines without reading the full details of the story to thank for that, and probably will for the forseeable future as more new people become involved.
June 5th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Very well stated.
And thank you for some great alternative suggestions.
I went to a 30 (no continuity) membership alternative, and communicate closely with the member during those 30 days, experiencing
reasonable, But Happy, Conversions
June 5th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
That’s a great comment Don - thank you.
I absolutely agree that if a large proportion of customers are complaining then something needs to be changed. If your reputation is sinking, it isn’t going to matter how good your intent was.
That said, if a forced continuity is labelled clearly then I think the number of complaints received would be little or no more than the usual handful of confused souls.
June 6th, 2008 at 5:42 am
I finally gave in to all the hype (and zillions of emails) and took a look at Mike Filsaime’s latest “Free” offer. And it looks like he’s ‘giving away’ some really good stuff.
The ‘free’ deal also includes a free trial issue of his magazine. There is a ‘checkbox’ next to the trial subscription offer that already has a checkmark in it….
I was willing to pay the $7.95 ’shipping’ charge for the free stuff, but decided not to bother with the trial magazine subscription. However, when I tried to UNcheck the box so I wouldn’t have to deal with UNsubscribing later, I discovered that it is not really a checkbox at all.
It is actually a ‘picture’ of a checkbox. You CANNOT uncheck it. You MUST accept the ‘free’ trial issue and agree to be billed each month. You then have to contact Filsaime to unsubscribe if you don’t want to be automatically charged $30 every month.
To Mike’s credit, he tells you how much you will be charged per month and when the charges will begin. He also gives you a phone number to call to un-subscribe…
But I still think the fake checkbox is more than a little sneaky. I decided to skip the whole thing and clicked away.
Thanks for making the ‘free’ offer… but NO thanks, Mike!
John R. Cumbow
http://www.MisspelledBargains.com
Find the misspelled eBay auction
bargains that other bidder miss!
June 6th, 2008 at 6:27 am
An interesting comparison of sneakily hiding a recurring billing subscription – and the devastating effects it had on that industry – is mobile phone content (ringtones, java games, screensaver pictures etc) here in the UK (I work in the phone industry).
It was mostly Jamster (called Jambo in other countries – you’ve probably heard their ‘Crazy Frog’ irritating ringtone), who really massively pushed this, but other companies did it as well. They had a huge TV advert as well as press campaign promoting “12 FREE Ringtones – Just text ‘allfree’ to 123456” – and that was more or less all that was said in the ad.
What was not publicised much, or in some cases, at all, was the fact that when you texted in to their number, you were subscribing to a recurring billing payment, and your mobile phone was billed £4.50 (about US$9) a week!
The prices and the timescale of the repeat billing varied but for a long while the essence was the same – a mega offer (to young phone users) that tied them into a hidden recurring billing subscription that was then hard to stop.
Many unfortunate people (kids mostly) had all their pre-paid phone credit wiped out each week because of this, even weeks and months after sending in that seemingly innocuous text.
Imaging your child’s ‘emergency use’ phone having no credit on because of this, and not being able to contact you to say where they are. There were a few instances of exactly this.
Over a period of time there was a growing uproar from consumer champion groups and the Telephone industry Regulator, (OfTel, ICSTIS and then PhonepayPlus), had to step in to lay down guidelines that are just blindingly obvious, that they should have done from the start;
1. Making it clear from the start that it is a repeat payment subscription and,
2. Showing how they can easily cancel if they wish.
The long term effect has been that the mobile content industry has been tarnished as trying to dupe customers. Now other companies offering a legitimate recurring payment subscription for mobile content have a very hard time (we don’t offer phone content subscriptions for this reason).
If Filsaime and crew want to go down the route of sneakily hiding or mandating recurring billing subscription into their marketing, they would do well to look at the effect it has had on the mobile phone content industry in the UK and other countries.
In my eyes at least, he has already tarnished his otherwise good reputation by doing this.
June 6th, 2008 at 9:09 am
“Forced Continuity”?
This is good old fashioned “Greed and Inertia” marketing.
These are the last 7 lines at the bottom of Mike Filsame’s
7 Figure Secrets Sales Page
All This, Yours Today, 100% Free…
Just let us know where to ship it
Extreme Limited Supplies
(Offer Good Only While supplies Last)
Click Here
Ship Me My FREE Report
Click Here To Have The Report Shipped For Free
What part of “Shipped For Free” do you not understand ?
Because when you click to continue and you are dropped onto the money-maker page, you find that there are shipping and handling charges.
Shipping and handling charges for a hard copy booklet
that could more easily and conveniently be an ebook
Why “hard copy” to a physical address with a phone number?
Read the Privacy Policy
You agree that all your contact details can be sold on to third party, direct sales “partners”
This is “greed and inertia” marketing. You want the free lunch. You do not want to be bothered with the details
Maybe it really is the buyers’ responsibility to check the small print and apply due care
but you are on the sales page because you trust David Congreave’s advice.
(He’s the nice, non-threatening English chap with a cap.)
There is nothing too wrong going on here but it is not too respectable either.
I used to love watching the showmen salesmen in the local market when I was a kid.
I got to know the assistants in the crowd who were “on our side” helping the sales along.
“Can you save one for me, love?”
“I’ll just see if there’s one left. - Oh, we’re down to the last two.
That’s one for you, my darling, and now who is going to get the very last one?”
The internet marketing game is the same, it’s just played on a different pitch.
If internet marketers want to gain respect and credibility then they must give respect and credibility.
(By the way do we all know that if you set up recurring payments on your credit card
and you are being supplied with the service you agreed to pay for,
then you cannot get your credit card company to stop the payments.
You have to get the payments stopped by the supplier.)
June 7th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
There is nothing wrong with forced continuity, or recurring payments, as I call them as long as it stated clearly in the terms, or sales document. I would prefer that it was stated in larger print right above, or below, the payment button. I think this would put an end to most of the complaints; people’s lack of reading beyond the word FREE is usually the problem.
I myself, tend to jump from the first paragraph, to the bottom of sales pages, and check the price, guarantee, and P.S.’s; before taking time for any additional reading. I only read the terms and fine print if I decide to purchase.
When information is “hidden” within the terms or fine print; the marketer is opening themselves to such charges. Few people will take the time to read the fine print; most are usually sold by the title, subheadings, benefits, and guarantee. Many never read the terms at all; they have conditioned themselves to just clicking through the lengthy legal descriptions (Bad choice but they do it). We as marketers, need to take this into consideration, and be up front about any additional charges.
I have heard many complaints about marketers making a free offering and then later billing on a regular basis. When I looked into it, and actually read the complete terms and all the fine print, the information was almost always stated. I only found one instance that I didn’t find the information stated somewhere in the sales page or terms.
I usually avoid accepting anything with forced continuity unless I purchase through PayPal(TM); then I can control the monthly payment feature. This saves trying to contact someone else and getting them to cancel the recurring charges which sometimes can be frustrating. I quit using some guru’s because of having problems with cancellation myself.