Too many people are complaining these days of being enrolled in subscriptions or memberships they never agreed to or knew about. The complaint for this class action claims that Superior Global Marketing, Inc. (SGM) is one of those who enrolls consumers in continuous-service program without the disclosures and consent required by California law.
The class for this action is all individuals in California who, during the limitations period, were enrolled by SGM or Primitive Survivors in an automatic renewal or continuous service program, and who had a credit card, debit card, or third-party payment account charged by those companies.
Plaintiff Richard Siela, a resident of California, responded to an online survey on July 2, 2019. After he submitted it, he was offered a “free” headlamp from Primitive Survivors. (SGM does business under this name.) He was asked only to pay shipping and handling of $4.95, for which he had to enter credit card information.
As he was going to pay for it, he discovered that he somehow had two headlamps in the cart. He was unable to remove the extra, but he decided to go ahead with the order. Afterwards, he contacted Primitive Survivors about the extra headlamp, but they refused to correct the order.
Two charges were posted to his credit card that day, one for $4.95 and the other for $5.99. He assumed they were charges for the two headlamps.
Approximately two weeks later, Primitive Survivors posted a charge to his card for $49.99. Siela then called the company to have the charge removed. A representative told him that they would only refund him $20. Siela believes that the company enrolled him in its Survivors Club. He says he never asked or consented to be enrolled in this club.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has called these kinds of marketing campaigns a “scam.” It has tried to educate consumers with articles such as “Strings Attached to Some ‘Risk-Free’ Trial Offers” and “Risk Free Trials Were Bait for Rip Offs.”
To try to protect consumers from being billed for products or subscriptions they do not want, California passed an Automatic Renewal Law (ARL). The law sets conditions for enrolling California consumers in automatic renewal or continuous service agreements. These agreements are unlawful unless the companies initiating them do several things:
- Present the offer terms in a clear and conspicuous manner before the subscription or purchasing agreement is fulfilled, and in visual proximity to the request for consent to the offer.
- Obtain the consumer’s affirmative consent to the offer agreement before charging the consumer’s credit or debit card for the automatic renewal or continuous service.
- Provide an acknowledgement that includes the offer terms, cancellation policy, and information on how to cancel, in a manner that can be easily retained by the consumer. If the offer includes a free trial, the business must allow the consumer to cancel before beginning to pay for the goods or services.
According to the complaint, SGM did not do any of these things.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Primitive Survivors “Free” Offer and Subscription California Complaint
October 8, 2019
Too many people are complaining these days of being enrolled in subscriptions or memberships they never agreed to or knew about. The complaint for this class action claims that Superior Global Marketing, Inc. (SGM) is one of those who enrolls consumers in continuous-service program without the disclosures and consent required by California law.
superior_global_marketing_subscription_scam_compl.pdfCase Event History
Primitive Survivors “Free” Offer and Subscription California Complaint
October 8, 2019
Too many people are complaining these days of being enrolled in subscriptions or memberships they never agreed to or knew about. The complaint for this class action claims that Superior Global Marketing, Inc. (SGM) is one of those who enrolls consumers in continuous-service program without the disclosures and consent required by California law.
superior_global_marketing_subscription_scam_compl.pdf