From the TechCrunch article:

"Hundreds of well known ecommerce companies add post transaction marketing offers to consumers immediately after something is purchased on the site. Consumers are usually offered cash back if they just hit a confirmation button. But when they do, their credit card information is automatically passed through to a marketing company that signs them up for a credit card subscription to a package of useless services. The “rebate” is rarely paid."

How "Click Happy" can you get?

What immediately came to my mind was something I read from the FTC Negative Option Report back in February of 2009…

 A "characteristic of people online involves what Professor Hillman and Mr. Grossklags described as “click happy” or exuberant Internet use. Specifically, users click through webpages quickly, without paying much attention because they want to complete a given transaction. Professor Hillman cited research finding that online shoppers “enter a seamless sequence of responses, a flow state in which their sense of time and reality become distorted and their self-control is diminished.” As a result, and as discussed in more detail below, users do not read or understand the terms of agreements they enter into online."

 …which is interesting to think about in light of the report included in the TechCrunch article…"Aggressive Sales Tactics On The Internet And Their Impact On Americans" from the Committee On Commerce, Science, and Transportation's Office of Oversight and Investigations which presents a complaint in which Web Loyalty customer Chris Steffen was surprised to learn that he had been signed up for a membership to a program called Reservation Rewards which he concludes happened when he purchased movie tickets through MovieTickets.com (apparently as the result of a post-transaction sales tactic).

I think what is really insightful on Chris Steffen's part is contained in the complaint he sent to WebLoyalty (addressed to "Joni", the customer service rep he spoke with):

"Imagine yourself, Joni, getting on a computer to book movie tickets for the next big show and you're in a hurry because you and your friends decided to book movie tickets for the next big show and you're in a hurry because you and your friends decided to go at the last minute. You want to make sure you order your seats in time so you can have dinner before the show. Then, at first glance you get what looks like a coupon for 10 bucks off your next purchase of tickets. You don't read the fine print because you're in a hurry and next thing you know you're signed up for some worthless service."

In other words Chris Steffen is describing what might be considered a "self-imposed limited time offer" based on the need to take some other action (getting to the movies) quickly.

Interesting, because in the State of Texas' initial complaint against Infusion Media (Google Money Tree) one of the points included is that "the sense of urgency Defendants intentionally create discourages consumers from reading the disclosure."

Three strikes and your out (of more money)…

So in the MovieTickets.com example discussed above we potentially have the following three dangerous elements (from a consumer's standpoint):

1. A "Click Happy" customer…
2. …with a sense of urgency (to get to the movies)…
3. …having their credit card information automatically passed to a third-party company that enrolls them into a membership program in which the customer incurs monthly charges.

Internet Usability Expert Jakob Nielsen and WebLoyalty CEO Rick Fernandez seem to disagree on how well disclosed the terms of the Reservation Rewards offer is:

In the video, WebLoyalty CEO Rick Fernandez claims that WebLoyalty is "trying to make this process as simple and as clear as possible for the consumer".

But even if they continued to use the post-transaction sales tactic (simple), wouldn't "as clear as possible" mean putting the details about the monthly charges right ABOVE the button the customers click that enrolls them in the offer?

One thing is "clear". Post-Transaction Sales Tactics are great for the bottom line:

According to the TechCrunch article on Post-Transaction Sales Tactics, "Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty are the three largest companies partnering on these scams. The report states that these three companies have earned over $1.4 billion in revenue from 35 million transactions. 4 million people are currently enrolled in the plans."

• CallerComplaints.com
• 800Notes.com
• PhoneOwner.info
• WhoCallsMe.com

Some people are claiming that this is an scam using the American Express name. And I've seen some people claiming that they are getting calls from this number asking them to call ANOTHER number and put their credit card number in.

Also, people are saying that they are getting a call from this number about paying off their American Express credit card even though they don't CARRY an American Express credit card.

You likely already know this, but you should NEVER call a phone number given to you by someone that claims to be from your credit card company. ONLY call phone numbers that are found on your official credit card statements or that are found on the back of your credit card.

I thought it was curious that the page started out with a bunch of logos without explaining at all why some of the logos were there. They put the logos of MSNBC, AS Seen on TV, Business Woman Top 100, and Entrepreneur Magazine. I mean if there going to put up logos with NO EXPLANATION why stop there? Why not slap up the logos of Noggin and PBSKids? It would make about as much sense.

Anyhow, let's see what Pay Me to List is all about…

Oops. It says I'm almost out of time. Apparently I had 10:00 minutes to decide if I want "Pay Me To List"'s free kit. Good thing I have that handy REFRESH button on my browser to refresh the page…voila! Now I have 10:00 minutes to make my decision again! If I wasn't so suspicious of this site I'd almost feel like I was cheating.

OK. Here we go:

Page 1: I just have to fill out my First Name, Last Name, Email, & Phone. Seems easy enough.

OK. Right above the form in BIG BOLD LETTERS it says "Order now and be just one of the first to pay just $2.95 S&H." It also claims that it's "Forbes #1 Home Business Opportunity". LOL. Man, good thing I wasn't drinking milk when I read that!

I do see there's some really small print under where it says "Forbes #1 Home Business Opportunity". I used the "Zoom" feature in FireFox and zoomed in 5 times and I THINK one part of the fine print just says ".com". The other part is still completely unreadable – maybe it says something like "just kidding…Gotcha!"

I couldn't find PAY ME TO LIST mentioned ANYWHERE on Forbes.com:

Strangely when I searched for "PAY ME TO LIST" on Forbes.com I couldn't find the product mentioned anywhere. I even searched different variations of their name like PAYMETOLIST, PAYMETOLIST.COM, WWW.PAYMETOLIST.COM, etc…NOTHING found.

Live in the "NOW" and save $2.95…TOO LATE!

I have to admit these people seem to be pretty clever marketers…maybe too clever for their own good. For example I became extremely confused when they told me my "CD Kit" was "NOW FREE!" but then immediately tell me beneath the gigantic "NOW FREE!" text that I can "FOR A LIMITED TIME PAY JUST $2.95 S&H". I mean less than one second passed between me reading the "NOW FREE" text and the "LIMITED TIME" text…I can't believe it took me only ONE second to miss out on the "NOW FREE" deal…oh how I wish it was "NOW" again.

Anyhow, enough goofing around…I put my Name, Email, & Phone number into their form on page 1 and now I'm on page 2.

Page 2: OK. On this page I'm supposed to enter my Address, City, State, Zip Code, and Credit Card Number.

I'm starting to think that this is some sort of bizarre logic test, because on THIS page it says ALL of the following:

• "NOW FREE!"
• "PAY JUST $2.95 for S&H"
• "Instant Access ($1.95)"

Huh??? Which one is it?

By the way, I really have to admire the web designer who put the radio button next to the "Instant Access ($1.95)" line which has NO other choice. LOL. Radio buttons are supposed to be used when you can choose from MORE than one item…think of it this way…imagine a multiple choice quiz where every question only gave you ONE answer choice…."let's see, is it answer 'A' or answer 'A'?"

Here's something I see that looks suspicious about page two of this PayMeToList website…

I just noticed that the "SHIP MY KIT" button sits DIRECTLY ABOVE THE FOLD. "Above the fold" means "The section of a Web page that is visible without scrolling." Now that will be different for different people, but the main point is that I bet MOST people will hit that "SHIP MY KIT" button without scrolling down.

So I Scrolled Down to See if There Might Be Any Additional Charges…

Wow! There's a whole 'nother world living at the bottom of Step 2 of Pay Me To List!

There's a few of nonclickable security logos, including a nonclickable HackerSafe logo, and then some really, really tiny print…I LOVE to read really, really tiny print. Let's see what the really, really tiny print says (I made it bigger for you…aren't I nice?):

"By submitting this form I am ordering the Craigslist Resource Information and trial membership. After the seven day trial I will be charged fifty eight dollars and sixty one cents a month thereafter if I do not cancel. I have read and agree to the PRIVACY POLICY and Terms & Conditions. Cancel any time by
calling 1-866-526-5334".

OUCH. I don't want to be charged $58.61/month for this product! That would be $703.32 per YEAR!

I mean I'm not against products that teach you to make money with classified ad sites – we have one that we recommend in our write up called "Beginners Affiliate Marketing System"…but the course is a ONE-TIME fee of $29.95 – NOT $703.32/Year! AND it also shows you how to use classified ad systems that Google LOVES and don't have the risks often associated with CraigsList (CraigsList has been known to disable people's accounts for abusing their system if you are too aggressive in posting ads).

Here's where to find Pay Me to List's full Terms of their offer:

If for some reason (like, maybe you have an extra $703.32 laying around you're not sure what to do with?)…you still want to try the Pay Me to List program, I would encourage you to read the FULL terms here. You can also read PayMeToList's Privacy Policy here.

How do I cancel PayMeToList?

Now Even though there's ZERO chance I would ever order PayMeToList I'm going to end this by looking for how I would cancel Pay Me To List if I did order it.

Generally there are few things I'd want to know about the  "How do I Cancel" question:

1. How do I cancel Pay Me to List?
2. How LONG is the trial period?
3. Is there any evidence of people having problems with canceling PayMeToList?
4. If I have problems canceling PayMeToList what other recourse do I have?

Since I'm not actually going to try the Pay Me To List product I won't go any farther other than to say that the answers to 1 & 2 are in the Terms of Service for Pay Me To List.

Other observations about PayMeToList:

PayMeToList has a "Business Woman" Top 100 Logo on their site. The only site I know that has a logo that is very close to that logo is "Business Woman Magazine's" website. They actually have two:

• BPWUSA.org
• BusinessWomanMagazine.org

I couldn't find PayMeToList mentioned anywhere on those sites, so maybe they're talking about some other "Business Woman Top 100 list" or maybe something else is going on there.

The Authorize.net verification seal on step 2 of PayMeToList's order process is NOT clickable.

Why is that important? Because the Authorize.net seal is provided by Authorize.net so that the consumer can CLICK on it and verify that the merchant is an authorized Authorize.net merchant.

Click here to see Authorize.net's own description about how their verification seal program is supposed to work.

Note about the above: The ordering process is handle by a site called "SecureWebUrls.com".

The Thawte Verification Seal on page 2 of PayMeToList's order process is NOT Clickable

Why is this important? Because according to Thawte, here's how the seal is SUPPOSED to work:

"The Thawte Trusted Site Seal is a visible, real-time assurance for visitors to your website, that guarantees that the information they submit to your website is private. The Thawte Seal informs your Customers that your website is certified by the most trusted digital certificate provider on the Internet. Thawte is recognized world over as a premium certification authority. By clicking on the Thawte Trusted Site Seal, your website visitors will get real-time confirmation of the validity of the certificate on the web server that they are connected to."

Click here for details from Thawte themselves about how their Trusted Site Seal is supposed to work.

Note about the above: The ordering process is handle by a site called "SecureWebUrls.com".

The HackerSafe logo in step 2 of Pay Me To List's order process is NOT clickable PLUS the HackerSafe logo itself is OBSOLETE (see why):

First of all, McAfee BOUGHT ScanAlert (the creators of HackerSafe) and automatically CHANGED all of the HackerSafe logos to "McAfee Secure" logos.

Second, these types of logos are also supposed to be clickable to confirm that the company is actually part of the program AND to confirm when the last security scan was done.

Note about the above: The ordering process is handle by a site called "SecureWebUrls.com".

THE END!

Let me know about your experience with "Pay Me to List". You can post your comments below.

"AUSTIN – Attorney General Greg Abbott today charged two Utah-based defendants with operating a fraudulent work-at-home scheme. The state’s enforcement action names Infusion Media Inc. and Jonathan D. Eborn, whose “GoogleMoneyTree.com” promised six-figure earnings for conducting specialized Google and Yahoo Internet searches

According to investigators, the defendants promised big payouts in order to convince Web users to spend $3.88 on shipping and handling for a “free kit” that supposedly would show them how to make money from home. Those who purchased the kit were later surprised to discover they were being charged $72 a month by the defendants."

"According to the state’s enforcement action, GoogleMoneyTree failed to clearly inform purchasers that they had been enrolled in monthly memberships and had only seven days to cancel their trial membership. Purchasers who failed to cancel within seven days were automatically charged $72 on their credit card statements each month. In addition to the unexpected credit card charges, customer complaints obtained by state investigators indicate that GoogleMoneyTree failed to actually send the “free kit” and refused to honor customer refunds.

The state is seeking an injunction, civil penalties of up to $20,000 per violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, as well as restitution for purchasers. Texans who believe they have been misled by similar business practices may file complaints with the Office of the Attorney General toll-free at (800) 252-8011 or file complaints online at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov."

Update 2/6/2009: Since this was originally posted Google Money Tree  has made significant improvements (in my opinion) to their sales process.

If you are going to post a comment – and are able to do so – please post the original date that you ordered Google Money Tree as it would be interesting – and could be helpful – to match those dates up with the version of the Google Money Tree sales page that was current at the time.

Note: This is NOT an endorsement of Google Money Tree, but an acknowledgement of improvements (again, in my opinion) that were made.

End 2/6/2009 update.

After reading a bunch of complaints about a product called GoogleTree it dawned on me that the actual product the people were talking about is a product called GoogleMoneyTree which we've been having a discussion about here – including many people offering tips on how to try to get back the money and stop the monthly charges.

Based on the intial $3.88 charge and then the surprise $72.21/month, the similar name and similar complaints it has to be the same product.

Apparently the charges are showing up as one of the following:

• GoogleTree1, GoogleTree 1, Google Tree 1
• GoogleTree2, GoogleTree 2, Google Tree 2
• GoogleTree3, GoogleTree 3, Google Tree 3
• GoogleTree4, GoogleTree 4, Google Tree 4
• GoogleTree5, GoogleTree 5, Google Tree 5
• GoogleTree6, GoogleTree 6, Google Tree 6
• Mc-Google Tree, 2Mc-Google Tree
• Mony Tree.com

Click here to join the discussion about filing complaints against and recovering money from GoogleMoneyTree.

ALSO  – This has NOTHING to do with Wade Winger's product called Google Profits which generally has had a decent enough reputation (and would be easy to refund using the Clickbank product refund procedures here.

The promotion for Erika Miller's Google Profits on the site SearchProfitHouse.com starts out with what *I* would consider a gigantic piece of deception (your opinion may vary):

On page one of the SearchProfitHouse's GoogleProfits promo they have a CNBC logo at the top with the following text beneath it:

"In our investigations the Google Profits system was the only successful home business program we tested…”

Balderdash! There is ZERO chance that any official representative from CNBC EVER said anything even close to this. The ONLY possible chance that someone could have seen that statement on CNBC is if it was in a COMMERCIAL or an INFOMERCIAL. Honestly, that is about the dumbest thing I've ever seen anyone try to put on a site. I can't even believe that they think anyone would believe that nonsense.

CNBC has done NUMEROUS stories on all kinds of home businesses so to suggest that "the Google Profits system was the only successful home business program" they tested is not only idiotic, but also an insult to people's intelligence.

Here's another little doozie on the SearchProfitHouse site:

They show a log of the New York Times and below it have the quotation:

"… it is addictiong and exciting. Google Inc has done it again, if you give it a shot you will never look back…”

It's almost as if SearchProfitHouse wan'ts people to think Google is the creator of the Google Profit's system. They are NOT. Ugh! I would bet my left kidney and three of my thumbnails (well two anyhow) that they are counting on people mistakenly thinking that Google is somehow associated with Erika Miller's Google Profits. Wow. They really, really think we are stupid.

Stuff like this is why we keep products like Google Profits far, far away from our Top 10 Recommended Home Business list.

Really, though that kind of stuff is just the tip of the iceberg. Let's keep going…

Let's see what happens when I try to get my free trial of Erika Miller's Google Profits (oh, I just can't wait)…

OK. Page 1: there's some bizarre, devious-looking image of President George W. Bush next to a statement that says: "Put $500 A Week In Your Hands! Try my Google Profit$ system for FREE!". Huh? Is Google Profits the President's new plan for economic recovery?

Anyhow, I filled out the form noticed the "submit button" that says "Rush My Free Trial". OK. I thought it said that the Google Profits system was free, but I guess it's actually a free trial – although at this point I have no clue how long the free trial is…oh wait…let me scroll down the page (that's kind of interesting, because I bet most people wouldn't even bother scrolling down the page).

OK. It says the Free Trial is for 3 days. What? Someone with ZERO online business experience is supposed to figure out if the system is usable in THREE DAYS? LOL. You have GOT to be kidding me. Also, what happens after three days? I guess I'll find out after I click the "Rush My Free Trial" button.

Anyhow. I'm going to press that "Rush My Free Trial" button now and here's where I end up:

Page 2: Yikes. Here's the full cost of the program. It says:

"Upon ordering you will get immediate access to our members area for 3 full days to review the wealth of content, videos, ebooks and more about making money on Google. After the 3 day period you will be billed a ONE-TIME fee of $135.00. If you decide this program is not for you please write an email to support@searchprofithouse.com with your contact information and a note to cancel. No other charges will appear."

I guess that could be worse, but after the shenanigans on page 1 I'm not really sure if this is a company I want to do business with. Also, they have one of those strange refund policies I've been seeing lately which includes the stipulation that you have to have tried the program for 88 days before you can request a refund.

So one of two things is going on there:

A) They want you to prove that you tried the program
B) They want you to forget that you ordered the program
C) They want to be able to hold your money long enough to generate interest from it.
D) They really, really, really like the number 88
E) 88 days somehow reduces their risk of you being able to file a dispute with your credit card company (I don't know if that's true or not as I've just started looking into the state-by-state chargeback rules – I've posted a link to the ones in California below and highlighted a couple points beneath the link).

A thought as to why Does Erika Miller's Google Profits might make you wait 88 days before you can file a refund…

This is something I just started thinking about and it's something I'm going to have to collect more information about over time.

But I was looking at the California Office of the Attorney General's information about Credit Card Chargeback rights which you can read about here which covers both federal credit card chargeback rights and rules under California state law about your right to challenge credit card charges you dispute.

One thing in the California Attorney General's information that stood out for me was the following when they were talking about how long you had to dispute a charge that had to do with a billing error (one type of billing error which states:

"If you get your letter challenging the charge to your bank within the 60 day period (some banks extend this to 90 days, but don't take a chance), you need not meet any other condition. No geographical restrictions apply. You need not make any attempt to resolve the dispute with the merchant, and you can assert a billing error even if you have already paid your credit card balance down to zero."

I HIGHLY recommend you read find your OWN state's information about Chargeback rights in your state and get the FULL information about your credit card chargeback rights in your state. I don't have time to find them all at once, but if people start posting that they want me to find them for their state, just let me know what State you're in and I'll start finding them for you and eventually put all of the states on one page.

The California information page has a lot of great information for residents of California including credit card chargeback rights under the category of "billing errors" and the category of "claims and defenses" and much more, including important exceptions and definitions.

OK. I'm not going to actually order Erika Miller's Google Profits.

First of all, according to the picture of Erika Miller on the SearchProfitHouse site it looks like she only gets paid in one dollar bills and I like to be paid by direct deposit or check. And second of all…well, I'm just NOT going to order this thing.

I'm a bit curious about some of the complaints, though. Because even though there's NO chance this would end up any where near our top ten recommended home businesses list it does clearly state on the second page that you'll be charged $135.00.

So I'm guessing the complaints might center about people's ability to get a refund.

"AUSTIN – Attorney General Greg Abbott today charged two Utah-based defendants with operating a fraudulent work-at-home scheme. The state’s enforcement action names Infusion Media Inc. and Jonathan D. Eborn, whose “GoogleMoneyTree.com” promised six-figure earnings for conducting specialized Google and Yahoo Internet searches

According to investigators, the defendants promised big payouts in order to convince Web users to spend $3.88 on shipping and handling for a “free kit” that supposedly would show them how to make money from home. Those who purchased the kit were later surprised to discover they were being charged $72 a month by the defendants."

"According to the state’s enforcement action, GoogleMoneyTree failed to clearly inform purchasers that they had been enrolled in monthly memberships and had only seven days to cancel their trial membership. Purchasers who failed to cancel within seven days were automatically charged $72 on their credit card statements each month. In addition to the unexpected credit card charges, customer complaints obtained by state investigators indicate that GoogleMoneyTree failed to actually send the “free kit” and refused to honor customer refunds.

The state is seeking an injunction, civil penalties of up to $20,000 per violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, as well as restitution for purchasers. Texans who believe they have been misled by similar business practices may file complaints with the Office of the Attorney General toll-free at (800) 252-8011 or file complaints online at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov."

Update 2/6/2009: Since this was originally posted Google Money Tree – also known as Internet Money Tree -  has made significant improvements (in my opinion) to their sales process.

If you are going to post a comment – and are able to do so – please post the original date that you ordered Internet Money Tree as it would be interesting – and could be helpful – to match those dates up with the version of the Internet Money Tree sales page that was current at the time.

Note: This is NOT an endorsement of Internet Money Tree, but an acknowledgement of improvements (again, in my opinion) that were made to their sales process.

End 2/6/2009 update.

Hey Internet Money Tree – you can run, but you cannot hide.  Whassa matter l'il Money Tree – did you get tired of people screaming and yelling at you in our discussion about the notorious Google Money Tree version of yourself?

Remember what Gertrude Stein once wrote…

"A rose is a rose is a rose"

Or in your case:

"A skunk is a skunk is a skunk"

Most of you can skip this paragraph: (For all you poetry fanatics and English Lit majors who are planning to come down on me for misinterpreting Gertrude Stein's phrase…according to this article in WikiPedia I'm in good company.

Basically Internet Money Tree – I'm PRETTY sure that YOU STINK.

But I'm going to walk through your order process and see what you're up to these days and how the InternetMoneyTree ordering process works:

Note: I'm hunting down the original sales page for InternetMoneyTree.com and will continue writing this after I find it. If you happen to know where it is, please let me know – or if you know where you saw it advertised.

I just happened to stumble across this on the Federal Reserve site:

Complaints Involving Credit Cards

If you have a problem involving your credit card, first try to resolve it directly with the store or the credit card company. If that doesn’t work, you may want to file a complaint with your state’s attorney general or banking agency. You may also file a complaint with the federal agency responsible for enforcing consumer credit laws for your credit card company.

Credit cards issued by state banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System
Federal Reserve Consumer Help
PO Box 1200
Minneapolis, MN 55480
888-851-1920 (Phone)
877-766-8533 (TTY)
877-888-2520 (Fax)
Email: ConsumerHelp@FederalReserve.gov
www.FederalReserveConsumerHelp.gov

See “How to File a Consumer Complaint about a Bank”.

Credit cards issued by banks with “national” in the name or “N.A.” after the name
Comptroller of the Currency
Customer Assistance Group
1301 McKinney Street, Suite 3450
Houston, TX 77010
1 (800) 613-6743 (toll-free)
www.occ.treas.gov

Credit cards issued by state banks that are not members of the Federal Reserve System
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Consumer Response Center
2345 Grand Boulevard, Suite 100
Kansas City, MO 64108
1 (877) 275-3342 (toll-free)
www.fdic.gov

Credit cards issued by federal savings and loan associations and federal savings banks
Office of Thrift Supervision
Consumer Programs
1700 G Street, NW, 6th Floor
Washington, DC 20552
1 (800) 842-6929 (toll-free)
www.ots.treas.gov

Credit cards associated with federal credit unions
National Credit Union Administration
Office of Public and Congressional Affairs
1775 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-3428
1 (800) 755-1030 (toll free)
(703) 518-6409 (Fax)
www.ncua.gov

Credit cards issued by finance companies or stores, and matters related to auto dealers, mortgage companies, and credit bureaus
Federal Trade Commission
Consumer Response Center – 240
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580
1 (877)-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) (toll-free)
www.ftc.gov

Again!…WorkAtHomeTruth has NEVER recommended any Google success kit trial offer and based on what we know so far we never will. In fact, the chance of one coming anywhere near our top 10 recommended home businessest would be ZERO.

I've been seeing complaints about a product called "Google Success Kit" that seems to rival the product Google Money Tree in terms of how much people hate it. Of course, if it's at all like the GoogleMoneyTree product I could definitely see why.

4/14/2009 update: There are so many products with different names that sound similar that it's getting hard to know which product people are talking about. Therefor the updates below from February may or may not be about the product your looking for information on. You'll need to read through the discussion, too. One person – Sarah – recently posted about a product called Instant Google Kit – also called Google Startup Kit which within the terms and conditions includes a subscription to a product called IPlanFinancial.

2/25/2009 update: This product has NOTHING to do with Paul Easton's JustMoreWebsiteTraffic product.

2/10/2009 update: now the customer service for Google Success Kit seems to be bordering on excellent. So mostly the complaints seem to be about other aspects of the business.

2/2/2009 update: Google Money Tree (mentioned above) has made significant improvements (in my opinion) to their order process since this was written.

2/2/2009 update: so far based on the feedback I'm seeing, Google Success Kit for the most part is providing reliable customer service.

But I've been trying to figure out where people are getting the Google Success Kit. I've searched for it and so far I've been unable to find the version people are complaining about. The GoogleSuccessKit complaints seem to center around allegations of unauthorized monthly charges for $11.95 per month and $4.95 per month after taking a $1.00 trial offer.

Not, I'll be curious to see if it says "trial" offer – just recently I was looking at another product called EarnCashFastWithGoogle where I actually had to look into the source code of the web page to find the word "trial". :-0

If anyone can remember the actual PAGE where they filled out there information to get the Google Success Kit I'd love to see it so I can see what they are doing to generate so many complaints. Also, if warranted I'll post the same information that I posted in the LONG discussion about GoogleMoneyTree here about where to file complaints, etc.

NOTE: WorkAtHomeTruth has NEVER recommended the Google Success Kit and based on what we know so far we never will. In fact, the chance of it coming anywhere near our top 10 recommended home businessest would be ZERO.

Apparently the Google Success Kit made one person so mad that they said that even if the product made them a millionaire they wouldn't want anything to do with their company.

Which brings up another point about the "Google Kit" type products – 99.9% of the time the REAL company Google has NOTHING to do with them. They are using Google's name without Google's permission! But I'm sure the average person who sees the name GoogleSuccessKit doesn't know that.

So far I've only found sites promoting the Google Success Kit that have a $1.87 charge. I haven't found one with a $1 charge so if someone can point me to the one that has the $1.00 trial offer I'd like to see it.

Also, the only phone number I've seen about the GoogleSuccessKit product is 1-800-659-1473 which apparently routes people to quickcashsupport.com.

Obviously, if anyone's had any success in canceling their Google Success Kit or getting a refund, please post how you did it in the comments and then I'll move it up to this main section.

One of the products many of those sites are promoting is a product called EarnFastCashWithGoogle. So let's take a look at why EarnCashFastWithGoogle is generating so many complaints.

3/28/2009 update: This is NOT an endorsement or NON-endorsement of EarnCashFastWithGoogle, but I still cannot understand how people can miss the information disclosing monthly charges on their sites disclosing the terms of their offer. When I checked it was on ALL of the following sites that are used to promote this offer:

• GoogleProfitTree – The version I looked at showed the monthly charges in a big blue box at the bottom of the page BEFORE the first step of the order form.
• MakeCashFastWithGoogle – The version I looked at had "Risk-Free Trial Information" in bolded green letters DIRECTLY to the left of where you enter your credit card information. The monthly charges were spelled out there.

3/3/2009 Update: It is still baffling to me how people are missing the disclosures on the EarnCashFastWithGoogle site. This is NOT an endorsement of the product, but from what I've seen EarnCashFastWithGoogle's method of disclosure has to be one of the most consumer-friendly one that I've seen. I have to agree with what they've now detailed in their advertising policy link which you can read here.

However, I don't like the fact that you have to take ALL 3 services instead of being able to select – buffet-style.

I did just notice a separate issue: The second page of the EarnCashFastWithGoogle site is displaying the HackerSafe logo on the order page. The two issues with displaying the HackerSafe logo are:

1. HackerSafe was bought out by McAfee and ultimately changed the HackerSafe logo to McAfee Secure.  Click here to read about the HackerSafe change to McAfee Secure, which be reading the comments looks like was done AUTOMATICALLY.
2. A security seal like HackerSafe (now McAfee Secure) is supposed to be clickable so that you can verify the last time the site was scanned on a trusted 3rd-party site.
   

FIRST – I want to be clear that we have NEVER recommended the EarnCashFastWithGoogle product and based on what I've seen based on the sales page alone it would NEVER a chance of getting anywhere near our Top 10 Recommended Home Businesses list.

I just saw a lot of complaints about their "Earn Google Cash" type product and wondered what they were about.

2/4/2009 Update: While the sales page certainly has some strange things about it that I discuss below, one thing I can't understand is how people don't know they'll be charged monthy after the trial period. On the page I looked at there was a gigantic blue box describing the terms of the offer – DIRECTLY above where you start entering your information. Is there a different sales page that I don't know about?

Strange wording and bad grammar is available for "all who qualify"!

O.K. On page 1 I see that I "may qualify" for one of their free kits. I'd like to know who DOESN'T qualify for one of EarnCashFastWithGoogle's free kits.

Also, the following sentence doesn't even make sense in the context of the page:

"Google has earned people millions of dollars, time for you to get your share! See if you qualify for our free kit and start today!"

I can't imagine what "Google earning people millions of dollars" has to do with EarnCashFastWithGoogle. While PEOPLE might be able to earn money by learning to use Google Adwords through a legitimate system like Matt Levenhagen's CampaignBlast's Training…The company GOOGLE isn't earning ANYONE millions of dollars except maybe some of their employees and shareholders.

To "Qualify" for My "Free Kit" I just have to "Order Now". Huh?

Now, I know this is typically "marketing-speak" but it just seems alarmingly bizarre in the context of the previous claim that "I may qualify for one of their free kits". So in order to qualify for my "Free Kit" I guess I just have to PAY.

You might also qualify if you habitually use poor grammar!

On the first page of the EarnCashFastWithGoogle.com offer I noticed this disclaimer by a testimonial from Kelly T. (Maybe he's related to "Mr. T"?):

"*Results not typical.
Individuals has been remunerated."

Well, at least they did put a dislcaimer, even if it's grammatically incorrect.

"Important Notice" from EarnCashFastWithGoogle Limiting the Number of "Hand-Held" Experiences Available! Whaaat?

According to the "Giant Red Box":

"Unfortunately, we cannot offer this to everyone. I am really sorry about this, but the offer is extremely limited!"

Hmm. I wonder if it's only limited to people who ORDER? I guess those are the people who get the "excellent hand-held experience" mentioned in the "Giant Red Box":

"The Earn Google Cash system ensures that you will have an excellent hand-held experience"

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I've actually been spending a significant amount of time trying to figure out what a "hand-held experience" could possibly be. Also, I hope I don't drop it.

A REAL Two-for-One Deal: TWO baffling sentences on ONE page!

OK. On the SAME page I see these two sentences:

Sentence 1: "See, even though we are releasing this for FREE initially, we are only giving away an undisclosed number of 14-day trial packages." I wonder if the "undisclosed number is related to Graham's Number?

Sentence 2: "Why Am I Giving Away This Earn Google Cash System For Free?"

Now Sentence 1 makes it seem like EarnCashFastWithGoogle will EITHER be free OR it will be a "14-day trial package". And then Sentence 2 makes it seem like CURRENTLY the EarnCashFastWithGoogle system is free.

Let's see if the EarnCashFastWithGoogle system is really free (don't hold your breath)…

Amazingly, EarnCashFastWithGoogle actually puts the offer details right on the front page in a big blue box, although the print is pretty small. Even though I'm not at all impressed by their bizarre sales page, EarnCashFastwithGoogle's disclosure of the trial conditions on the main page is WAY better than what most similar products do (other similar productst tend to link to the Terms & Conditions where you have to hunt down information about the additional fees).

So let's see what the additional charges are:

• $1.00 refundable processing fee
• After your 7-day FREE trial period it’s $29.95 per month (automatically charged monthly at the end of the trial period).
• A FREE fourteen-day trial and twenty one-day trial to the Fraud Protection Resource Center and Identity Theft Protection for just $4.95 and $9.95 a month thereafter (shows as "FraudProtection" and "IdentitySecurity") should you choose not to cancel.

OK. So even though they initially presented a lot of baffling information at the beginning regarding whether their system was free or a 14-day trial, now they're at least putting the offer details directly on the main page…although NOW it's a 7-day FREE trial (I'm not sure what happened to the EarnCashFastWithGoogle free 14-day trial mentioned previously). Also, what if I already have fraud protection and don't want theirs?

Although based on this page alone there's ZERO CHANCE I would ever recommend this "Earn Cash Fast with Google" product to anyone, except maybe one of my competitors.

For example the product I recommend on the site for learning to make money with Google Adwords is Matt Levenhagen's Campaign Blasts Method and here's the remarkable thing about Matt's sales page: it actually makes sense ALL the way through – unlike EarnCashFastWithGoogle.com's sales page which seems to be a mix of nonsensical phrasing, contradictory statements, followed FINALLY by the REAL terms of the offer (at least they did get THAT part right).

OK. If for some strange reason I did actually get this product, how would I cancel or make a refund?

• For EarnCashFastWithGoogle it says: "you can chat with live operator by calling (866)341-7163 within the first 7 days to cancel, and you will not be charged."
• During the PAID membership of EarnCashFastWithGoogle it says: "If for any reason you are dissatisfied, chat with a live operator, and you'll no longer be charged." OK.
• OK. For the "Fraud Protection Resource Center" it says: "You have also unlocked a FREE fourteen-day trial and twenty one-day trial to the Fraud Protection Resource Center and Identity Theft Protection for just $4.95 and $9.95 a month thereafter (shows as "FraudProtection" and "IdentitySecurity") should you choose not to cancel. Prior charges for bonus are non-refundable but subscription can be cancelled and future charges stopped at any time by calling toll-free 1-800-712-7226 and 1-866-342-2994."

Fine, but I still want to know how EASY it is to REALLY get the services canceled.

Now I'm going to have to rely on feedback from other people on that because I have ZERO INTEREST in even reviewing this EarnCashFastWithGoogle offer based on what I've seen so far.

So if anyone wants to let other people know their experiences with canceling the EarnCashFastWithGoogle offer, let them know here.

Update: 2/1/2009: So far it seems that customer service handling EarnCashFastWithGoogle has been very helpful and prompt.

Also, if you initially signed up through a page other than the "EarnCashFastWithGoogle.com" page, I'd be interested in knowing what that page was.

Form on First page:

First Name :
Current Marital Status :
Annual Household Income :
Time At Current Residence :
Employment Status :
Year Born:

Note: I'll be finishing the rest of this page later, but I'm going to go ahead and publish it to see what kind of experience people have had canceling and/or refunding EarnCashFastWithGoogle and how hard or easy it is to cancel and/or refund.

Note: Now there are some sites that seem to call this The Google Easy Cash System.

Related posts:

• Brads Money – Where's that Government Check?
• Google Money Tree Complaints
• Internet Income Initiative & Google Pro Kit Complaints
• C'Mon Everybody – Leave Chedda Alone

I went through the process for getting the Google Pro Kit and was bothered by the exact same thing that bothered me with GoogleMoneyTree. When I got to the part where I was supposed to enter my credit card, there was a pre-checked box stating "I Agree to The Terms and Conditions".  What was interesting was that the phrase "Terms and Conditions" was hyperlinked to the actual Terms and Conditions, but on my computer I couldn't even tell it was a link, although that may be an anomaly of how it displayed on my Mac iBook G4.

Anyhow, I went to read the terms and conditions. If I hadn't already been talking to the people in the discussion about GoogleMoneyTree I would have been surprised by what I found.

Nothing we recommend on our top 10 recommended home businesses list comes anywhere NEAR to costing that much. Not even remotely close.

In fact as of today NO product recommended on the WorkAtHomeTruth sites comes close to costing as much as the full paid membership to InternetIncomeInitiative – a.k.a. Google Pro Kit.

As of December 27, 2008 2:00 A.M. Central Standard Time the Terms on the InternetIncomeInitiative site state:

"If you have a question or complaint regarding the Site, please send an e-mail to support@internetincomeinitiative.com. You may also contact us by writing to internetincomeinitiative.com, Website Customer Care, 5940 S. Rainbow Boulevard, Las Vegas, Nevada 89118, or but can only cancel by calling Customer Service at 888-657-8585."

Click here to read the Terms at the InternetIncomeInitiative website.

If you signed up for InternetIncomeInitiative and were surprised by the charges that appeared on your statement, you may want to read the following information from the Federal Trade Commission:

• Prenotification Negative Option Plans
• How to Right a Wrong
• Trial Offers: The Deal is In the Details

Within the page called "Trial Offers: The Deal is In the Details" you'll see the following

"It's The Law

According to the law, companies must clearly and prominently disclose the "material" terms of their trial offers before you give your consent. Material terms may include:

• the fact that by accepting the trial offer, you're actually agreeing to be enrolled in a membership, subscription or service contract or paying for additional products and services if you don't cancel within the trial period;
• how much time you have to cancel before you incur charges;
• the cost or range of costs of goods or services you'll receive if you don't cancel during the trial period;
• how to cancel during the trial period;
• whether you'll be charged a non-refundable membership fee if you don't cancel within the trial period;
• whether fees will be charged automatically to the credit card you used to buy other goods or services."

So the question is what does "companies must clearly and prominently disclose" mean?

FTC has very good guidelines about proper disclosure placement as they relate to proximity and prominence here:

www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus41.pdf

I encourage you to read ALL the information above, but some of the relevant parts from the above PDF document are repeated below:

"Many of the general principles of advertising law apply to Internet ads, but new issues arise almost as fast as technology develops. This booklet describes the information businesses should consider as they develop online ads to ensure that they comply with the law. Briefly,

1. The same consumer protection laws that apply to commercial activities in other media apply online. The FTC Act’s prohibition on “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” encompasses Internet advertising, marketing and sales. In addition, many Commission rules and guides are not limited to any particular medium used to disseminate claims or advertising, and therefore, apply to online activi- ties.

2. Disclosures that are required to prevent an ad from being misleading, to ensure that consumers receive material information about the terms of a transaction or to further public policy goals, must be clear and conspicuous. In evaluating whether disclosures are likely to be clear and conspicuous in online ads, adver- tisers should consider the placement of the disclosure in an ad and its proximity to the relevant claim. Additional considerations include: the prominence of the disclosure; whether items in other parts of the ad distract attention from the disclosure; whether the ad is so lengthy that the disclosure needs to be repeated; whether disclosures in audio messages are presented in an adequate volume and cadence and visual disclosures appear for a sufficient duration; and, whether the language of the disclosure is understandable to the intended audience.

3. To make a disclosure clear and conspicuous, advertisers should:

• Place disclosures near, and when possible, on the same screen as the trigger- ing claim.
• Use text or visual cues to encourage consumers to scroll down a Web page when it is necessary to view a disclosure.
• When using hyperlinks to lead to disclosures
• make the link obvious;
• label the hyperlink appropriately to convey the importance, nature and relevance of the information it leads to;
• use hyperlink styles consistently so that consumers know when a link is available;
• place the hyperlink near relevant information and make it noticeable;
• take consumers directly to the disclosure on the click-through page;
• assess the effectiveness of the hyperlink by monitoring click-through rates and make changes accordingly.
• Recognize and respond to any technological limitations or unique character- istics of high tech methods of making disclosures, such as frames or pop-ups.
• Display disclosures prior to purchase, but recognize that placement limited only to the order page may not always work.
• Creatively incorporate disclosures in banner ads or disclose them clearly and conspicuously on the page the banner ad links to.
• Prominently display disclosures so they are noticeable to consumers, and evaluate the size, color and graphic treatment of the disclosure in relation to other parts of the Web page.
• Review the entire ad to ensure that other elements—text, graphics, hyperlinks or sound—do not distract consumers’ attention from the disclo- sure.
• Repeat disclosures, as needed, on lengthy Web sites and in connection with repeated claims.
• Use audio disclosures when making audio claims, and present them in a volume and cadence so that consumers can hear and understand them.
• Display visual disclosures for a duration sufficient for consumers to notice, read and understand them.
• Use clear language and syntax so that consumers understand the disclosures.

Once again, I'd recommend you read through the entire disclosure guide if you want more details.

Related posts:

• GoogleMoneyTree complaints
• BradsMoney – Where's that Government Check