Same Old Scam, Every Month

Adaptive Marketing LLC, Vertrue's management and marketing arm, promotes a no-questions-asked, full-refund policy on its Web site, but the policy apparently doesn't extend throughout its negative-option empire that, according to a Vertrue financial report last month, is expected to bring in $650 million in revenue in 2006.

"I had to make three calls to drop this 'service,' " says Beach, adding that none of the customer-service reps offered to refund his money. Finally, a supervisor agreed to refund "a month or two" of the payments and to cancel the account, he says.

Barbante says a week of persistent calling to AP9 Homeworks Plus finally paid off in a full refund, given reluctantly.

Contacted several times for this column, Vertrue did not return calls.

So how do consumers protect themselves? Besides not agreeing to unsolicited deals online or filling out online surveys that pop up, Magedson warns against clicking anywhere -- not just on the "yes" icon -- on Internet pop-up ads. As soon as you do, he says, these buyer clubs are able to get your credit card info by tracking the transaction on the host site.

"You never even want to click the X in the corner if you are suspicious of a pop-up," he says, explaining that some dishonest advertisers "crosswire" pop-ups so that clicking the X is the same as clicking "yes." "Instead," he says, "press the ctrl-alt-del buttons, and when the task bar manager comes up, press 'end task' for the title of that pop-up."

Adds Edward Johnson, president of the Greater Washington Area Better Business Bureau: "A negative-option offer that is attached to a free trial period inherently lends itself to potential problems -- like people not understanding that they signed up and the debits made to your account."

He recommends consumer vigilance. "A careful review of your credit card statement every month should be the rule -- not the exception," he says. "That is crucial. The bottom line is that free trial offers can come with a significant cost, and for many consumers, there is nothing free about it."

Got questions or comments? A consumer complaint? A helpful tip? E-mail details toconsumer@washpost.comor write to Don Oldenburg, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071. Because of the volume of mail, personal replies are not always possible.