Reading Fail

[calulu]

So our ever so not brilliant management team at Flowers O Suck has decided to partner with a new program that's trying to be a competitor for AAA. This week they mailed out checks for ten bucks to all our customers as a come-on to get them to enroll in this new program.

I think it's kinda sneaky and shitty because if you cash the check you're automatically enrolled in this thing and after a month you owe the yearly fee of $199.99. I have Triple A and it's nowhere near that pricey.

Of course when you get this mailing you have to actually read through the paperwork to figure out exactly what Flowers O Suck is sending you a check for. As soon as I heard about this program I could see the potential for clusterfuckitis going on so I printed out all info on it, put my copy of the letter and sample check on my desk because I knew damn good and well I was going to get a million calls from people completely misunderstanding what it was all about.

Sure enough, all day long people have been calling trying to use the check to buy flowers.....or calling asking me why we gave them a refund....insert every scenario imaginable here..most are insisting it's a coupon to get money off their orders.

I freaking hate the marketing folks right now.

[LillFilly]

I've seen that before. Yeah, a check is tempting, but the offers I've seen were pretty clearly stated. You just don't get free money!

[Eric the Grey]

You've got to be careful these days because a lot of things will require you to sign up for something you don't want.

Last summer, we went tot he Boulder Creek Festival, and there was a drawing for something. After reading the back of the drawing card, I declined to enter because one of the conditions was that you gave them permission to call you with "special offers" (read: sales pitches/telemarketing). I don't go through the trouble of keeping my phones on the no-call list to just give someone else the ability to waste my minutes.



Eric the Grey

[chainedbarista]

i see yet another class action lawsuit in the making here; the powers that be may have degrees, but not the brains-autoenrollment into programs have created more problems than imagined for those who started them, too bad those in charge of flowers o' suck weren't paying attention.

fun for all that deal with the fallout of this ingenious plan. hooray.

[calulu]

Oh ITA chainedbarista! I learned the first month on the job to keep printed out all coupons, special offers, letters and webpages from work just for dealing with these circumstances. I'll stop and read the person verbatim what it says and explain it because I don't want the fallout of not explaining it properly later and having some SC call my boss screaming I deliberately ripped them off and demanding they fire me. I spent more time explaining this check and offer than I did selling today and my commission reflects it. Composing an ugly email to marketing right now.


I wish someone would start a class action lawsoot over things like this because if you're not sharp and aren't paying attention it would be too easy to get slapped with a two hundred dollar bill.

[JLRodgers]

I remember getting one of those stupid "checks that if you cash you're enrolled" things before... the check value? $1, the cost of enrollment? Something like a few hundred a MONTH!

I ripped that thing up into a dozen pieces, and lit fire to it -- didn't want to risk anyone depositing it "by accident".

[CarcinogenCrunchies]

My first thought upon receiving that check would be, "What do flowers have to do with auto clubs?" That alone would make me suspicious enough to throw it out.

[bainsidhe]

I've cashed a similar check once, waited 5 days and then cancelled it. That way it had time to deposit into my account and I cancelled within the 30-day window and kept my $15.00.

Another time/another special (same credit card but different offer) came through with a similar spiel. Except they were giving away a free iPod or something else appealing. I read the fine print. You have to cancel within the first 30 days or you'll be charged $39.95 per month. The first month was not free, unless you cancelled in time. Which meant the first bill would actually be for $80 ($39.95 for both the 1st & 2nd month). Interestingly, the 30-day trial began from the moment you signed the little slip. In order to get the iPod, you needed to mail in the warranty card that came with your membership materials. Which you wouldn't receive until 30-45 days after you signed up. Meaning if you cancelled during the trial period, no iPod for you! If you waited until you received membership materials, you'd be charged $80.00 for the first two months . And then there's processing time for the warranty card, etc which could tack on enough time to bill another month. Yeah, whatta deal!

[EvilEmpryss]

I went to convention last weekend where they were offering those "free drawing" deals: the drawing itself was free, but if you filled out the drawing card, you were agreeing to accept mail, email, and phonecalls from the company, as well as committing to sit for a 90 minute presentation to be given at some undetermined point in the future, and if you didn't, you would be charged something like $450!!!

The only thing about the drawing card that tipped me off to something being wrong was the fact that it needed my signature. I stopped my husband from finishing his by very clearly stating what the conditions were. The guy behind the desk was scowling at me the whole time, as this was getting the attention of the other people filling out cards. Everyone promptly flipped the cards over to read the back, and then started leaving without finishing filling them out. I took mine and my husband's cards with me, even after the guy running the booth tried to offer to throw them away for me.

Yeah, right. Like I'm going to trust someone running a scam like that to not enter in my information anyway.