Credit Card charged on trial offer?

[wmarkegard]

I signed up for a number of trial offers including Stamps.com and RealtyTrac, and my bank account is out 60 bucks. Are these charges just dummy things? I canceled both offers today and nothing changed.

[janell07]

You aren't really charged.  It will eventually look like they didn't even happen.  Did you cancel in time?  It usually takes a few days to get them off.  I did them early in the week and by Saturday of that week they were gone.

[jdotres]

I always wanted to do the trial offer, but I get scared with all the identity theft going on.  I have a silly question, who am I supposed to call to cancel if I do the trial basis?

[wmarkegard]

I always wanted to do the trial offer, but I get scared with all the identity theft going on.  I have a silly question, who am I supposed to call to cancel if I do the trial basis?

That's not silly. When you go to sign up there will be a number or something. For RealtyTrac, they just have a "Cancel Account" button in your profile. Stamps.com makes you call. eMusic has a "Cancel Account" thing. It's pretty easy, but when I called Stamps the lady kept bothering me about why I wanted to cancel. But it only took like 4 minutes total.

[jdotres]

Thank you for your help.  Don't you just hate it when they try to keep you on.  I mean, I know that its their jon, but hey, if you want to cancel, no amount of talking is going to convince you...right?!

[LauraPelt]

Thanks for the tip about Stamps.com.  I signed up, but thought I could cancel without calling.  Glad I read your post!

[wmarkegard]

Yeah it's pretty bothersome. She said, "What if I offered you an extra month for free to try out the service?" Then after I confirmed one of my security answers she asked "Where do you buy your stamps?" Then asked the second question. Wtc?

And you're welcome LauraPelt.

[jdotres]

One last question, when you do the free trial offers; can you cancel right away or do you have to stay a certain amount of days before you get credit?

[janell07]

It depends.  Read the info you clicked on to start the trial offer, it will tell you how long you need to stay on.  If it doesn't say, then you can cancel the same day, I would recommend waiting until you see you have received credit for it.  I saw a suggestion somewhere on here to keep a sheet of paper with all the trial offers, when you need to cancel by and the phone numbers to contact them.  That sounds like a great idea and something that would be helpful.  Then you keep the piece of paper somewhere you check often and make sure you do this. 

[Tacobell123]

Feel Bad for you, but thanks for the headsup and warning.

[RawlJason]

You should always read the Terms of Service at the bottom of the page, sometimes they're not necessarily "Free Trials."  It also helps if you are actually interested in the product when buying so even if something like this does happen then you're not bummed.  Sorry about the trouble though, hope you can figure it out.

[LittleDebbieG]

For some reason, some of these places put a temporary hold on your card/account. Happened with Netflix, and by the third day or so, the hold was gone. That is probably why it is recommended to use a credit card and not your bank card.

[CCWalsh]

Thats why I refuse to enter any bank information, some pass it along to charge you, and you can get banged with fees even if its just a test charge.  Not worth the risk for the 12 dollars

[carolyn2991]

I am using a prepaid card ad on the few Ive done, I havent had any trouble.  I got the card t use soley for this.  That way it doesnt interfere wth my regualr funds.

[feverish]

I always use my PayPal debit card to sign up for trial accounts. I rarely keep much money in that account, so even if I forget to cancel something in time, they wouldn't be able to access/charge my actual bank account that way!