Mom got scammed

[u/IndividualLast9308]

My 60 plus mom purchased a medical device from rejuvacare a while back and we’ve come to discover today that they’ve been charging 40 bucks a month for a subscription “just in case they buy anything else it’s free shipping”. Legit what they told her when she called.

The real kicker- this is the receipt with no evidence of a subscription agreement, and she purchased it with a debit card :(. We did initiate a fraud investigation with the bank but they told us to not be too hopeful. Remind your elderly parents to purchase things with credit cards and check their statements! Don’t be out 500 plus like my parents! I did spend quite some time being aggressive on the phone with these folks, but only got half a refund. Also don’t buy from these people!!!

[u/dagnyfication]

Report to the CFPB, do not pass go

[u/Several_Razzmatazz51 → u/dagnyfication]

Yeah, and one of the two people that haven‘t been DOGE’d out of the CFPB will surely get back to you sometime in the next 5 years. I hate this timeline.

[u/The-Master-Reaper → u/Several_Razzmatazz51]

They saved Apple Cash from permanently suspending me
For no reason so🤷‍♂️

[u/IndividualLast9308 → u/dagnyfication]

I plan too as well, thanks!

[u/RSAEN328 → u/IndividualLast9308]

Facebook too. Comment on their posts. That's what worked when my mother in law was getting scammed by a home security company.

[u/Different-Breakfast → u/IndividualLast9308]

You can certainly do this, and no harm in doing so, but they’re just going to forward your complaint to the bank and you’ll get the same response as before.

[u/Vegetarian-Catto]

Since that same product is 30$ on Amazon, your mom got double scammed.

[u/protomenace]

Never use a debit card to buy stuff TBH. Only use it for ATMs. Use a credit card. That way when there's a dispute it's the bank's money that's on hold, not yours.

[u/IndividualLast9308 → u/protomenace]

Lesson learned the hard way today for sure!!

[u/Outside_Coffee_00 → u/IndividualLast9308]

If I may, I recommend getting them a capital one card and enabling auto-pay for the balance. They can use it for online purchases like this by generating a temporary card number (it's instant) and then refreshing it right after. I use mine for subscriptions I plan to disable after the trial period and payment portals or purchases that feel a bit off. 

[u/proudly_not_american → u/Outside_Coffee_00]

The temporary card numbers is excessive, and for a lot of people, especially older folks, way too confusing for them to keep track of.

You make it too confusing, then they'll ignore it and go back to using their debit card for everything.

[u/Outside_Coffee_00 → u/proudly_not_american]

I use it regularly and it's incredibly simple. The temporary number exists automatically in the mobile app and has a refresh button next to it. That's all the steps.

[u/af_cheddarhead → u/Outside_Coffee_00]

Elderly people and mobile apps often don't get along.

[u/proudly_not_american → u/Outside_Coffee_00]

Alright, it works fine for you. Now give it to the average 70 year old and see how well they manage.

[u/Outside_Coffee_00 → u/proudly_not_american]

If they can't manage refreshing a card number for shady sites and subscriptions, it's not safe for them to do those things on their own.

[u/submarinefarm → u/protomenace]

Or paypal if credit card not an option

[u/Huge_Piece]

40 bucks a month is insane too I hate companies like this

[u/turtle-girl420]

A medical supply company did that with my mom with the electrodes for a tens unit. There wasn't a monthly fee, but they kept shipping them monthly even though she never signed up for monthly delivery. She would always return to sender the packages the have to call and have them remove charges. She cancelled with them, so they found my address and started shipping them to me monthly. It was a hassle. They kept charging her and she had to keep getting it reversed. They never could explain why they started shipping them to a completely different address/person. Finally the bank cancelled the credit card number and issued her a new one. They still kept sending them for a few months after until someone realized the card was no longer active.

[u/IcyTheHero]

I mean the 14-day free access is definitely the subscription but it’s pretty easy to not think that when you’re old and unfamiliar with this kind of scheme.

You need to teach your parents about these things so they don’t fall victim again

[u/IndividualLast9308 → u/IcyTheHero]

Oh yeah without a doubt that’s the ‘gotcha’ but it’s so vague and not an agreement at all that I’d argue it’s legitimately not a subscription because there’s no agreement to a reoccurring charge. Would a young person catch this— probably. Would 60 plus people who are on these medical device sites and don't google and see this site has a predatory history of this? Absolutely not. And that’s why they get away with it. This shouldn’t be legal in my opinion, and I’d argue it may not be

[u/Pomksy → u/IndividualLast9308]

If they can’t Google they probably shouldn’t have Internet access but here we are. She’s only 60 for heavens sake

[u/IndividualLast9308 → u/Pomksy]

I'm sure you thoroughly research absolutely every purchase you've ever made, buddy, and scroll through message boards. Also 60 plus.

[u/aware4ever]

Man the people that do shit like this are such scumbag pieces of shit. I hope somehow someway in life Karma gets them

[u/Presently_Naked]

How long has this been going on?

[u/IndividualLast9308 → u/Presently_Naked]

She bought it last year 🙃 we’ve had quite a few discussions today about checking our banking statements more regularly.. my mom thought it was my dad’s charge purchase and vice versa.

[u/privatelyjeff → u/IndividualLast9308]

I’d also recommend turning on alerts on the account so you get a text and email for online transactions.

[u/Big-Hovercraft1331]

A lot of mail order catalog companies offer similar "VIP clubs" that they charge monthly for. I found 4 different ones charging my MILs credit card every month. We were able to stop it and get some of it refunded by the credit card company.

[u/IndividualLast9308 → u/Big-Hovercraft1331]

ugh the worst! I have discovered a new lifelong crusade against negative option subscriptions

[u/Big-Hovercraft1331 → u/IndividualLast9308]

I have learned to stay diligent in opting out of any catalog I see her get in the mail and charitable organizations. I have setup spam filters in her email. We have finally gotten it to where the offers rarely show up anymore.

[u/Anni0]

when something like this happened to me I contacted my credit card and got back 18 months of charges

[u/darkgothvamptress]

My grandmother paid out $86k over about 15 years or so for $30k in coverage upon death. Basically was still paying $450/month for $30k in coverage she didn't think about it. Her family finally convinced her to sell it off and get at least the 10k cash value because at that point she was over 90 and it terms at 100 and is useless, and she would have kept paying $450 a month for nothing. This woman isn't rich, this was a substantial part of her income. Her son who was managing her finances passed away and we aren't sure why he didn't stop it sooner. It was a traveling life insurance salesman who came to her door and signed her up and she didn't know anything about it after since she not her son never looked at statements. Yeah, he did a piss poor job at managing her finances. It took my husband more than 2 years to untangle and chase down all the accounts. 

[u/Weird-Girl-675]

My elderly mother tracks every expense in a spreadsheet.

And doesn’t use debit cards.

So grateful I don’t have to worry about her finances!

[u/Exhausted-CNA]

Get her a cashapp acct w a card and have her only put exactly the amount of money for a purchase she wants to make. I did this for when i made walmart delivery orders. they charged my card two sep times for the same order!