This gives American business a bad name. This gives capitalism a bad name. Those of you starting a business might be tempted to make profit using unethical tactics like this. Don't do it.
I searched for a recipe and saw this ad:
The ad instructs the reader to enter his or her phone number to get access to the recipe and other wonderful recipes...thousands, in fact.
The unsuspecting consumer might think, "OK, I'll enter my phone number. If they call me, I'll just say no to whatever they're selling."
In very small print, barely legible on the bottom of the ad, if you look very closely and squint, you will read this: "Yes, give me the receips. (sic) I accept offer for 9.99 monthly for Unlimited Access to Easy Meal Ideas and Recipe Website."
Many folks don't know that the monthly recurring charge is made to and through their phone bills, so they feel safe providing their phone numbers.
Given the misspelling, I take it back, America. This is probably an ad for a company where English is not the native language. But the face-cream ad I almost fell for (send for your free full-size sample and pay only $2 shipping and handling) might have been American. I saw the small print just in time. If I didn't like the product I could return it to stop further automatic shipments costing about $100/month.
I know there are households where that automatically deducted hundred bucks is going to really hurt the grocery or rent budget, and it makes me angry that companies are allowed to perpetrate this on the public.
Come on, America. It may be legal, but can we please have higher standards and enforce some ethics, too? Come on Yahoo! and Google and other search engines that accept these ads. Grow up. Be responsible and do what you know is right.
And you, new business owner, please please don't stoop to hurting your customers. Don't try to fool us, OK?
Thank you.
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