If you have ever thought of purchasing Joel Comm ebook adsense secrets or whatever, you better read this post: http://www.45n5.com/permalink/adsense-secrets-scam-alert.html It seems that once you buy the ebook - a measly 10$- you are automatically subscribed to his membership site and you are billed 30$ per month unless you request to unsubscribe- this is found in the small print of that long tos. What a lame attempt of scamming people...
lol never buy anything without reading the fine print.. this is a known dating back to when man first started selling to others.... By the way Joel is just 1 of 10,000s who do this.... It is not a scam as much as smart business practice....... list building and subscriptions earn many a good $$$$
I thought that being such an " adsense guru" and since many people promote his ebook, there would be some moral principles not to deceive your buyers... guess i was wrong
Well he techinally is actually making millions of dollars from his sites, and the majority of people won't read the fine print, so he gets some more easy income. I really don't think he needs the money though...
an interesting post, wonder what Joel has to say about this. but i myself kinda doubt that you will automatically be subscribed to the membership option. there must be an option which is checked by default that needs to be unchecked. even then, not a very good business practice. people should check if interested, not uncheck if not needed.
Hey Gang... We were very clear in black and white both on the sales page and the order form, but it clearly wasn't enough. You may read my public apology at: http://www.adsense-secrets.com/apology.html
Way to step up. People shouldn't be so quick to yell scam just because they didn't read a tos. I think it's cool you came here and addressed it
Well, you've managed to turn this PR nightmare into a sales page, so kudos for being one of the most fastidious marketers on these boards. You've even recycled your sales page template for the purpose, and in the end, this "apology" is just damage control coupled with another pitch. A meaningful gesture would be to refund the unwanted subscriptions back to day one, each and every cancellation that comes in over the next month. Can't take the financial hit? Neither can your customers. There's nothing I hate more about buying online than assumptive recurrent charges. Tactics like this destroy consumer security on the Web. Your 2-week donation to charity is admirable, but let's not forget the tax write-off. Your expertise is well-known and widely respected, but I have to say that I'm not impressed. Of course, I'm not a customer and now will probably never become one.
He's also rich, and it looks as if some of it comes from selling unwanted subscriptions to unwary buyers who had no reason to think they'd be charged without express permission. I'll withdraw these comments if Joel returns to confirm he is returning ALL subscriber payments which are cancelled in the wake of this revelation. Since there's no way to know who knew they were subscribing and who did not, it must be assumed that anyone claiming a refund at this time is at least unsatisfied. I just love how a few smooth words are all it takes to forgive and forget. Maybe it was an error. His brand is big enough to demand that he stand by the error and issue refunds to anyone who requests one. His mistake, his recall. Auto manufacturers and food suppliers sometimes have to do something similar. At least JComm's product, being digital, does not have to be shipped back to him. My $.02, I'm no Joel Comm.
Its amazing how many emails I have received on both sides of this issue. Some are angry that there was any kind of continuity program in the bundle. Others think I shouldn't have changed a thing. I did what I thought was best. I have had a customer service policy for many years and have applied the same policy to this current product. 1) All refund requests will be honored. 2) NO ONE is being billed until AFTER they receive a physical product in the mail and has a chance to decide whether they want to receive the next issue. 3) Furthermore, anyone who receives a second issue and wants a refund will receive it. I have always managed customer service in a way that favors the customer and will always continue to do so. Joel