Legal Question in Consumer Law in Michigan

I recently visited www.selloffauctions.com out of curiosity. It gathers info as many sites do, and I thought I was giving info in case I decided to make a purchase in the future. Many online sites do this and store your info for purchases. When I hit the enter button a pop up came up that said: Your payment is being processed. I immediately thought, payment for what? On their info page there is a small box off to the side that says you are buying a bid package, it appears to be a small banner add and is barely noticeable. I contacted their customer service to explain I did not want to purchase a membership I was just curious and wanted to look. The service rep answered "it is not our policy to give refunds for any reason, if you have no other questions I have to end this call" and he hung up. I called back and asked to speak to a supervisor and the rep that answered asked for my info, after giving it to her she had me hold for a couple seconds and came back to say, "this call does not warrant a supervisor and if there's nothing else I must end this call", and she hung up on me. I called a third time and after a few minutes of discussion was finally transferred to a supervisor who told me "if you want to cancel your account I will do that, but I can not and will not give you a refund." This site is very misleading and has the worst customer service I have ever experienced. Any other site I have ever been to and made a purchase has a page that asks you to confirm you are making a purchase. Or at least asks if you have read the user agreement prior to a purchase. This site does neither and refuses to refund once an error is made. Is there any law protecting the consumer here? I have already filed a dispute with my bank, but I have a feeling this happens all the time with the website and they must be getting away with it.


Asked on 11/12/10, 3:18 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Shelly Schellenberg MI & FL private practice

You have done what you needed to do first, and that is to file a dispute with your bank. Fortunately, you didn't actually give them cash, and no doubt, banks and credit card companies are probably already onto this scam.

You can file a complaint with the BBB wherever they claim they are licensed, but you can also file a complaint with any licensing bureau, assuming they have a license.

Your question represents a warning to other internet consumers who think they are getting something for nothing. Never put your credit card information, or bank information into a web site that you are not very familiar with, and know that it is legitimate and secure. Many "phishing" scams are out there that pose as legitimate companies that you already to business with...some even claiming to "protect" you from scammers. You are correct, this happens all the time.

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Answered on 11/17/10, 4:30 pm


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