The Watchdog: Time Warner Cable’s fine print fools a customer

I’m fed up with businesses that tease us with large print come-ons in advertising and hide the conditions in small print that most people miss. Until now, the worst I’d seen recently was at the State Fair of Texas. The sign stated, “Ask Me About our Botox.” Underneath, in tiny print, was the word “Effect.”

So it’s not Botox. It’s the Botox Effect. Doh.

Today I call out Time Warner Cable for doing the same to Sherry Buffington of Farmers Branch and who knows how many others.

She received a flier from TWC with a “limited-time offer.” If she upgrades her TV-Internet-phone package, she would receive a Samsung Galaxy Note tablet. “A $399 Value,” the ad states.

Buffington called TWC and asked about the promotion. A customer service rep promised her she qualified for the expensive tablet. She gave the go-ahead for a switch.

But the tablet never arrived. She went round and round with the company for the next several weeks. Nobody would give her a straight answer about why she didn’t receive the promised gift. She contacted The Watchdog and told me she felt “duped.”

TWC informed me that Buffington had not read the fine print on the offer and did not qualify. That was the bad news. The good news, however, was that TWC folks went back and listened to a recording of her original phone call and heard that the rep promised her a tablet when he shouldn’t have.

TWC offered Buffington a $300 bill credit as a makeup for the error. TWC’s position: She had to switch to a specific bundled package (which she didn’t) and the fine print explained that.

I contacted Buffington and told her tsk, tsk, you gotta read the fine print in life. But then Buffington sent me the actual ad and I was truly surprised. The fine print was so small and in a lighter shade of type than the rest of the flier. The rest of the flier was in big letters. But this fine print was so small I couldn’t even read what she sent me. It was disgustingly small.

fine print

To be fair to TWC, the company is not selling the tablet but the bundled package. The tablet is the lure. But this reminds me of the famous saying: “The big print gives, and the small print takes away.”

I asked the company to send me a sharper copy. I measured the font size. The letters are 1/16 of an inch tall. The tiny print alerts customers that they must sign up for a specific package to qualify.

When I asked Melissa C. Sorola, TWC’s director of public relations, about this, she pointed out that the requirements “are stated three times in the documents.” Yes, that’s true. But it was in 1/16 of an inch everywhere. I don’t find that acceptable. Do you?

Font size in ads is an issue when shopping for electricity in Texas. Under state rules electricity requirements must be “written in language that is clear, plain and easily understood, and shall be printed in paragraphs of no more than 250 words and in a font no smaller than 10 point.”

For perspective, a 10-point font size is twice as large as the font used by TWC for its small print.

The Federal Trade Commission gives guidelines to businesses for fine-print advertising on its ftc.gov website. The regulatory agency has what it calls Clear and Conspicuous Standards.

“Your ads should clearly and conspicuously disclose all information about an offer that is likely to affect a consumer’s purchasing decision. Disclose the most important information — like the terms affecting the basic cost of the offer — near the advertised price.

“Print advertisers should not attempt to hide the real cost or the critical terms or conditions by putting them in obscure locations, such as the border area on a print ad, burying them in numerous densely packed lines of fine print or including them in small-type footnotes.”

The FTC adds, “It’s against the law for businesses to bury important details about a product or service in the fine print.”

The Watchdog continues to become less trusting of companies that try to hide information from us. I agree with Buffington when she tells The Watchdog: “Deception is never acceptable, and consumers definitely should not stand for it.”

IN THE KNOW: FTC standards

Here are the Federal Trade Commission’s Clear and Conspicuous Standards:

Prominence: Is the fine print big enough for people to notice and read?

Presentation: Is the wording and format easy for people to understand?

Placement: Is the fine print where people will look?

Proximity: Is the fine print near the claim it qualifies?

If an ad violates these standards, complain to the FTC at 1-877-FTC-HELP or visit www.ftc.gov/complaint.

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The Green Millionaire: Read Terms & Conditions before you buy

Here’s the pitch:

“We all want to become wealthier. We all want to save the planet. But what to do? In simple, easy-to-follow instructions, The Green Millionaire … helps you make money while saving the planet.”

You can get The Green Millionaire book for free, paying only shipping and handling, according to a TV commercial.

Donald Hufstedler of Arlington, Texas saw the ad on CNBC. He ordered the book online, paying $1.95 for shipping, he says.

Two weeks later, he was surprised to see his credit card charged $89.95 for the cost of The Green Millionaire newsletters. “They don’t reveal this information,” he said.

But the company does reveal it, as Hufstedler learned himself when he went back to the website and checked more carefully.

“You must go to the ‘Terms and Conditions’ page to learn about this extra charge.”

He’s lucky. He got a $50 refund. Other buyers on consumer complaint websites say they didn’t fare as well.

The company, based in Los Angeles, according to the Better Business Bureau, declined repeated attempts by The Watchdog to discuss its sales tactics. The BBB gives the company an F rating, with 143 complaints in the past three years. Almost all are about seeking full refunds.

Hufstedler got to keep the book, which he describes as “OK, but I felt rather foolish after learning what I was paying for.”

The cover of the book, written by Nigel J. Williams, promises that it’s “a practical guide to achieving real wealth while helping to save the planet.”

The book contains tips such as turning used vegetable oil into gasoline by collecting it from restaurants. It steers readers toward websites where they can learn other environmentally friendly tactics.

“Get your free book today” the book’s website says. “Along with the book you’ll get a free* trial of The Green Millionaire eMagazine.”

Notice the asterisk next to free? A clue worth following up on.

The explanation below: “*Just pay $1 shipping and handling. 14-day free trial subscription to The Green Millionaire eMagazine.” On the website, that sentence is in the smallest font on the page.

Deeper in the website, the “Terms and Conditions” say that when you order a free copy of The Green Millionaire, you also subscribe to the e-magazine. “After a 14-day trial period you will be billed the low price of $89.95 and every 365 days thereafter. …

“All sales after the free-trial period are final. The Green Millionaire eMagazine fees are non-refundable. All Green Millionaire subscription fees after the free-trial period and any renewal date are final.”

Apparently not everyone digs that far.

I am the first to admit that I don’t always — OK, hardly ever — read the T&C. Legally, it can be considered part of a contractual agreement between you and the seller.

At Mapawatt Blog, which helps people conserve energy and water, “Concerned Consumer” writes: “Just to let you know, I ordered the book and the only way to stop the charges for the magazine was to cancel my debit card and get a new one.”

On the same blog, a person signed in as “GM Agent” gives the company’s side: “Taken by the company? HA! You only feel taken because you’ve ignored reading our program explanation which is in BIG BOLD PRINT right next to where you place your credit card information.”

In other posts, GM Agent goes further: “I am sorry to see so many negative comments, but would like to say that it is not a scam. If u call in 14 days, u will not be charged. If u don’t, as stated, u will be.”

Another comment by GM Agent: “We have thousands of customers who actually do follow the program, know what they’ve gotten into and are satisfied in the end. So choose what you will people.”

And a final one: “There isn’t any point in trying to report us to the BBB, Attorney General, your bank or credit card company. The reason that is, is because these companies all have their investigative teams who will investigate our terms and conditions, call us to confirm the terms and conditions that you didn’t bother to read and will side with us. Therefore, you will feel like an idiot for ordering something you didn’t bother reading in the first place.”

I don’t know who GM Agent is and, because of the anonymous posting, I can’t say whether he or she works for the company. But the advice is sound. Skip the terms and conditions at your peril.

Always do a lot more detective work to find out what the asterisk next to free means.

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Dave Lieber, The Watchdog columnist for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is the founder of Watchdog Nation. The new 2010 edition of his book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong, is out. Revised and expanded, the book won two national book awards in 2009 for social change. Twitter @DaveLieber