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Why can a scam company raise $40 Million Series C + $76 Million Series B?

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Re: Why can a scam company raise $40 Million Series C + $76 Million Series B?

#421

Post by rickyc091 »

jseliger wrote: post #331
ghshephard wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally not the case that you get your money back, at least with WellsFargo Visa, they will investigate to determine whether your card was used by some other party. Saying, "I didn't read the terms of the agreement" is not grounds for a chargeback. What's worse is when you've signed up for a One year recurring payment and you have to jump through hoops to cancel such as a registered letter to cancel. Wells fargo will…

Wells fargo will refuse to cancel for you, saying it is between you and the vendor. Further to that, you can't even cancel your credit card, as Wells Fargo will transfer the recurring charge to a new card. That's not been my experience with AmEx. Some scammy company began billing me for monthly charges, and I couldn't get anywhere through the telephone number listed on the bill. I called AmEx, disputed the charges, a…

I can't speak for Wells Fargo, but I've had zero problems issuing charge backs with Chase Signature. I generally file a claim on their ridiculously unpleasant web form and I get temporarily reimbursed immediately while they investigate the issue.

Re: Why can a scam company raise $40 Million Series C + $76 Million Series B?

#422

Post by FireBeyond »

DominikR wrote: post #204
estel wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what it's worth, eHow only really moved towards being a content farm after being sold to Demand Media. I don't think it's fair to compare legalised gambling with human trafficking...

You are right, it's obviously not comparable to human trafficking. I'm just making the point that this guy has a history of founding shady companies, therefore it's not surprising that he can't see why JustFab is a shady company.

Gambling isn't, in itself, shady. Educated adults know that there's a risk. There are the compulsive types for whom it is a problem.

On the other hand, search for "Betfair doesn't pay out" and you see dozens of stories, often by 'big media', of repeated and numerous instances where Betfair has suspended accounts that have won money, and even voided all bets on an event where they stood to lose a lot of money.

Re: Why can a scam company raise $40 Million Series C + $76 Million Series B?

#423

Post by rhizome »

thegna wrote: post #340
calinet6 wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. It's a bullshit scam. The entire page guides you into signing up for a "VIP" style, but always looks and feels like you're buying a single pair of shoes. It is a scam, plain and simple, and their recurring income is from the privilege of sending poor unwary consumers a new pair of shoes every single month without their full understanding. It's no better than the mail-order monthly subscription scams of olde.…

"It is a scam, plain and simple, and their recurring income is from the privilege of sending poor unwary consumers a new pair of shoes every single month without their full understanding." Actually they don't send poor unwary consumers any shoes, they give poor unwary consumers "credits" which most likely got unnoticed and unused.

What do you think the chances are that they send an email every time the customer is charged, listing their "points" and benefits thereof?

Re: Why can a scam company raise $40 Million Series C + $76 Million Series B?

#424

Post by jblow »

jdh wrote: post #23

I'm the Series A investor in this company. We in fact have done plenty of due diligence, and you will be pleased to know it is not a scam company. In fact, the company has very high customer satisfaction ratings, including an NPS that is in the ballpark of Amazon, and a very high customer retention rate. More than half of the people who subscribe to the service are still subscribers after two years, which is unusuall…

There's no nicer way to say this: you're scum. Have fun trying to sleep at night.

Re: Why can a scam company raise $40 Million Series C + $76 Million Series B?

#425

Post by brianmcconnell »

This is why I have my credit/debit cards cancelled and re-issued once or twice a year. I can't be bothered to spend several hours on the phone trying to cancel scumbag/parasite operators like this (AOL was notorious for this back in the day).

Re: Why can a scam company raise $40 Million Series C + $76 Million Series B?

#426

Post by fartface »

this has the potential to be much worse than a shady checkout screen. for every vip charge they aren't even shipping a real product. they give credits. if a company files bankruptcy those credits and gift cards will be worthless because it is considered a liability. so they don't even have to keep a real inventory (which would be an asset with real value).

(1) get funding (2) ? (3) bankruptcy (4) profit

Re: Why can a scam company raise $40 Million Series C + $76 Million Series B?

#427

Post by jonnathanson »

hga wrote: post #405
thegna wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One major difference: JustFab doesn't send you anything, they give you "credits" which can be used for future purchase but most likely got un-noticed and un-used.

So at worst, you'd pay for one item in the first cycle and then cancel. Also, at least back in the bad old days when I was at various times a "member" of various book clubs, you got sent a bill, the company didn't charge you and enjoy float (interest earned on bank balances) like this company does on their credits. And those credits will evaporate if/when this company goes out of business.

"Credits" are in some cases more insidious than being sent physical goods, because they're less likely to be noticed. And you'd be surprised how slowly most people realize they've been subscribed to a service -- especially if the billing for that service is under a fairly innocuous-sounding or obscure name (as is often the case).

Paying "for one item in the first cycle and then cancel[ing]" is probably an exceptional case. I'd be willing to bet that it takes most users two, maybe even three or more cycles to notice and then break the subscription.

Re: Why can a scam company raise $40 Million Series C + $76 Million Series B?

#428

Post by dragonwriter »

ds_ wrote: post #411
GrinningFool wrote: post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me it seems implied? "It is free for 30 days but then it is not free anymore." I don't know, maybe I read too much into it - but when I signed up, I was aware that I was both getting 30 days free, and that I would pay for it after. And I don't recall that I had to read any fine print to glean that understanding.

I may have been naive and I won't make the same mistake again. However, most people are used to trials expiring and being forced to explicitly upgrade to continue using X product. This practice seems scammy because it is something unexpected to a lot of users, and I'm sure whoever came up with it knew full well that people would be misled.

> However, most people are used to trials expiring and being forced to explicitly upgrade to continue using X product.

Actually, the free trial period with automatic billing at full price at the end of the period is a fairly common model that people in the US are used to (even if they don't like it); either it or the very similar discounted introductory period with automatic billing at full price at the end of the introductory period model is used for almost every periodic membership-based service that exists. So, I doubt very much that your statement about what most people are used to is accurate. (It may be what your experience genuinely was and the basis for your expectation despite the very clear explicit statement to the contrary that Amazon provides with free Prime trials, but I don't see any reason to believe, and have plenty of reason to doubt, that it is generally the case.)

And Amazon makes it unusually easy to cancel it for a full refund after the trial has expired and the full membership has been charged.

Re: Why can a scam company raise $40 Million Series C + $76 Million Series B?

#429

Post by davidascher »

jdh wrote: post #23

I'm the Series A investor in this company. We in fact have done plenty of due diligence, and you will be pleased to know it is not a scam company. In fact, the company has very high customer satisfaction ratings, including an NPS that is in the ballpark of Amazon, and a very high customer retention rate. More than half of the people who subscribe to the service are still subscribers after two years, which is unusuall…

Is the NPS measured with visitors to the site, customers on site, or people being charged? I'd wager for some companies the differences could be telling.

Re: Why can a scam company raise $40 Million Series C + $76 Million Series B?

#430

Post by HPLovecraft »

wpietri wrote: post #351
avalaunch wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other commenters are being too nice in their replies. You're full of shit. JustFab is a shoe of the month club masquerading as a normal online shoe store. The VIP Membership Program is the essence of JustFab's business model and yet it's missing entirely from the home page of their site. It looks like any other shoe store. And yet you think it's clear that the user is being signed up for a shoe of the month membe…

And remember, my fellow entrepreneurs: if an investor is ok with cheating customers, there's no reason to think they will have a problem cheating you.

this!
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