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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?

#461

Post by abalone »

sgustard wrote: post #22

Their "how it works" page explains this, with far fewer than "2500 words", though it could be clearer. http://www.justfab.com/how-justfab-works.htm They have 2 million likes on Facebook. Were all these users scammed? The "monthly subscription" has recently been a hot e-commerce category. Other sites with a similar model are shoedazzle.com, fabkids.com, musthave.popsugar.com and so on. See: http://www.quora.com/E-Comm…

The customer they're trying to acquire is the kind that doesn't check their credit card statement in detail every month. So A/B testing cancellation rates and customer satisfaction levels are all mostly irrelevant.

Their lifeblood is the zombie customer who is completely unaware they've got a leech sucking at their credit card account.

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

#462

Post by ghshephard »

rickyc091 wrote: post #421
jseliger wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yes - that's the way it works with Wellsfargo. You are not required to pay the charge until they've completed their investigation. But, as long as the vendor has evidence that you submitted the card number, and that the vendor documented the recurring charge, and you agreed to the charge - you are responsible for the charges on your card.

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

#465

Post by AsymetricCom »

ds_ wrote: post #152

Amazon do basically the same thing with their prime membership, although they do refund if you notice and complain early enough (offer a free month and then start charging unless you opt out, whilst making it far from obvious that you have to do so).

Nice try shady investor.

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

#466

Post by shiven »

mratzloff wrote: post #398
shiven wrote: post #247

It is because of websites like these, I love my credit card's Virtual Account Number generator. It gives me a new CC number every time, with 'Dollar amount' and 'Valid until' limits. I always use a new number to sign up for all sorts of 'trials' etc. Never ran into problems with zombie billing. That said, scammy company is very scammy!

Which credit card company is that, in which country?

In this instance, Citi Dividend World MasterCard in the US.

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

#467

Post by pbreit »

rhizome wrote: post #423
thegna wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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?

100%.

They send an email every month prompting members to visit the site to select a pair of shoes or skip.

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

#468

Post by pbreit »

aestra wrote: post #392
po wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may have been shady but even 8 year olds could tell that it was a 'club' and not a 'store' and knew that you had to cancel. It was "Join the club and get 8 CD's for free' not the other way around with small print. People just forgot to cancel or would stick with it for a while and then realize they weren't getting value. This is a different thing because it is intentionally masquerading as an online web store. Eve…

And at least Colombia House actually um... sent you something.

Sending you something you don't want is worse than adding a credit to your account for a future purchase of your choosing, IMO.

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

#469

Post by sigkill »

agilebyte wrote: post #139
neya wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At first, I disagreed with your tone and profanity. But now, after trying to checkout on that site myself, I realize that it's fair to treat people who knowingly aid scammers, this way. Especially when they are the ones who fund them. It's not like they are innocent little babies, right? They (the company and the investors) know obviously why the conversion rates are so high - Because they are very subtle-y scamming…

Exactly. I think one of the failures of the current system is that we assume that people are rational. We are not and marketing makes ample use of it. The company is not providing a better product (shoes) or a better customer experience & support. They are not making the world a better place. Their business model is to make most of human weaknesses. To me, that is not morally right.

I find Dan Ariely's books on human irrationality very interesting and very easy for normal people like us to get into.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_ariely#Publications

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

#470

Post by sigkill »

rz2k wrote: post #180
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…

I suppose it isn't exactly Blue Hippo, but they'd have to be pretty obtuse not to know that it is misleading, regardless of whether it is the old or new version of the page.[1][2] Take for example item number three shared by both in the side bar: "Skip The Month" or "Skip any month". This isn't the usual lowercase English word "skip", it is a special "Skip", short for special terminology "Skip the Month", their offic…

Regarding your reference link [1], I just noticed another devious strategy. At the bottom of the page, the "I accept the terms of" is in black for higher visibility while the "JustFab VIP membership program" is in pink. Now, Black on white is easily more visual than hot pink on white. And since the hot pink is next to the black, its visual contrast reduces even more. Combine that with the fact that users are very highly likely to tick a checkbox, any checkbox with the phrasing "accept the terms" it makes this even more sinister.

Regarding link [2] I'm unable to even find a way to 'escape' the subscription process. Oh, no wait, it's again present as a "Checkout as Regular member" again in a hot pink on white scheme while the other giant CONTINUE TO CHECKOUT is in a more contrasty white on pink, and it's larger. Also, wait, if that's the regular member checkout link, then what's the giant checkout button do? Bam, chicanery yet again.

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