My girlfriend had almost the exact same experience, such a scam. I was outraged when I looked through the site a year ago. In her opinion the shoes she did get we'rent even good quality, she gave them away. And when she called about the $40 charge that she knew nothing about, they told her she didn't want to cancel. When she asked why not, she was told they'd be getting some really cute shoes in next month and wouldn't want to miss out. Even after getting out of it, she was still called 3 times in future months to ask why she was unhappy with her purchase/and the membership she never knowingly signed up for. Can't stand JustFab or companies like it.
Why was a scam company able to raise $76 Million Series B?
61–70 of 185 posts
Re: Why was a scam company able to raise $76 Million Series B?
#62Don't ask for a refund, go to your bank or CC company and charge back the 6 months. That'll hit them where it hurts. Little known fact about chargebacks: the merchant pays an administration fee, typically $20 to $50. Per charge! That is why the smarter scammers refund to everybody who complains, not refunding is plain dumb. This scam has been around for a long time, usually it's adult companies that sell you a 'free'…
Also, if 1-2% of your charges through a merchant result in a chargeback, the merchant will drop you completely. However, a good scam company will have a few merchants lined up just for this reason.
> the merchant will drop you completely
You mean processor/bank/merchant account, not merchant. In the parlance of the payment industry justfab is the merchant in this story.
And yes, there are scammers that have processors / banks lined up but they burn through them at a rate of about 1 every 8 weeks or so, and each time that happens they forfeit a large amount of cash. There are not that many merchants willing to play the game that way.
50 chargebacks or 0.5%, whatever gets hit first and you're in trouble. Reputation damage to the CC companies and you're out for good. Merchant account hopping is not a long term viable strategy.
Re: Why was a scam company able to raise $76 Million Series B?
#63Don't ask for a refund, go to your bank or CC company and charge back the 6 months. That'll hit them where it hurts. Little known fact about chargebacks: the merchant pays an administration fee, typically $20 to $50. Per charge! That is why the smarter scammers refund to everybody who complains, not refunding is plain dumb. This scam has been around for a long time, usually it's adult companies that sell you a 'free'…
Another little known fact about chargebacks: You lose some of your rights if you pay charges before disputing them. Try it, absolutely still try it, and good luck!
That's nonsense. The only time a chargeback makes sense is after the payment has already gone through.
Re: Why was a scam company able to raise $76 Million Series B?
#64So I went through their checkout process, and up until the credit card stage there is zero indication that it's a membership site (I read everything on every page). I've uploaded the credit card section here: http://i.imgur.com/3di93.png It says you'll be billed month per month on the right hand side under the VIP membership program, but I think it's pretty clear that the page is engineered to be misleading. It looks…
Thanks for the screenshot. This is outrageous IMO. Few people will notice that the TOS checkbox actually reads "JustFAB VIP membership program". Most people will take it as a normal TOAS checkbox that you have to agree every time you order from any website. So, yes, the page is designed to be misleading a.ka scam some subscription fees.
However the entire right side of the screen is about the VIP program.
What exactly could people instead be lured into thinking they're doing here?
Re: Why was a scam company able to raise $76 Million Series B?
#65It may be harder than you think to get the credit card company to stop the charges. http://uncrunched.com/2012/08/26/my-undead-credit-card/ Like it or not they have a good business model. And the VCs probably don't care if they're ethical, as long as they get a good ROI.
Some VC information on this page if you're interested. http://www.crunchbase.com/company/justfabulous
Yeah, one of those investor entries is bizarre... Basically, a random set of characters:
Website pcjyyvafopee.com Blog pcjyyvafopee.com Twitter @mpizldqpida Phone 91857712122 Email juxukt@yhjfkm.com Employees Founded 8/95 Description tPdwOyyKkVKVskrYrIv
http://www.crunchbase.com/financial-organization/technology-...
Re: Why was a scam company able to raise $76 Million Series B?
#66I really don't understand how companies are able to do this, based on how stringent credit card processors are when it comes to chargebacks. With this type of misleading selling tactics i would expect JustFab to have chargebacks well above acceptable standarts of CC processors.
Re: Why was a scam company able to raise $76 Million Series B?
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Another little known fact about chargebacks: You lose some of your rights if you pay charges before disputing them. Try it, absolutely still try it, and good luck!
That's nonsense. The only time a chargeback makes sense is after the payment has already gone through.
What the parent meant was "after you paid the bill". It's hard to go back later and say the charge was fraudulent after you received the bill and opted to pay it. In theory, payment = acceptance of charges.
Re: Why was a scam company able to raise $76 Million Series B?
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
Another little known fact about chargebacks: You lose some of your rights if you pay charges before disputing them. Try it, absolutely still try it, and good luck!
That's nonsense. The only time a chargeback makes sense is after the payment has already gone through.
[deleted]
Re: Why was a scam company able to raise $76 Million Series B?
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Another little known fact about chargebacks: You lose some of your rights if you pay charges before disputing them. Try it, absolutely still try it, and good luck!
That's nonsense. The only time a chargeback makes sense is after the payment has already gone through.
He means after you've paid your credit card bill with the included charges on it.
Re: Why was a scam company able to raise $76 Million Series B?
#70While this is a bit scammy, I couldn't get past the part where she didn't notice this for 8 months. Come on people. Do a budget. Stop being stupid with your money.