NEVER trust a 'free' trial

Did you really think it was going to be free? I did. I’ll take it from the top:

As most of you know, I’m an avid Auburn Tigers fan and college football recruiting season is football season’s little brother here in the South. A month and a half ago, I took out a seven-day “free” trial from Scout.com, a recruiting service Web site, so that I could keep up with recruiting around national signing day.

Anyway, I read all the fine print and found that I would need to cancel my “free” trial at least 48 hours prior to the seven-day mark. So I called Scout.com four days – FOUR - into the trial and did exactly that. The girl on the phone asked me why I wanted to cancel, then offered me a “free” three-month trial. So I asked a few questions and made her tell me that if I accepted her offer, my seven-day trial would be canceled – with my account NEVER being charged – and a new trial would begin – again, with my account NEVER being charged.

She absolutely assured me that as long as I canceled the three-month “free” trial at least 48-hours prior to it’s completion that my account would NEVER be charged. So I took down her name and a cancellation confirmation number and stupidly accepted the offer.

Well, a month down the road – March 2 – I checked my bank account on the Internet and low-and-behold, there was a $9.95 charge from Scout.com. I was livid.

So I called Scout.com with my cancellation confirmation in hand and reached a very nice girl named Morene. I explained what happened and she assured me that Scout would NEVER offer three-month trial, but went on to also tell me that they did, in fact, have record that the girl I talked to previously had told me that she would cancel my trial, but never did it. She said she would take care of it and refund me my $9.95.

Granted, I was a bit confused because I was quite sure I hadn’t simply made up my previous conversation, but I hung up happy that I would at least get my money back – after all, I don’t really read Scout.com anyway.

Now, here comes the complication: before Scout.com refunded me the money, their charge posted to my account and caused an overdraft fee of $35.00. So at this point Scout.com has cost me nearly $45 for a “free” trial. I called them back and told Morene my situation and she agreed that the bank should refund my money.

The bank did not agree. 

The lady at the bank told me unless it is a bank error, she cannot refund my overdraft fee. And she's right - this was clearly not a bank error. So I called Morene back and told her what the bank said and she proceeded to tell me that she cannot refund me more than the $9.95 they originally charged. I asked for her supervisor. Guess what? MORENE IS THE SUPERVISOR. She did, however, offer to hold a conference call between herself, me and the bank, where she promised me that she would beg for my money back – so I am not mad at her, just her employer.

Needless to say, I've also cancelled my debit card and ordered a new one - just in case. After all, I'd hate for that "three-month 'free' trial" to suddenly rear its ugly head in the future.

I have not yet held said conference call, but rest assured, I will. I guess at only 26 years of age I'm just young and naïve, but the bottom line is this: I’m the idiot who ended up paying $45.00 for a “free” seven-day trial.