Page 88 - The Connection Bernards-Ridge Edition December 2013
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PAGE 88
THE BERNARDS-RIDGE CONNECTION
NOVEMBER 2013
D
I
S
ABATO
&
B
OUCKENOOGHE LLC
-
A
TTORNEYS AT
L
AW
-
4
H
ILLTOP
R
OAD
M
ENDHAM
,
N
EW
J
ERSEY
07945
973.813.2525
www.disabatolaw.com
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY CHARGES
By: David J. DiSabato, Esq., DiSabato & Bouckenooghe LLC
Chances are you never even notice them,
but “grey charges” on your credit card are
probably costing you more than you’d ever
imagine. Grey charges are small hidden cred-
it and debit card charges that are slipped
onto your monthly statement without your
knowledge. This time though, it’s not the
bank that’s dinging you – its unscrupulous
companies who have figured out how to
slide these grey charges right by you.
Grey charges are associated with products or
services that you never ordered, wanted or
intended to sign up for. Grey charges aren’t
necessarily illegal, but they’re certainly iffy.
Credit and debit cardholders in the United
States incurred 233 million grey charges in
2012,
totaling $14.3 billion in charges.
Roughly three in every 1,000 credit card
charges are grey charges, with an average
annual cost of about $215 per person.
Grey charges come in all shapes and
shades. There are “zombie charges” that
come from subscriptions or memberships
that you cancelled, but that just never die
no matter how hard you try to kill them.
There are “ghost renewals” that come
from subscriptions or trial periods, where
the renewal date is intentionally hidden so
that it will sneak up on you. And then
there’s the “cost creeper” where the initial
cost for a product or service increases after
the first few months, often without your
consent or even your knowledge.
Perhaps the most infamous grey charge
came from those catchy “FreeCreditReport.
Com” commercials. Experian (one of the
biggest consumer credit reporting agencies
in the world) was responsible for the “free”
credit report offer made by that quirky
band in those commercials. Obviously,
Experian doesn’t make any money by giv-
ing away free credit reports. Turns out that
when you signed up to receive your free
credit report, Experian enrolled you in a
$14.95 per month credit monitoring serv-
ice. And there’s your grey charge – this
one’s known as a “freemium charge”
because it goes from free to premium with-
out your knowledge.
As Experian expected, most people never
noticed the relatively small charges on their
monthly statements, and Experian made a
mint through offering a “free” product.
Well, soon enough, Experian found itself
on the wrong end of several class action
lawsuits. Although Experian tried valiantly
to explain to the Courts that “free” doesn’t
really mean “free,” the company eventual-
ly changed their commercials to add some
more meaningful disclosures.
What can you do about grey charges? Well,
the simplest thing to do is to review your
credit card statements each month. As
depressing as that may be, it’s the best way
to spot those grey charges. You should also
watch where you click when you’re shop-
ping on-line. Believe me, you’ll never be able
to read all the fine print that on-line sellers
throw at you, but be wary of those free or
trial offers that pop up – they are very likely
enrollment traps that will result in unwanted
grey charges. Finally, don’t be afraid to dis-
pute a grey charge with your credit card
issuer. If you do, you won’t be alone – card
issuers get almost 24 million calls per month
complaining about grey charges.
If all else fails, go ahead and call your
lawyer. Experian only changed its “Free-
CreditReport.Com” offers after getting
sued, so in that case, it paid off. Now if only
I could get their jingle out of my head…
DiSabato & Bouckenooghe LLC is a con-
sumer protection law firm located in Mend-
ham, New Jersey. For questions or to learn
more, go to www.disabatolaw.com.
www.theconnectionsnj.com
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The Conection