Q: There are ads on the Internet for e-cigarettes. Does BBB have advice or warn against online ads for e-cigarettes?
A: The price of cigarettes is steadily increasing and consumers are looking for ways to save money. The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers to be wary of free trial offers for e-cigarettes.
It sounds like an unusual product to buy, but over the past 12 months, BBB has received hundreds of complaints from consumers across the country who thought they were getting a free trial, but ended up losing often hundreds of dollars in recurring credit or debit card charges.
Deceptive online websites offer “free trials” and are even falsely attributing news stations like ABC and CBS to the promotion of their products. Fighting deceptive free trial offers online has become a continuous battle.
Just as soon as one company is put out of business, it is replaced by another with the same model of ripping consumers off under the guise of a no-risk free trial offer.