If It's Supposed to be Free, Then You Shouldn't Need My Credit Card Info
It happens many times where a company or website offers a product for free, and when it's time to claim your product they demand your credit card information.
My question is, if it's meant to be free, what purpose will giving you my credit card information serve?
This is something that is very popular among affiliate products and MLM opportunities. They advertise a FREE product; only to demand a payment or payment info on the next page. This doesn't lead to more customers in my opinion, it leads to distrust.
The other day, I decided to sign up for Simpleology's free account to give it a shot. However, after I submitted my name and email, I was prompted to type in my credit card details.
For the life of me, I couldn't understand why if I didn't have to pay for anything they would need my credit card number? I only assumed that they were planning on charging me in the future, or worse.
Sure enough, I discovered that by backing out from the homepage I could sign up for the free account.
The moral of the story is
1. If it's advertised as free, it should be free. There's no need for your credit card info.
2. Misleading your visitors and potential customers can lead to distrusts and not making the sale.
Make sure you keep an eye out for these type of products.
Best of luck,
Diana
Recent Comments
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This is an old playing the numbers game. A large percentage will give the card info even if the item is free or a free trial, then forget to cancel it and the company ends up with a sale. Not very white hat to me but it is everywhere. :(
Yes this is usually the case with a free trial that includes a monthly subscription. But free should be free. Lol
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Excellent advice! If I had a dollar for every time...
Lol I see it so much. Sometimes it's because there's an up sell and other times it's because the product was never free to begin with.