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Be careful when you register for races at active.com! I apparently signed up for a trial membership to active advanatage which if you don't cancel in 30 days, charges your credit card $59. 95. I am always very careful to avoid signing up for unwanted email updates and trial offers, but somehow this one slipped under my radar.
The active.com customer service was friendly and refunded the membership fee in full. However, when i mentioned to the customer serivice representative that this felt like a scam, he replied that the page was clear and that i had to have signed up for this. I asked him if this happens to customers often and he said that it did occasionally. Guessing by the fact that their automated phone system has a "if you are calling about a $59. 95 charge, please press _", and that their website has a faq sheet explaining how people signed up for the membership, i'd speculate that this happens more than occaisionally. The faq sheet asserts that emails are sent to memers notifying them that the membership has been activated and when the charge will be made, but these emails went into my junk mail folder and i only found them once i discovered the charge and went digging. Again, this is my fault for not being a more careful consumer, but it this company is clearly trying to make money in a somewhat deceptive manner.
Here is what their faq sheet says about active advantage:
When does the offer appear in the registration process? The activeadvantage trial membership offer is not
Displayed during the actual registration process. The offer exists on an interstitial page that appears after the activity registration is complete (Payment already submitted) , but before the confirmation page.
How does the registrant sign up for the trial membership?
To enroll as a trial member of the program, the registrant is simply required to enter and verify their email address and then click through the acceptance button on the page. After this step the registrant will continue on to their activity registration confirmation page.
How long does the trial membership last? 30 days
What if the registrant doesn’t want to become a trial member? The registrant simply has to click the decline button on the offer page. After this step they will continue on to their activity registration confirmation page.
What happens after the trial membership expires? At the end of the trial the user may cancel at no charge. If they do not cancel, they are automatically billed $59. 95 for a 12 - month membership. Customers may cancel their membership at any time and receive a prorated refund. All of this information is presented to the registrant on the trial offer page.
How do you communicate with members?
There are numerous communications sent to new members, starting with a confirmation email directly after they enroll in the trial membership. Trial members also receive a “reminder” email halfway through the trial period, a notification email prior to membership billing, and a billing confirmation email. Additionally, members receive a monthly “member update” email that highlights special offers and new merchant partners.
What do activeadvantage members receive? Activeadvantage exists to provide members with discounts on everything they need to prepare for, participate in and commemorate the activities that they love. As such, members receive discounts on registrations across the active network as well as valuable savings provided by leading retailers across a wide variety of categories.
How do you know registrants like activeadvantage? Activeadvantage has grown significantly since it first
Launched in 2003. We stay in constant contact with our members to gauge their satisfaction with the program. In a recent member survey, more than 70% of members said they would strongly recommend the program to a friend.
What if a customer forgets to cancel their membership before the trial expires?
If a customer forgets to cancel their trial membership, their credit card on file will be charged the yearly fee of $59. 95. However, they may contact customer support at [protected]@active.com to receive a prorated refund.
What if trial members contact my organization with questions about the program?
Activeadvantage provides customer support contact information in all member communications, including phone and email, and is able to handle all inquiries quickly in - house. Should an isolated incident occur in
Which a member contacts your organization, simply forward the inquiry directly to your account manager.
The program has a track record of responding quickly to all inquiries and our goal is to create zero administrative impact for your organization.
Does this offer violate the registrant’s privacy? No. Active takes the privacy of all registrants very seriously. When registrants choose to participate in the program they voluntarily agree to active’s terms and privacy policy. Members may also choose to optout of receiving member update emails at any time. Additionally, no user data is submitted to 3rd parties.
Questions? If you have further questions please contact us.
We will be happy to help you.
Activeadvantage contact information
877. 228. 4881 | [protected]@active.Com
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
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Technically it is not a scam but it is very bad business IMHO. Anyone planing events should choose a different vendor for taking entry fees as these guys are weasels.
My husband signed up for a 5k in August and we got charged the 59.95 without any idea of why. This is very unethical and deceptive of active.com. They should be ashamed of themselves for running such a scam. Yes, I understand that as consumers we need to be careful, but it is a sneaky and underhanded way to get people to sign up for their site. My husband ran for a charity event and apparently no good deed goes unpunished.
In the same boat - got me on the 30 day trial - didn't remember until too late. Then they just got me again with the surprise removal of $59 from my account a year later. No advance warning or reminder. Almost put my account over the limit. No benefit from the membership - was cheaper to mail a check to race organizers. Am now pregnant and unlikely to race more in the coming year so would not have renewed even if I had been satisfied with the service. Also had huge difficulties whenever I wanted to log in and enter their giveaway competitions. Hope they give me a refund.
It's even worse for me - I never signed up for anything EVER (I am on disability and not buying things, completing runs, etc.) Today I got an email in a mail account that I am pretty careful with from activeadvantage@yourproductupdates.com via bluehornet.com - and at the bottom it says I was added on September 21, 2011. So I have to go to an unknown to me site to 'opt out' so I'm basically confirming my info to someone I never wanted to do business with. Now that I see you are all getting bogus charges, and I have no idea where they got my info, I guess I need to watch all my credit cards for the random $59.95 charge. If you click to go to their privacy statement in big letters it says they changed it on 9/15/11 but the verbiage on the front page is still from May 2009 (an honest company would have the "new" one showing, not an old one with a disclaimer).
Here's the privacy stmt:
If addition, if at anytime, you no longer want us to send you any regular communications, you may “opt-out” of such future communications, clicking on the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of the newsletter or email. To “opt-out” of products, programs, services, or offers from our trusted partners, please contact privacy@activenetwork.com.
I tried to call but of course got vm - so no way was I going to leave my phone # so they could sell that too! I hope others have filed complaints - I am on every opt out list and privacy org opt outs and yet these bozos keep going.
I had no idea I had signed up for this. All I thought I signed up for was the race I was registering for. I was charged 59.95 extra for the active.com membership.
I just called about the issue and they were extremely helpful and speedy. They answer my call in about a minute. I told them the issue and they even informed me that I had been charged this same thing last year. I told them I had no idea about the membership and they are in the process of refunding me for both 59.95 charges.
So although they someone scammed me, im happy how helpful they were. I'll be checking back in 3 to 5 days to see if they actually refund the money.
I can add even worse--I was double billed for this feature, which I wanted, so I could get discounts. They gave me the run around on refunding my money, then finally took the extra off--along with my subscription! So i've paid and have nothing. They won't help me and I'm still paying full cost for races. It really concerns me to think that they are handling so much money for charities and organizations if this is how poorly they run things.
I was assessed a $59.95 fee nearly 6 months after the last race for which I registered online. The website was sort of difficult and balky, so some things didn't seem to display right, and I thought I made clear that I was not signing up for anything but the stupid race I ran. I paid the extra fee that is assessed for those of us who didn't want to join anything. I always log on as a guest. I distinctly remember declining registration for special stuff. I pay extra fees for being a non-member.
I found the fee in with my Christmas purchases. For a minute, I thought that someone had registered me for the ACT, which, since I'm 7 years out of a PhD program, would be pretty redundant.
I could not connect it with any 30-day-trial that had expired. The only thing I can figure is that, when I was using an old computer or a Mac in October of last year when registering for a half marathon, I missed that button. It's not very clear, to be sure. And, since that time, I have been registering as a guest, so I have NOT recouped any of their "membership fees" with their special discounts.
Rest assured, I will be very, very careful when registering for any more runs.
Sadly, this seems to be the service that most of the organizations in the area like to use.
Just happened to me! Just saw a transaction titled "ACT*Registration" for $59.95 and when I googled it I found this page thankfully! I wouldn't have known what it was otherwise! I haven't ran a race, or hence used the website, in over two years!
I can't believe they have my credit card info on file (I don't remember agreeing to that since I usually make sure not to store my info on these sites) and they kept it for so long! Money is tight for me right now and if I hadn't of noticed a check would've bounced! This is a scam!
But when I called they didn't fight me on this at all which makes me think it happens all the time.
Just happened to me! Found an "ACT*Registration" transaction for $59.95 on my bank statement. When I googled it thankfully I found this site because otherwise I would not have known what it was! I haven't ran a race, or hence used the site, in over two years!
I can't believe they kept my card information (which I don't remember agreeing to because I usually make sure not to store that info on websites) for so long! And just randomly charged me!
I called and they didn't fight me on it AT ALL which seems atypical when you ask for a refund. This makes me think it happens all the time.. such a scam!
I just posted on the Facebook wall at Active.com asking if they were aware that there is a growing misunderstanding from families struggling with grief from cancer. Many of our walks are devoted to a family member who is struggling and we are raising funds for a cure. These walks for the cure are now coordinated through active, farmed out to event organizing companies. It is easy to miss the fine print or cleverly paced email notice, due to being preoccupied with grief or fighting the disease. Just signing up for a loved one's walk may accidentally get you accidentally dinged once a month from Active with a big monthly fee. When all you are trying to do is join family for a member's memory walk to raise money for a cure. ( It appears to be a growing parasitic practice with online registrations for events, targeting vulnerable participants who may be distracted, due to struggling with grief or illness.)...
Active.Com Active Advantage. I would advise no one use this service ever! They have been near impossible to get in touch with and the $59.95 charge to my bank was cryptic to say the least. After waiting over an hour on hold three weeks ago, the customer service rep was easy to deal with, and said she would cancel my membership and refund my money in 7-10 days. I still haven't seen my refund! I have emailed them, so we'll see if I have to call back. The site says you will be notified in advance of an automatic membership renewal, but that is false false false. This is unacceptable conduct!
I've signed up for a couple of races recently, but I don't recall signing up for an active.com trial membership (which just became a full membership yesterday). I'm usually careful about reading fine print and opting out of junk offers, but apparently this one slipped through. The company is obviously aware that this is an issue, they must be making $$$ charging us witless athletes! Regardless, it was easy enough to cancel. Reading through these complaints, it looks like we're all going to have to be sure to review our bank statements NEXT year as well...looks like at least one person was charged the following year after cancellation.
useful service, however, merged with unscrupulous business practices. A website that has this level of complexity and the ability to charge a credit card, has absolutely NO REASON at all in 2012, to not have an easy online cancel option. Crooks.
Somebody needs to take these guys to court over this crap. It is FRAUD regardless of what they say. They said they would refund but it has been 3 months with nothing and when I called they said whoops we will try again. Then the next week low and behold I see three new charges from them and they now say we ordered magazines too. if anyone is interested in filing a class action let me know as I would be all for it.
I was signed up some how by reserving a NY state campsite through Reserve America. There weren't any pop up ads for Active advantage
yet when I completed my reservations for the state park I received a conformation email from Active Advantage thanking me for signing up for a 30 day trial. I just assumed that by reserving a campsite I was automatically signed up because I never saw a screen with Active Advantage any wheere on the Reserve America site. The only information I entered at the time was the information Reserve America required to reserve a camping site, car model, type of camping equipment, and charge card information. Now I just received notification that Active Advantage will automatically charge my charge card for a membership fee. They had to get my charge card information from the reserve America site somehow.
I understand that some people here have mentioned about rushing through the process and not clicking on "no thanks." The problem is, saying "no thanks, " is exactly what I did. I always say "no thanks" and I've signed up for several races.
This time, however, saying "no thanks" did not stop active.com from charging my card. They claim I signed up for the advantage membership free trial and was charged when that trial ended. Some people here got emails about the free trial, I received no such confirmation from them. I have all my race confirmations from the past few years, and I have my confirmation for the 2011 Chicago Tri registration but nothing else from active.com with regards to any sort of membership. I have no email confirmations about an advantage active membership, I was not informed I was signed up nor was I ever informed that my card would be charged.
They couldn't even provide me with my "advantage membership number" even though I've been paying for it for two years. Their website listed me as not an "advantage member" with a big sign up now button next to it, even though they've been charging me for two years.
When I called they said, "You provided your email address to us and that's all the confirmation we require." I told them I had to provide my email for race registration and asked that they kindly resend any sort of active membership confirmation showing that I authorized them to charge my card. I even asked them to resend my confirmation email or let me know what date it was sent, which they were unable to do. All I want is for them to show me at what point I willingly gave them and signed up for an additional membership, which they cannot do. Not even tell me my membership number.
I only found out about said membership when I got an email from them today telling me my membership would be renewed. The number listed on the email was disconnected. I assumed it was a phishing scam, and was furious to find out it's real. There are just too many "mistakes" from active, oh we "mistakingly" didn't send you an email confirmation or reminder when your trial was up, and we "mistakingly" have a disconnected phone number on the email when we renewed your account. Phishy, phishy.
I'm very interested in what a class action lawsuit would yield and I'd love to know how widespread this problem is. Again, I'm familiar with the "no thanks" part of the process and I always click it so I'm not sure where they gained authorization to charge my account. Even with the "no thanks, " I find it to be highly mis-leading. In the meantime I've filed with the BBB, the FTC and am filing a complaint with the Attorney General here in Illinois.
I take unauthorized withdrawals from my bank account very seriously and the fact that they cannot prove to me or show me any confirmation of where and when I agreed to this, as well as having a disconnected number attached to the renewal email, makes me highly suspect of their business practices.
So everyone who has had a similar issue, please file with the BBB, the FTC and your State's Attorney General.
In my case, active was quietly taking money from my account which is absolute fraud. Again, I never signed up at any point, nor could they give me any kind of confirmation, be it an account number, member number, email or receipt. They could not prove that I signed up other than to say "We have your email so you must have signed up."
I have every single active.com email and confirmation since 2004 (May 7th 2004 to be exact), so this is not a mistake on my part, I have 0 confirmation from them about any sort of trial or membership to anything. Additionally, I was listed on the site as "not an advantage member" despite having been charged for 2 years.
Fraud should be investigated:
BBB
FTC
and
State's Attorney General.
I got charged on my credit card on 07/06/2012 in the amount of $59.95 which I never authorized and I don't even know what this
company does! I am wondering how this company got my credit information & Charged to my account!
Trisha,
My story (This is the complaint letter I emailed to Active):
Dear Active Advantage, this is a very deceptive method of enrolling racers into your $59.95 yearly program! I am a long time runner. I love racing! I want to be able to sign up for what I want, when I want, without having to always worry about un-checking the stupid little "trial membership" box. Unfortunately, when registering for races on line, it is almost always through Active these days. I am usually extremely careful about un-checking that box, but this time you got me! It has become more of just a bit of an "annoyance" now!
I received an email Friday night about my trial ending soon and I would be getting charged the $59.95 if I didn't cancel. I immediately called your customer service. Well, guess what? Your customer service was closed when I called Friday evening. Apparently it is closed Saturday morning too...oh yes, and Sunday...ALL weekend! I had NO chance to cancel after your email! I was absolutely shocked to find out you have absolutely no customer service on weekends! You have no idea what kind of financial situation this now puts me in! My checking account went into the negative because of your charge and I now have hefty fees associated with that! I am so disappointed in your company.
I have 2 more races this fall that I need to sign up for. But if I am not refunded my full $59.95, I will NEVER even consider going through Active.com again. I will request each race director to mail me a paper registration form, just like in the honest olden days. I will also make sure to spread word of this scam throughout my own running community and the gym which I instruct many group fitness and running classes at.
Please do the honest thing, keep a long time, loyal user and contact me about returning my stolen money.
Sincerely,
Jessica Mills
Dear Active Advantage, this is a very deceptive method of enrolling racers into your $59.95 yearly program! I am a long time runner. I love racing! I want to be able to sign up for what I want, when I want, without having to always worry about un-checking the stupid little "trial membership" box. Unfortunately, when registering for races on line, it is almost always through Active these days. I am usually extremely careful about un-checking that box, but this time you got me! It has become more of just a bit of an "annoyance" now!
I received an email Friday night about my trial ending soon and I would be getting charged the $59.95 if I didn't cancel. I immediately called your customer service. Well, guess what? Your customer service was closed when I called Friday evening. Apparently it is closed Saturday morning too...oh yes, and Sunday...ALL weekend! I had NO chance to cancel after your email! I was absolutely shocked to find out you have absolutely no customer service on weekends! You have no idea what kind of financial situation this now puts me in! My checking account went into the negative because of your charge and I now have hefty fees associated with that! I am so disappointed in your company.
I have 2 more races this fall that I need to sign up for. But if I am not refunded my full $59.95, I will NEVER even consider going through Active.com again. I will request each race director to mail me a paper registration form, just like in the honest olden days. I will also make sure to spread word of this scam throughout my own running community and the gym which I instruct many group fitness and running classes at.
Please do the honest thing, keep a long time, loyal user and contact me about returning my stolen money.
So my husband reseves an campsite on reserve america and we get charged 59.95 for an service we didnt even get. We dont run. I will be complaining to Bank of America and listing this purchase as fraud. Probaly ask for a new card too since this is identity theft pure and simple.
This company is using deceptive business practices and knows it. It will only be a matter of time before various State Attorney General Offices and private attorneys begin to sue them. I usually hate to see companies forced out of business, but can't wait to see this one reap what they have sown. On a humorous note, the event that I was taken advantage of at was sponsored by a large corporate law firm. Now the participates, attorneys, and their relatives are all upset at this company. :) Do I smell blood in the water?
I also received a charge on my debit card for $59.95 and after doing some research found that it was a charge for some crazy membership that I supposedly signed up for while registering for a race in Jan 2012. I called today to find out what exactly it was and like so many others found out that it is a big scam. Still not really sure what the membership is for even after listening to the representative try to explain it. When I asked if this was legal I was told that this was a universal company (like that makes a difference). I was told that I would receive my $$ back in 3 - 5 days, but I won't hold my breath...
I also just got charged on my credit card for the hidden $59.95 "membership fee" because of a race my wife and I signed up for this Christmas season. I called in and the representative has stated that my money will be refunded in the next 3-5 business days. I'm really hoping it will.
This post was one of the most helpful posts I have seen on the internet in a very long time. Talking years. At any rate I believe it was a scam and it bit me in the behind also. I just called them today and they said it will be a 100% refund. I haven't got the refund back yet but that's what they said. The only thing I can say for them is the customer service rep was pretty nice. Although sucks for them because I am sure they get the brunt end of this deal. Active should just fix the situation to begin with and save everyone time and money. Thanks again all.
It is now 17 days since my talk with the representative and to this day, the charge still stands. I eventually had to pay my credit card bill to avoid fees with them and so I ended up paying this "membership fee". The representative promised me that it would be refunded in 3-5 business day and that has NOT taken place. Something more needs to be done about this.
Never mind my last post. I have received my refund. I apparently don't know how to navigate my credit card website to find refund information. The charge was refunded in late February. I would advise anyone that has fallen prey to this to contact the company and like others have said, the representatives are kind and understanding even if the way they got the money in the first place was deceptive.
I was also changed by active advantage. I am not sure how they got my credit card number but they may have ties to Reserve America. They appear to be running some type of scam
I also agree! I signed my child up for gymnastics and a month later saw the $64.95 charge on my bank statement. I had no idea who active.com was and immediately called the number on my bank statement. The customer representative was courteous and willing to reverse and refund the charge. Although the experience getting the refund was pretty painless, I find it distasteful that I would even need to make the call in the first place. If the convenience of signing up through the web for events and recreational sports comes at the cost of $64.95, I say that someone needs to exploit the recreational facilities and active.com that are misleading consumers. Company's like active.com make profits off of consumers who aren't aware of membership policies and registration.This deceitful tactic is taking consumer money that is better spent else where!
I was surprised when I got the email today that my trial was going to end. I looked closer to the email and saw that they were going to charge me 64.95 for a year membership. I google them and found this site. I then emailed them. I got a quick genaric email stating that they would look into my concern. NOT good enough for me. I then ended up waiting until their phone lines open up. I called, I was on hold for 20 minutes and then was disconnected. Then I called one more time same thing happen. I also emailed them again, no response this time. I ended up calling my bank and close my account so they could not charge me for the membership. I don't use bank card for any other bills, so I didn't have that hassle.
It's a legal scam. The default shouldn't be an automatic charge against the victim! Your option - AVOID doing business with them!
When I received the bill, I was very surprised! I never know this company and I never run! I am just a foreigner who will stay here several weeks. I am crazy to registrate a 1 year membership! Why this can be happened in USA and lasting for so many years?
I saw this chard for $46.75 on my bank statement from ACT REGISTRATION. I think this is a scam. I did not authorize this debit and do not know anything about this. I sent in a dispute to my credit union. I hope it gets resolved.
My good friend used to work in the Commerce department at Active. The scam complaints are completely true and the company knows it.
The main statistic the company tracks is "trial rate". That is the % of online registrants that opt to take the Active Advantage free trial after you register for an event using active.com services. While a public company, Active would make over $30 million per year from this Active Advantage scam, and the trial rate was over 10%. And hardly any members really use the service at all. Shameful!
In the last year, the company decided it was too risky to have this big of a scam, and was starting to eliminate the program. The trial rate was brought down below 5% and was on its way to being zero. The new owners of the company, Vista Equity Partners, have supposedly brought the trial rate back up OVER 10%. Criminal!
The state of Iowa sued Active Network and forced them to stop presenting Active Advantage trial offer to Iowa residents. I can't imagine why other states do not do the same thing.
http://www.state.ia.us/government/ag/latest_news/releases/sept_2013/online_merchant.html
There is an automatic renewal too that is not canceled when you call unless you ask. So next year you will get billed again.
Happened to me. 64.95. They couldn't show me proof that I signed up for any "trial" membership. They advised me to "be more careful" in the future. I will by not using active.com anymore. This is wire fraud in my opinion. They take hoping it will go unnoticed. When it is noticed they refund the money no questions asked. No difference than robbing a bank then offering to return the money once you get caught.
Same here for 64.95. I was told they couldnt show me proof of where I signed up for any trial offer and that I should be more careful in the future. No more active.com for me. This is nothing more than wire fraud. They hope you don't notice but when you do they quickly refund your money. No different than robbing a bank, getting caught, then offering to return the money. Total B.S IMO. Hate a thief.
SCAMMERS THEY NEED THERE ### KICKED AND PUT IN JAIL
This is complete fraud! I never signed up for a run or anything. The only thing I've done in the past 2 months was use this website called reserveamerica.com to reserve a campsite. So they stole my credit card information from them! Unreal!
The Georgia State Parks reservation system uses ReserveAmerica which goes to ActiveNetworks at the end. The Georgia state government is now trying to scam us for additional money when we make a camping reservation! I got the charge reversed once I figured out what happened, and then complained to the park director Becky Kelly and reservation admin Anissa Carter but they acted like I was all better since I got my money back. Well, I am not because this is sneaky and inappropriate.