If you receive an unsolicited offer in the mail to enroll in a "free trial membership" for some type of special interest or hobby club, find out all you can about that club before you join. The simple act of sending in the acceptance form can subject you to a high-pressure marketing barrage that is often difficult to bring to an end.
There are many hobby/special interest clubs which may initially seem to be something you would like to join and the initial sales pitch appears to be a "no obligations" type of offer. However, these memberships can ultimately turn out to be anything but what you expected. Clubs such as these exist in many different areas of interests such as hunting clubs, handyman clubs, motorcycle clubs, fishing clubs, etc. One such club is the Cooking Club of America.
The initial solicitation set forth by the Cooking Club of America is an offer received in the mail which informs the recipient that because he or she is such a good cook, a special opportunity is available to the recipient. It is then indicated that all that is necessary to take advantage of this special offer is to send in the acceptance form and pay a $12 subscription fee that will entitle you to receive 12 issues of the Cooking Club magazine. Payment of the subscription fee also provides you with a free 30 day membership to the Cooking Club of America. It is then explained that as a member you will be sent various cooking utensils to test, critique and keep, free of charge. Membership also entitles you to access thousands of recipes and you can win cooking products in club giveaways. Many people decide to send in the acceptance form because, at the very least, you will be receiving 12 issues of the magazine, and there will probably be products sent to you for testing and critiquing which you may actually find useful.
The problems begin when you receive the test items which are of very little value and you then receive an invoice for a two-year/$24 subscription, rather than the one year/$12 subscription you expected. Many times the recipient will pay the fee for the two-year subscription based upon the same reasoning that caused the unwary recipient to accept the initial offer in the first place. You then find out that your free 30 day membership in the Cooking Club results in the receipt of unsolicited books on cooking and related subjects along with an invoice. If you decide to return the unsolicited book to the Cooking Club you then find out it is very difficult to actually communicate with a live person for that purpose, or to actually remove the invoice charge from your account. In most circumstances the unwary subscriber is ultimately told that to take care of the situation their subscription fee will be refunded and a check will be received in the mail shortly. All that is left to do is cash the check. The unwary subscriber now believes that they are way ahead of the game. However, there is fine print on the refund documents which very few people actually read.
The fine print on the refund documents sets forth that by cashing the refund check you are agreeing to enroll in a lifetime membership and you are agreeing to pay $300 for that lifetime membership. You then find out that cancellation of the lifetime membership is very difficult since you, by your actions of cashing the check, agreed to pay the $300. Furthermore, your lifetime membership to the Cooking Club will then subject you to receiving additional unsolicited books and other merchandise for which you will be billed and further harassed when you attempt to return the unsolicited merchandise.
If you or someone you know has joined a hobby/special interest club which has subjected you to what is described above, please contact us to discuss your legal rights.