14 DAY TRIAL // The Better Business Bureau is advising social networkers to read the fine print when responding to ubiquitous ads on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. According to the BBB, the large print doesn’t always tell the whole story.
“Incentive programs can be extremely costly in the long run and the fine print shows that the customer might have to pay a significant amount of money in order to get their ‘Free’ items. It is also a red flag that Apple does not even make MacBook Air in purple, red, pink, or green,” the BBB warns.
Common on Facebook are ads to get a free MacBook Air, the BBB signals. The ads claim that the (respective) company is seeking laptop testers, linking to an incentive marketing program at http://www.colormyrewards.com/, where participants must sign up for various products and services for the chance to win the elusive notebook. The BBB outlines what the fine print for one of these ads (Get a Free Purple [Red, Pink, Green, Black,] MacBook) really states:
“Customers must complete two options from each of the three tiers, Top, Prime and Premium before receiving their 'free' MacBook. Example offers listed in the Top and Prime tiers include signing up for credit cards or trial offers for subscription services such as for vitamin supplements or DVD rental services. In some cases, the participant will need to pay for shipping, and, if they aren’t vigilant about canceling the trial offers, they signed up for, they’ll begin being billed every month.”
According to the BBB, customers can end up paying as much as $1,500 for furniture or purchasing a travel package with a minimum value of $899.00 per person, going by examples of the Premium offers listed on the Web site.
Admittedly, the BBB notes that, “Not all ads on social networking sites are misleading and misleading ads aren’t confined to Facebook or MySpace.” However, users must be aware that ads offering “free” items almost always contain a fine print, which they must carefully read before giving their credit card information online, according to Bill Mitchell, CEO of the Better Business Bureau of the Southland.