VIDEO-PROFESSOR14-COX
After newspaper inquires, Video Professor returns couple's money
By SUSAN SALISBURY<
c.2009 Cox Newspapers
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Retirees Baylee and Leonard Meyers watched a Video Professor commercial and liked company President John Scherer's appealing sales pitch. Scherer said they could receive three instructional CDs free except for a $6.95 shipping and handling fee.
On July 22, the couple placed an order online. Soon they received the Learn eBay CD-ROMs. But they were surprised when an $189.95 charge showed up on their next credit card bill.
When Baylee Meyers, 75, contacted Denver-based Video Professor, she learned she had to return one of the videos within 10 days to avoid the charge.
"When someone says to you, 'This is free,' and it is on national TV all the time, do you expect it to be a problem? I don't," she said. "It is really a terrible scam."
The Meyerses said they didn't notice a disclaimer on the computer screen about billing. They also did not see a second disclaimer during the ordering process, and said it is hidden.
"You don't realize it is there. When you click submit, it goes away completely," Baylee Meyers said.
Not only that, the couple didn't realize that during the ordering process they had signed up for an identity protection service known as I.D. Watchdog. For that, they were billed $19.95.
The fact that their credit card information was given to I.D. Watchdog, a company they had never heard of, especially angers the couple.
"As much as I don't like looking stupid, I want to do this so other people won't get scammed also," Baylee Meyers said.
Video Professor spokesman Brian Olson defended the company.
"We have 20 million customers," he said. "We have been in business for 22 years. If it were a scam, we wouldn't remain in business."
The problem isn't the company's marketing; it's that people do not read the information on the Web site, he said.
"Please read the important information page," Olson said. "When you click and order, you are saying, 'I read it and I agree.' The product is a good one. It is a great way to learn."
He said the company recently stopped offering the I.D Watchdog service when it changed credit card providers. However, he said customers could not order it without clicking on a box stating they wanted it.
The Meyerses also learned that unless they called Video Professor to cancel, they would continue to receive shipments every four to five weeks.
"The TV offer is not the same as the online offer," Video Professor's Olson said. "The 'one free CD' is for phone orders only. It is a review offer. You must cancel it to stop further shipments, or you can just get the free CD. We don't send you anything unless you order it. If you don't like it, we provide phone numbers to call and cancel. They have up to 30 days to cancel."
The couple tried to get a refund from Video Professor, but they were not given one. After The Palm Beach Post contacted the company on their behalf in late September, they received a full credit.
Olson said the Meyerses' money was refunded as a gesture of goodwill. He said the Internet ordering process clearly details the online offer, and is on the home page of the company's Web site beneath its Better Business Bureau membership logo.
The Meyerses aren't the only ones who have found Video Professor's advertising and offers deceptive and confusing. The Florida Attorney General's Office has received 55 complaints about the company, most of them in the past two years. The Denver Better Business Bureau has received 938 complaints about Video Professor in the past 36 months, with 907 being resolved and 31 administratively closed.
Charles Rarick, 54, of Boca Raton, Fla., said that after ordering a set of CDs last year, he filed a complaint with the attorney general's office and wrote numerous letters to Video Professor before receiving a refund. Although the return policy stated he had 30 days to return the set, when he called, Video Professor told him he had only 10 days.
"It is confusing. I think it could be clearer upfront what you are getting and what your expectations are," Rarick said.
Lawrence Cox of Kissimmee, Fla., also thought he would be paying just $6.95 for a "free video," and was furious when, two days after receiving the shipment, he noticed his debit card was charged $189.95. He called to return the order and get a refund, and contacted the attorney general's office after that did not happen.
"I've seen the commercials for so long, and it just seemed reputable and I assumed it was," Cox wrote in his complaint. "Had I Googled it, I would have seen what was going to happen. I feel like such an idiot!"
Colorado Attorney General's Office spokesman Mike Saccone said the office has not taken any action against the firm, and he could not comment on any investigation his office may or may not have.
"We are aware of the problems with so-called negative option marketing where you must affirmatively cancel, such as the free trial offers this company markets on TV and online," Saccone said. The office wants to address the pitfalls associated with these marketing plans, he said.
"We tell people, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," he said. "Look for the asterisks. Ask if there are any fees if you don't send it back. Nothing's free. Always ask those questions, especially if you call in or go to the Web site. Look for the terms and conditions. Read those."
Olson said that in light of the company's millions of customers, the number of complaints is small. Dale Mingilton, CEO and president of the Denver BBB, agrees.
Mingilton said Video Professor has made great strides in making its Web site ordering clear to customers, such as incorporating a couple of "I accept" and "I have read" statements.
"Don't check that you have read the fine print if you have not," Mingilton said. "If you don't check it, don't purchase."
For the Meyers couple, ways in which the company could clear up the confusion seem simple enough. There shouldn't be different offers on TV and on the Internet.
"If he would say on the TV, I am giving you this free for 10 days, then people would know and say, 'OK. I want to look at it.' He doesn't do that," Baylee Meyers said.
Olson said the "TV only" offer doesn't involve more than a $6.95 charge unless the customer agrees to sign up for more shipments.
Asked why Scherer doesn't end that to stop the confusion, Olson said, "Mr. Scherer wants people to try it. Once you try it, the light bulb goes off. That is why he came up with the free offer."
The company started in 1987 with a VHS lesson on MS-DOS, evolved to CD lessons and now offers streaming online lessons, Olson said.
"Some may call that a scam," he said. "We prefer to use the term 'successful business.' It's hard-earned by a terrific team of individuals."
Susan Salisbury writes for The Palm Beach Post. E-mail: susan(underscore)salisbury(at)pbpost.com.