Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.I did not use this service and do not plan on doing soI did not authorize this accruing charge and should have my money backIf I have to go Revdex.com to report is crazy to me.
Regards,
*** ***
[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
FYI, Study Blue has issued a refund and resolved the problem since our last communication with you*** ***
StudyBlue is a freemium online/mobile study service. The advanced features of our PRO accounts are billed recurring on an annual ($4/month billed yearly) or monthly basis ($9/month billed
monthly)
Our billing screen has direct links to our billing terms, there is a hyper link to billing within the terms of useWe also send an email receipt on the day of purchase with amount purchased, billing type, monthly or annual, and next bill dateOur first response to *** provide instructions on how SB Pro memberships could be canceled and payments stopped
It is unfortunate that *** *** feels so wronged in this situation but we feel we are pretty clear about billing with links and an email receiptWe have thousands of SB PRO users that have not had this issue
Let me know if you have further questions
Best,
***
Community Manager
STUDYBLUE, INC
***
From: *** ***
Date: Tue, Jan 14, at 3:PM
Subject: Re: Charges to my credit card
To: *** *** ***>Hi ***,
My apologies for the confusionI will make sure that page is altered right away so that others do not run into the same issue
With regards to our payment plans, I have attached a screenshot of our Upgrade page, which separates options into two boxesOne states a price of $3/month yearly and the other a price of $9/month monthlyA link to our terms (which further lays out what is agreed upon) are also presented on the payment page before upgradingI am sorry for your frustration in this matter
***
Community Manager
STUDYBLUE, INC
***
On Thu, Jan 9, at 7:AM, *** *** ***> wrote:
***
Here is the link on your website that lists a phone number at the bottom of the page as well as the email I used to email you. ***
I attached a screen shot as well.
Your site is deceiving when you sign up and it is implicit that it is a one time feeI attempted several times to end my service once I realized it was a reoccurring charge and was unable to locate it on your siteIf you can not refund me my money and cancel my service I will be discussing this matter with the Revdex.com.
Thank you,
*** ***
On Jan 8, 2014, at 4:PM, StudyBlue wrote:
Hi ***
Apologies for the delay in response and your frustration
We do not currently offer a "billing line" due to our limited resources so I am not sure what number you are referring toAs laid out in our billing terms here that were agreed upon when choosing to upgrade, monthly payments are automatic and recurring unless canceled beforehand
To cancel your SB Pro membership and avoid future charges, please see this FAQ here
Best,
***
Community Manager
STUDYBLUE, INC
***
On Mon, Dec 30, at 1:PM, *** *** ***> wrote:I have been inappropriately charged for several months of StudyBlueI have made several attempts at calling your company through the billing line you provide on your websites but not have received any calls back
I wish to speak with someone immediately, I can be reached at *** ***
Thank you
*** ***
Sent from my iPhone
UpgradePage.png
User complains that they thought studyguides were included in his subscription Our payment page is clear as to what subscription includes studyguides In our correspondence, the user also describes essentially a lack of content in our studyguide We sent him a screen shot of
the studyguide in question, which has cards in it https://www.studyblue.com/#flashcard/view***Out of respect for the Revdex.com and the work it does, we have refunded the money in question, where in this case, it is clear that the user has made grave errors in his/her presumptions concerning the service we offer It is clear they did not read the plain language before purchasing a subscription We have a large number of students who regularly buy our subscriptions, study them for their benefit, then demand a refund when our server logs clearly show the large amount of activity on the account justifying our rationale of not refunding money for these types of cases
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
Study Blue has charged me again in January which creates the need for yet another refund They seem to be unable to cancel the recurring charge
Regards,
*** ***
I'm sorry you are displeased with our business practices. We utilize Facebook's Graph api for our login via Facebook. Admittedly, we are behind in
implementing Graph but plan to do so in the upcoming months, which will provide users more granular control as to what developers can access in a Facebook user's accountThat said, we have not utilized the information we receive via Facebook login for any spam or announcements. In fact, in regards to ethical business practices, which your complaint highlights, our implementation is very unobtrusive compared to the average developerWe have added permissions (see image) out of the 50+ Facebook has allowed and have never used the information to send out spam or post anything on a user's behalf. These are the pieces of data we add to the default "public profile" when logging in via Facebook friend list; email address; birthday; and education historyI am taking the time to explain this to you because we do our best to handle our business ethically. For a list of pieces of data a developer can request permission to access see:
***
At this point the best solution will be to have your account completely removed, that way we can ensure denial of any access to your Facebook informationIf you wish to create an account in the future, please select either the "google sign in" option or create an account. This way you will have an account that is in no manner connected with your Facebook accountThank you for your patience in this matterBest Regards,
*** ***
Customer Experience
StudyBlue
As mentioned in the complaint, user purchased a subscription referencing an old video. Our upgraded features are clearly listed on the subscription page. There are 5 features in addition to what is offered in our free subscription. Voice input is not listed. Additionally...
our free subscription clearly does not behave in similar fashion to the video described -- especially considering we have had a significant redesign, as well as numerous incremental upgrades.We receive an inordinate amount of requests for refunds from students who purchase a subscription, use the product extensively, only to ask for a refund after their needs have been fulfilled through our study application.
That said, we have returned the user's money.
I was not able to locate the correspondence referred to in the complaint. Instead, I did locate his initial case; however, to our embarrassment it was left...
unanswered. I'm not sure if the agent handling the case took the communication outside of our help desk environment, which happens from time to time.
In any case, I issued a refund in the amount of $54 on April 25, 2015. Email receipts were sent to [redacted]. I have also verified that his account is not longer on subscription, so he should not incur any further charges.
Please let me know if there are any other concerns.
Take care,
[redacted]
We are unable to locate any correspondence from this user. Attached please find screenshots of database searches from within our help desk (apparently this user has 3 accounts). Regardless, we will refund this user's money; however, we are also unable to locate any payment...
information. I've sent the user an email asking for payment details.
The customer has been refunded $36 by reversing billing for the last 4 months. Unfortunately our system does not allow refunds for transactions beyond 120...
days.
I have emailed the customer asking for a mailing address. We will issue a check for the remaining $18.
Let me know if you require anything else.
take care,
[redacted]
[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. If the company keeps such records of server logs they would have been able to see that I used their service for one day. They were not accommodating until I contacted the Revdex.com.
Regards,
I apologize for the delay in getting back to you regarding this case. It turns out a refund was issued on June 25, 2015.
34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Take care,
[redacted]
StudyBlue
I’m forwarding our previous correspondence with [redacted]. Basically, we outlined that our subscriptions are recurring payments based on the tier...
subscribed. In this case, [redacted] selected a monthly subscription. Our terms and conditions clearly outline our policy regarding refunds — basically they are not allowed. We have numerous students each week demanding refunds after using our platform to study for an exam. We keep server logs and online activity is easy to establish. In many cases, students actually use our app exhaustively, only to ask for a refund.
As a courtesy to [redacted], I went ahead and refunded $54.
Let me know if you have any other concerns.
Take care,
[redacted]
APR 20, 2015 | 04:06PM PDT [redacted] replied:
Hey [redacted],
As a preliminary delivery, I pulled a “Wayback” web archive link to an older version of the Terms of Service for you. Before the January update, the previous update had been made on July 29, 2014. Link is: [redacted]
The Premium billing section has remained the same since then; however, I will still get you an ‘official’ version of these terms as soon as I’m able to retrieve the old version, but I wanted to get you something as it might take a day or two for me to get the old version for you. If there’s any other way I can help please let me know.
Best regards,[redacted]StudyBlue Customer Experience
APR 20, 2015 | 02:33PM PDT [redacted] replied:Thanks [redacted]I appreciate that![redacted]
APR 20, 2015 | 02:27PM PDT [redacted] replied:
Sure thing [redacted] – I might need an hour or two to get it from someone who has access to the old version of the Terms of Service but I’ll make sure to get you a copy. The changes made on January 12thwere minor, to the best of my understanding, but you’re absolutely entitled to a copy of the version you agreed to. I’ll grab this for you – thanks again for your understanding, [redacted]
Best regards,[redacted]StudyBlue Customer Experience
APR 20, 2015 | 02:17PM PDT [redacted] replied:This Terms of Use Agreement was updated on Jan 12, 2015. Do you a copy of the document which I consented to?Thanks.[redacted]
APR 20, 2015 | 02:03PM PDT [redacted] replied:
Hi [redacted],
I’m sorry for the frustration – we do our best to disclose the recurring charge and you did agree to our Terms of Service upon upgrading your account (http://www.studyblue.com/about/legal/terms/) which includes this information as well.
I won’t be able to issue a refund but I’m happy to help out in any way that I’m able to – again, I’m really sorry for the inconvenience and unpleasantness.
Best regards,[redacted]StudyBlue Customer Experience
APR 20, 2015 | 01:48PM PDT [redacted] replied:Hello,Is there a number I can call to speak to someone in your office? I refuse to pay these fees. I have sent a complaint to the Revdex.com. I plan to dispute this until I receive a refund.Thank you,[redacted]
APR 20, 2015 | 01:17PM PDT [redacted] replied:
Hey [redacted],
Thanks for getting back to me. I’m really sorry if this wasn’t clear to you; it’s never our intention to use vague language, and we’ve always believed it to be clear. While I’m not able to issue a refund – and I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience – I’ll certainly bring up your perspective in our product meetings. The way we have it set up now is a very standard online subscription setup but I recognize that this can cause difficulties.
Aside from helping our users, I also have a hand in guiding the product’s directions and this is the kind of situation I take very seriously. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience – please let me know if I can help you out in any way.
Best,
[redacted]StudyBlue Customer Experience
APR 20, 2015 | 11:43AM PDT [redacted] replied:Hello,I don’t read this as something which reflects a recurring payment. I thought that I would get a bill in January, which I would need to pay if I wished to continue to use the services. I did not use the service and I am extremely disappointed in the quality of business at this point in time. I feel your site use vague language to trick people into paying a membership.Thank you,[redacted][cid:[email protected]]
APR 20, 2015 | 10:38AM PDT [redacted] replied:
Hey [redacted]
Thanks for getting back to me. When I said that your upgrade was in January, I had thought it was the first charge based on the list of charges you sent; now that I’m viewing your account history ([redacted]) I do see that your upgrade was purchased on December 16th. Would you be able to forward me the receipt, by any chance? Our current receipt does specify a next billing date, but I’d like to look into your receipt so I can help you out. Thanks so much for your patience!
Best regards,[redacted]StudyBlue Customer Experience
APR 20, 2015 | 06:39PM PDT [redacted] replied:Hi [redacted]!Sorry, I realize I connected it with Facebook so the email is[redacted]<mailto:[redacted]The card is an American Express ending [redacted].My “Recently Studied” shows that I last used the site 12/16/2014, so I don’t recall “upgrading” in January. I made one purchase 12/16, which is the only transaction I have a receipt from, and it specifically says that the period is monthly. On the receipt, it says nowhere this is a recurring thing. To that point, I never received additional emails. Although, I have received several emails saying if I signed up I would receive a discount.There is certainly a chance I missed something on the site, but I would have expect the receipt to confirm this.Thank you for your help,[redacted]
APR 19, 2015 | 03:08PM PDT [redacted] replied:
Hey [redacted],
Thanks for reaching out to us – I’m happy to help shed some light on the situation. When you upgraded in January, you purchased a monthly recurring subscription; we note this in a number of locations, including all the billing popups, email receipt, and on your Profile page – sorry if we didn’t make this clear enough!
I was unable to locate your account under [redacted] but if you could provide the last 4 digits of the card that’s being charged I’d be able to locate it for you. If there’s anything else I can do to help, please let me know.
Best regards,
[redacted]StudyBlue Customer Experience
APR 19, 2015 | 11:11AM PDT Original message[redacted] wrote:Hello,I wish to cancel my service and I am requesting a refund for unauthorized charges. I believe my login is under my student email:[redacted]<mailto:[redacted]>. My account was recently charged with reference number [redacted]When I registered I did so for only a short time period. I believe this was 30 days. This was in December 2014. I did not authorize additional charges on my credit card. I now see that I have been charged monthly since then. I would like the charges for January, February, March, and April reversed. This sums to $72. I am certain the you can view there was no activity on my account in this time. I feel this is unacceptable treatment of customers as I never received notification of these charges. I have no recipes or bills from and I view these as unauthorized charges on my account.January 16th Reference: [redacted]February 16th Reference: [redacted]March 16th Reference: [redacted]April 16th Reference: [redacted]I appreciate your help in advance. When I have classes that necessitate the creation of study cards I turn to your site as it is a great interface to do so. It is also nice to collaborate with my fellow students when studying, but this semester I do not need to create flash cards.Thank you,[redacted]cell)
[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
I wanted to write and inform you that the issue in this case has been resolved on our end. We submitted a refund and cancelled the account in question on Nov. 10....
Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We appreciate the recognition that there are two sides to every...
story.
We have refunded [redacted] last transaction of $9. Attached please find our e-transaction receipt of the returned funds in progress.
I've also attached the dialogue between [redacted] and our customer service representative, [redacted]. [redacted] never once in the entire dialogue produces any meaningful detail as to the problems she is facing. We in fact documented on two separate occasions that her account was in full working order. I’m not doubting that [redacted]’s experience occurred; however, as with any tech-oriented product, user error is always a possibility in producing less-than-desirable outcomes. We do our best to troubleshoot user issues even beyond our culpability.
At the end of the email thread, we ask [redacted] to produce any kind of information to help us resolve her issue. She does not respond. We do have server records of her signing up for the account and cancelling the account, so at some point she did have access to her account.
Our Terms of Use Agreement (which the acceptance of appears prominently in the registration process) is clear that we are not obligated to refund or credit users for purchased subscriptions. Recourse for the unsatisfied user is cancellation of the subscription.
Even though we officially do not issue refunds, we do our best to accommodate our users and routinely issue refunds, particularly to cooperative users.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me personally at [redacted] or via email at [redacted]
StudyBlue Pro is an automatically recurring subscription which can be cancelled at any time from the user's Profile page or by contacting Support. Jerry first wrote us on July 29th regarding a recurring subscription he wished to cancel; the email addresses he provided did not have accounts...
associated with them, and I was unable to find any subscriptions matching the information provided - relevant screenshots of our thread are attached to this response.As of today, 8/29, [redacted] account has been cancelled per his request. The reason that I was unable to do this until now was that [redacted]'s email to us today contained new information - several email addresses that had not been mentioned previously. Upon further inspection, it appears that the name on the account does not match the information he provided in our original conversation; while I asked if there may be an alternate name or email address, [redacted] reassured me that this was not the case. Per our Terms of Service, we will not be issuing a refund for any renewal fees made before a successful cancellation. We regret any inconvenience and would be happy to add subscription credit to Jerry's account. I've relayed both the information and the offer to Jerry in our current Support conversation (my response to which took place after this response to the Revdex.com)
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.I did not use this service and do not plan on doing soI did not authorize this accruing charge and should have my money backIf I have to go Revdex.com to report is crazy to me.
Regards,
*** ***
[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
FYI, Study Blue has issued a refund and resolved the problem since our last communication with you*** ***
StudyBlue is a freemium online/mobile study service. The advanced features of our PRO accounts are billed recurring on an annual ($4/month billed yearly) or monthly basis ($9/month billed
monthly)
Our billing screen has direct links to our billing terms, there is a hyper link to billing within the terms of useWe also send an email receipt on the day of purchase with amount purchased, billing type, monthly or annual, and next bill dateOur first response to *** provide instructions on how SB Pro memberships could be canceled and payments stopped
It is unfortunate that *** *** feels so wronged in this situation but we feel we are pretty clear about billing with links and an email receiptWe have thousands of SB PRO users that have not had this issue
Let me know if you have further questions
Best,
***
Community Manager
STUDYBLUE, INC
***
From: *** ***
Date: Tue, Jan 14, at 3:PM
Subject: Re: Charges to my credit card
To: *** *** ***>Hi ***,
My apologies for the confusionI will make sure that page is altered right away so that others do not run into the same issue
With regards to our payment plans, I have attached a screenshot of our Upgrade page, which separates options into two boxesOne states a price of $3/month yearly and the other a price of $9/month monthlyA link to our terms (which further lays out what is agreed upon) are also presented on the payment page before upgradingI am sorry for your frustration in this matter
***
Community Manager
STUDYBLUE, INC
***
On Thu, Jan 9, at 7:AM, *** *** ***> wrote:
***
Here is the link on your website that lists a phone number at the bottom of the page as well as the email I used to email you. ***
I attached a screen shot as well.
Your site is deceiving when you sign up and it is implicit that it is a one time feeI attempted several times to end my service once I realized it was a reoccurring charge and was unable to locate it on your siteIf you can not refund me my money and cancel my service I will be discussing this matter with the Revdex.com.
Thank you,
*** ***
On Jan 8, 2014, at 4:PM, StudyBlue wrote:
Hi ***
Apologies for the delay in response and your frustration
We do not currently offer a "billing line" due to our limited resources so I am not sure what number you are referring toAs laid out in our billing terms here that were agreed upon when choosing to upgrade, monthly payments are automatic and recurring unless canceled beforehand
To cancel your SB Pro membership and avoid future charges, please see this FAQ here
Best,
***
Community Manager
STUDYBLUE, INC
***
On Mon, Dec 30, at 1:PM, *** *** ***> wrote:I have been inappropriately charged for several months of StudyBlueI have made several attempts at calling your company through the billing line you provide on your websites but not have received any calls back
I wish to speak with someone immediately, I can be reached at *** ***
Thank you
*** ***
Sent from my iPhone
UpgradePage.png
User complains that they thought studyguides were included in his subscription Our payment page is clear as to what subscription includes studyguides In our correspondence, the user also describes essentially a lack of content in our studyguide We sent him a screen shot of
the studyguide in question, which has cards in it https://www.studyblue.com/#flashcard/view***Out of respect for the Revdex.com and the work it does, we have refunded the money in question, where in this case, it is clear that the user has made grave errors in his/her presumptions concerning the service we offer It is clear they did not read the plain language before purchasing a subscription We have a large number of students who regularly buy our subscriptions, study them for their benefit, then demand a refund when our server logs clearly show the large amount of activity on the account justifying our rationale of not refunding money for these types of cases
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
Study Blue has charged me again in January which creates the need for yet another refund They seem to be unable to cancel the recurring charge
Regards,
*** ***
I'm sorry you are displeased with our business practices. We utilize Facebook's Graph api for our login via Facebook. Admittedly, we are behind in
implementing Graph but plan to do so in the upcoming months, which will provide users more granular control as to what developers can access in a Facebook user's accountThat said, we have not utilized the information we receive via Facebook login for any spam or announcements. In fact, in regards to ethical business practices, which your complaint highlights, our implementation is very unobtrusive compared to the average developerWe have added permissions (see image) out of the 50+ Facebook has allowed and have never used the information to send out spam or post anything on a user's behalf. These are the pieces of data we add to the default "public profile" when logging in via Facebook friend list; email address; birthday; and education historyI am taking the time to explain this to you because we do our best to handle our business ethically. For a list of pieces of data a developer can request permission to access see:
***
At this point the best solution will be to have your account completely removed, that way we can ensure denial of any access to your Facebook informationIf you wish to create an account in the future, please select either the "google sign in" option or create an account. This way you will have an account that is in no manner connected with your Facebook accountThank you for your patience in this matterBest Regards,
*** ***
Customer Experience
StudyBlue
As mentioned in the complaint, user purchased a subscription referencing an old video. Our upgraded features are clearly listed on the subscription page. There are 5 features in addition to what is offered in our free subscription. Voice input is not listed. Additionally...
our free subscription clearly does not behave in similar fashion to the video described -- especially considering we have had a significant redesign, as well as numerous incremental upgrades.We receive an inordinate amount of requests for refunds from students who purchase a subscription, use the product extensively, only to ask for a refund after their needs have been fulfilled through our study application.
That said, we have returned the user's money.
I was not able to locate the correspondence referred to in the complaint. Instead, I did locate his initial case; however, to our embarrassment it was left...
unanswered. I'm not sure if the agent handling the case took the communication outside of our help desk environment, which happens from time to time.
In any case, I issued a refund in the amount of $54 on April 25, 2015. Email receipts were sent to [redacted]. I have also verified that his account is not longer on subscription, so he should not incur any further charges.
Please let me know if there are any other concerns.
Take care,
[redacted]
We are unable to locate any correspondence from this user. Attached please find screenshots of database searches from within our help desk (apparently this user has 3 accounts). Regardless, we will refund this user's money; however, we are also unable to locate any payment...
information. I've sent the user an email asking for payment details.
The customer has been refunded $36 by reversing billing for the last 4 months. Unfortunately our system does not allow refunds for transactions beyond 120...
days.
I have emailed the customer asking for a mailing address. We will issue a check for the remaining $18.
Let me know if you require anything else.
take care,
[redacted]
[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]
[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. If the company keeps such records of server logs they would have been able to see that I used their service for one day. They were not accommodating until I contacted the Revdex.com.
Regards,
[redacted]
I apologize for the delay in getting back to you regarding this case. It turns out a refund was issued on June 25, 2015.
34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Take care,
[redacted]
StudyBlue
I’m forwarding our previous correspondence with [redacted]. Basically, we outlined that our subscriptions are recurring payments based on the tier...
subscribed. In this case, [redacted] selected a monthly subscription. Our terms and conditions clearly outline our policy regarding refunds — basically they are not allowed. We have numerous students each week demanding refunds after using our platform to study for an exam. We keep server logs and online activity is easy to establish. In many cases, students actually use our app exhaustively, only to ask for a refund.
As a courtesy to [redacted], I went ahead and refunded $54.
Let me know if you have any other concerns.
Take care,
[redacted]
APR 20, 2015 | 04:06PM PDT [redacted] replied:
Hey [redacted],
As a preliminary delivery, I pulled a “Wayback” web archive link to an older version of the Terms of Service for you. Before the January update, the previous update had been made on July 29, 2014. Link is: [redacted]
The Premium billing section has remained the same since then; however, I will still get you an ‘official’ version of these terms as soon as I’m able to retrieve the old version, but I wanted to get you something as it might take a day or two for me to get the old version for you. If there’s any other way I can help please let me know.
Best regards,[redacted]StudyBlue Customer Experience
APR 20, 2015 | 02:33PM PDT [redacted] replied:Thanks [redacted]I appreciate that![redacted]
APR 20, 2015 | 02:27PM PDT [redacted] replied:
Sure thing [redacted] – I might need an hour or two to get it from someone who has access to the old version of the Terms of Service but I’ll make sure to get you a copy. The changes made on January 12thwere minor, to the best of my understanding, but you’re absolutely entitled to a copy of the version you agreed to. I’ll grab this for you – thanks again for your understanding, [redacted]
Best regards,[redacted]StudyBlue Customer Experience
APR 20, 2015 | 02:17PM PDT [redacted] replied:This Terms of Use Agreement was updated on Jan 12, 2015. Do you a copy of the document which I consented to?Thanks.[redacted]
APR 20, 2015 | 02:03PM PDT [redacted] replied:
Hi [redacted],
I’m sorry for the frustration – we do our best to disclose the recurring charge and you did agree to our Terms of Service upon upgrading your account (http://www.studyblue.com/about/legal/terms/) which includes this information as well.
I won’t be able to issue a refund but I’m happy to help out in any way that I’m able to – again, I’m really sorry for the inconvenience and unpleasantness.
Best regards,[redacted]StudyBlue Customer Experience
APR 20, 2015 | 01:48PM PDT [redacted] replied:Hello,Is there a number I can call to speak to someone in your office? I refuse to pay these fees. I have sent a complaint to the Revdex.com. I plan to dispute this until I receive a refund.Thank you,[redacted]
APR 20, 2015 | 01:17PM PDT [redacted] replied:
Hey [redacted],
Thanks for getting back to me. I’m really sorry if this wasn’t clear to you; it’s never our intention to use vague language, and we’ve always believed it to be clear. While I’m not able to issue a refund – and I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience – I’ll certainly bring up your perspective in our product meetings. The way we have it set up now is a very standard online subscription setup but I recognize that this can cause difficulties.
Aside from helping our users, I also have a hand in guiding the product’s directions and this is the kind of situation I take very seriously. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience – please let me know if I can help you out in any way.
Best,
[redacted]StudyBlue Customer Experience
APR 20, 2015 | 11:43AM PDT [redacted] replied:Hello,I don’t read this as something which reflects a recurring payment. I thought that I would get a bill in January, which I would need to pay if I wished to continue to use the services. I did not use the service and I am extremely disappointed in the quality of business at this point in time. I feel your site use vague language to trick people into paying a membership.Thank you,[redacted][cid:[email protected]]
APR 20, 2015 | 10:38AM PDT [redacted] replied:
Hey [redacted]
Thanks for getting back to me. When I said that your upgrade was in January, I had thought it was the first charge based on the list of charges you sent; now that I’m viewing your account history ([redacted]) I do see that your upgrade was purchased on December 16th. Would you be able to forward me the receipt, by any chance? Our current receipt does specify a next billing date, but I’d like to look into your receipt so I can help you out. Thanks so much for your patience!
Best regards,[redacted]StudyBlue Customer Experience
APR 20, 2015 | 06:39PM PDT [redacted] replied:Hi [redacted]!Sorry, I realize I connected it with Facebook so the email is[redacted]<mailto:[redacted]The card is an American Express ending [redacted].My “Recently Studied” shows that I last used the site 12/16/2014, so I don’t recall “upgrading” in January. I made one purchase 12/16, which is the only transaction I have a receipt from, and it specifically says that the period is monthly. On the receipt, it says nowhere this is a recurring thing. To that point, I never received additional emails. Although, I have received several emails saying if I signed up I would receive a discount.There is certainly a chance I missed something on the site, but I would have expect the receipt to confirm this.Thank you for your help,[redacted]
APR 19, 2015 | 03:08PM PDT [redacted] replied:
Hey [redacted],
Thanks for reaching out to us – I’m happy to help shed some light on the situation. When you upgraded in January, you purchased a monthly recurring subscription; we note this in a number of locations, including all the billing popups, email receipt, and on your Profile page – sorry if we didn’t make this clear enough!
I was unable to locate your account under [redacted] but if you could provide the last 4 digits of the card that’s being charged I’d be able to locate it for you. If there’s anything else I can do to help, please let me know.
Best regards,
[redacted]StudyBlue Customer Experience
APR 19, 2015 | 11:11AM PDT Original message[redacted] wrote:Hello,I wish to cancel my service and I am requesting a refund for unauthorized charges. I believe my login is under my student email:[redacted]<mailto:[redacted]>. My account was recently charged with reference number [redacted]When I registered I did so for only a short time period. I believe this was 30 days. This was in December 2014. I did not authorize additional charges on my credit card. I now see that I have been charged monthly since then. I would like the charges for January, February, March, and April reversed. This sums to $72. I am certain the you can view there was no activity on my account in this time. I feel this is unacceptable treatment of customers as I never received notification of these charges. I have no recipes or bills from and I view these as unauthorized charges on my account.January 16th Reference: [redacted]February 16th Reference: [redacted]March 16th Reference: [redacted]April 16th Reference: [redacted]I appreciate your help in advance. When I have classes that necessitate the creation of study cards I turn to your site as it is a great interface to do so. It is also nice to collaborate with my fellow students when studying, but this semester I do not need to create flash cards.Thank you,[redacted]cell)
[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]
I wanted to write and inform you that the issue in this case has been resolved on our end. We submitted a refund and cancelled the account in question on Nov. 10....
Additional details, if needed, will follow.
take care,
[redacted]
StudyBlue Customer Experience
Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We appreciate the recognition that there are two sides to every...
story.
We have refunded [redacted] last transaction of $9. Attached please find our e-transaction receipt of the returned funds in progress.
I've also attached the dialogue between [redacted] and our customer service representative, [redacted]. [redacted] never once in the entire dialogue produces any meaningful detail as to the problems she is facing. We in fact documented on two separate occasions that her account was in full working order. I’m not doubting that [redacted]’s experience occurred; however, as with any tech-oriented product, user error is always a possibility in producing less-than-desirable outcomes. We do our best to troubleshoot user issues even beyond our culpability.
At the end of the email thread, we ask [redacted] to produce any kind of information to help us resolve her issue. She does not respond. We do have server records of her signing up for the account and cancelling the account, so at some point she did have access to her account.
Our Terms of Use Agreement (which the acceptance of appears prominently in the registration process) is clear that we are not obligated to refund or credit users for purchased subscriptions. Recourse for the unsatisfied user is cancellation of the subscription.
Even though we officially do not issue refunds, we do our best to accommodate our users and routinely issue refunds, particularly to cooperative users.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me personally at [redacted] or via email at [redacted]
Warm regards,
[redacted]
Customer Experience Manager
StudyBlue
StudyBlue Pro is an automatically recurring subscription which can be cancelled at any time from the user's Profile page or by contacting Support. Jerry first wrote us on July 29th regarding a recurring subscription he wished to cancel; the email addresses he provided did not have accounts...
associated with them, and I was unable to find any subscriptions matching the information provided - relevant screenshots of our thread are attached to this response.As of today, 8/29, [redacted] account has been cancelled per his request. The reason that I was unable to do this until now was that [redacted]'s email to us today contained new information - several email addresses that had not been mentioned previously. Upon further inspection, it appears that the name on the account does not match the information he provided in our original conversation; while I asked if there may be an alternate name or email address, [redacted] reassured me that this was not the case. Per our Terms of Service, we will not be issuing a refund for any renewal fees made before a successful cancellation. We regret any inconvenience and would be happy to add subscription credit to Jerry's account. I've relayed both the information and the offer to Jerry in our current Support conversation (my response to which took place after this response to the Revdex.com)
Thank you!
Best,
[redacted]