Wow, this morning as I was reading my usual round of bloggy goodness I read an article by Mark over at 45n5 about the latest buzz going around the Internet - the Joel Comm: Adsense Secrets 4. I had seen a link to it from John Chow’s site and I went there to check it out. It really seemed like a steal of a deal for $9.95 and I thought that it would definitely be in my budget to buy… but when I clicked to buy it asked for my credit card - and I’m not overly comfortable doing that (my choice is PayPal…) but whatever. I got up and walked away to think about it and was thinking today I’d put in an order.
But hold up what’s this?? Mark found a very interesting line of text on the site - where you’ll be putting in $29 a month recurring until you cancel for his membership… ahhhh - that’s the catch 22. Cheap book, sign up and hopefully no one will notice the recurring billing and Joel makes more money.
That is really scuzzy.
When I went to pay the other day - it was for the ebook. I honestly didn’t see anything about the $29 recurring fee. Seriously - I’m not dumb and I can read… and I didn’t see that anywhere. Obviously I missed what Mark found.
So check out what Mark thinks of this tactic and take a listen to his latest video.
Popularity: 7% [?]
April 18th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
thanks for sharing the info and glad you didn’t get suckered in.
April 18th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
It’s clear on the sales letter…and in the shopping cart.
Plus you’re reminded on the newsletter when you receive it and you have 60 days to try before your billed. Hardly a scam.
April 18th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
There was more than one line of text, the rebilling is also displayed on the Order form. Basically, you’re charged $9.95 for the ebook and you get a free offline newsletter and bonuses..
The cancellation process is clearly spelled out and you can cancel well before you’re ever billed the $29.95. No one is billed without their knowledge. And you get a 222 page ebook, a free newsletter and more for $9.95.
April 19th, 2008 at 7:08 am
Hey,
I’ll leave my personal opinion out, but there’s some interesting comments on Lynn’s blog about that and Joel himself has made several comments.
Check it out:
http://www.clicknewz.com/1449/download-joel-comms-97-guide-for-under-10/
~Shannon
April 20th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I wrote a post about the “scam design” of these sites and why they fail to convert
July 12th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Be very, very careful about Joel Comm.
Joel Comm floods the internet with his own sites and deceives people into thinking it’s another.
If you like greasy, dishonest car salesmen, you’ll love Joel Comm.
August 1st, 2008 at 6:41 am
I got billed the $29 but never got the report. Anybody know how to put a cancellation through to Joel Comm?
August 8th, 2008 at 8:02 am
@Roy - have you tried contacting Joel directly to see what happened to your report? It might have been sent but bounced? trapped in a spam folder? Never happened? Best to ask him directly - I’ve not had anyone come by to say that they didn’t get the report. You’ll have to let us know if you do get it.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Joel Comm is not a good person.
http://www.45n5.com/permalink/adsense-secrets-scam-alert.html
September 18th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Joel Comm is a smart interent marketer. He always includes wiggle clauses in case you don’t want the extra info he can provide for a monthly fee. So we all need to take the time to read what we sign or agree to and look at the time we have to cancel so we can take advantage of free trial periods. If more people had done that with their mortgages we would not have the current foreclosure meltdown. Don’t hate…appreciate Joel Comm for all that he does for people who also want better internet marketing skills….for a price.