Stamps.com Took Me for a Few Hundred Dollars!

Michael Z

Michael Z

Senior Member
Location
Northern Wisconsin
For a year now, my credit card has been billed $19.99 for a "Service Fee" for Stamps.com. I received absolutely nothing of a service or goods for this money, nor did I sign up for this service, rather it was by default (I believe) as I would have never signed up for this. I did create an account a while back to mail a package from home. I never received any notifications of billing. Finally, the account is now closed. This is a sad way to do business, and I am not the only one as there are many other similar stories. Avoid this company like poison!
 

I'm sorry that happened to you, but the first thing that came to mind is why did it take you an entire year to find this out?! I check my accounts frequently, in fact one could say I micromanage my accounts. I also have them set up so that I get emails about charges over a certain amount, which can be set as low as I want.

Last week, I got an email with a detailed receipt from McAfee for VPN and anti virus protection on my Dell. I got the computer a little less than a year ago and McAfee was free for the first year. I never signed up for automatic renewal. I called McAfee and a very nice agent canceled the charge and removed the auto renewal. Had it not gone that way, I would have disputed the charge, in which case, the credit card company issues a credit and I guess they do not pay the merchant.
 
Don't beat yourself up, Michael. Scammers are pros, and some them are very sneaky. File a fraud claim with your CC company...

Another company to really keep an eye on is AOL. Doing any kind of business with them worse than just throwing money in a pile and burning it. My daughter gave me a gift subscription a few years ago. I said Thanks, but No Thanks. AOL is the gift that keeps on taking.
 
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Something similar with Netflix. Got a trial, then a month to watch one particular movie, then cancelled, or so I thought. But you have to make sure you click through ALL the ”extra” verifications. So we got an extra month. The old “make it tricky to cancel” swindle.

But at least Netflix was upfront and clear about the charges that would incur, unlike Stamps.com.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
I'm sorry that happened to you, but the first thing that came to mind is why did it take you an entire year to find this out?! I check my accounts frequently, in fact one could say I micromanage my accounts. I also have them set up so that I get emails about charges over a certain amount, which can be set as low as I want.

Last week, I got an email with a detailed receipt from McAfee for VPN and anti virus protection on my Dell. I got the computer a little less than a year ago and McAfee was free for the first year. I never signed up for automatic renewal. I called McAfee and a very nice agent canceled the charge and removed the auto renewal. Had it not gone that way, I would have disputed the charge, in which case, the credit card company issues a credit and I guess they do not pay the merchant.
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I agree, I check my accounts constantly. I had a problem with McAfee and corrected it before they had a chance to bill. I also tried stamps.com and dropped them almost immediately. I got nothing from except a few shady looking prestamped enveloped.
 
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Michael Z said:
For a year now, my credit card has been billed $19.99 for a "Service Fee" for Stamps.com. I received absolutely nothing of a service or goods for this money, nor did I sign up for this service, rather it was by default (I believe) as I would have never signed up for this. I did create an account a while back to mail a package from home. I never received any notifications of billing. Finally, the account is now closed. This is a sad way to do business, and I am not the only one as there are many other similar stories. Avoid this company like poison!
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What's reason you chose stamps.com to mail a package, instead of the USPS?
I think there would be less problems with USPS than with a for-profit entity.
 
We won't have to skip eating for this and about all I could get back would be maybe the last months payment. But my best recourse to all this is to warn others, and for that it is worth the money I spent in my mind. And in general, pass up "Free trials" that require your credit card!

Simply Piano (an Apple Store App) tried a similar ploy on me a year ago, but they couldn't get my money as my credit card with Apple was long expired. I told them to go away and they gave up on it all. And I won't be updating that credit card!
 
Michael Z said:
We won't have to skip eating for this and about all I could get back would be maybe the last months payment. But my best recourse to all this is to warn others, and for that it is worth the money I spent in my mind. And in general, pass up "Free trials" that require your credit card!

Simply Piano (an Apple Store App) tried a similar ploy on me a year ago, but they couldn't get my money as my credit card with Apple was long expired. I told them to go away and they gave up on it all. And I won't be updating that credit card!
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That's cool, but I learned to just use the established methods on some things. Saves time, aggrevation and money.
 
Oldeagle66 said:
Not at chance. Stamps is a private company with nothing to with USPS.
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If the website is reselling US postage stamps, and they're scamming people, I think the postal inspector would want to know.

You call a cop when someone steals your wallet or your car. You call a postal inspector when someone steals your mail or sells you 100s of bucks worth of invisible postage stamps.
 
Murrmurr said:
If the website is reselling US postage stamps, and they're scamming people, I think the postal inspector would want to know.

You call a cop when someone steals your wallet or your car. You call a postal inspector when someone steals your mail or sells you 100s of bucks worth of invisible postage stamps.
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Naw. I just won't use them. I've never lost that much. Just a lesson learned.
 
Oldeagle66 said:
Naw. I just won't use them. I've never lost that much. Just a lesson learned.
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Michael Z lost a few hundred bucks. Call me a miser, but I'd make a report if I was taken for $20. I'd be thinking of people like Michael.

And maybe the OIG can't or won't do anything, but filing an online report is practically effortless.
 
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Murrmurr said:
Michael Z lost a few hundred bucks. Call me a miser, but I'd make a report if I was taken for $20. I'd be thinking of people like Michael.

And maybe the OIS can't or won't do anything, but filing an online report is practically effortless.
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I used to do that often when things didn't work out right. But over the years I have become more cautious and savvy and pretty good at getting my money back. It hasn't happened in years. Sometimes I just let it go, like when getting the wrong size clothes.
 
Murrmurr said:
Michael Z lost a few hundred bucks. Call me a miser, but I'd make a report if I was taken for $20. I'd be thinking of people like Michael.
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I think if this would be reported/whatever, Stamps.com would produce a signed agreement from that first time it was used where the "small print" indicated a recurring charge. A magazine place tried that with me online once... but only once because I never again signed up for something as a "free trial" or a service to something I didn't want to continue using.
 

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