This warning applies to https://www.petcircle.com.au/
As the name implies, Pet Circle provides all sorts of products for your pet. I made one purchase, ages ago, via the Pet Circle online store. As far as I was concerned, this was a one time purchase. Imagine my surprise when I checked my emails this morning and found this:

I knew I had not set up any kind of recurring purchase so at first I thought the email was one of those awful scams we all have to live with. I would have deleted the email out of hand if not for all the personal information that a scammer would not have known:

When I logged into the Pet Circle website and had a look at my account, I found an option about Auto Delivery that I’m sure I didn’t see when I made my one and only purchase:

I cancelled the auto delivery and rang the company. I was told that there was different pricing for one off sales and auto delivery sales. I’m damn careful with my money so you can believe me when I say I was not aware of this AT ALL.
The person I spoke to at Pet Circle said something along the lines of ‘it can be confusing’. Yes, it can.
You can see from the bit I circled at the top of the previous screenshot that it is not at all clear that the discounted prices are contingent on signing up for the auto delivery.
In fact, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that there was no ‘signing’ up involved at all.
I am no lawyer so there may well be some kind of legal ‘thing’ whereby if you accept a certain price, you are accepting certain terms and conditions that go with it. I assume this is the legal grounds on which the Pet Circle auto delivery function operates.
But…if a customer effectively agrees to an ongoing ‘direct debit’ on their account, that should be made very clear, multiple times before the customer makes that purchase. There should never be any confusion about a direct debit. Direct debits give the company access to your bank account. This is dangerous stuff and should never be entered into lightly.
What bothers me the most is that I’m soooo careful with my money and with everything to do with online security, yet if I had followed my first instinct and deleted the Pet Circle email as a scam, I would not have known about the transaction until a) an unwanted purchase landed on my doorstep, and b) my account was debited with an amount I could ill afford to lose.
This is the first time I’ve personally come across this kind of ‘confusion’, but I can’t help wondering how many other online companies are doing much the same thing? When you buy online, please read all the fine print and do NOT leave your credit cards details with any merchant unless you are absolutely sure that you want to give them access to your bank account.
I’m okay. Make sure that you’re okay too, now and into the future.
Not even a little bit happy,
Meeks
January 6th, 2022 at 3:29 pm
[…] time ago I posted about being caught out by an autorenewal from a pet supply site [online]. Well, it seems that the latest money making scam is to make a lot of online purchases […]
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May 3rd, 2021 at 12:28 am
I dislike it when retailers are fuzzy about their practices. I don’t like feeling misled or tricked, and I too let them know. “Free” things that aren’t really free is a big one, as well as misleading images. I hope you were able to cancel the order.
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May 3rd, 2021 at 10:39 am
Yes, thanks, Diana. I caught it in time and learned a valuable lesson. I’ll check ALL the fine print next time I make an online purchase.
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April 29th, 2021 at 8:12 am
Sneaky bastards. 😦
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April 29th, 2021 at 8:45 am
Just read an article about how Big Tech in the US is lobbying hard to dilute any laws that try to make ‘opt out’ the default rather than ‘opt in’. And, of course, that kind of strategy is bound to spread to smaller companies in one way or another.
Pet Circle responded by saying that the auto delivery + discount vs single sale + no discount is clear. I think I might argue with that. 😦
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April 29th, 2021 at 12:42 am
Sometimes they throw so many pop-ups and buttons and alternatives at you, you (by which I mean I) hit the wrong button in the confusion. I’ve unsubscribed and unchosen more than one thing after the fact, so don’t feel all alone! 😀
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April 29th, 2021 at 8:55 am
Thanks, Marian. I’ve been really heartened by how many commenters have said the same thing. I believe this is a scam that barely scrapes under the radar of what is and is not legal. 😦
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April 28th, 2021 at 3:53 pm
It’s quite common with wine… cheap deals but the fine print is a monthly delivery commitment. Online shopping is quite often time and cost effective but with care.
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April 28th, 2021 at 7:13 pm
Gah! I had no idea. This is all new to me. Thanks for the heads up Dale.
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April 28th, 2021 at 2:45 pm
Definitely shady – they fool a lot of people that way.
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April 28th, 2021 at 7:15 pm
-sigh- Now I feel naive as you’re the second person to say that.
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April 29th, 2021 at 4:36 am
Don’t. They get very good at the one part that matters: writing copy that gets you to click QUICKLY and without thought.
I almost got caught within the month on one of those.
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April 29th, 2021 at 8:52 am
Yes, so I’m finding. There are many ways of creating ‘fine print’ that covers the company legally, but only just. And doesn’t protect the consumer in the least. 😦
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April 28th, 2021 at 2:44 pm
It just irks me that we have to be so careful and the fact even kotcha companies are out to scam us…
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April 28th, 2021 at 7:16 pm
Yeah, it’s dodgy in the extreme. 😦
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April 28th, 2021 at 2:20 pm
Yes, Amazon has a price for things that’s better if you agree for a recurring purchase. I haven’t always recognized that’s what I’m signing up for.
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April 28th, 2021 at 7:20 pm
Gah…three! I swear this was all new to me. Admittedly I only really buy books on Amazon so that might explain it. Is the Amazon one opt in or opt out?
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April 29th, 2021 at 2:34 am
You can click it as different buying options. But, when I first bought vitamins and computer paper, didn’t know I was selecting the recurring one. 🙂
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April 29th, 2021 at 8:54 am
Yes!!!! That’s exactly what happened to me. This really is a new form of the old ‘snake oil salesmanship’.
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April 28th, 2021 at 1:06 pm
Aargh! Thanks for the warning, Meeka. I’ll certainly pay more attention if I order anything from a site I haven’t used before.
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April 28th, 2021 at 7:23 pm
Apparently this is not so new coz three others have commented about it. I’m familiar with the subscription model but when it’s disguised as something else, that worries me.
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