Thread: Fright Catalog's Haunt Club

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So I was pretty bummed a while back to hear that Fright Catalog wasn't putting out a catalog. I always get one even though you actually have to PAY for them. I figure...eh, I get $2 worth of enjoyment out of it. When, later in September, I heard that they actually WERE putting out a catalog but it was only a limited run, I literally jumped at the opportunity and immediately went to their site to order one.

It was $5 this year but I wasn't super worried about it because it sounded like I would get some spooky wine labels too. I was just excited to get the catalog! I got my catalog a few days later and happily poured over it.

Fast forward one month later (today), I'm looking at my bank statement and I see a charge from Fright Catalog for $9.99 pending on my account. I called the bank and they suggested that I call FC. So I called FC and they said that that's for the Fright Catalog Haunt Club Membership. WOW...I guess I should have read the fine print. I said "what? It costs me money to be in that? I don't want to be in a pay-club and can you take this off my account." They basically told me that they will stop me from being in the club any further but they will not refund this $9.99. I'm like, but I didn't even know about the charge to be in the club! The guy says "well it's clearly stated on our website so we're not refunding it."

Seriously? Yeah. They enrolled me into a Haunt Club when I ordered the catalog, which I admit I did see some information about it, but I NEVER saw that it was going to cost $9.99 per month for it. That's ridiculous. Then as soon as I did see it, I called them to correct it, and they basically refused to refund it.

I'm speechless. They say on their website that "Scarily enough, customer satisfaction is our #1 priority." Well, I call B.S. on that one.

Ridiculous. I'm debating about disputing the charge on my bank statement. UUUgh. But I looked at their website and sure enough, there it is: about the $9.99 on the right side of the page in the "is the haunt club right for me" part. It's smaller print and is displayed no where when you actually place your order. I'm feeling pretty ding dang deceived by these people that I used to really like.

Oh and I posted something about it on their FB page, which they promptly deleted. Of course.

I, too, got charged the $9.99. The company refuses to refund. I encourage all who were ripped-off to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I did and the more who do so the better!

Sounds like they may be in violation of the opt-out regs. If there was no opportunity to opt-out prior to submitting your order for the Haunt Kit, and they refuse to refund the charge, they are violating FTC regs regarding this type of charge. The law states that you must give the customer the option of refusing unwanted charges prior to entering into a transaction.
I read the info about how you'll be enrolled in the Haunt Club when you place your order for the Kit, and it says that if you do not want to be charged for this service, you can opt out. I couldn't find any checkbox on the Haunt Kit order page that allowed a customer to refuse the Haunt Club membership charge, nor was there any info about the minimum opt-out period.

If I missed something, I am asking Fright Catalog to point it out. Otherwise, it looks as though they have broken some laws with this little scam.

In addition, I do not think my letter that they sent with the package said ANYTHING about this monthly fee. The only places that it's listed are off to the side of the webpage, down off the first page and in the "terms and conditions" statement when you're registering. They don't even show you the terms and conditions, you have to click a separate link to see the terms and conditions, then when you do...it looks like standard legal stuff on the fist page, making you have to scroll DOWN to see the $9.99 thing.

Yeah...I'm pretty convinced that it was deliberately NOT out in the forefront so that they could take people's money. I mean, I hate to think negatively about anyone but ding dang...what else am I supposed to think at this point?!?

I'm going to wait a couple more days, make one more phone call to them tomorrow (after I see if this guy from FC, that posted on the other thread, actually posts anything worthwhile and helps get us a refund) then after that...I'm filing a complaint with the BBB, as you suggest.

I was reading this and aimlessly googled "fright catalog rip off" and found this... http://twitter.com/#!/jackcgp

Well, that seems pretty typical. No wonder they won't let us have our $9.99 back!

I was charged the initial $4.95 but never received the kit. I had problems with their ordering system, which rejected me twice ("please try later" type of messages), so I decided to forget about it. There was a $4.95 charge on my account, but no confirmation email. I waited a couple of weeks before emailing them. They said they'd look into it and send it right away. I wrote again inquiring as to whether or not it would even show up by Halloween, and this time received no reply. It's a shame too, since my husband and I were interested in taking a trip to the affiliated physical store this coming summer (the other year round mega stores seem to all be in CA). Not cool at all!

Originally Posted by stickman6

I was reading this and aimlessly googled "fright catalog rip off" and found this... http://twitter.com/#!/jackcgp

Wow... Pathetic

I called them today to cancel my "club" membership. Cancellation was accepted. I'll have to watch my charge bill, to make sure the payment is taken off.