Awful company, awful practices. The below letter was sent to FYE Customer Service by my wife.
22 October 2013
For Your Entertainment (fye)
customerservice@fye.com
Subject: Former Member
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this letter as a formal complaint regarding my recent experience. On 15 October 2013, I purchased two DVD's from the Suncoast Motion Picture Company located at 11700 Princeton Pike, Cincinnati, Ohio 45246. While checking out the cashier asked if I wanted to sign up for the Backstage Pass VIP. I agreed to do so. He explained the benefits to me then circled the phone number on the back of the Backstage VIP pamphlet and told me that is the number I would call if I decided to cancel after the trial period prior to signing me up.
After reading the details, and reviewing the terms and conditions, I determined I did not want the Backstage Pass VIP and decided I was going to call and cancel. The following is a timeline of events that occurred when I attempted to cancel this service.
1. October 16th 2013- During my first attempt to cancel, I was told that my information had not "posted" yet, that it would take 2-3 days from day of activation to process and was told that I would have to call back after processing to cancel. (Call log lapsed so no screen shot is available).
2. October 18th 2013 6:21PM ET- During my second attempt, I spoke to an operator who told me my information had not posted, it would take 3-4 days from activation to process. I demanded to speak to a supervisor(Mary Jones) who told me it would take up to 5 days and that I would need to call back to cancel my subscription. When I told her no one notified me of the processing time, she told me she had no control over what store employees do, but would give me the Supervisor number for further calls.
3. October 21st 2013 9:02 AM ET - I was able to call the supervisor line and successfully cancelled (Cancellation #:Z13D6J79) my VIP Backstage Pass without incident.
My Complaints are as follows
1. The booklet provided states, "Your online account will be activated and ready to use two to three business days from date of purchase, which is when your trial period beings. And you may cancel at anytime by calling 1-877-351-2131." This is false. Consumers must wait until this information registers in the system. There's no mention that one cannot cancel in the 2-3 day online account processing time. It says "YOU MAY CANCEL ANYTIME." You can't. That's a lie.
2. The supervisor, Mary Jones explained that she couldn't control that the store clerk didn't inform me of this delay. This shows me no company unity. In addition I doubt FYE trains its employees to inform customers of this "delay."
3. It seems these "delays" are put in place to make it difficult for customers to cancel if they do not want service.
4. I was told 2-3 days, then 3-4 days, then 5. It may be a good idea to have all associates telling the same lie, it's more believable that way.
Here's food for thought. FYE wouldn't have ever gotten my money, as I would've cancelled my debit card had I had one more unsuccessful call to cancel. As the digital media market takes CD and DVD market share, companies like FYE have to find innovative ways to make money, subscription services being one of them. I wouldn't have a problem with this if FYE weren't so underhanded in its practices. To be clear, the call center doesn't provide consistent information, the literature possesses inaccurate and misleading information, and FYE leadership has no problem blaming someone else.
Here's what I intend to do. For starters, I won't be in a Suncoast or FYE location again. Small potatoes to a large company, right? Here's what else I intend to do. Every "rip-off" website I can find will have a copy of this same letter. I enjoy listening to Clark Howard and will now take delight in attempting to be a caller to voice my complaint to a national audience. I will take time out of my day to ensure I'm doing my part as a responsible consumer to warn people of FYE's tactics. The best part? I'm not asking for a thing. I don't want compensation for my time, or a t-shirt, or a keychain. I don't even need a response to this e-mail. I buy things that I see value in, and don't request handouts. There's no value in cheating hard-working people to account for a business's lack of ethical innovation. Lastly, I've provided my legal representative with my cancellation number and a copy of this letter. Charge my card, and I'll take FYE to court. read more