Website Woes:
Avoiding Web Service Scams
 If
you're interested in using the Web to expand your small business, be cautious.
Some unscrupulous companies, claiming to provide free web design and hosting
services are billing small businesses for services that were never authorized
and have little value. The bogus charges usually appear on businesses' phone
bills an illegal practice known as "cramming"or on fraudulent
invoices.
The Scam
You
get a call from a company offering you a free, 30-day website. They say
you can continue the service for a nominal fee, say $25 or $30 a month,
and cancel at any time. Some service providers state that you'll be billed
automatically after the 30-day period; others claim you won't be billed
after the 30 days unless you tell them you want to continue the service.
Before
or after explaining the offer, the provider asks for basic information about
your company: the address, contact person, business hours and a brief description
of the business. The provider says that your free website will be up and
running within a week, and that you'll receive a welcome package, which
may include a printed copy of the website, instructions for accessing the
site, and a phone number to call to make changes or cancel the service.
In
fact, unscrupulous service providers bill you, whether you authorize the
services or tell the provider that you want to cancel. Also, many of the
services have little value. That's because these providers design and host
sites that contain limited information about the business, include misinformation
or misspellings, and lack important features. Moreover, most of the sites
re not listed with major search engines. If customers can't find your site,
it's worthless to your bottom line. In addition, you probably won't see
the welcome package, but you will see the billeither on your phone bill
or as a direct invoice.
Unless
you review your monthly phone bills or invoices carefully, you could end
up paying unauthorized charges for months before you notice the scam.
Protect Your Business
You
can protect your business from losing money to unordered services. Here's
how:
Know
your rights. If you receive bills for services you didn't order, don't pay.
The law allows you to treat unordered services as a gift.
Review
your phone bills as soon as they arrive. Be on the lookout for charges for
services you haven't ordered or authorized. If you find an error on your
bill, follow the instructions on your statement.
Assign
purchasing to designated staff. And document your purchases.
Train
your staff in how to respond to telemarketers. Advise employees who are
not authorized to order services to say, "I'm not authorized to place
orders. If you want to offer to sell us something, you must speak to _________."
Buy
from people you know and trust. Authorized employees should be skeptical
of "cold" or unsolicited calls and feel comfortable saying "no"
to high pressure sales tactics.
Where to Complain
You
can file a complaint with the FTC by contacting the Consumer Response Center
by phone: 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357); TDD: 202-326-2502; by mail: Consumer
Response Center, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580; or by e-mail:
use the complaint form at www.ftc.gov. Although the Commission cannot resolve
individual problems for businesses, it can act against a company if it sees
a pattern of possible law violations. You also may want to share your experiences
with other small businesses in your community to help them avoid a rip-off.
The
Better Business Bureau also may be able to help you with your problem. You
can file a complaint with the BBB by using the online complaint form at
www.bbb.org or by contacting the local BBB in your community.
This
Business Alert was produced in cooperation with the Small Business Administration,
American Chamber of Commerce Executives, Better Business Bureau, National
Federation of Independent Businesses and Yellow Pages Publishers Association.
For more information that may be helpful to your small business, contact
any of these organizations:
- American Chamber of Commerce Executives,
4232 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22302. Website: www.acce.org.
- Better Business Bureau. To contact your
local BBB, look for the phone number in your local telephone directory,
or contact the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc., 4200 Wilson Boulevard,
Suite 800, Arlington, VA 22203-1804. Website: www.bbb.org.
- National Federation of Independent Businesses,
53 Century Boulevard, Suite 300, Nashville, TN 37214. Tel.: 1-800-NFIB-NOW.
Website: www.nfib.org.
- Small Business Administration. Answer
Desk: 1-800-U-ASK-SBA (1-800-827-5722). Or go to Website: www.sba.gov/bi/schemes.
- Yellow Pages Publishers Association,
3773 Cherry Creek North Drive, Suite 920, Denver, CO 80209. Website: www.yppa.org.
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