CareVetNow.com - Warning that it could cost you much more

tryingtoavoidscams

Lavendyr said:

I clicked on the link. This is what came up. Seems pretty clear to me. 

Yes because this reflects viewing the website on a desktop, not on a mobile device. We have discussed this a bit in you read through the thread...

Pollycat

tryingtoavoidscams said:

Pollycat said:

tryingtoavoidscams said:

Pollycat said:

What do you think 'join' means?

On both my mobile and desktop, the home page says 

How it works?

1

Enter your pet's symptoms

Provide detailed information about the symptoms your pet is experiencing.

2

Pay £3 to activate the trial offer

Complete the order form to talk with a veterinian.

3

You will be contacted by a veterinarian

A veterinarian will promptly get in touch with you to address your concern

See #2?
What's do you think that means?

I think ofcom would say that it's pretty clearly indicated on the home page of the website that you are signing up to a subscription.

It's not impossible that there are apps/websites and various other things you can join that require an initial fee and then give you the option to pay more for premium access/content etc. Honestly not sure where you found that info because that was not displayed when I joined- and actually I think Ofcom wouldn't agree because (I'm fairly sure) they must indicate it without the customer having to search for it. For example (somewhat off topic), I downloaded insight timer today and when I joined it gave me the option to start a free trial and CLEARLY indicated in the same text that I would pay the fee after 7 days- they even said they would send a reminder two days before the trial ends. That is what companies should do- unlike this vet website, which is clearly aiming to profit off unwanted subscriptions. On top of this, their contact service line does not work, their TrustPilot Rating they display is fake/non-existent and overall their demeanour is dubious...

It's here:

on both desktop and mobile.
I really didn't have to search for it - it's in rather large bold text - so I think Ofcom would agree.

It's likely that it was displayed when you joined but you just missed it.

I would never trust the health of my pet to some random stranger on t'interweb.
I'd be off to the vet - however pricey it might be. It's part of the cost of caring for a pet.

''Speak to a professional for ONLY £3''- completely misleading. They should be required to add an asterisk and state somewhere that this is £3 and then an automatic opt into their subscription. 

It's the ''ONLY'' £3 that people can use to dispute the cost. Ofcom regulations are pretty tight (I'd assume?), so something like this could get them into trouble. In the link you have sent you have to scroll down to see the mention of a trial offer, which, even then, does not mention automatic opt in to a subscription (which yes is somewhat common sense/assumed, but they must make clearly indicate this), or the subscription price..

Then I suggest you follow this advice:

Pollycat said:

If the OP and the other affected member feel that the website is misleading, they should report it to the appropriate authority (I'm not sure that is Ofcom as mentioned above).

Complaining to the appropriate authority (If they agree with you that this website is misleading) will have more impact than a warning on MSE as the company will be forced to change the wording on their website.

Reports of scams by websites purporting to be official websites e.g. for EHIC, passport renewal, ESTAs etc were reported on here a few years ago.
These websites charged more than the official ones and had that information in the very small print.
They were made to change it so that is was clear that the service cost more than the official websites.

tryingtoavoidscams

Pollycat said:

tryingtoavoidscams said:

Pollycat said:

tryingtoavoidscams said:

Pollycat said:

What do you think 'join' means?

On both my mobile and desktop, the home page says 

How it works?

1

Enter your pet's symptoms

Provide detailed information about the symptoms your pet is experiencing.

2

Pay £3 to activate the trial offer

Complete the order form to talk with a veterinian.

3

You will be contacted by a veterinarian

A veterinarian will promptly get in touch with you to address your concern

See #2?
What's do you think that means?

I think ofcom would say that it's pretty clearly indicated on the home page of the website that you are signing up to a subscription.

It's not impossible that there are apps/websites and various other things you can join that require an initial fee and then give you the option to pay more for premium access/content etc. Honestly not sure where you found that info because that was not displayed when I joined- and actually I think Ofcom wouldn't agree because (I'm fairly sure) they must indicate it without the customer having to search for it. For example (somewhat off topic), I downloaded insight timer today and when I joined it gave me the option to start a free trial and CLEARLY indicated in the same text that I would pay the fee after 7 days- they even said they would send a reminder two days before the trial ends. That is what companies should do- unlike this vet website, which is clearly aiming to profit off unwanted subscriptions. On top of this, their contact service line does not work, their TrustPilot Rating they display is fake/non-existent and overall their demeanour is dubious...

It's here:

on both desktop and mobile.
I really didn't have to search for it - it's in rather large bold text - so I think Ofcom would agree.

It's likely that it was displayed when you joined but you just missed it.

I would never trust the health of my pet to some random stranger on t'interweb.
I'd be off to the vet - however pricey it might be. It's part of the cost of caring for a pet.

''Speak to a professional for ONLY £3''- completely misleading. They should be required to add an asterisk and state somewhere that this is £3 and then an automatic opt into their subscription. 

It's the ''ONLY'' £3 that people can use to dispute the cost. Ofcom regulations are pretty tight (I'd assume?), so something like this could get them into trouble. In the link you have sent you have to scroll down to see the mention of a trial offer, which, even then, does not mention automatic opt in to a subscription (which yes is somewhat common sense/assumed, but they must make clearly indicate this), or the subscription price..

Then I suggest you follow this advice:

Pollycat said:

If the OP and the other affected member feel that the website is misleading, they should report it to the appropriate authority (I'm not sure that is Ofcom as mentioned above).

Complaining to the appropriate authority (If they agree with you that this website is misleading) will have more impact than a warning on MSE as the company will be forced to change the wording on their website.

Reports of scams by websites purporting to be official websites e.g. for EHIC, passport renewal, ESTAs etc were reported on here a few years ago.
These websites charged more than the official ones and had that information in the very small print.
They were made to change it so that is was clear that the service cost more than the official websites.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll consider doing that when I find the time