A multi-million-dollar settlement has been reached with CCH Incorporated, a law book publisher, over allegations of automatic subscription renewals, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Tuesday. The company was accused of the practice known as a “negative option plan,” which does not provide adequate disclosures to consumers.
As a result of the settlement, CCH will mail approximately 5,000 consumers refund notices and provide a total refund amount up to $5 million to the consumers. The Attorney General’s Office reports it will receive $1.4 million for investigative costs, attorney fees and future enforcement efforts.
“Consumers who receive products or services that they do not recall ever ordering or subscribing to should call 1-866-9-NO-SCAM,” Bondi said.
Bondi’s office released the following information regarding the settlement:
CCH Incorporated, through the brands Wolters Kluwer, Aspen Publishers, Loislaw.com, and Kluwer International, allegedly used negative option plans in the sales of their products. According to the Attorney General’s Office investigation, CCH marketed its print products through trial offers and then placed customers in automatic shipment and automatic subscription renewal plans without clear and conspicuous disclosures of renewal terms.
Eligible Florida consumers paid for a first update, supplement or new edition in an automatic shipment plan or paid for a first automatic renewal of publication between Feb. 13, 2009 and Feb. 13, 2013. Consumers who request a refund and return the last update received will be issued a refund for all updates, supplements, new editions or automatic renewals, as well as any shipping or handling charges paid by the consumers.
As part of the settlement, CCH will also modify its business practices to ensure that automatic shipment plans and automatic renewal of subscriptions are entered into only after all appropriate disclosures have been provided to customers and the customers have provided affirmative consent to the terms.
Consumers should be aware that negative option arrangements, in order to be lawful and comply with 39 U.S.C. §3009, must meet the following two requirements:
- The seller must clearly and conspicuously disclose the terms of the negative option to the consumer, and
- The consumer must agree from to the negative option terms and to participate in the plan from the beginning.
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- Kamala Harris: ‘Listen, women are getting pregnant every day in America, and this is a real issue’ - July 25, 2022
- How a small border town is dealing with huge consequences of Biden’s border policies - June 25, 2022
- Biden admin expands ‘critical habitats’ for endangered species to include lands they no longer live in - June 25, 2022
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
Comments are closed.