MLB.TV subscription blunders Apr26 '07

I recently took advantage of the 5-day free trial offer for MLB.TV, with the option to cancel any charges before they accrue.

And I tried to do just that. I cancelled my subscription on the fourth day of my free trial period. Yet I was still charged the monthly fee.

I think this was very poor service, so I am writing to vent about it.

Odd way to cancel

Immediately visible when you sign up for the 5-day free trial is this statement:

Unless you cancel your subscription by sending an e-mail to CS-Rightguard@website.mlb.com from the e-mail address used for registration before the expiration of the 5-day trial, your credit/debit card will be charged based on the subscription you select when you register.

First of all, this is a lousy way to have users submit a cancellation request.

Nowhere does it say what text the email body should include, specifically any pertinent account information, such as name, address, etc. I'm assuming their validation method was deciphered from whatever email address sent the email:

... by sending an e-mail to CS-Rightguard@website.mlb.com from the e-mail address used for registration ...

But this validation method obviously didn't work, because they apparently never got my email:

Screenshot of Gmail message

Oh but wait - they did get the email, because I received this automated response:

Screenshot of Gmail message

It looks to me like everything is taken care of, no? I submitted the request before my trial expired, and this email promptly tells me that I won't be charged:

If you signed up for the MLB.TV 5-day Risk-Free Trial, your credit/debit card will not be charged if you cancelled your subscription before the expiration of the 5-day trial by sending an e-mail to CS-Rightguard@website.mlb.com from the e-mail address used for registration.

A week later

A week later I receive another email, confirming my monthly registration with MLB.TV, titled, "Information regarding your MLB.TV Subscription." It also mentions that my credit card has been charged.

Screenshot of Gmail message

I confirm with my credit card online account that this is indeed true.

Screenshot of credit card account

I proceed to write MLB.com customer service, and within a short while, I receive a "drafted" response:

Screenshot of Gmail message

No human interaction at all. I guess that's not necessary these days. Although it would have been nice to hear from a human, rather than a machine, when they are at fault, and accidently charged me for something that I already cancelled.

A lesson learned

This is probably my own fault for trusting any system that suggests cancellation in such a strange manner. Also, giving your credit card out to anybody - don't be surprised if they charge it whenever they want. Luckily Major League Baseball is a reliable organization in good-standing, and if that refund goes through, I am lucky to get out of this with hardly any trouble.

Categories: Customer Service , Rants

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I came across your blog post and thought I would share my email to "the MLB machine" with you... same circumstances - I sent multiple emails and le ... Read more.

Thanks Paul. It's important to shine the light on this type of behavior, and I imagine we're not the first two to get "duped" into this. I ... Read more.

I still haven't received a refund, and it's been over a month since they claimed I would. I am in the process of disputing the charges with Capital ... Read more.

"Luckily Major League Baseball is a reliable organization in good-standing, and if that refund goes through, I am lucky to get out of this with har ... Read more.

Oh, and thanks for the state drop-down! I didn't know about the optgroup element but it's exactly what we need in another place in our app. ... Read more.

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