Classmates.com ??? GRRRRRR

[Casey1230]

Anybody here tried to cancel from Classmates.com with any success??? I only joined to try and find out about my 40th (YICKS) reunion that I thought would be this summer... I'm 3000 miles away from where I went to school. Once I found out about it, I tried to cancel... missed the first opportunity after 3 months as I didn't know that I had signed up for 'automatic renewal'??? when I joined... apparently in VERY small print somewhere. Anyway, ok $15 on credit card... went into my profile and cancelled the auto renewal. I haven't been into .com in ages, didn't keep password or any of the emails as I thought it was a done deal. Yesterday, I see that they have again charged my credit card. I called Discover and disputed it, but they said I have to have 'proof'... like my word after 30 years of using them is NOT enough. So I try to get in touch with Classmates.com... YOU CAN'T!!! I can't get in because I don't have password, when I try to contact their Customer Support (yeah, right), they say I'm not suppling enough info to 'find me'... huh??? anyway, I found a phone number in Washington state thru the consumer complaint database (no surprise there) and tried to call... you get a recording saying, 'tough, you were billed, no refunds... change your profile',,, no way to talk to anybody, just ''' ha, ha, we have your money and will continue to take it FOREVER!!!"'..... CAN YOU TELL I'M MAD!! Hopefully, I can get ahold of somebody during the week, but it's their word against mine that I cancelled..:mad: :mad: :mad:

[DeeK]

You could always cancel your Discover card. If they don't have a credit card #, they can't bill you.

It's a drastic measure, but may be your only recourse. You could also tell Discover that you are cancelling because they refused to help. They may be a little more "helpful" when they find out they are loosing a customer.

If you don't want to cancel your card, just ask them for a new account.

[Casey1230]

Well, I'm hoping that I won't have to cancel or change my Discover Card as I have other auto charges to it.. ISP, Directv, etc... It should not be that difficult to cancel a membership to something... but as I was trying to find a phone number,,, there are thousands of people complaining to consumer affairs sites about this same thing... which is, apparently, why Classmates.com has now decided to stop answering any questions and just have a recording.... What a SCAM! They have your credit card info and can do as they please with nobody to complain to... I'll pursue this more during the week and see if I can find a 'real' person to talk to.

[DeeK]

Well, I'm hoping that I won't have to cancel or change my Discover Card as I have other auto charges to it.. ISP, Directv, etc... It should not be that difficult to cancel a membership to something... but as I was trying to find a phone number,,, there are thousands of people complaining to consumer affairs sites about this same thing... which is, apparently, why Classmates.com has now decided to stop answering any questions and just have a recording.... What a SCAM! They have your credit card info and can do as they please with nobody to complain to... I'll pursue this more during the week and see if I can find a 'real' person to talk to.

I agree totally ....when someone takes your cc number for auto-billing, there should be a clear and obvious address and phone number to call in case you have a problem later. That number should get you to a real person too, not just a recording.

I'm so sorry you're running into all this mess. I hope it gets cleared up soon.

[do-lolly]

I've had the same problem. I try to log in and they tell me that my password is invalid. I have about eight different passwords and I use them over and over again, so it's not like I set it up with a password that I have just forgotten, because I only use these passwords when applying for anything. I tell them I forgot my password and they are suppose to send me my password. I never get a response, yet I get about 10 "Classmates" emails a month, so I know that they are not being blocked by my spam filter like they say might happen.

I had suspicious activity on the credit card they were using, so I ended up canceling that card, so I am no longer being charged by them. (I didn't cancel it because of them btw, it just happened that way) I still would like to cancel my membership, because I am tired of getting their email. I just went in and tried to log in again and got the same thing, so I clicked the forgot password thing and actually got a response this time. The password was not one of the ones that I use, so they must have assigned me a new one. Anway, I went and tried to log in with it and it still says that it's invalid, but I noticed that at the top it said "Welcome (my name here)". So I went down to my account and went to frequently asked questions. One of them was "how do I cancel my account", and I got a form email to fill out. I filled it out and we'll see what happens.

[Peggy]

How annoying! My class reunion is in October this year and they are encouraging us to join classmates.com. I haven't taken the bait and now I definately won't!:mad: I hope you get it all worked out oon.

Peggy

[do-lolly]

I just received a response, maybe it will actually work this time.

Hello Classmates Member,

Thanks for contacting Classmates. We just wanted to let you know that we received your email and we will get back to you as soon as possible. You'll be hearing from us shortly.

Have a great day!

Classmates Member Care Team

[Casey1230]

I've had the same problem. I try to log in and they tell me that my password is invalid. I have about eight different passwords and I use them over and over again, so it's not like I set it up with a password that I have just forgotten, because I only use these passwords when applying for anything. I tell them I forgot my password and they are suppose to send me my password. I never get a response, yet I get about 10 "Classmates" emails a month, so I know that they are not being blocked by my spam filter like they say might happen.

I had suspicious activity on the credit card they were using, so I ended up canceling that card, so I am no longer being charged by them. (I didn't cancel it because of them btw, it just happened that way) I still would like to cancel my membership, because I am tired of getting their email. I just went in and tried to log in again and got the same thing, so I clicked the forgot password thing and actually got a response this time. The password was not one of the ones that I use, so they must have assigned me a new one. Anway, I went and tried to log in with it and it still says that it's invalid, but I noticed that at the top it said "Welcome (my name here)". So I went down to my account and went to frequently asked questions. One of them was "how do I cancel my account", and I got a form email to fill out. I filled it out and we'll see what happens.

I can't even get to that point! I, too, only have a couple of pw's that I use... my login is right, but password is not, so I try to get a new one and when I put in my email address and name, it says it can't find me to send a password!!! If I go to help, it just keeps looping me around and around to blank screens!!! I'm so annoyed!!!!! When I went to 'how do I cancel my account", I get a half blank screen with My community, My account, My etc., etc., etc., at the top, but nothing else,,, grrrrrrrrr.................................... I'm going to call again and send a message to everybody's mailbox there for tomorrow morning... maybe that will get their attention!

[Casey1230]

I just received a response, maybe it will actually work this time.

Hello Classmates Member,

Thanks for contacting Classmates. We just wanted to let you know that we received your email and we will get back to you as soon as possible. You'll be hearing from us shortly.

Have a great day!

Classmates Member Care Team

Can I have the email address from them please??!!! Maybe I can send them one that way.... TIA, TIA, TIA

[do-lolly]

Sure it's: membercare@mc.classmates.com

[Libra20]

How annoying! My class reunion is in October this year and they are encouraging us to join classmates.com. I haven't taken the bait and now I definately won't!:mad: I hope you get it all worked out oon.

PeggyPeggy - That is pretty obnoxious of them to try to get you to pay to join classmates. You don't need to pay. I've had a free account for years and have been sending updates on my reunion, which is also this October. The free accounts don't allow you to contact other members, but that is fine with me. It keeps me updated on my reunion and that is all I need.

Although, I do have a gripe about the price of the reunion itself. With the amount they are charging (and that doesn't even include a single drink, we have to pay for the bar!), I want to know who keeps the profits. I know that dinner and room rental isn't nearly as costly as what their revenue that night will be. When I went to my ten year, at the door, I complained about the price and they said that if I promised not to eat any food, that they'd charge me only half price. LOL... I said sure, and I kept my promise...

[Casey1230]

Sure it's: membercare@mc.classmates.com

THANK YOU SO MUCH. I just sent off an email asking for a password so that I can go in and CANCEL!! or see if it shows that I have removed the auto-billing,,, which I KNOW that I did last quarter when they billed me.....

[BlueMoose]

Thanks for the heads up. I went and checked my account, and it was set up for automatic renewal. So I changed that, but I'm also asking to have my membership canceled. I really haven't gotten anything out of that website anyway.

[mbrogier]

I signed up recently for Ancestry.com's 3 day free trial. The welcome email had a username and password that Ancestry.com made. I only signed up because they advertised that you don't need to give them a credit card. I've been burned by companies that required a credit card, so I never give them out anymore.

I hope you get things straightened out with Classmates, Casey.

[Geo_nerd]

The password was not one of the ones that I use, so they must have assigned me a new one.

I signed up for Classmates a few years ago for my reunion. Although I didn't enroll in their "membership" thing, I did have to register with a username and password. I had the same problem with my password and they finally sent me an email with a random password to use to log-in. I have to wonder how random the password was since it was a four letter word that began with F and ended with K. :eek:

[Casey1230]

Well, I got thru to them this morning and actually spoke to a real person within minutes! I had apparently used my maiden name (although I thought that I had tried everything this weekend to get in) and they sent me a new password. When I went into my account, I see that it was showing 'auto renewal'.... I KNOW THAT I CHANGED IT. Anyway, probably don't have a leg to stand on,,, I printed out a copy this time when I changed it to manual and will see what happens in October when they try to bill me again.....:mad: :mad:

[Casey1230]

Another Update.... we'll I got a response to an email from Saturday and they changed my password yet again and I couldn't get in... I was pi--ed, so called and complained about their service (duhh) and mentioned that I was trying to see if they had 'changed' my setting back to auto renewal AGAIN and she said, 'oh I see that you requested in May that is not be auto renewed'... YES, I CERTAINLY DID... hurrah... I was right. I told her that my cc had been charged in July and she said, 'it shouldn't have been' and would credit my account!!!!

So, for those of you using Classmates.com,,,, do be careful cause even if you set it to manual renewal, they are going to bill you anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to let the cc dispute go thru and see what happens there! What a scam!

[midnightblue46]

Peggy - That is pretty obnoxious of them to try to get you to pay to join classmates. You don't need to pay. I've had a free account for years and have been sending updates on my reunion, which is also this October. The free accounts don't allow you to contact other members, but that is fine with me. It keeps me updated on my reunion and that is all I need.

Although, I do have a gripe about the price of the reunion itself. With the amount they are charging (and that doesn't even include a single drink, we have to pay for the bar!), I want to know who keeps the profits. I know that dinner and room rental isn't nearly as costly as what their revenue that night will be. When I went to my ten year, at the door, I complained about the price and they said that if I promised not to eat any food, that they'd charge me only half price. LOL... I said sure, and I kept my promise...

If I may, could I ask how much your reunion committee is charging for your reunion, and what all it entails? I'm planning a reunion myself, and am always looking for ideas, what to do, what not to do, etc.

I am a gold member of Classmates, but am simply because I am in charge of our reunion. I have noticed that most times I send a classmate a Classmate's email I never get an answer. Maybe you can tell me if it looks like spam when it shows up in your email, or if it looks like junk mail, or what. I mean, if a person signs up, it would appear they would be there for a reason, and they'd at least read messages from classmates. I realize someone with a free membership can't send emails, but they can read them and reply to them. So, the puzzling question to me is, if a person has no interest in it, why did they sign up at all?

Thanks for any insights!

[mcgeiger]

Actually I couldn't read an email someone sent me unless I paid!

[BarbaraL]

Wow, I'm glad I read this thread. I put some information into my "profile" at classmates.com, but haven't actually joined because I just haven't had time to use the site and make the charge worthwhile. I was thinking of eventually joining, to see what people are up to. Now, I certainly wont' join!

[Casey1230]

Update... well, Classmates.com actually did credit back my credit card!!! Amazing!!! It was their fault as I did tell them in May that I was cancelling and changed my account to manual renewal. BUT, I'm still surprised that they came thru! Done with them forever!

[JulieM]

How annoying! My class reunion is in October this year and they are encouraging us to join classmates.com. I haven't taken the bait and now I definately won't!:mad: I hope you get it all worked out oon.

Peggy

They are definitely a bit tricky, trying to get you to join as some sort of "Gold" member or something like that. The only way you can get and receive email and look at other people's profiles and such is if you're a Gold member. HOWEVER, regular membership is free and easy and allows you to interact through their site regarding an upcoming reunion, etc. You can also post on the forum. I've been a member for many years hassle free.

I few years ago I somehow got duped into a Gold membership and had a little hassle with getting out of it, but ultimately they cancelled it and refunded all the money for it. It's the hassle factor. They think if it's too much hassle you'll just keep it I guess. They also send tricky emails saying someone has sent you an email, but you can only see it if you are a gold member. I really don't think they do themselves any favors they way they handle their marketing and customer service.

That said, it really is convenient if you have a reunion coming up to be able to see who's coming and discuss your music preferences and help find missing classmates, etc.

[Libra20]

If I may, could I ask how much your reunion committee is charging for your reunion, and what all it entails? I'm planning a reunion myself, and am always looking for ideas, what to do, what not to do, etc.

I am a gold member of Classmates, but am simply because I am in charge of our reunion. I have noticed that most times I send a classmate a Classmate's email I never get an answer. Maybe you can tell me if it looks like spam when it shows up in your email, or if it looks like junk mail, or what. I mean, if a person signs up, it would appear they would be there for a reason, and they'd at least read messages from classmates. I realize someone with a free membership can't send emails, but they can read them and reply to them. So, the puzzling question to me is, if a person has no interest in it, why did they sign up at all?

Thanks for any insights!I never tried to reply to an email, so I didn't know that a person with a free account can do that. The emails that I received said to call a phone number to make sure that the reunion committe had my correct address. I didn't do this and someone called me anyway shortly thereafter confirming my address. I think it is some paid service that handles this because it sounded like it was a call center. This probably is another reason that the group that does our reunion charges so much.

www.reunioncommittee.com is the organizer of our reunion. I don't know whose decision it was to hire this group to do it, but I'm sure that is why the reunion is so pricey. It is organized by a for profit business. I went to their site and they require you to sign up to get any info. I'm not about to pay this group any money for their services...

Here's the pricing for ours:

$109 per person for early rsvp
$119 per person for later rsvp
$129 per person at the door

This includes a buffet dinner and music. It is a no host bar. For those prices, you'd figure to get at least one drink..... And buffet dinner.... that can't be that expensive... They also charge a fee to use a credit card. It's only $4, but come on.... It also includes a photographer, but they charge you on the reunioncommittee website to buy the actual photos. And they give you a photo name badge at the door.
They are also selling a memory album for $35.

Lets say 150 people came. That is around $16,000. A buffet, music and photographer at a restaurant does not cost $16,000! Oh yeah, ours is not at a hotel or ballroom or anything. It is just at a restaurant.

I hope this answers your questions! Let me know if you have any others.

[midnightblue46]

I never tried to reply to an email, so I didn't know that a person with a free account can do that. The emails that I received said to call a phone number to make sure that the reunion committe had my correct address. I didn't do this and someone called me anyway shortly thereafter confirming my address. I think it is some paid service that handles this because it sounded like it was a call center. This probably is another reason that the group that does our reunion charges so much.

www.reunioncommittee.com is the organizer of our reunion. I don't know whose decision it was to hire this group to do it, but I'm sure that is why the reunion is so pricey. It is organized by a for profit business. I went to their site and they require you to sign up to get any info. I'm not about to pay this group any money for their services...

Here's the pricing for ours:

$109 per person for early rsvp
$119 per person for later rsvp
$129 per person at the door

This includes a buffet dinner and music. It is a no host bar. For those prices, you'd figure to get at least one drink..... And buffet dinner.... that can't be that expensive... They also charge a fee to use a credit card. It's only $4, but come on.... It also includes a photographer, but they charge you on the reunioncommittee website to buy the actual photos. And they give you a photo name badge at the door.
They are also selling a memory album for $35.

Lets say 150 people came. That is around $16,000. A buffet, music and photographer at a restaurant does not cost $16,000! Oh yeah, ours is not at a hotel or ballroom or anything. It is just at a restaurant.

I hope this answers your questions! Let me know if you have any others.

Ah, that explains a lot. We do all the planning ourselves. I'm guessing that even with the inflated pricing, you're from a lot bigger school than I am. Still, my classmates would never pay that kind of money for a one night party. We've pretty much got ours figured out to a base cost of $1600 not including meals. I'm guessing it will come out to $40 a person (less if we get good attendance). $10 of it would be for the meal. The rest is broken down over our basic expenses of postage, paper, ink, decorations, souveniers, the costs to find missing classmates (long distance phone calls, search engines, etc.), rental of the venue and cleanup costs, the photographer, the DJ......

I don't feel quite so bad now. I have a hard time making my classmates understand that $40-$50 isn't really that bad a price for a nice evening with old friends, so I get a little gunshy when people start complaining about reunion costs. I'm always afraid it's one of my classmates. LOL!!!:o

Thanks for the help!!!!!!!!!

[Libra20]

You are welcome! I wish mine was only $40-50. Good luck with your organizing!