Fans of free

Like other reviewers, I made a purchase of a few rainbow lapel pins that were $1/ each. At checkout I was offered a pride bag for another $5. I figured why not, they are trying to raise money for a good cause (it said it was for "team LGBT"). In the order confirmation email I did receive word that they had enrolled me in some club, but there was absolutely no mention of a membership fee of any kind. It was my understanding it was like a newsletter or ads for products like every other online merchant or organization does these days. 1 month later, literally the last day of work for me before being laid off because of the covid-19 pandemic, I just happened to check my online balance and found a charge from them for $19.99. I was like wtf. So I went to their website and logged in to discover that they enrolled me in a recurring monthly charge membership. I emailed them immediately and told them they had 24 hours to respond and refund my money before I would go to my bank and report them for fraud. They did email me back the in about 10 hours, saying that the "bonus" item I purchased at checkout was at a "significantly reduced price" and included 1 free month of membership, after which I would be charged a fee of $19.99. She attached the "disclaimer" on the email so I could see what she was talking about. The attachment is so small it cannot be read and when I zoom in it's way too blurry to make out even one word. I actually laughed because it was so ridiculous that they were trying to pass it off like it was in any way legitimate. She also told me that it would take 5-7 days to receive the refund. After seeing the "attachment" I was like, nah I don't trust them at all. I checked my account again and luckily the refund had been applied. If it hadn't been I would have contacted the fraud department at my bank right away. This place is pretending to be an activist group or fundraising group, or at least affiliated with one to get people to inadvertently sign up to the ridiculous membership that from what I can tell only gets you a reduced cost on the stuff they sell. So you are paying them money in order to save money. I doubt that part is illegal, but it IS stupid. I would recommend to anyone else to just report them for fraud right away, that way when your bank or credit card company cancels the payment this group will also be charged a fee. Honestly I still may try and report them, but I don't really know how or to whom to do so. A google search shows that this group does this all of the time to many people. If they got you and your situation is unresolved, report them to your banks fraud department. I saw that some people were saying they couldn't get a response, to their credit I got one very quickly but I do think it's only because I came out of the gate swinging and threatened a fraud claim right away. I attached a screen shot of the attachment I was sent. Cheers, friends =)

After placing a $15 order plus shipping they began stealing $19.95 a month from me for more than a year. After purchasing items advertised on Facebook, totalling $15 plus shipping, $19.95 total, I was signed up for $19.95 per month "membership" without warning and billed $19.99 a month for more than a year. There must have been some kind of trickery, fine print, etc. I have seen they have numerous complaints to the BBB for the exact same reason. I used my AMEX card. I had an eye problem and was not able to check my AMEX statements closely, and since I have auto-pay with AMEX I wasn't concerned. I finally noticed this monthly theft after a year. AMEX put a hold on their theivery, and said they could only credit me for three months. This so-called merchant refunded three additional months, but there are still six months they refuse to credit. The ONLY amount I should be charged is the original $19.95.

In June 2017, I purchased a rainbow flag to hang outside my house to honor my 11 year old gay son. I did NOT know that when I purchased the flag, I was also signing up for a membership. Fast forward to June 2018, I realized $19.99 was taken out of my acct. Upon further investigation, I realized that $19.99 had been taken out every month for an entire year! I called my bank and they were ready to dispute the charges but asked to me first call and try to resolve this myself. I did. They reimbursed me three of the twelve charges. I called again. They reimbursed three more. I called again. And again. To this day, I've had nine of the twelve charges reimbursed. I've been mocked on the phone by their employees. I've gotten no response on email.
I will continue to support my son but I will stay far away from FANS OF FREE. There are several options out there to shop for LGBTQ+ apparel and accessories and I plan to use those other options.