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FreedownloadHQ Sold Us Non-Existent Customer Service for $37

Posted by Shane Keats on February 9, 2006 01:48 PM

Last week, I wrote about a site that charges people $37 to be connected to Download.com, where users can then download a copy of Firefox for free.

The article struck a nerve. It got Dugg nearly 2000 times on Digg, generated dozens of comments on our blog, and got more than a few people up in arms. I'll give our fellow warriors some well-deserved recognition at the end of this post. But let me start by revisiting FreeDownloadHQ (FDHQ).

All the Customer Service Money Can Buy

Recall if you will FDHQ's claim of what your $37 really buys you:

The software is free. You are paying for the membership to our site that provides you with location, evaluation and/or recommendation of various file sharing programs as well as utilities, online tutorials, online help and support and other tools and services for the lifetime of the membership.

Last September when Chris Dixon, one of SiteAdvisor’s co-founders, told me about FDHQ, we decided to buy a lifetime membership and keep an eye on these folks. After signing up, I started by downloading eMule, one of my favorite file sharing clients, but one with an ungainly URL. FDHQ offered it. At least, FDHQ had a link to Download.com where I was able to get eMule++ 1.2.3. Close enough for our purposes.

Next, I decided to seek out some of this vaunted customer service. Caution: Extreme sarcasm ahead.

Customer Service Gone Wrong

Here’s the first e-mail I sent FDHQ – intended to present a range of typical novice user questions about P2P filesharing:

The program is asking "allow multiple instances of eMule++?" What does this mean? What do I click? When I start the program, the first thing I see is a bunch of porn sites. I don't want porn. How do I get rid of these? i want my kids to be able to use this. Why are the same black eyed peas songs different sizes? like "don't phunk with my heart." which one should i pick? What is the difference between a file type called audio and one called archives? How do I know which of these files play on my ipod? Is it illegal for me to be downloading these songs? I didn't pay for them? Does the fact that I paid you make it ok for me to download them? Do you pay any of the artists so that they get some of the money?

Now that’s a lot of customer service to request all at once, so I was surprised to get an instantaneous response:

Your recent inquiry has been received by our Support Department. We respond to each inquiry as soon as possible, usually within 12-24 hours.

I waited 12-24 hours and then some. I e-mailed back a week later and included a copy of my previous e-mail. Again, another prompt response. This customer service is fast!

Your recent inquiry has been received by our Support Department. We respond to each inquiry as soon as possible, usually within 12-24 hours.

Another week later, I got mad.

I've been trying to get customer service to answer my emails for 2 weeks. If I don't start getting answers, I will be asking for a full refund.

Instant response:

"Mp3sharingcenter.com" wrote:

Dear Customer,

How can we help you. When sending your questions
please reply to this email....

Thanks,
Freedownloadhq.com Support

For a moment, I thought I was getting somewhere. Except. Except I wasn’t. When I looked more closely at the response, I realized it was coming from MP3SharingCenter, not FDHQ. How did they get my e-mail? Maybe FDHQ was outsourcing their customer service function. I decided to play nice. I sent a brief note with my questions appended.

Note: forwarded message attached.

Hi,

I'm still waiting for some answers to these attached
questions.

Thanks,

I waited another week before contacting them again.

Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 08:09:10 -0700 (PDT) From: "xxxxxxx@ yahoo.com Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: Support To: Support@Mp3sharingcenter.com Plain Text Attachment This is getting ridiculous. What did I pay for if not customer service? See below.

I still didn’t get a response. Well, the holidays were upon us and we had a product to finish. So I didn’t try again till the New Year. I asked for a full refund this time and this certainly seemed well within my rights. Here’s their response:

Dear Customer, Access the site at www.freedownloadhq.com/members/logon.asp Enter xxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com in all lower case letters as your email address. We have verified that this is working properly. You may need to temporarily disable your pop-up blocker depending on your specific computer settings.

You have unlimited access to ALL the programs listed under the categories on the left side of the screen. Feel free to email us back with further questions or if you need specific instructions to download a program.

Thanks,
Support

This was the most customer service I’d ever gotten from Freedownloadhq.com, but it didn’t answer my question. Not even close! Twelve weeks before, I had asked how to avoid P2P porn, whether P2P is legal, and whether my FDHQ membership fee gets shared with musicians. Why did FDHQ’s staff ignore those questions and instead tell me about logins and passwords?

(Note: It appears that FreedownloadHQ no longer provides links to sites that offer file sharing client downloads, though it does still highlight “music downloads� on its home page. Also, Mp3sharingcenter.com appears to no longer be accepting new members.)

Sarcasm Aside

Here’s a church that recommends parishioners listen to sermons by downloading Windows Media Player from FDHQ.

The Kauffman Foundation suggests FDHQ as the place to download RealPlayer, to let aspiring entrepreneurs watch how-to videos.

The fact is, lots of users and legitimate Web sites get tricked by FDHQ, and I think this trickery rises well above 'caveat emptor.' Other sites with similar business models abound in our database.

Our post last week generated plenty of comments, made the front page of Digg, and ended up on Shoutwire too. John Dvorak helped spread the news. So did Matthew Boedicker. Robert Accettura was outraged. So too, I assume, was Lin Magazine (None of us read Hebrew.) And we return the Google juice to others on the Web working to bring these kinds of scams to light.

Waiting to Exhale?

A lot of the forum and blog commentary focused on whether FDHQ has a legal right to do what they’re doing. We at SiteAdvisor think the issue is less about legality than about transparency. That said, it’s an important issue. I’ve reached out to people who know about these things, people in government, in the law, in corporations, and I’ll post any notable responses. If FDHQ ever sees fit to refund my money, I’ll let you know that too. But don’t hold your breath.

Correction

In an earlier version of this entry, I said that FreeRepublic.com recommended FDHQ. I was wrong. In fact, it was a poster on one of their boards who did so, and the poster was quickly corrected by others on their boards. This mistake was pointed out to me by a commenter on this blog. I regret the error and I have removed the reference.

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Comments

This article brings up many interesting points and also gives me an idea.

I think that the SiteAdvisor plugin should also perhaps give users the option to display an icon next to paid ads, or ads from adservers. This way, if a user sees an ad on a webpage, they can tell by the siteadvisor icon if its a 3rd party ad or sponsored ad, such as Google Adwords. For experienced techs such as myself, its usually very easy to determine the origin of an ad, but to some it may be very difficult, and I think siteadvisor can work this into their program.

BMR777

Posted by: BMR777 | February 9, 2006 05:12 PM

You will note that your FreeRepublic mention is wrong, in the that the site itself does NOT recommend FDHQ.

A poster on the board did - and was corrected within minutes.


Several times.

Posted by: Jim | February 9, 2006 07:19 PM

Jim, you're right. I'm sorry for making a mistake. I revised the entry and added a correction at the end. Thanks for pointing out the error. Seriously.

Posted by: Shane Keats | February 10, 2006 08:12 AM

It's a common mistake that a lot of media seem to make regarding message boards like that. I've seen FR called a 'blog' in main-stream reports as well - I know that really tweaks some of them.


It doesn't take away from your main point that FDHQ mentions are/were appearing in places where a typical computer user may give them more credence than they should.


The FR mention is actually a good example of the community correcting a misled user, and pointing others in the proper direction. Look how long your other eamples may have been hanging out there - Kauffman for almost 2 weeks now, and the church for almost 2 years. The FR mention was corrected inside of ten minutes, but who knows where the original poster first found FDHQ. Her church perhaps...?

Posted by: Jim | February 10, 2006 03:14 PM

On 2-13-06 my credit card was charged 34.92 FREEDOWNLOADHQ with 440.327-2667 FL listed as contact number? I also was charged a 3.95 internet access fee. Since I use Bell-South as my internet provider, it appears that I am being ripped off royally. In trying to contact this phone number, I could never get through. I am reporting rhis information to my credit card provider and disputing this charge. Obviously many others have been taken advantage of by these people too.I do not intend to be another victim.

Posted by: Hilda Easterling | March 20, 2006 07:15 PM

I got ripped off by FREEDOWNLOADHQ when I thought aI purchased a software package from the internet which I do routinely all of the time. somehow their software came up telling me that it would download it for free which is a common practice of all software vendors and i did not pay any attention to it, thinking it would a service they were providing to the vendor. I ended up with a 14 day free trial to the software and found out I had paid FREEDOWNLOADHQ $52 FOR A lifetime membership to provide me with something I don't want and will never use.

They downloaded a free software package I could have downloaded myself and charged me for membership.

I am contesting this with my credit card company now.

Can you tell me if there is a class action suite againt this company that I can join or anything of the sort.

a very angry Ralph DuVall

Posted by: ralph duvall | March 22, 2006 04:50 PM

Yep! FDLHQ got to me big time the same as you described. I'm still trying to find out what I paid for. What a run-around they can give you.I'm going to report them to the Federal Trade Commission--spam@uce.gov

Posted by: Jim E. De Lorm | March 23, 2006 04:30 PM

Rip off by FDLHQ. I ended up with a 7 day trial period. It came up as a free service. I ended up with a free software package costing me $34.00. I will also report it to the federal Trade Commission.

Posted by: Doris Bordeaux | March 25, 2006 07:02 AM

Don't buy anything that costs $37.95

Posted by: Sam | March 31, 2006 08:55 AM

I had a bad experience with freedownloadhq.com. I authorized $1.66 for a one month membership and they debited me for $34.92. I went back and got screenshots of every page that I went to. They never mentioned any additional charges. They also said in one area that they would prosecute any charge backs to their account. They said that they will prosecute chargebacks to the fullest extent of the law. I made screenshots of every page that I went to, some of the pages were hidden and I had to delete my cookies to get back in. I am very proactive about internet fraud and was very embarrased to have been taken like that. Thank God I was able to charge it back to them. ...Bob

Posted by: Bob Danielson | April 16, 2006 09:49 PM

I noted a charge of $41.92 on my credit card for FreedownloadHQ in FL. I do not remember any conversations with FreedownloadHQ by phone or on the internet. The services that they offer would be of no interest to me and I do not remember authorizing a charge to my credit card. I do not know how they got my credit card number. When I called FreeDownLoadHQ about the problem, they could have cared less, but they did send me an email so that I could see what services they provided. I was not impressed and do not plan to utilize the resources they offer. I feel that they have tried to pull a scam on me and I plan to challenge their charge. Thank you.

Posted by: Charles Morgan | May 17, 2006 04:04 PM

I must have reviewed the Free DownLoad HQ page and received two charges for 42 dollars for nothing that I downloaded. I am a Mac user so the selections are limited and I did not recognize any of the software. In addition, I just thought I had encountered rude representatives untill I reached their billing department. They could not tell me what I bought and finally told me to not call back. I think this site should be eliminated from downloading anything.

Posted by: John R. Haskew | June 1, 2006 10:53 AM

hi, very new to computers ,so I too have been coned by freedownload.com, they have taken £26.99 from my account but this was through paypal how doI stop this

Posted by: pat | August 19, 2006 09:07 AM

They aren't part of the AOL member service are they?

Posted by: Steve | August 25, 2006 03:28 PM

I just got scam'd an hour ago. I google'd winamp and low and behold DLHQ was the 1st sponsored link advertising winamp. So I clicked it and saw a 1.66 fee for 1 month subscription and decided to go with it and as soon as I got onto the page I relized the whole thing was a scam for about 30 files fo shareware. I just called my credit card company to dispute this purchase and it WAMU and they have said there 100 with me.

Posted by: richard | September 10, 2006 02:45 AM

i was ripped of by this company,how do they keep getting away with it.. the charged my credit card £19.i never downloaded any of there products.cant the law do something about this fraud

Posted by: tom forsyth | September 14, 2006 03:36 PM

I believe anyone who was charged for FDHQ should ban tog. to go after these highway robbers . i was charged 52.92 on my credit card. they should be stopped before they can rob another person. my church also was the group that referred ne to this "FREE DOWNLOAD HQ" who on inquiry to what they do was "said have a nice day". they are poison

Posted by: judi bartholomew | September 20, 2006 09:04 PM

Me, too, in the ripoff department. I called and the answering person agreed to refund $42 of my $52.92 charge levied on 23 Sep 06 (it's now 5 Oct 06). My error to be caught, but I am obviously not alone. Can we take joint action? Hope so.

Posted by: Bill Mcgreevey | October 5, 2006 09:39 AM

I just found out i'm another ripped-off person by freedownloadhq.com. I will be
asking for my money back,but I don't really expect to get it. I will also be contacting the Federal Trade Commision.

Posted by: Karen Gunter | October 31, 2006 10:30 PM

I have also been billed 52.92 by Freedownloadhq in Florida.

No idea what is for. We must stop this scam.

Posted by: Chuck McNelly | December 4, 2006 05:01 PM

i also have been scamed by freedownload. i went on line to look for viral programes. i wnet into star advertising and after reading there comments clicked on mcafee to sign up. well i just found out somehow thru this site i entered into fdl. now i am being cancelled by mcafee since they never recieved my payment, but i do have a 52.92 charge on my credit card. after reading all these articles i am going to dispute the charge on my credit card and not even try to deal with downloadhq. thank you for being here

Posted by: theresa caprario | December 6, 2006 02:45 AM

I too was scammed into paying $52.95 for downloading "free" software. I plan to dispute the charges.

I called their Customer Service Desk to dispute the charge. The (lady) who answered the phone was, no doubt, the rudest person I have talked to in years.

Posted by: Norm Clark | December 8, 2006 10:10 AM

I use a NETGEAT Router and I enter the keyword "ads" to block and I never get any banner adverts on any sites.

Posted by: Callum | January 4, 2007 02:29 PM

I got scammed. I am serious about getting something done too stop this. Does anyone still have the phone number or address to this "company"?

Posted by: ashlee | January 17, 2007 11:41 AM

I got caught September '06,have contacted them, advised to disable my pop-up blocker-also have unlimited access to ALL program[their words]I will now contact my card company to see if I can get my money back!!!
Found this site by accident,glad I did,hope other people find it before they get conned.


Posted by: Pam Lait | February 22, 2007 01:32 PM

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