ComplaintsforDollar Flight Club, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  07/23/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was trying Dollar Flight club, but did not find any useful flights or fares for myself. So on the last day, I cancelled it, or tried to anyway. They say they did not receive that request. They are offering to give me a longer period for the money spent, but I did not find anything useful for my location. The dates I initially emailed were 6/11/24, 6/14/24 and 7/3/24 I would appreciate it if you could find a resolution for this dispute. Thank you.

  Business response

  07/29/2024

  Hi ********,

  We're so sorry for the negative experience you've had with the service so far. Upon review of the support ticket and the account history the request to cancel was after the account had already renewed which in this case would not make it eligible for a refund. We do try to make it as clear as possible when signing up what the renewal terms are. We do need to stick to our policy as far as a refund since the charge was done correctly but we'd be happy to add an extra year to your account free of charge as an effort on our end to make up for any confusion regarding the renewal terms.

  -The DFC Team

  Customer response

  08/01/2024

   
  Complaint: 22029880
  
  I am rejecting this response because I tried to cancel the subscription within the time allowed, but it was not very user-friendly and I wasn't sure it went through.  I waited a few days, and then had to search for a number to try again, just to be sure.  That is the date they are going with.  I don't believe it's correct.  Also, I did not see any flights through their website that would be of use to me in the first place.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  07/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I initially signed up for a 14-day free trial with Dollar Flight Club. However, I canceled the trial twice: the first attempt did not register, so I canceled again on the 14th day of the trial. I have attached the cancellation email for your reference.Despite my timely cancellation, the merchant incorrectly claimed that my plan would cancel in a year and proceeded to charge my account $99. The second issue is that this charge does not align with the documentation provided by the merchant, which states that after the 14-day free trial, the customer would be charged $69. The $99 charge is higher than the advertised price and was made without my authorization.I did not authorize this transaction, and it is an automatic charge that occurred after I had canceled the trial. Dollar Flight Club employs predatory practices with their trial setup, which misleads and traps customers into unwanted charges.

  Business response

  07/09/2024

  Hi ******,

  We're so sorry for the frustration. In this case you signed up for a premium plus account so the regular cost is $99. Our premium plan is our mid tier plan and that one is the $69 plan. Looking at the account history, we can confirm the account was not canceled before the renewal which is why you were billed. Cancelling the account after it's already renew would not make it eligible for a refund unfortunately.

  That being said, it looks like you've decided to dispute this with your bank and so we cannot take any further action on the account until the dispute is over with.

  Again, we apologize for the frustration in this matter.

  -The DFC Team

• Initial Complaint

  06/30/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I am adding my complaint to the list of many other similar complaints: I signed up for Dollar Flight club for a free trial ages ago, during the pandemic. I check make bank account and see they have taken $69 dollars out of my account. They did not send me a proper renewal notice with clear language or even a receipt. I would have canceled the membership if I received proper notice, since I am no longer interested in there product (havent been for awhile) and cannot really afford to pay $69 for nothing this year. However, they seem to rely on this unethical business practice to stay in business. It is the only explanation for their refusal to refund anyone for this reason even though they are clearly in the wrong. A strong, ethnical, customer-oriented business would not have to hide what they are charging you and count on not paying attention to your bank account.

• Initial Complaint

  06/20/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Have recived multiple unsolicited emails from this company.Have unsubscribed from their mailing list multiple times but continue to receive emails from them. Even sent them a personal email requesting to be taken off of this list and am still receiving emails.

  Business response

  06/23/2024

  Hi *****,

  We're sorry for the trouble. We took a look and we don't see that we were ever contacted by you to our support. We went ahead and deleted the account as well as unsubscribed your email. 

  You should be all set, and we hope to see you back in the future!

  -The DFC Team

• Initial Complaint

  06/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I found an advertisement for Dollar Flight Club on a popular media application. I wanted to check their flights just to view their deals, however, you have to make a trial account to view them. In order to make a trial account, you have to connect a card to the account. I connected the card (05/21/24) then attempted to cancel the subscription on the account page, however my cancellation request didn't seem go through as I was charged (06/06/24) $69 for the annual premium membership. I hadn't received any emails other than deal notifications and other flights, which I checked before sending an email requesting a refund.My request, like many others', was denied due to their "policy" even though I cancelled the membership as soon as the card's bank notified me of the pending transaction, and didn't even authorize it for the annual renewal. In fact only authorizing the trial which prompted account creation. This is extremely underhanded and I demand my money back.

  Business response

  06/09/2024

  Hi ******,

  We're so sorry to hear you're experiencing an issue with the service. Having reviewed your account and your support ticket we can confirm the account was not canceled before the end of the trial period which we do confirm needs to be done to avoid being charged. If you canceled your account before the trial you would have received a cancellation confirmation afterwards. While we do need to stick to our refund policy we will be happy to offer you an extra year of premium free of charge for the frustration this has caused.

  Please let us know, and again we're sorry for any confusion regarding the membership.

  -The DFC Team

  Customer response

  06/09/2024

   
  Complaint: 21815247
  
  I am rejecting this response because: As per my screenshots provided, I did cancel in time and the pending charge should've reversed. On top of that, again, there was no notification for when the renewal would take place as per the screenshots I provided, which is a requirement for subscriptions. Give me my money back.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Customer response

  06/14/2024

  The unauthorized charge did go through due to not being notified on the date that the renewal would occur. This is the primary reason why I'm filing for a complaint.

• Initial Complaint

  05/14/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I signed up for a $1 trial of the dollar flight club from a Skimm email. I found no use of the emails they had sent. I figured it was for a month, but 2 weeks later I was charged $99 without warning. I wrote to the company asking for a refund and they pointed me to their (No) Refund Policy, claiming they make the renewal date as clear as possible (False). They offered a non-expiring voucher that I could use at any other time (why would I want to go through this again?!?) or an extra year of premium, which they could set to be automatically cancelled at the end of that term. Either way, I'm still out the $99 due to their deceptive business practices. Told me I could log into my account to cancel or see my status, but I never set up the account, so I had no way to cancel according to their email. Their customer service is atrocious, pretending they want to make it a positive experience when they deceive you into a charge. I made it clear the only way this was going to be a "positive experience" for me was to issue a refund, and they make it clear in their customer service emails that they refuse any request for refunds.

  Business response

  05/25/2024

  Hi *****,

  We're very sorry to hear that you've had a negative experience with our service thus far. We apologize for any confusion regarding our promotions but we do not promote or have any offers that are for a month long period. When you go through we confirm that it's $1 for a two week trial. 

  While we cannot issue a refund, we can offer a complimentary lifetime membership at no further cost to you.

  Please let us know.

  -The DFC Team

  Customer response

  05/26/2024

   
  Complaint: 21708385
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The screenshot they posted (with the email ********************* not mine) does say 14 day trial (I was not disputing the length of the trial), but it ALSO SAYS "Cancel anytime, no questions asked".  This led me to believe that I could truly cancel anytime and get a refund. 

  This does not resolve my complaint that they have deceptive business practices and are misleading consumers that it is risk-free. If a customer never sets up their account and the trial period is almost up, it seems reasonable to assume that person either forgot about it or they are not interested.  If it was truly risk-free, there should have been reminder email about the trial ending (and/or setting up an account) and a charge will occur.  Since there was no reminder email, I consider them charging $99 (at the exact hour after the 14 day period expires) predatory, especially because they refuse to issue refunds.  
  
  A "complimentary lifetime membership" is worthless to me, because I found no use for the deal emails they had sent. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

• Initial Complaint

  05/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I registered for a membership on 4/19 and received a notice about the premium membership details. Nothing in the notification/confirmation email mentioned that this was a trial period, there was no language in the email about my card being charged $99 in two weeks time, it was simply a notification that welcomed me to my premier plus membership. (see photo attached) There was no other communications about the cost of the service, but I was spammed daily with flight deals. I logged into my bank account over this weekend to see that it had been overdrawn. I contacted the vendor asap to try to resolve the issue and ask for a refund, and they send me a form letter saying they can't help me with a refund because I am out of the trial period and this is what I signed up for. I mentioned to them that there was no notification or any other information that warned me that my card was going to be charged. They doubled down and said there is nothing they can do and that they sent me a notification when I signed on to the service. I told them that there is nothing in the sign on process that mentions a trial period or that the $99 would be charged to me and that by law they should tell me before they charge my card. They said that they stand by their policies and that the laws are different in every state and country - which says to me that they are actively trying to circumvent laws or are consciously operating on the edge of what is legal for as long as they can fleece customers for $99. A legitimate business / service would honor a customer's request for a refund - within days of the charge. They have a whole system of automated responses set up to respond to complaints like mine which means that this is a common complaint - which also says to me that there are more people out there that read the same details that I did, and didn't recognize or weren't made aware of their terms of service.

  Business response

  05/15/2024

  Hi there,

  We're very sorry to hear that you've had a negative experience with our service. When you sign up for the trial you will see that after 14 days there will be a $99 charge. Please see attached image.

  We do need to stick to our refund policy in this case as we confirmed in your support ticket.. We would be happy to offer you a complimentary lifetime membership at no extra cost to you if you would like to accept that option.

  -The DFC Team

  Customer response

  05/15/2024

   
  Complaint: 21677178
  
  I am rejecting this response because this is the same response and unsatisfactory outcome.  This business has a long history of similar complaints on the same issue.  They must be stopped from these unscrupulous practices!  It is shocking that this type of deceptive and predatory commercial behaviour is allowed by our laws, courts and systems.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************

• Initial Complaint

  04/18/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Hello, I signed up for a travel service to try it out for $1. I had no idea I would be charged $99 dollars automatically. I logged in once and didn't do anything else. It was probably in the fine print but I believe this company was deceptive. I never received a notice I was about to be charged and did not see anything when I allowed the $1 charge. I never would have signed up if I knew this would happen. I have sent in a complaint to the company as well. It has been difficult to talk to anyone.

  Business response

  04/29/2024

  Hi ******,

  We're so sorry to hear you've had a negative experience. When you do sign up we do try to make it as obvious as possible that this is a two week trial that will renew unless canceled. You receive a welcome email that confirms your status, you're notified in the terms and conditions that you agree to, etc.

  We understand and apologize for any confusion regarding the account. We do need to stick to our refund policy though in this case. We'd be happy to adjust your account to a complimentary lifetime membership if you would like?

  -The DFC Team

• Initial Complaint

  04/17/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I enrolled with Dollar Flight Club on 03/23/24 for their $1 signup deal, after seeing an advertisement on The Skimm newsletter, to which I subscribe. After signing up, I was charged $99 on 04/08/24 for a full year membership. I was tricked into this, as it is not obvious how long the trial is, and that it is a full year one will be locked into once the trial is over. A lot of the deals in the emails are not great prices for flights, and I have found much better prices on my own. I contacted customer service who offered me another full year for free - which is not of interest for a service I will not use - and when I explained the $99 was a surprise and I was not aware I would be charged this, the representative claimed their hands were tied. This company seems to benefit from the fine print excuse, and hiding information from customers who are signing up for something in good faith.

  Business response

  04/24/2024

  Hi there,

  We're sorry to hear regarding your issue. We did take a look at your support ticket as well as what happened on the account. It does look like you signed up for a trial in this case and we do try to make it as clear as possible when signing up for a trial that it will renew unless canceled.

  Regarding the deals, it sounds like it's possible you're viewing older deals that update. We'd recommend giving it more time to receive more recent deals that will be more accurate. As far as a solution, we do need to stick to our refund policy in this case. We'd be happy to offer a free lifetime upgrade to our highest tiered membership. Hopefully under this you can find a deal that suits your needs.

  -The DFC Team

• Initial Complaint

  04/15/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I signed up for a $1 Premium Dollar Flight Club trial through TLDR. The service sends you an email with flight deals and if you want to see the deals it tells you to click a link to view the flights on Skyscanner or ****** flights. ****** flights and Skyscanner are both free services. I was charged $99 for an annual Premium Dollar Flight Club membership, on 11 April 2024, before my trial period had ended and without any notice. I contacted customer support via chat on 11 April 2024 and they refused to issue a refund. Instead, they said the charge was legitimate and offered to extend my service by a year or a 100% off voucher for Dollar Flight Club products. I have no interest in the membership or products, so refused the offer. Then they offered a Premium Lifetime membership.Dollar Flight Club seem to be attempting to get me to agree to extra services to avoid refunding money that I was not due to pay them. I feel this is a deceptive billing practice and the company is using cheap/free trials to lure people into entering credit card information.I would like Dollar Flight Club to refund my money, delete my account, and be upfront about their business practices.

  Business response

  04/23/2024

  Hi there,

  We're sorry to hear about your negative experience in this case. The **** offer is $1 for two weeks which if not cancelled will charge the regular price of the membership. We do have a refund policy we stick to and since this charge was done correctly we would not be able to issue a refund. We do make it clear when signing up that this is for a two week period.. We'd be happy to honor our solutions should you decide to take us up on that.

  -The DFC Team

  Customer response

  04/24/2024

   
  Complaint: 21575683
  
  I am rejecting this response because as discussed with Dollar Flight Club I did not sign up for a two week trial. I paid $1 for a 6 month trial of their services and that period has not yet ended. Dollar Flight Club have not sent me any correspondence to suggest that I had signed up to a two week trial. They didn't send me an invoice for the initial $1 payment I made, detailing the trial period, or any information about membership renewal dates. They have since told me they send an email one month in advance of renewing memberships and then backtracked and said this is sent to annual memberships only. They have asked me to provide them with details showing my trial duration in full knowledge that they provide no confirmation of their trial duration.

  The only reference I can find anywhere to 14 days is buried in the terms and conditions on their website. However, this refers to a "14 day free trial" and there is no reference made anywhere to the duration of trials that cost $1. My trial was not free, I paid for it.

  I have spent considerable time emailing them to attempt to resolve this issue but I am going round in circles. It seems to me they are taking premature payments from people in the hope that they will eventually get tired of asking for their money back.

  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Customer response

  04/29/2024

  Hi *****,

  Thank you for your email.

  I have a confirmation email which I will attach, but Dollar Flight Club are very careful not to confirm any details about the trial in the email. I have searched high and low and they don't list these details anywhere. You see it when you sign up and that is it. However, I have seen people making complaints online with 2 week, 1 month, 6 month and 1 year trials. So they must vary these from time to time. I signed up through TLDR and the offer this week is a lifetime membership for $129. Here is the text:

  "Exclusive for TLDR readers sign up in the next 12 hours to get 93% off Dollar Flight Club's lifetime membership for just $129 (normally $1,690).
  Join over 1 million happy travelers today. Fly roundtrip to ***** from $279, ****** from $161, and much more this summer and every year with lifetime access.
   But act fast --- For the next 12 hours, get 93% off a lifetime membership and try it risk-free (3-day money-back guarantee)."

  I'm not sure where the normal price of $1,690 comes from, there appears to be no such thing as a lifetime membership on their website. The trials and offers seem to be a way to collect payment details from people and going by the complaints online, they don't refund people. I note the "3-day money-back guarantee" in the above advert and would be very surprised if anyone could successfully claim their money back. Companies should not be able to operate like this.

  I'll see if I can find the original email I used to sign up from as that link *** lead to the original screen.

  Cheers,

  ******

  Customer response

  04/29/2024

  Hi *****,

  I found a link in a TLDR email, it took me to a page with a countdown (around 3hrs) and after clicking through to sign up I got to a page to enter my payment details. It clearly says 6 months at the top of the page, I've attached a screenshot.

  Here is the link - ************************************************************************

  Hope this helps.

  ******

  Business response

  05/15/2024

  Good morning!

  We've reviewed your complaint and in this case approved a refund due to the fact it was supposed to be a 6 month trial.

   

  You should be all set. We apologize deeply for the frustration caused.

   

  -The DFC Team

  Customer response

  05/29/2024

  Hi,

  I am happy that Dollar Flight Club has said they will provide a refund but I have not received the refund yet.

  Do I need to mark this as a satisfactory resolution before they provide the refund?

  Thanks for your help so far.

  ******

  Business response

  06/25/2024

  Hi ******,

  We can confirm the account has been refunded by your bank. You may want to reach out to them directly. 

  -The DFC Team

  Customer response

  07/01/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

   

  Sincerely,
  

  
  *****************************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩