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If It's A Free Trial, Why Do You Need A Credit Card?

Richard Iarossi asks a question that many others have, but didn't ask out loud, and I hope you'll click through to his post and add your comment. Maybe someone among us has a good answer to why a credit card is needed for a "free trial". This is something we all want to know.

Via Richard Iarossi, Crofton MD Real Estate, Annapolis MD Real Estate (Long and Foster® Real Estate, Inc.):

Maybe you saw the blog post today offering a “free trial” of the Vision product. Not bad really. 90 days free for a website, IDX feed and contact management solution.

Make sure you sign up quick because it's only being offered to the first 50 takers. If you were number 51 signing up, you can have my spot. I changed my mind.

Did I need it, no, but I’m willing to give it a try. If the trial was a success, I would certainly consider paying at the end of the trial.

Where the wheels came off this offer for me was the email I received a few minutes after signing up on the web. In order to get started, all I needed to do was fill in my credit card information, type a signature in the block and we're ready to rock and roll.

Hey Vision product manager, here's my take. If you're offering a free trial, you don't need my credit card unless there's something else going on. Your "promise" not to charge my credit card wasn't that convincing.

How's this for a novel approach? Since you completely control the site and the "free trial", if I don't order the product in 90 days, turn it off. That's a real "FREE TRIAL."

Let your product speak for itself during the "free trial." If it's good, you'll have plenty of business. If it's not, you won't.

Maybe it's just me but I'm not a fan of the approach that the Market Leader folks are taking here. I know it's a fairly standard practice in the industry to ask for a credit card up front, but I'm not playing that game.

Richard Iarossi, REALTOR®
Long and Foster® Real Estate, Inc.
Crofton, MD 21114
410-451-6255 Office
443-995-9595 Cell
Web: http://www.RichSellsHomes.com
eMail: Rich@RichSellsHomes.com

Annapolis MD Real Estate Specialist
Bowie MD Real Estate Specialist
Crofton MD Real Estate Specialist

©2009 - RichSellsHomes, All Rights Reserved

Posted by Margaret Woda, Maryland Real Estate on 06/30/2009 07:06 AM

Comments (11)

vision, market leader, growth leader

Originally posted at: Fort Meade - USNA - Andrews AFB: If It's A Free Trial, Why Do You Need A Credit Card?

Post is included in group: "Whacked"!!!
Post is included in group: RE/MAX Active Rain Bloggers
Post is included in group: Real Estate Rookie
Post is included in group: Growth Leader
Post is included in group: Dedicated Bloggers

11 Comments on If It's A Free Trial, Why Do You Need A Credit Card?

JUN

Thanks for asking. It fries me to no end when the free offering requires credit card information. How stupid do they think we are?

Wise AGent is the only company I know of that says, Free Month and you don't use your credit card.

I agree if they are really free for a trial period then no need for the credit card info. Since you noticed I was approaching 300,000 points with this comment you put me over the top. Thanks for noticing.

Way to go Margaret! FREE is FREE ! I could not agree with you more! I am so glad you posted this! tweet Thank You

HELPFULHANNAH

Deceptive advertising must work since so many companies continue to use it. But how much loyalty can they expect to get from customers?

I hope you folks clicked through and commented on Richard's post, but I'm so glad to give this question some additional exposure. At the end, when I decided not to purchase Visiion et al, they sent me a final bill. You can bet I perused that carefully to make sure the balance was "O"... Since this occurred only recently, Rich's post really caught my eye.

HA! That doesnt sound very free to me. Its one of those things where they are gambling that you will forget to cancel so the company can charge you after the 90 days. Crazy approach!

Hi Margaret, I just left the following comment on Richard's post:

As I explained on my blog, our 90-day no-obligation trial of Vision is limited to one per agent. A credit card is required for validation and to prevent duplicate signups. It also ensures uninterrupted service should you choose to continue service after the trial period expires.

We are very pleased with the responses to the trial offer so far, and there are only a few spots left. At this rate, all the trial spots will be filled by tomorrow. Any agent interested should sign up through my blog. Thanks!

Hi Margaret,
Just want to say "hello" before I head on over to Richard's post.

Jennifer - Thanks for weighing in with the official explanation. I'm sure you can understand why many people are cynical about this with any free offer, not just the one from Vision/Market Leader/Growth Leader (whatever the company is calling itself now).

JUL

Margaret I want to say hello to you too. Thanks for sharing this with us. I am going to check out Richard's post right now. Great post.

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