Open-source goes awry, Part II

In a previous blog post, I told you about a company called Manay Software, who claims they will send you four free CDs if you just send them $4.95 to help cover the shipping costs. As far as I can tell, the CDs contain only open source software/collections, but it would be nice to have a copy of The GIMP on CD. So, never being one to miss an adventure, I generated a new virtual credit card number and placed my order on Friday using my soon-to-be defunct home address and a throw-away email address.

Monday afternoon, I was pleased to see that I had already received their small cardboard mailer in my mailbox. I was short on time, as I was soon off to see the reknown stage hypnotist, Mark Yuzuik, performing in his one per year, post-fair, 18+ hypnosis show. Even so, I decided to open the cover to see what I got for just $4.99.

Inside were four plainly labeled CDs with names such as Graphics Software, Font Collection, etc. Labeled prominently on the right hand side was a message thanking me for signing up for their CD subscription service. Any two of the CDs were mine to keep, but if I liked all four, I simply had to keep them and I would automatically be charged $39.98 (or $19.99 per CD).

There's only one location on their site where they say that the CDs are $19.99 each. Can you guess? Yes, that's right, in the Terms of Service, in paragraph 7 (you did read that, didn't you?) they explain that you must return two of the four CDs within 10 days, or you'll automatically be charged. Further, they will send you two more CDs every four to five weeks with no trial period, for which you will automatically be billed $19.99 each until you cancel.

Can you say "bait and switch"? Since receiving the package, I have found many complaints on the web (which I probably should have searched for before purchasing, but what fun would that be?) by searching for "Manay scam" on Google. It seems that many have been reporting them to the Better Business Bureau, but I'm thinking the Federal Trade Commission will enjoy hearing about this. If Google can't do something as innocent as selling ad space without prominently displaying "SPONSORED LINKS," how can what Manay is doing be legal? It certainly doesn't seem ethical.

Late as I was for the show, I took a minute to put the entire package in a CD mailer and print out a Priority Mail shipping label with delivery confirmation. Some of the complaints have indicated that Manay doesn't honor the returns. We'll see. Perhaps there will soon be an Open-Source Goes Awry, Part III.