Intelius Class Action Says ‘People Search’ Subscription Auto Renews

People Connect Inc. d/b/a Intelius has been hit with a class action lawsuit by customers who claim that the company does not disclose its automatic renewal policy on its website.

Plaintiff Sandra Warnock alleges that she visited the Intelius website in October 2018 and purchased a “people search” for a one time fee of $0.95.

However, the People Connect class action lawsuit states that, in fine print, the defendant indicated that the plaintiff would be enrolled in a recurring subscription of $29.95 per month.

After being charged the $29.95, the plaintiff attempted to contact the defendant via telephone, only to find out that the telephone number was disconnected. In addition, Warnock says she attempted to call the customer service line, but was unable to speak to someone to cancel the recurring charge to her credit card.

“Had Defendant clearly and conspicuously advertised that its $0.95 search actually cost $29.95 per month, Plaintiff would not have purchased Defendant’s search,” the Intelius class action lawsuit states.

The plaintiff alleges that if she knew that the true price of the product would have been a recurring charge to her credit card, this would have impacted whether or not she would have bought the product in the first place.

The Intelius class action lawsuit claims that, “Plaintiff believes that Defendant will continue its action of duping consumers into purchasing Products for incredibly low prices when in reality it enters them into expensive auto renewal plans that are not clearly or conspicuously disclosed unless Defendant’s practices are halted by way of an injunction.”

Warnock claims that because of the tactics by People Connect, she suffered emotional distress, loss of money, and anxiety.

The plaintiff also alleges that the defendant knew that its omissions and representations were misleading and not true and deliberately made these representations to trick and deceive customers like the plaintiff and other Class Members.

“As direct and proximate result of Defendant’s misleading and false advertising, Plaintiff and the other Class Members have suffered injury in fact and have lost money, property, time, and attention,” the Intelius class action lawsuit states.

The Intelius class action lawsuit claims that at the time she purchased the product on the Intelius website, the defendant did not display the automatic renewal terms in a “clear and conspicuous manner” before the subscription was fulfilled, as well as within “visual or temporal proximity” to the defendant’s request for consent.

The plaintiff also alleges that “The material circumstances surrounding this experience by Plaintiff were the same, or nearly the same, as the other class members Plaintiff proposes to represent, and Plaintiff and all putative class members were required to pay, and did pay, money for the Products marketed and sold by Defendant.”

Warnock claims that People Connect is in violation of California’s Automatic Purchase Renewal Law, California False Advertising Act, and California’s Unfair Business Practices Act

Potential Class Action Members include: “All persons in California who purchased Product from Defendant and were entered into and charged an automatic renewal by Defendant Within the four years prior to the filing of this Complaint.”

Did you purchase a “people search” on Intellius.com, only to be signed up for a recurring charge on your credit card? Leave a message in the comments section below.

The plaintiff is represented by Todd M. Friedman, Adrian R. Bacon, Meghan E. George, and Thomas E. Wheeler of the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman.

The Intelius Automatic Renewal Class Action Lawsuit is Warnock v. People Connect Inc. d/b/a Intelius, Case No. 19cv-0539, in the Superior Court of California, County of San Luis Obispo.

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