Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
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.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
21 thoughts onIntelius Class Action Says ‘People Search’ Subscription Auto Renews
I received and email from Intelius that my email was locked up and they could unlock it if I called the number given. Once I had opened my email, Intelius locked it up! I could not get the rest of my mail without calling the number. I called, not realizing it was a scam, and they unlocked my email, but not before I “verified my identity” by giving my name and date of birth. They kept me on the phone for 20 minutes and I finally twigged that this was a scam. When they asked for my bank account number I informed the woman on the other end that I would contact my bank myself and she instantly hung up on me. I informed my bank to be vigilant for any activity. There was none until last night, three weeks later, when I was checking my bank statement and Intelius show up with three charges first, two charges on Feb 25th for $.95 and $3.99., and next $31.95 on March 4th. These charges were to be paid through my PayPal account! I think I caught it in time, but they have fooled me before! So they got my bank account number in order to pull those charges through PayPal. I have cancelled PayPal, I think. I have to double-check. They are located in Utah.
Off to the bank again, to suspend all outgoing payments to PayPal or Intelius, and change my account numbers.
I was charged a total of over $400 in subscription fees, and was left with no recourse as well.
It happen to me too
I have been an Intelius subscriber since March 2018. I have successfully sought and found background information for persons of interest. HOWEVER, I have recently been blocked from searching Intelius and have been forwarded each time to a sign-up page for enhanced Intelius search offerings. An Intelius representative told me by phone my two-month subscription had expired and that my subscriber number was unidentifiable. I intend to direct by CC company to block future auto-payments and to cancel the subscription.
ditto
I also paid for a one time search and was charged for a subscription. I canceled during the trial period but was charged two more times from Intelius.
I was just duped by this company into the $1.95 “single search” Upon receiving the email stating i was going to be charged $29.95 I immediately cancelled but am still being charged $7.95. Just reported themn to the better business bureau as it is Sunday and I cannot contact them. This is blatantly deceptive and predatory behavior by a company. Also the information they had in the search I paid for was littered with total falsehoods and incorrect information.
Same thing happened to me. Only difference is I canceled the membership during the trial period, which I presumed as a reasonable consumer would based on the presentation of information, that it was a free trial period. Instead I got charged $7.99 after 7 days. This is clearly misleading advertising, without a shadow of a doubt. Sign me up for this suit.
This just happened to me, within the month. I paid $1.95 for a “limited report” and was just recently charged $29.95 for a membership I did not sign up for. I am in the process of contacting Intelius’s customer support currently. Please contact me about any class action suits.
Me Too!