FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 410-576-7009
Online Retailer Agrees To Pay Refunds to Consumers Who Did Not
Know They Were Being Enrolled Into Memberships
BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced today
that his Consumer Protection Division has entered into a settlement resolving an investigation of
online lingerie retailer AdoreMe, Inc. (AdoreMe). The settlement resolves the Attorney
General’s claim that AdoreMe deceptively marketed discounted lingerie to its customers without
adequately revealing that if they accepted the discount, they would be enrolled in a VIP
membership program that would continue to bill them monthly amounts that could be used for
future purchases. Consumers who did not want to remain in the VIP program faced obstacles
cancelling their memberships. Under today’s settlement, Maryland consumers who never used
their VIP memberships will receive refunds of the payments they made. An additional group of
consumers who have large credit balances will also be entitled to obtain refunds from the
company.
“Maryland consumers deserve transparency in their online purchases and should not face hidden
monthly fees,” said Attorney General Brown. “This settlement secures refunds for affected
Marylanders and sets clear guidelines to prevent similar deceptive practices.”
AdoreMe’s website offered consumers the ability to receive a discount on the purchase of their
lingerie items, but only if consumers enrolled in its VIP program, which required monthly
payments of $39.95 that could be used to make future purchases. Under the terms of today’s
settlement AdoreMe is allowed to continue to enroll consumers into its membership program, but
it must obtain their affirmative consent and clearly and conspicuously disclose the terms of the
program before billing consumers. AdoreMe must also provide enhanced notice each month
when it bills consumers and provide them easier access to their membership terms. For
consumers who wish to cancel, AdoreMe is prohibited from creating obstacles to cancellation
and must provide a simple means for consumers to cancel their memberships, including an easily
accessible online mechanism on its website. It must also promptly act on consumers’ requests to
cancel and pay timely refunds. AdoreMe will also automatically stop billing consumers if their
accounts accumulate more than twelve months of credit.
All Maryland consumers who were enrolled into AdoreMe’s VIP memberships, but their
membership is inactive, will receive a refund equal to the balance of all of the funds they paid
the company that they never used to make purchases. Attorney General Brown anticipates these
refund checks will be mailed to consumers within the next two to three months. Maryland
consumers who still have active VIP memberships with AdoreMe will be contacted by the
company within the next one to two months and offered the opportunity to obtain a refund of as
much as one year of payments made to the company. Consumers with questions about this
restitution program may call the Consumer Protection Division at 410-528-8862.
In addition to paying restitution to consumers, AdoreMe also agreed to pay the Attorney
General’s Office $250,000.
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