Am I the only one who got caught out by the USEA $10 donation when renewing their membership? I confess that I did my annual renewal for both the regular and the adult rider membership while eating lunch and didn’t do the math. I only caught the fact that there was $10 added on when I reviewed the receipt. While $10 is not a lot of money, I didn’t like the underhanded way they slipped it in. A donation should not be a defaulted amount. I sent two emails to USEA asking for the $10 back but haven’t heard a word or had a credit to my account. I am not a happy customer!!!
I have donated intentionally in the past, but it did seem like they were trying to slip it by me this year. I don’t remember this being an issue before, and I did have some negative thoughts about it.
I noticed the pre-checked box before I paid, but I’m sure plenty of people didn’t.
I think they have been dong it for several years.
It’s been like that for many many years. Just like pretty much everything these days…they pre check the box for your consenting to the spam email…or automatic renewal. I’ve had this happen with several memberships…not just USEA. You have too be on the look out for the checked boxes.
FWIW— I did donate but switched it to a directed donation to a program I support rather than the general one they had automatically checked.
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A lot of membership renewals (I do a lot for my company) have a “donation” box that they pre check for you, and many are not obvious. This is why, when you pay for things, you need to double and triple check what you are going to submit before hitting that send button. Some even have a “do you want to opt out of donation” instead of just being able to untick a check next to the donation amount. I can understand this would be upsetting, but it really is up to the purchaser to verify everything they are submitting is correct (information provided and amount being paid).
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