About a month ago Linkedin.com invited me to try out their advertising network, LinkedIn DirectAds. They provided me with a $100 voucher to use, so I thought that I may as well give it a go. I was careful not to exceed the $100 on my account, so set up a campaign to cost no more than $10 a day and to last only 10 days.
I actually stopped the campaign early as it was not providing any useful leads so I thought I’d save my money. I now have $26.22 on my account.
However, LinkedIn.com have charged me $5 from my credit card. I obviously did not spot the part of agreement that says they will charge my credit card.
I have sent 2 emails to customer services in the last week, and had one response, which was:
“I apologize for not having a quick answer to your request about your ad. I have forwarded your message for additional review and advice. We will be in contact with you as quickly as possible.”
I asked them why my credit card had been charged when I still had money on my account. I then asked how I could remove my credit card details from their system as I do not want to be charged again. There is no way in Linkedin.com to cancel the adverts completely, you can just pause a campaign.
Others Caught Off Guard By Linkedin.com
I am not alone either. A quick Google reveals others that have been charged without giving permission.
BankingPearls, a Tweeter said:
“Linkedin offer me a $100 fee ads, trick me into signing up, charge me $5 and reneg on the coupon. Do not fall into this trap! 6:32 PM Dec 7th, 2010 via web”
So, at the time of writing, I still do not know why I have been charged once already by LinkedIn.com. Their customer services department also do not know why I have been charged. I have no way to remove my credit card information to prevent a further charge.
LinkedIn DirectAds Agreement
The agreement on their website states:
“If LinkedIn charges you an initial one-time fee, it will be applied toward your DirectAds account and automatically applied toward your future advertising fees.
Amounts you pay pursuant to the DirectAds service are non-refundable.”
However, there is no mention of this initial fee, and nothing to say that it will be taken from your credit card even if your Linked in account is in credit.
I may have to close my account, but then the only way to contact them is through the admin panel (at least the only way I am aware of) and I am concerned that if I close my account with Linkedin the charges could continue and I will have no way to stop them.
If anyone from Linkedin reads this, please provide some sort of clarification. I am ready to cancel my account complelely. I have several business contacts on Linkedin, but all of them I know via email. Facebook or real life, so it would be no loss. Planning to call my credit card company to get the fees refunded.
Update: Well, it seems that the warning was there, I just missed it. Remember, always check the small print.
