CFPB Sues Payment Platform Used by YMCA Camps and Charity Race Organizers for Illegally Cramming Consumers With Junk Membership Fees | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
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ACTIVE Network generated more than $300 million in membership fees using digital dark patterns and online trickery.

We were reviewing our credit card bills this month and noticed a suspicious charge from ACT*ACTIVE-NETWORK for $99.

We did a little research and traced it back to a race my wife signed up for a race in 2021 - they must have been using these ActiveNetwork jerks as their registration and payment backend. Apparently - somewhere in their check-out/payment flow you get signed up for a membership plan if you’re not paying attention, and they’ve been tricking enough people with this scam that they’ve gotten themselves sued by the state of Texas and the CFPB, with I’m sure more on the way.

Be careful out there when you’re registering for events! Even if you’re careful and you end up in this boat - follow these steps:

  • Go to https://www.active.com/; use the password reset link if you don’t remember your password.
  • Go to My Profile > Advantage
  • At the bottom right, under the list of “benefits” you will see a “CANCEL MY MEMBERSHIP” link tiny letters.
  • Zagorath@aussie.zoneEnglish
    1·
    2 days ago

    I deliberately signed up for Active once, because I was doing a bunch of their events that year, and because they promised discounts on some running-related products. The first (and only) time I tried using one of those discounts, it let me go through the process and pay, and told me to expect my product to take 2–3 weeks for international delivery plus an additional 2–4 days because of COVID. A month later and I still had not even received tracking information, let alone the product.

    It turns out both Active and their partners were lying about the discount, because it was only eligible in America despite Active being more than happy to take your money without telling you that, and the partner being happy with me entering an Australian shipping address and using the Active discount code. I would have just been out the money and they never would have sent me anything, had I not contacted them. Thankfully they were really good about it and sent it out anyway, after I contacted them. No idea if they or Active fixed their shit later, but I certainly didn’t keep my Active membership.