Maximum PC

I just tried out the free eMusic trial service (35 free downloads) because they had some classical pieces that I liked, and 35 files for free sounded great! Plus, I remember seeing eMusic ads in MaximumPC, which usually has pretty reliable companies doing ads (with the exception of that "Big Wang" ad a while back )

However, when I signed up, I got a notification from Paypal saying I'd been charged $1 to eMusic. Since it was only $1, I thought it was negligible, so I ignored it. After downloading my 35 tracks, I canceled my account (Feb. 7) and got a confirmation email saying I canceled it.

On February 20th, I got an email from Paypal saying that I was being charged $11.99 by eMusic. A bit confused, I went to eMusic's site to look at my account, and it hadn't been activated. Since I had already been charged, I clicked reactivate, got the 30 songs that I had been charged for, and then canceled my account, getting another confirmation email. However, I felt that eMusic owed me an explanation of the odd billing cycles and such, so I gave them a call (talked to a guy named Logan) who told me to send the confirmation emails to questions@emusic.com, which I did.

As of today, eMusic won't refund me my $11.99 (which I'm okay with, I got my songs), but they haven't offered an explanation of the $1.00 that I was initially charged for, or an explanation on why I was charged after I canceled my trial. Furthermore, in the email I got from them, it said

"Because of the amount of money in question, you will need to file an inquiry with your bank regarding any outstanding funds you feel you are entitled to. Due to the volume of customer inquiries we receive, we will not be able to reply to further correspondence on this issue"

Really, eMusic? You're going to ignore my issue just like that?

uh, dude you need to fight it. Free means just that, free. I hate when companies do shady stuff like that, thinking that customers will just say, oh well, like you did.

shucks, if you are going to give your money away, why don't you contribute some to the Queenof1 house fund?

I'm going to call them today regarding this issue.... will update here after I'm done!

That $1 charge is sometimes placed by retailers to see if the card is legitimate or not. Why they charged it in the first place (since the songs are supposed to be free) is beyond me though...