I was really surprised to find out I had signed up for the Automatic Renewal of my Gold Membership with Classmates.com as I NEVER do automatic renewals. I did not intend to continue my Gold Membership as it is not particularly useful. As I did not sign up for automatic renewal (again, it not something I ever do), I didn't anticipate any issues.

I received this delightful email from Classmates.com: Thank you for your renewal! As you requested, your Classmates Gold membership was automatically renewed on August 23, 2006. The credit card on file for your account was billed US$39 for another full year of membership without interruption of your Gold member status.

Now, I have an account strictly for internet use and I keep only enough to cover online purchases to avoid fraudulent transactions. I went into that account and saw that, yes indeed, they had taken out the $39 fee. And it caused the account to overdraw resulting in an additional fee for overdraft charges.

This is the message I sent to Classmates.com: My Classmates account recently renewed, automatically pulling the
annual fee from the credit card initially provided. I did NOT set up an automatic renewal. Automatic renewals are something I NEVER do to avoid unexpected surprises.

This 'Automatic' renewal for 'my convenience' has pulled from a seldom used bank account (Funds only go in to this account when I knowingly make a purchase online to avoid theft) and resulted in an additional fees incurred on MY part.

I want to confirm that this will NOT happen again.

And this is their reply: If you are a paying Gold Member, and are inquiring about a credit card charge for a Classmates membership renewal, we would like to remind you
that when you registered for your membership, you were enrolled in the automatic renewal program so that you wouldn’t experience any interruption in your Gold membership benefits. Additionally, when you paid
for your Gold membership you agreed to the Classmates Terms of Service which states that your Gold membership is non-refundable.

You may remove yourself from our automatic renewal process at any time by logging into the “My Account” area using the link in the upper right hand corner of the Classmates.com site and changing your renewal option from "auto" to "manual." If you choose to remove yourself from
the automatic renewal program, you will continue to receive your full Gold membership benefits until the end of your current membership term. At the end of this term you will no longer be billed and your account will revert to a FREE membership.

You may cancel your Gold membership and/or remove your name from our site by responding to this email; however, per the Terms of Service, you will forfeit your membership fee.

Thank you for your membership and participation in the Classmates community.

Sincerely,
Classmates Member Care Team

Wow! What a great member care team. After receiving the reply, I went into account screen and changed my renewal to MANUAL. And, even if I did want to cancel, I would forfeit my membership fee?

I would strongly recommend anyone looking to sign up with Classmates.com JUST SAY NO! It's not worth the hassle.

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