Is Stamps.com a Scam? - Comments Page 5

This was so helpful. I receive the "flier" periodically and thought I should check it out. Yours was the first review I read and I promptly threw the CD in the trash. The old saying "You don't get something for nothing" is so true. Thanks Bob!

Just google stamps.com scam or just stamps.com for your answer.....I have not found one good review....Always the same...
Stay away............

Misleading advertising material. I was supposed to get free postage but the software to print it did not work. They charged me $15.99 a month for postage service that I did not realize I was signing up for. There is no way to reach anyone on the phone to get a refund for two months of charges for nothing! Stamps.com is USPS affiliate and that lends this scam legitimacy.

I have been using stamps.com for a little over a month now. No idea how any of you missed the fees at all. I am hoping for your sakes that they made them more clear by the time i signed up. The fees were crystal clear to me. The software is working great for me. I have been shipping lots of items first class & media mail for my ebay sales. The prices are much cheaper on shipping through usps if you have the tools & ship from home. The post office draws you towards using priority mail which is very expensive. The free scale just arrived & honestly I'm not surprised that it only works with their software. I'm thankful I found your article because now I'm aware of the difficulty in cancelling but I'll be using them until I sell everything I own on ebay.
I think people should ALWAYS pay attention to what they are agreeing to when typing credit card info into any website.

I also never saw anywhere in my initial sign up for stamps.com of the monthly service fee. Had I, I would never have signed up. I thought it was a great idea to be able to print my own stamps until I saw the cost of the paper you have to print on and of course the monthly service fee. So for $15.99 a month I buy the paper and the stamps and print my own postage and stamps.com gets $15.99 a month for sending me a disc to upload to my computer. I will be keeping a close eye on my account as I was told by Brianna today at around 3pm EST that my account would be closed on 2/16/2014. Of course I will be charged on that day as they bill the month after. Okay so where is my 4 week free trial I might ask or the $100 sign on bonus. I am very disappointed as I was led to believe that this was through USPS. I never would have expected this type of ofuscation.

I'm a little shocked about the claims of "fraud" and "scams". Most of those making these accusations admit that they only signed up to get free stuff, then cancel. Weren't you guys the ones trying to pull a scam? Sheesh. Lets be responsible adults here. I tried the service for several months. They were very upfront about the coupon deals. Of COURSE they aren't going to give you $100 just for you to cancel, they'd be out of business the next day. I never had issues with customer service, and the cancellation process is pretty standards. Their reps have to ask, its their job, just be polite and treat them like humans doing a job. My account was closed without in incident and my remaining postage was refunded as promised.

Scam: dishonest, dupe, or trick. So, technically, Stamps.com is a scam. After calling Stamps.com to cancel a membership I was unaware of having until I noticed it on my credit card bill, I was put through to an automated system. The system first offered me a $9.99/month fee which I declined, and then a waived second month fee which I also declined. I then called back to talk to an associate to see what, if anything, I could do to drop the fee I was charged. The customer service agent made me aware that #1) If I didn't cancel my memebership, he could have helped me a bit, so sorry. And #2) To my surprise, he said he would never, and I should know better, than to give my credit info just to investigate what a service/product offers. He also then warned me to be on the lookout for my future, prorated bill. Awesome. So, in the opinion of stamp.com's own customer service agent, don't trust them! And he is right, I should have known better!! I mean, what type of company requires credit card information just to show YOU how to SAVE money??

I came across this post by accident, but I can't believe how many people get coaxed into another free month, were "unaware" of having a membership, admit to not looking at their own credit card invoices, and how many people have no idea how to follow simple directions and configure software, to include the author of this article (who "after an hour of fiddling with the options, I gave up" - yes, this is who you are looking to for computer advice).

I use stamps.com, which is a U.S. Postal Service company. You are not paying for the "convenience" to print from home, you are paying for the service. It provides a service, you pay for it.
Look around at any of the other software programs that allow you to print shipping, and you will find that most require additional services, software, and fees that far exceed what stamps.com offers.

If any of you consider yourselves a legitimate business and actually fulfill orders, then I challenge you to find a cheaper solution. For those of you who wanted a free stamp, you should have just emailed the letter instead.

Stay away from doing business with this vendor! They engage in deceptive marketing schemes and will debit your account without your full authorization. Nothing in their T&C's state you are charged a monthly fee to create postage!

I was apparently tricked into a subscription with stamps.com when I was trying to purchase photo stamps. Stamps.com charged me for three months of service at $15.99 per month for a service that I did not knowingly request and never used. They even admitted on the phone that I had never downleaded the software and therefore did not use their service. My credit card provider - Discover - did not fix this problem for me. I will cancel my credit card, certainly never use stamps.com again (I made several purchases of photo stamps), and will complain to the Better Business Bureau. It is sad that this outfit is affiliated with the U.S. Postal Service (whom I will also complain to).

My daughter needed postage for a package and didn't have time to go to the post office. She thought stamps.com would be convenient. She vaguely remembers seeing a pop-up that said something like "why we need this information" when she was buying her postage, and clicked through it without reading the fine-print. She has just discovered that she has been billed $15.99 for several months for a service she only used once - apparently this is on top of the $10 or so minimum charge (of which the postage itself cost only about $8). The company now refuses to remove all but the most current month's charge, telling her she agreed to their terms. They slide this monthly charge past trusting customers in those fine print pop-ups that we all click through too quickly. AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS.

Stamps.com is a complete scam site. Their marketing is deceptive, and their bait and switch tactics reminiscent of a 419 scam.

As other users have noted, this company is all about tricking you into signing up and then getting charged monthly fees that they don't want you to notice when you sign up. I also did not realize that I was going to be charged a monthly fee. Not only that, but they charge you at the END of the month for the previous month, so by the time you notice the charge on your credit card, it's already too late to cancel for the next month, and you will be charged one more time. Finally, the "basic plan" option for a smaller monthly fee isn't even available to existing customers until you try to cancel. It is all about deceiving their customers. STAY AWAY!

I believe it is a scam.
Totally agreed with many posted message such as Kevin on 17 Dec 2014.
They tricking you in the screen and everything you type in is used against you.
It is true to say they signed you up as you visit the site.
Question is how to stop the fraud?
Any suggestions?
FBI? any thoughts? ideas?

Yes. It is a scam. They posted charges to a cc in my name.
1. NEVER ordered from them
2. Had to cancel card
3. Smoke, there is probably fire. 100's of complaints against
Stamps.com. They are Scam Artists! How the hell are they
Obtaining cc numbers? Why do they charge monthly fees
for services not rendered?
4. Research it yourself. 1,2,3 = SCAM!

Exactly the kind of detail ($18 monthly fee) I was looking for that stamps.com doesn't let you know up front. Don't be suckered in for the free scale. You can buy a new digital postage scale on ebay for $15 including shipping.

Not a scam, but still a typical tricky business plan for the buyer.

The problem with this company and the info it gives in regard to the monthly fee is that it is not complete. Does it say you will be charged $15.99 a month? Yes. Does it then go on to explain that this fee does not go towards the cost of the stamps or supplies AT ALL? No. It is extremely unclear. I don't want to have to guess or assume the purpose of a monthly fee. Not cool.

I found this article while searching for a cheaper option for my company's postage meter.

We currently pay $117.00 for the honor of renting a PitneyBowes postage meter and can only purchase ink through them. We also pay an additional $14.84 a month for software updates (i.e., update postage rates).

Honestly, $18.00 a month looks like a screaming deal to me.

Thanks dave for that second post. You would think they would have updated that number consider that post was made November 2013, but it's STILL there! Who knows how long that number was there for after changed. Seriously lame company.

By the way, forget about the $10.00 postage for mailing in that postcard with printed postage. Save that postage for something you actually need to mail, because Stamps.com will never give that to you or at least not in any timely manner. Print what postage you got, cancel the account.