Purchasers of White Bright and Simple White, teeth whitening products, have been victims of a feature called ""negative option" feature.
Consumers accept an offer online, often for a "free trial" or "sample." They provide their card information in order to pay a small amount for shipping. What they may not realize is that there is a pre-checked box at the bottom of the page in fine print or buried in the terms and conditions that authorizes future charges. Consumers are required to un-click or opt-out of a pre-checked terms and conditions or payment authorization box or cancel before the end of the trial period to avoid being billed a recurring monthly charge.
For free trials with a negative option feature, a company takes a consumer's failure to cancel as permission to continue billing. (Source: usa.visa.com)
Victims of deceptive marketing may report their experiences to the FTC at www.ftc.gov/complaint or their local BBB at www.bbb.org and/or their state Attorney General.