Contract vs. Membership Enforcement (Real Life Example)

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    Anonymous
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    I’m going through contracts and it made me think of this example…

    Terms:

    “- Every month, we have a brand new collection available on the website, and we pick the sets we think you will love and display them in your showroom.

    – This membership is flexible, so you are not obligated to buy anything every month.

    – Your only obligation is to visit the website between the 1st and the 5th of every month, and either make a purchase or choose the Skip A Month button in your showroom. Skipping the month lets us know you don’t plan to shop this month, and you may skip an indefinite amount of months.

    – If you do not skip the month or make a purchase between the 1st and the 5th of the month, you will see a $39.95 charge on your card and it will appear on your account as store credit. The store credit will remain active on your account and can be used at anytime for purchases on the site.”

    This was accidentally subscribed to on a website and discovered 3 months later after $120 had been charged. The merchant said they would not refund the “dues” paid as store credit which were forced to be used.

    In a theoretical sense would this hold up in court? Say someone was really lazy and didn’t check their bank account for 2 years and had racked up $958.80 in charges and sued the company for failure to return the funds. Would the consumer or company win? I’m thinking the consumer because there’s no detriment to the merchant. Is that correct? Any other thoughts?

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