Classmates.com does it again (and not in a good way)

Last year I ranted about how Classmates.com nickels-and-dimes its users. While every other social networking site (at least that I've seen) doesn't charge its members to read messages, Classmates.com does. If you have a free membership (as I did), and some long lost high school friend decides to contact you, you can't read their message until you pay up for a "gold membership." As if. After thinking about it, I decided to cancel my membership. Here is where it gets really good. While there appeared to be an online option for canceling, I kept getting an "internal service error." I tried canceling online a few times. I was successful only after I e-mailing a representative. However, "gold members" can only cancel by asking the Classmates customer service team to do it.

To me, none of these policies make Classmates.com customer friendly, or easy to use. I contacted Classmates' media representative in November for comment, but I have not received a response. To top it off, I received spam from the company today. Nowhere in the e-mail did the company give an option to "unsubscribe." Argh!

[gavdana]

Kent ... thanks for the post. I agree with most of your remarks about Classmates, but I was under the impression that "reading" e-mail was free. You only have to pay if you wish to send e-mail. Either way, in the world of free services such as facebook, I suspect that Classmates will go away soon.

I sincerely hope that posts like this will get them to change their business model. You'd think with the hundreds of ads on each page, that they could afford to give it away for free.

[byloslhi]

Kent is right, only it's if you have a comment on your guestbook and you'd like to read it and see who posted it, you have to "upgrade" to gold (translated: "Pay up!"). I also got spam today from Classmates, and I never even signed up. Someone last year, probably through a typo, entered my email address with her Classmates profiles, and I periodically get notices from Classmates for "Elizabeth." I've tried to cancel or at least stop getting email, but it's not worth my time trying to navigate through a system designed to stop you from doing that. At the bottom of the email, where most legit bulk emails have an "unsubscribe" link, or at the very least a link to your email preferences, Classmates has "If you feel you have received this message in error or for answers to your questions, try our easy-to-use Online Help Center." No thanks. Clicking "delete" is faster.

[mikepratt]

Kent - agree with your points and I hate to use classmates.com as an example given how they are such a spammy site and they do nickel and dime - in addition to bombard you with a ton of ads (the whole idea behind the controversial concept of actually charging for a service is to eliminate the bombardment). Which brings me to what I think is the real point: The web (led by Google - not faulting them) has created a sense that anything/everything if delivered via the web should be free - forcing it to become ad supported. In some cases the ads are NOT related to the content thereby keeping the inherent conflicts of unbiased commentary out of it. In others the ads are directly related (in Google's eyes - the real value of it all). Well, depending on the service, that causes real problems as to where the incentive is...to the guy who pays to advertise or the product/service you provide? It's sad because if presented properly, people would, indeed, pay for certain services. Hell...they slap down $4.95/mo for Club Penguin! - me included) and I'm ok with that. It makes for a richer service than if my 8 yr old was bombarded with ads to support the site. That doesn't mean all things should charge a fee. I admit I'd be reluctant to do FB if I had to pay. SO what choice is FB left with? Good question. isn't that what the debate is all about right now?

[vintagefellow]

I signed up for the 3 month classmates.com offer for $15.00. I do not wish to continue after that, but can't find a way to contact them to confirm. They claim to have a customer care department, but I can't find it. Can anyone help? [e-mail]

[annie7687]

EXACTLY! They keep charging me $15 a month and I can NOT find a way to call or e-mail them to stop the charge!! Does ANYONE have a way to contact them??