Don't get a membership from Vault.com!

Location: Ontario, Toronto
Industry: Other
Company: Vault.com

Warning for anyone who is considering a membership from Vault.com - DON'T GET IT!

Two years ago, I got a membership to Vault.com which is a career information site. They renewed my membership twice without informing me and refused to refund. Last year, when they auto-renewed my membership, I was told to uncheck the auto renew option on the website and there should be no more auto-renewals. I unchecked right away. Despite this, I still found a charge for Vault.com on my most recent credit card bill, charging me for a membership out to March 2008.

I contacted a customer service rep, Matt Carstensen, who told me that they cannot refund the fee this year because this is not my first renewal - yes it's not the first auto-renewal, I wonder whose fault that is. When I pointed that out, Matt did not reply to me. Matt told me that he has unchecked the auto-renewal function for me and that Vault.com will not scam me again next year. Although Vault.com's slogan is "the most trusted name in career information", they simply cannot be trusted! I went online to check my membership profile, sure enough, the auto-renew option is checked again! I guess Matt really has bought in to the unethical culture of the Vault.com.

I promised Vault.com and Matt that I would share my experience with other potential members so that they can be more careful and think twice before getting a Vault membership.

If you are already a member, remember to uncheck! Better yet, cancel your memebership before the renewal date.

If you're not a member, don't bother. Especially if you are studying or working in Asia, there is nothing worth money on the site.

Following are selected excerpts from the e-mail correspondance between Matt and I:
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Hello,

We have already cancelled your automatic renewal option from your account,
so there will be no future renewal charges.

Due to the fact that this is not your first Membership Renewal, you are not
eligible for a refund.

Please let me know if I can be of any other assistance.

Regards,
Matt Carstensen
Vault Customer Support
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I remember that I selected not to renew my membership automatically when I
first set up an account; however, vault has automatically renewed my
membership and charged my credit card. I DO NOT wish to renew my
membership. Can you please cancel it and reimburse my account.

AT
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Hello,

I apologize that you did not find our service helpful, however as stated previously we do not offer refunds for Gold Memberships.

Regards,
Matt Carstensen
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Matt,

What you stated was that "Due to the fact that this is not your first Membership Renewal, you are not eligible for a refund." , what you stated WAS NOT that Vault doesn't offer refunds for Gold Memberships. As I stated in my last e-mail, the reason for why this was not my first renewal is quite clear.

You mentioned that "We have already cancelled your automatic renewal option from your account, so there will be no future renewal charges." I would like to confirm that and if the automatic renewal happens again, I have kept records of this e-mail correpsondance.

I am surprised and frustrated at how Vault is unwilling to refund $61 to an individual and that you contradict yourself in your refund policy. Since I am an individual only and Vault has already charged my credit card, you make it quite clear that I will have to let Vault take advantage of me. The actions that I can take will just be word-of-mouth and forwarding this conversation to my online communities.