Software-HQ Fraudulent billing process, with no oppportunity to confirm purchase, overcharges buyer Internet

I found Software-HQ online and bought what I thought was a software download service/membership for 3 years at approx. $13 per year. While going through the online purchase process, I assumed that the total bill was going to be approx. $36 plus tax. My Bank of America Visa billing information was accepted immediately by Software-HQ.

There was no online bill showing the total cost. A legitimate merchant would have presented a bill to view and confirm. Had I seen *up front* the amount to be billed for their services, I would never have completed the transaction. There was no email receipt or "confirmation of purchase" sent to me, only a pop-up telling me to bookmark their website for future reference. As a result, I have no documentation for this complaint, which I took to my state attorney general and to the Internet fraud office of the FBI. The first time I saw the total purchase price of $70.80 was when I checked my Bank of America Visa statement the next day.

I contacted Software-HQ via email twice asking for a refund, but they suggested I read their NO REFUND policy. As far as I can recall, this policy was never presented during the online purchase process, rather, it is imbedded cryptically on their website. An honest merchant would have given me the option to agree/disagree with their refund policy before a purchase was made. Again, had I seen that there was a NO REFUND policy, I would not have purchased their membership. Software-HQ, I've discovered, has a proxy domain name, which is problematic and indicative of their having something to hide.

Ann
Wickliffe, Ohio
U.S.A.