Www.iFriends.net, Www.ifriendsonline.biz, WPI IFRIENDS ELITE After watching Hometown Hotties on cable, I logged on to the internet to see the site the TV talked about, the site said no charges, but now I am being charged $1.00 and later $8.95, I was only there once and couldn't get anything to work. Michigan Internet

The iFriends service is not affiliated in any way with any cable network or TV show. We do not advertise on or provide services to any type of television or cable program. We were able to use the information that Rick provided to locate his iFriends account. We have cancelled the account and have refunded the two charges that were billed to him. If Rick has any further questions or concerns, we encourage him to contact our Customer Care department at 1-800-243-9726. This is a toll-free call, and someone will be available to help him 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The $1 that Rick mentions in the complaint is in fact a credit card authentication fee which is billed to every customer who creates an account, and which is necessary to process in order to comply with the federal Child Online Protection Act. This fee is prominently disclosed in advance, and the customer must affirmatively acknowledge and accept the charge in order to create an iFriends account. The $1 charge is effectively refunded by being automatically applied towards any purchase of premium services on the iFriends service; if the customer does not purchase services of $1 or more, the fee is fully refunded upon request by the customer at any time. This policy is clearly stated on the registration form that each customer must complete.

When Rick created his account with the iFriends service, he affirmatively chose to enroll in the upgraded iFriends Elite membership. The regular iFriends membership is free, but the Elite membership that Rick chose to access has a monthly charge associated with it. This charge was clearly and conspicuously disclosed in advance, and Rick actively chose to create his account at this premium membership level.

As stated above, we have refunded both charges which were billed to Rick.

Our company has an exemplary 11-year-record with all of the leading consumer protection agencies, and we are best in class in our industry in the development of model online consumer best practices. Every one of our web services is verified by TRUSTe to be on its sealholder list of "the most trustworthy online businesses."