Seattle Coffee Direct has a fabulous website. Inviting, appears very straight forward. Unfortunately it is all a lie.
I signed up with Seattle Coffee Direct for the $25 trial deal on 08/06/09. It was two packages of coffee and two nice mugs. I had 7 days to call and cancel my membership. This seemed reasonable to me. I like good coffee.
However, as of today they have charged me over $100 in a 7 day period and refuse to reverse charges or stop shipment. I have received nothing yet they say they have shipped 3 packages, but can't give me a tracking number!!!
I have already filed complaints with my bank and I will continue to let people know that this company is nothing but a scam.

I ordered a coffee sample on 7/7. I received the sample several days later, but then received another shipment of coffee a couple of days after that. The shipment contained no bill, no invoice, and no information.

I called the company right away, and they advised that they would stop sending me coffee. However, they said that although I had not received them yet, 2 more shipments had already been sent out to me and I would be receiving them soon. They advised that the charge for each shipment was $38.95, and that they were absolutely non-refundable. They also advised that even if I wrote “CANCEL” on the shipment and returned it unopened, the most I could possibly get would be store credit (for more coffee products).

I was completely shocked by this, as I had not signed up for such an arrangement. After a very long conversation with management, they refused to offer any refund whatsoever.

I feel very strongly that I was deliberately misled. This is so upsetting. I feel that this company got my credit card information from the sample purchase, and then started making shipments to me as quickly as possible so that they could charge as much as possible before I noticed the activity on my bill. I am paying over $140 for 6 bags of coffee that I never asked for.

The company claims that they send a shipment of 2 large bags of coffee every 3 days. This is extremely suspicious to me, as no one could possibly use that much coffee and therefore would never enroll in such a program if they KNEW THE TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT.

What’s more, when looking them up on a complaints board, there were over 400 of the EXACT SAME complaints. I am appalled that this company is getting away with this.

Please join the Seattle Coffee Class Action group to add your name and info to become part of the lawsuit I will be filing

I ordered a special $4.95 offer from this company offerring 2 bags of coffee, 2 mugs and 2 tumblers. Little did I know, they charged $5 for EACH thing, not for them all together. So, instead of being charged $5, I was charged $25. Then on top of that, I was also charged $38.95 for some subscription or something. I sent 2 packages back I received and cancelled my "Membership" as they call it. I called 5 times and the first 4 I was told they just hadn't received my packages. When they did receive my packages, I would be refunded. EVERYTIME I was told I would be refunded. The 5th time I called, the lady explained to me that this is a subscription service and I should have read the terms and conditions more closely. They do not offer refunds, just store credits. I tried arguing that I was told 4 times I would get my money back, but she stood firm that I only get store credit. This company is a major scam and should be put out of business for fraud!

I think I like to walk the edge of being foolish or wise with my money all the time. I know every "free trial offer" you ever sign up for will lull you into a false sense of "I got something for free" until the smack a $30-60 charge on you the very next month for their auto-shipping program you signed up for under their fine print. I know that they will make you jump through hoops and wait on hold when you wisely cancel your account with them before they do that. I know my way around these things, I know how to play by the rules they don't like to abide by, but MUST.

Seattle Coffee Direct is the biggest fraud I have ever seen in my life.

The deal I signed up for was two bags of coffee (admittedly delicious), two dollar-store coffee mugs, and two wal-mart style thermoses for $25. The website states a return policy of a full refund on return of product, and says you can expect shipment twice a month. I give myself ten days from first shipment to call back and cancel. That sounds about right. The shipment shows up with no identifying invoice (weird), a broken mug, and a customer service number.

Not even a week later, I'm on my credit card account to pay my bill and there are three charges on it, totaling $116.85, on my account. I call them and say, "wtf?" They replied, "You didn't make a selection for how often you wanted it, so we default to every two days."
"But there was no option for frequency. The website says twice a month, not fifteen."
"You didn't select that."
"I want my money back."
"Send back the product."
"I don't' have it."
"Your three packages are pending shipment. Send it when you get it."
ONE bag was left at my front door. I returned it. Two charges are in dispute with my credit card for non-receipt. I'm expecting one legitimate refund, at least.

It's been two months, so I called again.
"Where's my refund?"
"We never got your return."
"I returned it to (address) and delivery confirmation is (tracking number) just so you can't make that claim."
"That's the wrong address."
"That's where it came from, and you told me to return it!"
"Fine, we'll give you your refund. Just wait 60-90 days."
"How do you sleep at night?"

So now I made a complaint with the BBB, requesting my dispute charges cleared off my account (and no longer being "still investigating"), refund of their charges plus interest, and NOW. As in, don't let it sit in your bank account collecting interest for two months, give it back. I never wanted any of the packages in the first place.

Since my last call, they have changed their return policy to "Store credit only" and changed their customer service phone number. The fine print still says "ships twice a month" but in a pop-up window there is now a disclaimer saying "it may be more or less frequent, " which is ALL sorts of misleading. That's like saying "You can expect to buy this TV for about $200" and then charging you $3, 000 for it. Nice estimation skills, champ.

The president of the company, I see where this scam artist gets his money. People don't always check their credit cards until the next statement comes in, which can take up to a month. More if people are slow to open their mail, or have their accounts on auto-pay. This guy can potentially drain bank accounts and credit limits for hundreds of dollars at a time, keep the money for people who can't find him (changing contact numbers and all) or can't figure out what to do.. And even for the people who find out what's going on, keep their money for months at a time, storing all the scammed-up money in an interest account for which the interest at least is basically free money for him.

I'm just asking for my money back, but someone needs to take this guy DOWN.