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MSN's Come-Ons

Rebates, "Free" Service

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Our in-basket is overflowing with complaints from consumers who've had problems getting the $400 rebates MSN has been giving away with new computer systems. With that program ending in March, we're gearing up for a new round of complaints about MSN's latest gimmick -- one year's "free" service.

The so-called free service is being given away with computers and other equipment purchased from certain large retailers. We walked through the process on a new Dell computer the other day. The process worked well enough. We signed up for an email account, chose a local access number and so forth.

But then up pops a page that asks for our credit card number. Why is this needed for a free service, we wondered. The sign-up page explains, in reasonably clear language, that when the 12-month free service period expires, the consumer is automatically signed up for MSN at $21.95 per month unless he or she cancels before then.

We called MSN support and said we wanted the free year but didn't want anything beyond that and, thus, didn't want to enter our credit card number.

No dice. Politely but firmly we were told that the credit card information was required.

"But if something's free, we shouldn't have to provide payment information," we protested. We were assured that we would have plenty of time to cancel (though we didn't find any instructions on how to do so or any easy-to-use forms).

We then did the math. In our area (Washington, DC), Internet access is readily available for $9.95 from Starpower and other providers. Thus, the value of the free MSN service could be fairly calculated as about $120 (not the $263 MSN so proudly proclaims). Unless the consumer acts quickly at the end of the free service, it's likely that the value of the free service will be quickly eaten up by the higher monthly MSN fee.

Our advice: Find the best cash price for the hardware/software combination you need, then scout out Internet access service independently. As is so often the case, the "savings" claimed in this case are largely illusory ... at best.

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