An online medication company will pay New York State $400,000, change its subscription practices and offer restitution to some customers after officials found that it obscured recurring charges and made subscriptions difficult to cancel.
The settlement applies to Thirty Madison Inc., which sells prescription and nonprescription medications through brands including Cove, Keeps and Nurx, Attorney General Letitia James announced Monday.
The attorney general's office said Thirty Madison failed to clearly disclose subscription terms, automatic renewals, price increases after an initial order and nonrefundable fees. Investigators also found that the company did not adequately explain cancellation procedures or that some subscriptions required customers to provide sensitive personal information.
New York law requires businesses to clearly disclose the minimum subscription length, renewal terms and cancellation policy, obtain affirmative consent for automatic renewals and provide an easy way to cancel.
Eligible subscribers who complained to Thirty Madison, the Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business Bureau or the attorney general's office may receive refunds. Restitution will also be available to certain customers who were billed after asking to cancel, billed for products that were not shipped, billed for products they did not agree to receive or assessed unexpected fees.
The settlement requires Thirty Madison to improve its disclosures, process cancellation requests promptly, explain all intake requirements and automatically issue certain refunds.
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