A class action lawsuit accuses Gammabilling, an online payment processor for porn sites, of allegedly misleading consumers with false promotional offers to persuade them.
"GammaBilling lures consumers into providing their credit card information based on the promise of a cheap $2 'trial' membership to its adult entertainment website," says the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. "But that is false.. In fact, GammaBilling exploits the 'trial' offer to sneak other expensive monthly subscription charges onto users’ credit cards."
During the trial sign-up process, the company "surreptitiously" signs users up for a second membership and "then proceeds to charge consumers monthly subscription fees for the additional adult entertainment membership," the suit alleges. "GammaBilling’s conduct amounts to a bait & switch, violates state consumer protection law, and breaches its contract with consumers."
In March, lead plaintiff Amanda Booe enrolled in a one-day trial membership for a website called Adult Time, the suit said.
"The screen offering the trial membership stated 'Recurring at $19.95' 1 month,” the suit said. "In other words, the fine print disclosure is designed to be easily overlooked, in violation of state law."
Then, "via a tiny, automatically pre-checked box, users who click on the trial membership are automatically enrolled in a second adult entertainment membership," the suit states. "The second adult membership costs $4.95 per month, bringing the total cost for Plaintiff’s
membership to almost $25/month, when she only intended to pay $2.00 for a brief trial of Adult Time."
The suit seeks refunds, damages and legal fees.
The lawsuit was initially filed in L.A. County Superior Court in August. Defendants removed the case to Los Angeles federal court on Oct. 11.
The plaintiffs are represented by Sophia Goren Gold, Jeffrey D. Kaliel and Amanda J. Rosenberg, of KalielGold LLC, with offices in Berkeley and Washington, D.C.
Booe v. Gammabilling Inc., Los Angeles Superior Court, 2:23-cv-08568.