Janet
Unauthorized Renewal and Broken Refund Promise
I am leaving a 1 out of 5 star review due to an unauthorized membership renewal charge and the failure to issue a promised refund. On January 1st, BJ’s charged a $60 membership renewal fee to my credit card without my authorization. I later learned this was part of a policy they recently implemented. However, I received notification of the automatic renewal only after the charge had already been processed. Customers should be clearly informed in advance and required to provide explicit authorization before a renewal charge is made. After multiple calls to their toll-free number without being able to speak to an actual person, I tried resolving this matter in person at the store. I was told that the store does not handle these issues and that I needed to call the membership number. The refund was eventually issued through an automated system that confirmed the refund and provided a confirmation number. Despite this, the refund was never applied to my account. As a result, the charge remained on my credit card statement and led to a late fee and interest being added. I ultimately had to file a charge dispute with Capital One in order to recover both the unauthorized charge and the additional fees. If BJ’s wants to improve, it should not process renewal charges without clear customer authorization, and it should ensure that when a refund confirmation number is provided, the refund is actually processed. Customers should not have to escalate to a credit card dispute to correct an internal billing issue. This situation created unnecessary stress, additional fees, and multiple phone calls to resolve what should have been a simple matter. Based on this experience, I cannot recommend BJ’s and will be leaving a 1-star rating. I have canceled my membership and will not be returning.