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Beer seller’s April Fool’s trick sparks backlash
Bier Company claimed to be offering a special Black Card to its Bier Club members, which would mean receiving eight beers a month “for life”.
Members of Bier Company’s ‘Bier Club’ received an email headed up with the subject “URGENT: You’ve Won a Black Card!”, and which promised “free beer for life”.
However, those who signed up for the subscription service using the code “SLOOFLIRPA” (which can be read backwards as “APRILFOOLS”) were informed that they would actually only receive one month for free – after which the subscription would cost £22.95 per month.
Not everyone saw the funny side. The Advertising Standards Authority received 40 complaints on the day of the prank, accusing Bier Company of “misleading” those who received the email. The ASA is yet to decide on an appropriate action.
Some Twitter users saw the trick as a publicity stunt, while others described it as an out-and-out “scam” (those who cancelled their subscription before their free first month of beers arrived discovered they would no longer receive them).
Members who entered the code into the website were automatically placed on the one month trial, without consenting to paying a subscription fee for each subsequent month.
One user commented on Twitter: “At best a misguided campaign (I’ve worked in advertising for 12 years — we’ve all been there) and at worst it’s fraud, conning people out of money and causing stress during a cost of living crisis signing them up to a subscription that’s unclear 👍
Ollie McAllister, another disappointed commentator, alleged that the Bier Company’s co-founder Stefan White had private messaged him and cancelled his free month’s trial as a result of his criticism of the brand’s actions. He provided screenshots of the conversation, along with the message@
The ever professional @BierCompany not content with conning 100s of people into a false subscription illegally now they take to private messaging and mocking of customers. Great PR guys 😂
When McAllister shared his story of having his order cancelled and his account banned, several other users shared similar response they’d received from Bier Company on social media, with the company taking none too kindly to the criticism.
Numerous disgruntled customers have taken to Trust Pilot to leave one star ratings in the wake of the stunt.
One reviewer (claiming to have formerly been a keen customer) stated that they “no longer feel comfortable supporting a company that would misuse its customers’ data for a prank that ultimately entered hundreds of people unknowingly into a transaction they did not want.”
Bier Company is yet to apologise.
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