Class Action Lawsuit Alleges EcoShield Pest Solutions Charges Unauthorized Subscription Cancellation Fees

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims EcoShield Pest Solutions illegally charges customers a $150 fee to cancel its reoccurring extermination service plans.

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The 26-page lawsuit alleges that EcoShield Pest Solutions Denver LLC and several entities affiliated with the EcoShield brand have disguised the cancellation fee in consumer contracts as a $150 “annual commitment discount.” The supposed “discount” is automatically given to new enrollees and purportedly reduces the cost of the initial service visit from $500 to $350, the filing relays.

However, when a consumer wishes to cancel their subscription, EcoShield demands they repay the so-called “discount,” the case contends.

“In other words, the Annual Commitment Discount is a sneaky and unauthorized cancellation fee that EcoShield claims must be paid when the subscription is cancelled,” the class action suit asserts.

According to the complaint, EcoShield’s service agreements authorize it to charge consumers extra fees for late payments and bounced checks. While the service agreement readily discloses these fees, the contract does not authorize the company to assess a cancellation charge, the filing claims.

The suit argues that the “annual commitment discount” is not a true discount, nor is it tied to any purported “annual commitment.” Rather, the charge is a “secret and unauthorized cancellation fee” that must be paid regardless of whether a consumer has fulfilled their “annual commitment” at the time of canceling, the case claims.

The “trap” is buried in the fine print of the “Notice of Right to Cancel” found in the service agreement, the EcoShield lawsuit alleges.

Per the complaint, the “Notice of Right to Cancel” states that a consumer who cancels the agreement after the initial service and more than three business days after the contract date is “responsible for payment of the costs of the Initial Service and any Discounts.”

“Unbeknownst to a reasonable consumer, EcoShield interprets the fine print in its ‘Notice of Right to Cancel’ to mean that a customer canceling at any point during the subscription term must pay EcoShield the $150 discount it automatically applied to the initial service charge,” the filing contends. “In other words, EcoShield misrepresents [sic] $150 cancellation fee as an ‘Annual Commitment Discount.’”

The suit asserts that by obscuring the true nature of its cancellation fee, EcoShield has misled consumers about the price and obligations of its subscription service.

The lawsuit looks to represent all EcoShield customers in the United States (including customers of any successors or predecessors of EcoShield) who entered into a service agreement with the extermination company at any time within the applicable statute of limitations period and were later charged a cancellation fee despite having subscribed for at least one year.

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