Could you be eligible for a refund? Online mental health provider's wrongdoings may impact you
Over 16,000 New Yorkers who struggled to cancel their subscription to an online mental health provider will see some money back in their pockets after the company reached a settlement with the state Attorney General's Office last week.
Cerebral, an online tele-health company that provides consumers with mental health treatment on a subscription fee basis, will have to pay more than $740,000 for "maintaining a long and burdensome cancellation process and continuing to charge consumers after they tried to cancel."
“Making New Yorkers withstand stressful and extended delays to cancel a subscription for mental health care coverage is unacceptable,” Attorney General Letitia James said. “It is illegal and unfair to make consumers spend extra time or jump through hoops to try to cancel a subscription they no longer need."
What the AG's Office found in their investigation
The AG's Office's opened an investigation into Cerebral's cancellation practices after receiving reports from consumers unable to cancel their subscriptions.
According to the AG's Office, the company's subscriptions provide customers with access to virtual appointments with different types of providers, including licensed therapists, counselors, coaches and individuals who are duly licensed and can prescribe medication.
The investigation found the company required subscribers to cancel by email but then required them to take additional steps, such as completing a multi-question survey, and wait as long as a week for their cancellation request to be processed.
Cerebral could cancel subscriptions with the click of a button, the AG's Office said, but waited up to 72 hours to finalize cancellations, sometimes using the extra time to contact subscribers with multiple retention offers to keep them from canceling.
And when these delays surrounded a subscriber's billing date, the company charged them another month of service.
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Company asked employees to write positive reviews and hide bad ones
The investigation also revealed Cerebral charged customers for its treatment services even when the company did not have any providers available to provide treatment.
Online reviews were also manipulated by the online mental health provider as Cerebral asked its employees to submit positive reviews and hide negative ones, according to the AG's Office.
"Employees were also instructed to contact customers directly and ask them to remove negative reviews, and to tell them, 'We wouldn’t want anything online to deter someone from seeking mental health care and that’s really why we ask people if they are willing to edit or remove the review'," the AG's Office said.
What Cerebral has to do
Through the agreement, Cerebral has to pay $200,000 in penalties and $540,162 in restitution to 16,552 affected New Yorkers and stop its deceptive and burdensome tactics.
Cerebral has 90 days to pay restitution directly to the affected consumers by crediting the payment accounts originally used for the subscription.
The AG's Office stated Cerebral began improving its cancellation process after the investigation was completed, including creating a 'click-to-cancel' process, and has also committed to not make more than one attempt to retain subscribers once they have indicated an intent to cancel.
"Cerebral recognizes that clients who have benefitted from its mental health care services may be ready to cancel their subscription and is committed to honoring those cancellation requests," a Cerebral spokesperson said in a written response. "We continue our deep commitment to our patients’ overall well-being, and we will continue to improve our clinical and business practices to stay compliant with the quickly evolving telehealth regulatory landscape."
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Were you affected? How to get your refund
If you continued to be charged after submitting a cancellation request or canceled having never met with a provider, the AG's office says you do not need to take any action to receive a refund.
Those who are eligible will be refunded in the original form of payment they used.
Emily Barnes is the New York State Team consumer advocate reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Contact Barnes at ebarnes@gannett.com or on Twitter @byemilybarnes.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Eligible for a refund? Cerebral wrongdoings may affect you
