Pa. Attorney General's office announces settlement with online language company marketers

Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane on Tuesday announced a $1 million settlement with a Center City online marketing company accused of overcharging consumers through the sale of audio language courses.

The settlement with Internet Order L.L.C., which also does business as Stroll and Pimsleur Approach, is the result of a lawsuit filed last year by the attorney general's Bureau of Consumer Protection.

In the lawsuit, Internet Order was accused of using a "negative option" marketing technique in the sale of Pimsleur-branded audio language compact discs. Customers were offered an initial trial for $9.95, but once they had signed up were obligated to buy four additional audio courses at $256 each, unless they canceled the order.

Internet Order sells the audio courses primarily through its website, www.pimsleurapproach.com, where according to the attorney general, it offered initial courses for only $9.95.

The lawsuit alleged that when consumers called to cancel the order they were subject to high-pressure sales techniques aimed at persuading them to continue with the purchases.

"The company must make it clear to consumers exactly what they should expect to receive and pay," Kane said in a statement. "Consumers should now be provided with easy-to-read notices that will inform them exactly what they are purchasing."

Under the settlement, the $1 million paid by Internet Order will go toward restitution for customers who thought they were buying only the initial order but not the additional CDs. The company also agreed to change its business practices.

Kane said the settlement was made in conjunction with attorneys general of Washington state and New York, who had also received complaints about the company.

The settlement is subject to court approval, and it named Internet Order's chief executive, Daniel Roitman, as a defendant.

Roitman said in a small business profile of his company in The Inquirer in 2012 that his language courses, which offer no formal instruction on writing or grammar, would help users become conversational in foreign languages within 10 days and achieve work proficiency in 90 days.

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