Hims减重订阅业务因信用卡争议过高被Visa纳入监控

Hims & Hers Health Inc. was put on notice by Visa Inc. for excessive customer complaints in its weight-loss subscription business, internal documents show, adding to mounting scrutiny of its billing and cancellation policies.

The telehealth company was enrolled in Visa’s Acquirer Monitoring Program after a surge of customer credit card disputes in July, according to the documents seen by Bloomberg. Each dispute will carry an $8 surcharge, resulting in a nearly $75,000 bill that will hit in September, the documents said.

Hims was notified about its placement in the VAMP program by the payment processing firm Stripe Inc. earlier this month. The company must get its credit card dispute rate under 1.5% of transactions, considered an acceptable threshold, for three consecutive months to be released from the program, according to the documents.

The company declined to answer questions about the Visa program. In a statement, a spokesperson for Hims said it’s seen “a relatively small number of disputed charges” and has taken steps to address it.

“We take our responsibility to be transparent with our nearly 3 million customers extremely seriously,” the spokesperson said. “That is why we’ve built a checkout process that is clear about the cost of a Hims & Hers membership and any medication a provider chooses to prescribe.”

Stripe and Visa declined to comment.

Establishing Trust

Hims has been trying to establish itself as a more credible player in the healthcare industry, moving away from copycat weight-loss shots to prioritize approved medications and partnerships with pharmaceutical companies like Novo Nordisk A/S. The transition is crucial to sustaining its obesity business beyond the explosive growth it generated by selling compounded versions of popular drugs during supply shortages.

And while handling a litany of credit card disputes from one company can be a time-consuming process for credit card companies like Visa, the warning could be a sign of broader issues in one of Hims’ most important businesses.

The telehealth giant is already facing a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit alleging it made subscriptions difficult to cancel and saddled customers with unwanted charges. The company has defended its business practices, saying the FTC disregarded substantial evidence it provided during a nearly three-year investigation.

The Visa issues stem from Hims’ weight-loss membership, which accounted for 75% of the company’s credit card disputes, according to the documents. The telehealth company offers a $39 introductory membership for the first month, which increases to $149 after that. Charges renew automatically on a cadence chosen by the customer.

Drug costs aren’t included. If customers are prescribed a weight-loss medicine, there are additional fees depending on which drug and dosage are prescribed.

The company is exploring how to more clearly communicate upcoming charges to customers to prevent surprises, according to the documents.

Hims, which has about 2.9 million subscribers, offers memberships that give customers access to virtual doctors that prescribe medications for common conditions like obesity, hair loss and erectile dysfunction. Some customers have said the company makes it difficult to cancel their subscriptions and continues to charge their credit cards after cancellation, according to social media posts and complaints filed with the nonprofit Better Business Bureau.

In July, the FTC, Utah and Los Angeles County sued Hims for failing to tell consumers they were purchasing a subscription, making it too difficult to cancel and misleading them about the privacy of their information after sharing it with social networks for advertising purposes. The FTC said those practices violate federal consumer protection laws, while Utah and LA alleged violations of state laws.

Read More: Hims & Hers Sued by FTC Over Sharing Users’ Health Info