Purchases & Services
Purchases & Services
Shopping online or in person, signing up for a service, joining a membership, or dealing with a subscription can all involve important terms. Use this page to compare offers, avoid surprise charges, spot scams, understand cancellation rights, and find the right place to take action.
Start Here
Choose the issue closest to your situation.
Before You Buy
Whether you are shopping online, in a store, through social media, or from a local service provider, slow down before paying.
- Search the business name with words like “complaint,” “review,” or “scam.”
- Confirm the seller’s website, physical address, customer service number, and refund policy.
- Be cautious with unfamiliar online stores, social media ads, and sellers who only communicate by direct message.
- Review refund, return, warranty, shipping, cancellation, and restocking fee terms before paying.
- Look for auto-renewal language, trial period deadlines, and cancellation procedures.
- For services, get the scope of work, start date, total cost, and cancellation terms in writing.
- Use a credit card when possible because it may provide dispute options.
- Avoid paying unknown sellers by wire transfer, gift card, cryptocurrency, or payment apps.
- Do not save payment information unless you understand recurring charges and cancellation rules.
- Save order confirmations, receipts, tracking numbers, screenshots, emails, and return labels.
- If the seller does not ship when promised, document your communications and request a clear resolution.
- If you paid and never received the item, contact the seller first, then consider disputing the charge.
Do I Have a Right to Cancel?
Iowa law does not generally give consumers a right to cancel a consumer contract, but there are important exceptions.
No automatic three-day rule
Many purchases and contracts are final once you agree to them. For example, Iowa law does not generally provide a three-day right to cancel a vehicle purchase from a dealer’s lot.
If a seller offers a cancellation or refund policy, get it in writing before you buy.
For many transactions of $25 or more made at your home, workplace, certain temporary locations, or by sellers approaching you in public places, Iowa law may provide a three-business-day cancellation right. The seller must provide written notice of this right.
Some specific contracts, including buying club memberships, funeral services or merchandise, and social referral or dating services, may have cancellation rights under Iowa law.
Other specific contracts, including certain business opportunities, membership campgrounds, physical exercise clubs, and time shares, may have cancellation rights or special cancellation periods.
Special Purchase & Service Topics
Some purchases come with extra risk because they involve contracts, sensitive personal information, health claims, donations, or major life events.
Online Legal Forms
Check whether a form is free from a government source, applies in Iowa, includes instructions, and does not cross into improper legal advice.
For-Profit Colleges
Ask about total cost, debt, completion rates, transfer credits, licensing outcomes, and loan repayment before enrolling.
Charitable Donations
Research charities, ask how donations are used, and be cautious of pressure, similar-sounding names, wire transfers, gift cards, or cash-style payments.
Health Products
Watch for miracle cures, disease-treatment claims, weight-loss promises, and misleading “FDA approved” language.
Death of a Loved One
Use a checklist for identity theft prevention, credit bureaus, accounts, documents, bills, debt collectors, and estate-related issues.
Services, Subscriptions & Memberships
Recurring charges, free trials, promotional prices, memberships, and service contracts can turn a small purchase into an expensive problem. Select a topic below to learn what to watch for before signing up or paying.
Free trials
Know when the trial ends, how to cancel, and whether you must return anything to avoid charges.
Auto-renewals
Watch for recurring charges, promotional pricing changes, and proof of cancellation.
Memberships
Review term length, cancellation process, fees, renewal rules, and refund limits before joining.
Service contracts
Get the scope of work, price, timeline, renewal terms, and cancellation terms in writing.
TV, Internet & Phone Services
Monthly service contracts can change over time. Promotional prices expire, bundles shift, equipment fees add up, and cancellation terms matter.
Service contracts can change over time
Before signing up, know whether you are dealing with the provider or a third-party seller, when promotional pricing ends, and whether early termination or equipment return fees may apply.
Before signing
Get all promises in writing, including price, equipment fees, installation costs, and promotional terms.
During the promo
Mark the date the promotional rate ends and review whether premium services must be canceled separately.
Before canceling
Check early termination fees, device financing, bundle discounts, and equipment return requirements.
Common Purchase & Service Problems
Start with the business when possible. Keep your records organized and document every attempt to resolve the issue.
Paid but did not receive it
Save order records, tracking, seller messages, and payment proof.
Not as advertised
Keep screenshots, photos, product descriptions, and warranty terms.
Charged after canceling
Save cancellation confirmations and dispute unauthorized charges promptly.
Service quality issues
Track dates, names, ticket numbers, photos, and written responses.
Buying Online & Avoiding Internet Fraud
Online shopping problems can involve fake websites, spoofed checkout pages, social media sellers, marketplace scams, counterfeit goods, and auction fraud.
Fake websites
Check the web address carefully. A lock icon does not prove a site is legitimate.
Marketplace sellers
Be cautious if a seller asks you to leave the platform or use an unusual payment method.
Auction fraud
Do not assume a winning bid guarantees delivery. Research the seller and payment protections first.
Tech Support Services & Tech Support Scams
Scammers may pretend to be from a well-known tech company, claim your device or account is compromised, and ask for remote access or payment.
Real tech support does not call out of the blue to demand access or payment.
Do not give remote access, passwords, verification codes, payment information, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or bank access to someone who contacts you unexpectedly.
Do not call a number in a pop-up warning. Close the browser, restart the device if needed, and contact the company through a verified website or phone number.
Remote access can allow someone to view files, steal information, install malware, or access accounts. Do not grant access to unexpected callers.
Requests for unusual payment methods are a major scam warning sign. Stop communicating and report the scam.
Unwanted Calls, Spoofing & No-Call
Caller ID can be faked. Do not trust a call, text, or number just because it appears local, familiar, or official.
Hang up. Verify. Then act.
If a caller pressures you for payment, account access, verification codes, remote access, or secrecy, hang up and contact the real business or agency using a trusted number.
- The National Do Not Call Registry helps reduce sales calls from legitimate companies, but it does not block scammers.
- Scammers may use “neighbor spoofing” or fake caller ID to look local or familiar.
- Use call blocking tools and report unwanted calls, texts, and spoofing to the appropriate agency.
Everyday Purchases: Retailers, Restaurants & Local Services
Small purchases still deserve clear terms. Keep receipts, confirm pricing, and ask questions before paying deposits or fees.
Retail stores
Check return windows, restocking fees, warranty terms, and final sale language.
Restaurants
Review menu pricing, service fees, delivery app charges, and disputed card charges.
Local services
Get price, scope, date, cancellation terms, and refund terms in writing.
Gift cards
Keep activation receipts and be cautious if anyone demands payment by gift card.
Warning Signs & Common Tactics
Scammers and unfair sellers often rely on pressure, confusion, and hard-to-reverse payments.
Be cautious if someone says the offer expires immediately, refuses to give you time to read terms, or pressures you not to compare prices.
If a promise matters, it should be written into the contract, receipt, estimate, invoice, or confirmation email.
Gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, and payment apps can be hard to reverse and are common in scams.
Ready to Take Action?
If you cannot resolve a purchase, service, subscription, billing, or scam-related issue directly with the business, consider filing a consumer complaint.
File a consumer complaint
Filing a complaint is the best first step if you want the Consumer Protection Division to review a consumer issue. Include contracts, receipts, invoices, screenshots, cancellation confirmations, emails, photos, tracking records, and other documentation.
Need help with the complaint form? Call 515-281-5926 or 888-777-4590 outside the Des Moines metro area, or email consumer@ag.iowa.gov.
