Wine sellers cited for auto-renew policies

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION) The Santa Cruz County District Attorney has announced judgments against two wine distribution companies for violating California's Automatic Renewal Law.

The law is designed to prevent companies from automatically renewing subscriptions without a customer's knowledge.

The lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, by a joint task force of prosecutors, reached resolutions against the companies, Direct Wines, Inc. and Wine Awesomeness Inc., both out-of-state companies.

Prosecutors and members of the California Auto Renewal Task Force (CART) found that the club sales firms did not properly disclose to its customers that their subscriptions would be automatically renewed after a trial period.

Under California law, online businesses must clearly and conspicuously disclose all automatic renewal charges and terms and get affirmative consent to those recurring charges from the consumer.