At Whim, we offer customers a convenient and affordable way to access a wide range of products without having to purchase them upfront. Unfortunately, incidents of misuse, fraud, or theft impact our ability to keep costs low for all customers and provide broad accessibility. We’re sharing our Fraud and Abuse Policy publicly so customers have transparency into how we mitigate this behavior.
What qualifies as fraud and abuse?
We consider behavior that is criminal or deceptive as forms of fraud and abuse. This includes behavior such as:
- Providing us with false information, including fake identification
- Claiming an item was not received when it was
- Refusing to return products after cancelling a subscription
- Initiating false payment chargebacks such as disputing valid subscription charges as fraudulent
- Selling property provided to you as a part of your subscription(s)
We do not assume behavior to be fraudulent or abusive by default. We are careful in evaluating each customer interaction on a case-by-case basis. Our priority is to ensure no behavior is misclassified as being fraudulent or abusive.
Is non-payment considered fraud and abuse?
Absolutely not. We do not consider cancellations, non-payment, or late payments to be fraudulent or abusive behavior on their own. However, if a customer decides to cancel their subscription by stopping payment, they are responsible for returning the product(s) associated with their subscription. If an individual cancels their subscription and refuses to return the product(s), we classify this as abusive behavior.
Is it a crime to not return items?
The laws in each jurisdiction are different, but in general, theft of rented property is a crime, just as it would generally be a crime to rent a car and decide to keep it for yourself.
How do we respond to fraud and abuse?
We take extraordinary measures to protect customers who cooperate with us, but maintain a zero-tolerance policy for customers who are clearly attempting fraud or abuse. We will deploy everything in our control to fight this behavior, including:
- Working with licensed investigators to investigate suspected fraud and filing police reports when property is stolen or fraud has occurred
- Working with district attorneys to prosecute crimes
- Remotely restricting access to stolen products using software methods
Our policy is to combat fraud and abuse regardless of cost. If we clearly identify fraud or abuse, we will aggressively pursue it regardless of if we lose money in the process. Once an individual exhibits fraudulent or abusive behavior, their access to our services will be permanently restricted.
This policy provides more freedom for customers who do not engage in criminal or deceptive acts. Thank you for allowing us to keep costs low for all customers and provide broad accessibility.