When Laurie Dyer saw a commercial for an eco-friendly water bottle, she thought it would the perfect back-to-school gift for her 10-year-old son. She visited Eco Canteen’s Web site to make her purchase online. She was troubled by the site’s setup; it didn’t allow her to make changes to her “shopping cart,” which already included a free gift – a carrying case for the water bottle. She still continued with her order, but once she clicked the button, her misgivings were validated: she had been charged a processing and handling fee for the “free” gift she was forced to accept.

In all, Dyer ended up spending nearly $20 on the canteen advertised as $9.99. She had prepared herself to spend $15 with shipping, but it was the extra $5 that really bugged her. “We’re not talking a hundred dollars here,” Dyer said in a phone interview. “It’s just shady.” When she called Eco Canteen, she says they suggested she return the merchandise. “I’m not going to spend $20 to get my $5 back,” she told them.

After striking out with Eco Canteen and her credit card company, which refused to stop the charge, Dyer reached out to the Better Business Bureau. “This company is acting so wholesome. Save the planet, good for your kids, and then you’re getting screwed over.”

Dyer’s call was one of dozens received by her local Better Business Bureau chapter in Georgia just in response to Eco Canteen. The BBB wanted to know why customers had to get the free gift. “They said, ‘you have to get it.’ They wouldn’t let us not get it,” said Janet Hart, the vice president of public relations for the Georgia Better Business Bureau. “The BBB position is that if something is free, it should be free,” she said. She said some companies are changing their wording from “free gift” to “bonus gift” for that reason.

After 72 complaints from consumers in 28 states, Eco Canteen made some changes to its marketing, including displaying the processing and handling charges more prominently, but the pricing remains the same and customers still must participate in the free offer. Even so, Eco Canteen’s BBB rating has since gone up, from an F to a C. The company did not respond to phone or e-mail requests for comment.

Customers like Dyer aren’t dissatisfied with the products they buy – just the unexpected costs. Dyer said her son uses the water bottle frequently, and that the “free” carrying case is actually very handy. “I’m not sorry he has it, I just didn’t appreciate the sneakiness,” she said.

The shipping and handling trick is not new to direct marketing companies. For years, they’ve used it to be able to offer competitive prices for their products, according to Hart. But customers have challenged the accuracy of the shipping cost claim, particularly since products arrive in the same package. “That’s why a lot of companies have gone to calling it ‘processing fees,’” Hart said, a vague term that allows them to set an arbitrary price that doesn’t correlate to what they actually spend on shipping.

Buyers are instructed to “just spray and wipe away hair,” with the Depil Silk depilatory advertised on television. The product is sold only on TV and on the Web site, and there’s a special offer: $10 for the Depil Silk spray, facial hair remover and a terrycloth towel. Just like Eco Canteen, Depil Silk offers its customers a free gift, too: a second kit, a bathrobe, and a quick-dry hair towel.

On the company’s Web site, the advertisement includes a disclaimer that customers must pay “separate P & H” for the free gift.  Additionally, customers must enter  credit card information before they even see a total price for their order.

The fine print at the bottom of the page explains that processing and handling is $6.99 for the kit, and an additional $6.99 for the free kit. A customer service representative for Depil Silk said the total would come to $23.98, if a buyer wants to go the buy-one, get-one free route. But as with Eco-Canteen, the buyer doesn’t have a choice. The representative said the deal is the “only one available” to callers. Even if customers want to avoid the extra cost and forgo the special offer, they don’t have the option to buy just one.

After watching an infomercial advertising the GT Xpress 101 sandwich maker, Camille Leone couldn’t resist buying one. “It was one of those commercials where they say ‘if you buy in the next 20 minutes, we’ll send you two,’” Leone said.

Once she got on the phone with a sales representative, she realized that the double offer wasn’t quite what she had expected. “I kind of knew it right away,” she said, “but then you’re sucked into it and you’re thinking of all the things you can do with it.” Leone wasn’t charged for the extra sandwich maker, but she was charged double shipping and handling for the supposedly free gift.

The Direct Marketing Association is a trade association for companies using direct marketing techniques on television and the Internet. The DMA offers guidelines for setting shipping and handling costs and encourages businesses to substantiate all costs and to disclose charges before the customer completes an order. The DMA tells members in an online fact sheet that “Consumers object strongly if they perceive that the cost of shipping and handling for an otherwise free product is too high,” and instructs companies to “disclose very clearly and close to the word ‘free’ the costs of shipping.

“Our members are required to comply with our guidelines,” said Sue Geramian, the chief communications officer for the DMA. “It is important that consumers are treated fairly and clearly communicated with regarding specific company policies.”

While the BBB doesn’t know just how much money direct-marketing companies take in on processing and handling charges, Hart thinks they use these fees to keep their prices low. And she says it’s common for customers to be enticed by special offers. “It sounds like a good deal,” she said, “But then you’ll always hear those little words.” Three little words that can add up to a big price tag.