A charge from General Lifestyle Shop on your credit or debit card statement is almost always an unauthorized recurring subscription linked to a one-time online purchase you may have made months earlier. Consumer complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau describe amounts ranging from about $10 to nearly $100, and the merchant also operates under the name Excel Marketing.1BBB Scam Tracker. Scam Report 1047760 You are not required to pay for a subscription you never knowingly agreed to, and federal law gives you a clear path to dispute the charge and get your money back.
How To Recognize the Charge
The merchant is listed in BBB filings at generallifestyleshop.com with a Los Angeles, California address and a customer phone number of (866) 367-9237. When one consumer called that number, the representative identified the company as Excel Marketing.1BBB Scam Tracker. Scam Report 1047760
Reported charges follow a few patterns. One BBB complainant purchased a product marketed as a way to reduce their home electric bill, then found they had been enrolled in a $9.99 monthly subscription they never agreed to, losing $125 before spotting it.1BBB Scam Tracker. Scam Report 1047760 A second BBB report from November 2025 described a $68.41 charge the consumer never authorized at all; the card issuer flagged it, declined it, and reissued the card.2BBB Scam Tracker. Scam Report 1103105 A PissedConsumer review reported an unrecognized charge of $96.41 from the same merchant name.3PissedConsumer. Lifestyle Store Reviews
Complaints on PissedConsumer tied to related “Lifestyle Store” names also describe recurring $24.99 monthly charges, products that never arrived or arrived in poor condition, and customer service lines that were busy, unresponsive, or blocked callers. Several consumers reported that canceling the card was the only reliable way to stop the billing.4PissedConsumer. Lifestyle Store Reviews
Stop the Charges and Get Your Money Back
Call the Merchant First (Briefly)
Calling (866) 367-9237 to demand cancellation creates a record, but consumer reports suggest follow-through is unreliable. If you call, write down the date, time, and the name of the representative, and save any email confirmation. Don’t wait for the company before moving to the next step.
Dispute the Charge With Your Card Issuer
Contact your bank or card issuer right away. The CFPB recommends calling first, then following up in writing to preserve your formal rights.5CFPB. How Do I Dispute a Charge on My Credit Card Bill
Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, your liability for unauthorized credit card charges is capped at $50, and most issuers waive even that.6FTC. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges To lock in your full FCBA rights, send a written dispute to the billing inquiry address on your statement within 60 days of the statement date showing the charge. Include your name, account number, the charge amount and date, and a short explanation of why it’s wrong.7Fairfax County Consumer Services Division. Credit Cards: Understanding the Fair Credit Billing Act
Once the issuer receives your written dispute, it must acknowledge it within 30 days and resolve the matter within 90 days or two billing cycles, whichever is shorter. You can withhold payment on the disputed amount while the investigation is underway, and the issuer cannot report you as delinquent or send that charge to collections.6FTC. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges
Block the Merchant or Replace the Card
Ask your issuer to block future charges from the merchant. If the charges keep coming, request a new card number. The FTC notes that this is often the most effective way to shut off recurring unauthorized billing.8FTC. How To Stop Subscriptions You Never Ordered Debit card charges follow a different federal law with tighter deadlines and higher liability caps than credit cards, so move quickly if the charge hit a debit card.
Report the Charge
Filing a complaint helps regulators build enforcement cases against merchants running these schemes. You have three main options:
- Report the charge to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.9FTC. How To File a Complaint With the Federal Trade Commission
- File with your state attorney general. The National Association of Attorneys General maintains a directory of consumer complaint forms for every state and territory.10National Association of Attorneys General. Consumer File a Complaint
- Add your report to the BBB Scam Tracker at bbb.org so other consumers searching the merchant name can find it.11FTC. FTC, BBB, Law Enforcement Partners Announce Results of Operation Main Street
You Are Not Required To Pay
The FTC treats unauthorized debiting as a crime and states plainly that consumers are not required to pay for items or subscriptions they did not order.8FTC. How To Stop Subscriptions You Never Ordered The agency has identified “negative option” billing, where a consumer’s silence is treated as agreement to keep paying, as a priority enforcement area. Subscription complaints reported to the FTC rose from an average of 42 per day in 2021 to nearly 70 per day in 2024, and the agency continues to bring cases under Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act, both of which prohibit unfair and deceptive billing practices.12FTC. Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Click-to-Cancel Rule
The bottom line for your statement: dispute the charge in writing within 60 days, ask your issuer to block the merchant or reissue your card, and keep every note and confirmation from your calls. The law is on your side, and the amount at stake is almost certainly recoverable.