The Internet Blue Chippy Companies
Major e-commerce Web sites are selling your credit card information to alleged scammers
| Vol. 5, Issue No. 25 December 8, 2009 By Denny HatchIN THE NEWS
Senators blast Web sites for scamming shoppers
WASHINGTON — With Cyber Monday, the unofficial start of the Internet holiday shopping season, nearing, a Senate committee Tuesday condemned three online companies, saying they are tricking consumers into signing up for subscription services they don't want.
Internet companies Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty are using aggressive sales tactics to scam millions of customers, the Senate Commerce Committee said. According to a committee report, the three companies enter into agreements with other more familiar Internet shopping sites that sell movie tickets, flowers and other items.
—Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press, Nov. 17, 2009
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Denny:
THE BASTARDS!
Thanks for naming names.
Oh, Lawdy, Denny ... This reminds me of a business I ran back in the go-go 90s that took companies to task for similar transgressions. The pity was I was inundated with phone calls and emails, but fully half the folks who contacted me simply wanted to vent their spleen. Few had the cojones to fight. Even when they were completely in the right. The problem, as I see it, was one of most people fearing conflict and stress. That's why an unbelievable percentage of my clientele simply let charges like these go. I really don't know what psychological mindset this is, but it broke my heart. I distinctly remember one woman who was victimized by an aggressively marketed "quick response" plumbing service who charged her $1800. USD to install a garbage disposal. And she'd already bought the garbage disposal! She contacted me, and long story short, elected to eat what was conservatively a $1500 overcharge instead of dragging the cretins into court. I know this is a tad bit off the thrust of your article, but I feel it does illustrate the same concept. Which is: We've become a nation of easily-manipulated sheep. We've become much more than willing to take it in the shorts financially to avoid making a fuss. I've got a theory about how and why this happened, but the discussion of politics is best left to bars and bedrooms. When did this country become such a collections of wusses? Has not recent history taught us NO ONE in a position to access our money is to be trusted? Fight back, people! If anything resembling this scenario happens to you, contact your CC company immediately and formally contest the charges. Then file a complaint with your state or country's consumer protection division. Follow through, do not relent. Maybe that last Terminator movie had it right, mankind is essentially doomed. The thieves and their machines of mayhem are winning.
Great column, Denny. I wonder how many other articles online or in print covering this story will name names the way you have when it comes to all those well-known, “reputable” companies who are complicit and profiting from such scams. As far as the earlier and similarly execrable example of DAMI , such complicity extended further than the mailers who rented them names: AT&T, MCI and other carriers who offered 900# billing services facilitated and profited handsomely from the various 900# swindlers who operated freely in the early 90’s (only a fraction of whom ever suffered any consequences, as I recall). Now, as then, I’m sure we can look forward to the PR flacks of participating companies denying and obfuscating about the particulars of their own involvement, while decrying the smearing of an entire industry because of “a few bad apples.”
As an DM from the early days...not as early as you though, Denny...I've been bamfluzzled by the best. Mostly because I'm always interested in scoping out an intriguing offer or DM company. And, while Amex has tried often to become a "creative" DMer, their corporate card is the one to combat the phonies with. I've had one since the 80s, and though we went through a few bad licks after the original company sold to a bank, they'll investigate and retrieve your money every time you have a valid case.
Hi Denny,
Good article, as usual. Just so you know how much I value your opinion, I clicked (to continue to page 2 of your article) right after your article (on page 1) said "Do not click!" I thought it might be a test! Ha, ha!
Denny,
Thank you! By the way, I purchased concert tix through LiveNation two years back -- and BOOM -- I started seeing monthly charges on my credit card statement. When I called Amex to inquire a few months later (I was calling on another matter), the rep recognized immediately the charges in question, and told me I was not alone in challenging such charges, albeit my doing so belatedly. Amex immediately removed the suspect charges -- and actually refunded me for the previous 6-8 months' charges which had gone on before. I was embarrassed -- since I am in this direct marketing business, was duped, and truly think of my colleagues in digital & direct as honest, hard-working, do-right-by-the-customer people. Perhaps that's true of traditional DM, but some newfangled digital wizkids (and quite a few brand managers) need a damn good lecture. Thank you Denny, and thank you Sen. Rockefeller.
Great article. Hate being tarred with the same brush, especially when we're trying to do the right thing, both in the mail and online. Thanks for naming names, too.
Denny, the greed is less appalling than the arrogance. I can't imagine getting a legitimate customer, screwing them without their knowledge, and then blaming THEM! Too bad most of the customers probably don't even realize who the real crooks are, otherwise they'd be able to fight back by buying from someone else.