MGD
Premium,MVM
join:2002-07-31
Fort Lauderdale, FL
| reply to disconnected
Re: [Credit Card Fraud] ReservationRewards Norwalk CT $10 Charge
said by disconnected :
....... I'm about to call the card provider and report this as fraud. This sounds like another US-based "mule" working for the Russian crime syndicate.
Anyone else getting these charges?
.
Yes, a lot of people. You can certainly be excused for thinking they are related to they mule based crime syndicate. However, this operates on the legal fringe, and why the FTC has not taken action is beyond me. Though merchants are prohibited from giving your card data to third parties, the loophole here is that Webloyalty AKA Reservation Rewards sets up an affiliate relationship with the merchants.
Because of all the negative publicity, if you call them about the charge they will usually refund you all the previous charges, and remove you from the "program". If you dispute the charges with the card issuer, they should rule in your favor.
This niche industry which uses various tactics to "leverage a sale", a term that in my opinion is a euphemism for various practices that contain the word "scam", and is promoted to merchants because it is pure profit. They end up with a healthy cut of the original enrollment and the recurring charges.
Many people become victims because of how it operates. While completing an online purchase you are presented with a pop up that offers you $10 off your next purchase. You are only required to enter your email address to accept the coupon offer. When you take a magnifying glass and examine that tiny text, you will see that you are agreeing to join a $10 a month club with a recurring charge. When you enter your email address the merchant will then hand off the card details from the current purchase to this "affiliate".
It is clearly obvious from the thousands of complaints going back over two years that many people are not aware of what is taking place. This 2005 Consumer Reports article on the subject contains the following quote from the Better Business Bureau
quote:
...."The Better Business Bureau of Connecticut, however, has received enough consumer complaints about Webloyalty to investigate the matter and issue a report stating the company has an "unsatisfactory record" because of "a pattern of complaints concerning deceptive marketing/selling practices." The bureau contacted Webloyalty to discuss its business methods and notes the company provided refunds to the customers who had issued complaints.
But, the Better Business Bureau report adds, "the firm has failed to correct the underlying reasons for the complaints," namely, not making it entirely clear to Web users that they are agreeing to monthly fees, and not making customers enter their own billing information...."
There is even a dedicated website reservationrewardssucks.com
Several big name merchants have ended their affiliate relationship with Webloyalty AKA Reservation Rewards, while others have required the customer to re enter their card data in order to claim the "coupon".
Personally, I refuse to do business with any company who participates in this practice. The laws that regulate the transferring of consumers card data needs to be changed to address this affiliate loophole. The intent of the law was to prohibit the transfer of card data outside of the original vendor or its wholly owned subsidiaries.
I am not a fan of class action lawsuits, however, in this case, lacking any Federal intervention, then suing this practice out of existence is an acceptable alternative.
MGD |
