RESERVATIONREWARDS Update
I get more comments and visits to my Webloyalty AKA Reservation Rewards is a Scam blog entry than almost anything else I’ve written. Since the entry was posted in December, it’s received over 300 comments, and nearly 20,000 hits from nearly 5,000 unique visitors. The short version is that this affinity program signs people up for a “rewards” program where they pay $9 per month in return for discounts on other purchases. The problem is that most people (including myself) never realized they signed up for anything until they notice the charge on their credit card bill, and I’m sure many more never notice the monthly charge at all. The company probably figured $9 was just below what would catch the attention of most people when they glance at their bill.
This comment from Marshall posted yesterday is probably the most useful one so far, so I wanted to highlight it here:
Same experience here, for the most part. One difference, however, I would recommend that if we really want to stop these guys we take a different approach to getting our money back. When they give you a refund of $9.00, it costs them $9.00, which they originally stole from you. There is no further damage to them. When you dispute the charge with your bank or cc issuer, they lose the $9.00 immediately, and are charged approximately $25.00 by their merchant processor for a chargeback fee. If their chargeback volume exceeds 1%, they will most likely have their merchant account shut down or suspended. This means they may not charge other people in the future and will likely go out of business. It should take about the same amount of time and effort for you, but could “put the hurt” on these scam artists. Just because they work with large companies, does not mean they are reputable, and you just mis-understood. I own a credit card processing company, and I know for a fact that I never agreed to the charges. Also, I went back to www.deepdiscountdvd.com and went through the steps of purchasing from them. The discount offer does not tell you anything about the charges or the membership at all. They are violating Visa/MC regulations, as well as perpetrating fraudulent transactions. Please dispute the transaction at your bank or cc company, instead of getting the refund. If your bank or cc company takes too long, or won’t reverse the charges, then you can always call back for your refund later.
It seems to me the other vital part of reining in this company is putting pressure on their affiliates, e.g., Columbia House, half.com, Fandago, and others. I can’t understand how these relatively reputable Internet businesses would agree to this arrangement.
John Dworske May 9
My credit card was charged 10.00 after my boyfriend visited fandango.com to buy movie tickets. I have contacted my CC company and hopefully will be refunded the 10 bucks.
Bastards.
Thanks,
John Dwroske
Luigi May 16
I, too, have become a victim of this company and Gevalia.com
to whom I gave my CC info. Apparently, there is some innocuous
wording in Gevalia’s Privacy Policy that, somehow, allows:
“Any information you provide is downloaded off of the (their?) web server to a “secure system” (my quotes) and is
maintained there. Changes to your information online may only
occur after a customer has logged in with their registered
user name and password.” There appear to be 2 elements to this
scheme: 1. Gevalia (or any other vendor) may have some grounds
to transfer CC info to allow another “partner” access after
you click onto their link; and 2. Once you REGISTER with this
“partner” by logging in with your user name (which happens to
be your Email Address) and password, their “Offer and Billing
Details” includes CC info (from Gevalia/any vendor) which you
agree is OK to use once you “agreed” to their Terms and
Conditions when you completed the registration. I think these
are critical elements to this scheme which, supposedly, may
be legal but totally devious.
Janice May 16
I too have been a victim of this unethical practise. I ordered flowers from an FTD affiliate online. Much to my chagrin I was billed $12 a month for reservationrewards!! Visa was very helpful and reversed the charges that were billed for 2 months. I had to call the phone number and cancel what I didn’t know I had signed up for.
Apparently they told Visa that I signed up in order to get a $25 gift certificate. Yah right, I’d give you $144 a year for a crummy $25 certificate I would most likely never use.
Joyce May 22
Well I see that I am not alone in this, I wish I would have seen this Info. a bitt sooner , but now just a bit wiser and pissed off ! Well I noticed first on May 10, 2007 they had a pending charge I called about it and my bank said they had no more info. at that time that I should wait another day or so and more Info. would be available, so I made acopy of it on my online bank account and left it at that. The next day I checked it was gone. I went online to check my bank Info. for my account status today 5/22/07 and there it was WLI*Reservationrewards. and said this time the charge went through, so I called my bank they said to call the # on my account Info., so I did and I said I want to know why my account was charged $ 10.00 from there Co. and the lady said ” oh well somebody from your home computer had to have put in the bank account Info. and went on to say that I did this through another website- LIMOGE”S Jewelry-, thats the only way we would have done this,I disagreed totally I never signed up for- reservationrewards- but I do remember seeing them on that site and somehow they must be affiliated, anyway she said they would credit my account and it would take about 3-5 bussiness days. Same story I been reading from everyone else, I wonder?????? are they just hacking into these sites and these sites are getting the brunt of it because of WLI*Reservationrewards/Webloyalty. Who know’s, but I don’t intend to stop here! I have reported them to my bank and will provide lots of info. from these sites and I have contacted my Internet provider as well as FTC for fraud and I will contact local papers and News station. They will be sorry the scewed with me !!!
Thank you for letting me vent and add my comments to your site ….
Joyce / Manchester NH
philip Jun 4
hi like all of u i am having the same trouble to, is i called up my bank and am reversing ever chagre thay send me. i hope thay love the $25 reversal fee thay will get ever month :> hehehe
Peter Chan Jul 15
Just found out I got scammed too for the first time. I used TigerDirect once and noticed that other victims have used Tigerdirect too. I have sent a report to Canadian Consumers Association to ask them to publicise this fraudulent outfit as well as named Tigerdirect as being involved. I am emiling the Canadian National Newspaers too so to alert any potential victims.
Adriana M Rivero Jul 27
I don not know what I should do about it.Please Help me because I did not buy or authorize this and now I have been charged $10.
Ethan Dec 10
Canada : $12/month by F$#%!!! WLI Reservation rewards!!! I hope they will be prosecuted to the full extend of the law!!!!!!!!VISA refund my money and I got a new VISA card. They will investigated by Visa!!
Andrea Dec 11
Wowzer, I am glad that I am not the only one. 10.00 USD per month for 5 months from July to December with August mysteriously NOT touched….hmmm. Must have been a rebate or something…. This happened when I wanted “more information” about reduced priced movie tickets when I signed up with Classmates.com. I signed up for Classmates.com when our High School was planning our twentieth class reunion and wanted to inform people of the up and coming party.
What I did NOT know was that my account would be debited 10.00 per month for this service that I “signed” up for….hmmm.
I called reservation rewards and asked for my money back, I didn’t ask how the lady was doing, just requested my money and it WAS too easy….hmmm. Just as easy to cancel as it is to sign up?! Then I called Classmates Media based in California, the parent company and spoke to the receptionist that apparently hadn’t had her first cup of coffee. Needless to say I said that I wanted to speak to the Public Relations Department. She also asked if I knew whom I wanted to speak to, I said no. She asked what the problem was, I told her. She said that you will want to speak with Classmates.com Accounting Department, I said “Nope!” This is a public relations nightmare and that it is all over the Internet and I have questions about your business practices….She had my phone number on caller ID, but I did not give her my name to take a message, I said that I would like to be transferred to someones voice mail box. She said that she didn’t know whom to transfer me too….yeah right. She said that they have 400 employees and a three story building and she can’t keep track of anyone. I told her that I was a receptionist for a company that had two separate buildings geographically and was responsible for more people and I knew whom handled what. She said that public relations is NOT the department that you want. I told her that if you don’t put me in contact with someone, I will begin a Public Relations war. She finally put me on hold, forwarded me to someone who’s name was garbled on VM, of course. And I left a message.
I have given a speech to a small group about identity theft through people offering fake jobs on the Internet to where they want your social security number and bank account for Direct Deposit, but I never thought that I would get sucked into this. I am officially on mission!!! Thanks for this website, and all of the people that have been suckered, I am with you and the war commences today!!!! :) :) :) :) :) :)
Speak out and speak loud and call to get your money back!!! And keep calling. That 10.00? That 50.00 that I am out? When and if it gets reimbursed?! The money is going to buy food for the local foodbank as something positive is going to come out of this debacle!!!! 50 packages of thin spaghetti anyone?!
Slav Jan 3
CAN 11$ for TWO years!!! since January 2006. They have automatic cancellation by phone. If you stay on the line after automatic cancellation, you can talk to their representative. Took a minute or so. After short conversation, I was promised to get a refund in 3-5 business days. It was really easy. I guess representatives are instructed not to argue over refunds.
I also go email confirmation that my membership is cancelled and refund will be credited to my account. Hope it is true.
Vince Jan 11
BASTARDS! They took money out of my account every month and I didn’t notice because I thought it was for something else I Legitamitely signed up for for 10 bucks. I just discoverd the error and now I am furious. My wife called and was on hold for over ONE hour, I called and there phone site is “down”.
Unbelievable!! The president is Vincent D’Agostino–I don’t know what kind of person would make a living cheating others. I hope he gets thrown in prison! I called my Fraud division of my bank and demanded my money returned. DON”T call them directly–call the bank to fight for you and stick to webloyalty, inc the $25 processing fee. Otherwise they lose nothing and will keep doing it to others.
Patrick Feb 6
Geeks.com is another website, and i really liked that website, almost as much as newegg, hope they don’t do this!
called up RESERVATION REWARDS and got my refund and canceled my account.
Peter Apr 7
My corporate card got hit this month with a $12 fee from these con artists. I’ll be fighting it. The only 2 transactions that I’ve done online with this card in the last 3 months have been via amazon.com and USAirways’ website.
Edith May 28
This is the second time it has happened to me and the first time I filed a dispute with the bank and I got my money back. After they charged me the $9.00, a similar company charged me for gas coupons which i never agreed to. I was charged more than $100 overall and I even got overdrafts on my account because of that. I was able to close down my account and get a new one and I thought for sure I had gotten rid of them, but I apparently didn’t. I have a $12 transaction pending from them and planning to dispute once it goes through. Already closed my card but since the transaction already is posted can’t do anything until it is charged. I had received a letter the first time after my account had been settled from some company, I don’t remember anymore. In the letter they told me that an employee from their company sold numerous account information to various marketing companies. This employee was fired and they did say that they were trying to work it out but apparently saw that there was no danger to my account, but now I am doubting if it really was resolved.
Edith May 28
***I ADVISE EVERYONE TO FILE A DISPUTE WITH THEIR OWN BANK. The company will be charged more and its a for sure way of getting your money back. ***
Scott Sep 16
I totally just got scammed by the this company. They stole 24 dollars out of my account. They took 12 for some reservations club and 12 for some shoppers club. All I did was order tickets online for a movie about a month ago. I kept clicking okay on all the screens because I was in a hurry and I needed my tickets. It would not allow you to progress to the next screen unless you hit okay and agreed to everything. They would not refund my money. All they did was cancel the account. They told me it was my fault and they have millions of satisfied customers. I feel totally taken advantage of and I will not be buying tickets from their website again.
Earth Ling Sep 24
Reservations Rewards got into my bank account by butting into a Paypal transaction on Ebay. They offered me a $10 off coupon on my purchase from EvalueBrands1, an Ebay clothing shop. I gave them my email as they asked me for my password too which like a fool I gave them because I thought they were the trusted merchant as they popped up with a one-page spread and a very convincing looking $10 off coupon (which I never got)just as I was about to my complete my Paypal payment. I could not get them to go off my screen no matter what I clicked. They then put an unauthorized $1 charge on my Charge Card. Chase took the$1 charge off, and I changed my Chase card number and all my passwords and security codes. Despite this, they still managed to get into my new Chase card on the next billing cycle. This time Reservations Rewards had changed their name to Shoppers Discounts 800-889-8776 CT, meaning they were claiming to be in Connecticut, and this time put a $12 charge on my Chase card. I am now awaiting a dispute form from Chase and can only hope they will take the $12 charge off. The retailer EvalueBrands1 claims to never have heard of Reservations Rewards and has told me “you are the only person who has complained” but I do not see how Reservations Rewards could have gotten into a Paypal payment transaction to the vendor without EvalueBrands1 giving their permission as Paypal is supposed to be secure.
Natalie Sep 26
I AM SO PISSED… I kept noticing these $12 charges to my account every month but until today I just passed them off as charges for my Mileage Plus Check Card but after reading these, I am completely shocked and very upset and dissappointed. In total it seems as if this mysterious company has taken at least close to $100 of my money, I am a student living in Chicago and EVERY penny counts. Can anyone give me direct advice as to how to go about getting my money back?
Jon Oct 13
Webloyalty are doing the same thing in the UK now under the name ShopperDiscounts.co.uk. I got scammed by ordering flowers from Interflora, what I had thought was a reputable retailer. But a month later £8/month charges started appearing on my credit card. These people are scum and deserve to rot in prison for the rest of their lives!
Ted Dec 6
They got me when I bought from X Fragrance. They’ve been taking £8, and this goes back to when it was $2 = £1 ie $16 a month for 8 months!
I only found out tonight. I’ll see if my bank can do anything.
Rachel Jan 20
I bought event tickets through Comcast .. they will be hearing from me as well , thanks for the contact numbers!
Gisli Jan 27
My wife bought an item from collectionsetc.com 4 months ago. For the past 3 months reservation rewards has been deducting $12 dollars off my checking account. After calling both reservation rewards and collectionsetc I have been able to get the $42 back. They statet that when ordering an item, my wife must have responded positively to joining their club. Which she didn´t. It seems that most of the people here had the same issue going on. I am reporting this to the better business bureau and suggest that other people do the same. Their webpage is http://www.bbb.org.
STEFANY Feb 9
YES,LIKE MANY OF YOU I HAVE BEEN A VICTIM OF FRAUD FROM THIS STUPID COMPANY. CALL YOUR BANK!!!!!! THEY WILL TAKE CARE OF IT. CALL YOUR LOCAL MEDIA NETWORK AND INFORM THEM SO THEY CAN STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING TO OTHERS!!! I DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO THIS COMPANY AND THE COMPANIES AFFILIATED TO THEM!! BASTARDS!!! FANDANGO.COM SUCKS!!
elaine Apr 3
HOW DO I CANCEL THIS! i can NOT afford to loose a penny these days. i can barley buy groceries. Please SOMEone…tell me how to cancle this bullshit!!!
You Guys know how i feel. lets get these F******!!!!! What is the websight that did this?
Skye Apr 29
It’s now $12.00.
I just spotted it on my bank statement. They said that I signed up for it when I purchased Gevalia products. Of course, it’s a scam. I didn’t join any club. I’ll go to my bank and report it.
Thanks for your info!
some1 Jun 10
Guys,
I also faced the same problem and this is how I resolved it.
1) Made a call to my bank (PNC) and disputed all transactions for the previous months.
2) PNC disputed all these transactions, canceled my current card, is going to send me a new card within 4 working days.
A provisional amount equal to the total amount of the disputed transactions has already been transferred to my account. (I simply like the girl operator from PNC who took my call. She was too sweet and extremely helpful.)
3) I was given 2 phone numbers from which these transactions happened from the PNC bank
4) I called up these numbers and they canceled my so-called membership for these services, and refund the “entire amount” which has been payed by me until now.
For step 4 break it in 2 steps
i) Call to ask for refund for the current month and membership cancellation –> both of which should be agreed readily
ii) Call again and say that your last call was hung up, and ask for entire refund. Basically however wicked the company is, the operators are basically humans. If you talk properly you only increase your chances. For me they refunded the entire amount.
If any of the above two fails, write down the most dirty slangs you ever know and make a point to call every hour with full flow of your dirty tongue until you get your entire refund back :)
Both these services (Reservation Rewards, Shopper Discounts)were registered when I made a transaction on http://www.buy.com. I would make sure that I would never use http://www.buy.com again.
Ann M Jun 30
Thank you for this site. I’ve been charged $12.00 for 4 months. When I called the number listed for Visa Reservation they could not find my info. I don’t understand how they have my bank info if they don’t even have me in their computer. I have just been in contact with my bank. They will dispute the charges.
I did not sign up for anything with Visa Reservation Rewards.
I think this must have come from Fandango. It makes me so mad!!!!!!!!
You have to be so on top of everything that goes through your statement.
Thanks again~
Ann M
Louis O Meyers Jul 14
I whish some one would make a list of the companies that have given our credit card info to these thieves the one that got 30 shekeles of silver for my credit card info was Geeks.com a southern california based computer parts company.
Ruth Gagne Sep 20
I just finished reading via Google, the scumbags that have taken advantage of alot of people including me. For 10 months I have been charged thru CitiCards a $10 charge from Reservations Rewards. I usually check all the charges on my monthly statement but figured this was something I overlooked and was being charged correctly. However, I got a card dated Aug/.13 that IO seem to have ignored as they asked me to update my email and password as the one they showed has long since been discarded for my present one. I rechecked my statements from CitiCards and found I have been paying for 10 months or $100.00 and they continued taking the $10 each month for 10 months regardless that my email name was dead. Tomorrow I will contact CitiCards and see where I go to get my money back. If they suggest I close down the cc I will refuse as once before I had to do that and have had nothing but problems with companies that automatically and rightfully pull from this account. It becomes a long dragged out mess to say nothing about the embarrassment I went thru having to change the card. I am glad I have read so many of the complaints as now I will be more cautious when giving out the information when purchasing on the web. This is the first time I have had this kind of problem as I do alot of shopping on the web. I will let you know my results when I get them.
T
Ruth Gagne Sep 20
I just finished reading via Google, the scumbags that have taken advantage of alot of people including me. For 10 months I have been charged thru CitiCards a $10 charge from Reservations Rewards. I usually check all the charges on my monthly statement but figured this was something I overlooked and was being charged correctly. However, I got a card dated Aug/.13 that IO seem to have ignored as they asked me to update my email and password as the one they showed has long since been discarded for my present one. I rechecked my statements from CitiCards and found I have been paying for 10 months or $100.00 and they continued taking the $10 each month for 10 months regardless that my email name was dead. Tomorrow I will contact CitiCards and see where I go to get my money back. If they suggest I close down the cc I will refuse as once before I had to do that and have had nothing but problems with companies that automatically and rightfully pull from this account. It becomes a long dragged out mess to say nothing about the embarrassment I went thru having to change the card. I am glad I have read so many of the complaints as now I will be more cautious when giving out the information when purchasing on the web. This is the first time I have had this kind of problem as I do alot of shopping on the web. I will let you know my results when I get them.
Ruth Gagne
Crystal R. Apr 21
I just checked my account on line and found I’m charged the $10 fee, and I didn’t order anything or sign up for anything. With that stupid fee I’m going to be overdrawn and as soon as they open today am calling to give them a piece of my mind! And if they DO NOT REFUND IT AM GOING TO MY ATTORNEY! I’ve had it with people trying to steal off the little guy, which most of us are!