WebLoyalty.com aka WLI*ReservationRewards Is A Scam
Update August 9, 2009: Absurdly high number of comments and hits on this page. The latest is reported in this CNET article.
Update March 8, 2009: 2,653 comments. Plus, there has been a settlement of the class action lawsuit: Webloyalty Settlement.
Update September 13, 2006: Webloyalty… sued.
Update May 7, 2006: I get a lot of email asking me “how do I get them to stop charging me?†My entry below, and about 1,000 of the comments, tell you how, but here’s the short version: call 800-732-7031 and tell them you want all your money back. Do not give up until they refund all of it.
Update July 25, 2006: Nearly 1,300 comments and counting…
I recently noticed a charge on my credit card bill for “WLI*RESERVATIONREWARDS 800-7327031†CT for $9. I had no idea what the charge was, so I called 1-800-732-7031 and finally figured it out. Below is a slightly edited letter I’ve sent to the Massachusetts Attorney General Consumer Protection office. If nothing else, I hope this weblog entry shows up on a search for this company, the phone number, or Vincent D’Agostino (the President of the company) and Mary O’Reilly (the customer service director). (My apologies to any Vincent D’Agostinos or Mary O’Reillys out there who aren’t related to this scam).
On November 2, 2004, I purchased airline tickets from the website onetravel.com.
On my most recent credit card bill, I noticed a charge for $9 for a transaction on 12/2 posted on 12/5 for WLI*RESERVATIONREWARDS 800-7327031 CT. I had no idea what the charge was, and was certain I hadn’t signed up for any “reservation rewards†program, so I did a web search for the phone number for the item. Apparently, many other people have had the same exact charge for the same item without ever having ordered it.
I called the company to dispute the charge, and they insisted that I had signed up for some kind of rewards service when I purchased airline tickets. I insisted that I had never signed up for any such service, but they claimed they had sent me three emails confirming the service, which apparently is a monthly subscription for $9 per month which gives you discounts on some products or services online.
When I complained that I was sure I had never signed up for any such service, they said that they had “millions of satisfied customers†and that the complaints were just a few.
Since I maintain my own mail server, I was able to search back over the last 60 days of mail logs, and there was no record of any email originating from this company. Even if such an email had been caught by a spam filter, it would still show up in the mail log. I am thus certain that they never sent any confirmation emails.
Finally, I threatened to contact my state attorney general, and at that point they agreed to refund the $9 and cancel my subscription.
I checked the Connecticut Better Business Bureau website for this company, which goes under a dozen aliases, and saw that there have been many complaints along similar lines.
I am a computer programmer and intellectual property attorney specializing in Internet law, and thus I am not a naive Internet consumer—while I realize that some people may accidentally sign up for services they didn’t intend to purchase, I am certain that I never did this. I believe this company is operating fraudulently, and their “millions of satisfied customers†are people who do not scrutinize their credit card bills carefully, since a $9 charge is easy to miss.
I would like the Consumer Protection division of the Attorney General’s Office to look into this problem as I am sure it affects many Massachusetts Citizens.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me for more information. The Connecticut Better Business Bureau also lists the following address for the company in question:
Webloyalty.com, Inc.
101 Merritt Seven, 7th Floor (Corporate Offices)
Norwalk, CT 06851
This doesn’t speak very well of onetravel.com, although I hear expedia.com and other providers have similar dealings with webloyalty.com.
I’d like to think the web could ultimately prevent more fraud than it enables, but at this point I think the prognosis is bleak. Leave a comment below if you’ve had a similar experience with this company.
Update: This site includes dozens—maybe hundreds—of reports of the same problem with this company.
Kidron Jul 14
I just found $12 hit my account and caused me to go over. I called the bank, and they noticed I’ve been charged by Reservation Rewards (whatever the eff that is!) since January. They are filing a fraud case, hopefully they can stop whomever this is from hitting my account again. Scary!! I didn’t sign up for anything like this.
Jeeves Jul 24
This past spring, I had a similar experience with Reservation Rewards; however, they managed to milk $48 from my credit card. I had no idea that this company existed and charged me repeatedly over the course of four months . It is true to say that the fault lay with me for not diligently checking over my statement for mysterious small charges. Indeed, I’ve learnt my lesson.
How did Reservation Rewards begin stealing money from me?
It turned out when I phoned this company to complain that I allegedly signed up on their special offer after purchasing from Movietickets.com, according to the gal on the phone. I was outraged – apparently while clicking “yes” to the terms and conditions whilst buying movie tickets – Reservation Rewards enrolled me in their scam and began charging me.
I was livid, ready to throw the book at when when the woman kept insisting that it was me “who made the decision to join”. Finally, they agreed to refund me after I threatened to contact my state attorney. I hope we can get this company shut down and its bosses clapped in irons and sent to prison.
Jo Jul 27
I have also been charged but I have been charged $10. I have called multiple times and they gave me the same run around. I looked at my online bank account and I see they are at it again so I have contacted my bank to get EVERY transaction made by them and I am done letting them get away with it!!! They better give me my money back!!!
scammed Aug 6
These guys got me too. $12 a month for 7 months before I caught it. The service rep claimed I had to plug my credit card number in to sign up, but I know I didn’t do that. I just put my email in and movietickets.com must have supplied the credit card info. This is really outrageous. Supplying your email isn’t the same as allowing these scammers to take $12 a month out of your account. If it were clear, they wouldn’t have any takers. I’m also furious that websites like Movietickets.com and Buy.com deliver their customers into the hands of these shady operators. It’s a real violation of trust — I’ll never shop from them again.
They’ve agreed to refund 4 months immediately and send me a form to claim more. I’m reporting them to the Federal Trade Commission and would encourage others to do the same.
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en
Ross Aug 7
Okay, so I got magically signed up this after booking a car rental. It appeared on my credit card for three months before I noticed.
BUT READ ON!!!!!! After looking on their website there were actually some amazingly good deals! First of all, you can buy movie tickets through them, online for $5 each. Not selected crappy movies but digital X3D. My son, wife and I saw Avatar in X3D for $15. Unbelievably,they send you a rebate check 0f $10 every month if you buy movie tickets through them. They have a deal with Fandango. So, going to see Avatar cost me $5 for the whole family! I have received about 8 $10 rebate checks from them every month. I buy Shell gas cards from them for $80 but it’s a $100 value, so I save 20% on every tank of gas. Okay, we’re limited to 4 gas cards a month, but it’s still a huge savings. I would also estimate I’ve saved hundreds in restaurant dining. Now get this….. Every time you make a purchase through them, whether it’s movies, gas cards, grocery or dining coupons, you accumulate points you can redeem for gift cards. I just redeemed my points for a $50 Outback Steak house gift card.
I acknowledge that the way I got signed up for this feels like a scam, they need to fix that, but this membership has payed for itself many, many times over. If you bother to look at their site, you’ll see what I mean.
Nicole Aug 13
I had the same thing happen to me as well. I cancelled my credit card in hopes it would prevent this company from trying to charge me any longer. I had a $12 a month charge on my card and did not realize I was paying into it until the collection agency from my credit card called and said I had to pay! I think not. I am going to write to my credit card company and dispute the charges!
Darlan Nov 1
Unfortunately the same happened to me. I cancelled the membership and asked to be refunded.
Linda Feb 9
We have had great luck with reservation rewards. We have 7 members to our family, and the movie tickets save us the cost of the service with just one visit to the movies – We usually go at least once a month as a family, and my husband and I go alone at least on other time… we like movies – Before RR we couldn’t justify the movies at any level. Also, we use the food discounts. One popular sushi place in our area is on reservation rewards and we always get half off or more on our meal! It is effortless and the savings are great!
Now as far as erroneous charges are concerned, web sites are getting tricky these days. I have had magazine subscriptions show up, I have had consumer reports bill me without my authorization when I just looked at their site one day.. I didn’t even give them any financial information.
My son, a senior in high school, paid for a 6 month subscription to Scientific American. 3 months into the service he had a full years charge show up on his account, causing a check to bounce. His first bounced check – I looked at his info, and nothing said anything about an auto renewal of he magazine and impending charges. he was not notified on any level that the charge was going to take place or his subscription was going to be renewed (way ahead of time)
Notice the companies… Scientific America, Consumer Reports… legit companies… they are all doing shady charges these days hoping we will not notice the charges!