Webloyalty… sued.
Update March 8, 2009: Webloyalty Settlement.
Webloyalty has been a minor pet project of mine for a couple of years. I posted this blog entry in December 2004 when I discovered that I was automatically signed up for a $10/month service that had no plausible benefit for me, without having ever entered my email address or credit card information to the service. Since then, I’ve posted about comments left by Webloyalty call center reps and the switch to opt-in for Marketworks merchants. My original entry has also proved to be the most popular page on this blog, receiving over 55,000 hits to date and nearly 1,500 comments.
Today, I opened the newspaper to discover that Webloyalty and Fandago.com have been sued in Federal Court in Massachusetts.
Here’s a copy of the complaint. I especially recommend pages 8-16, entitled “Confidential Witnesses.â€
Marc Oct 26
https://one-time-offer.com/sol4/fandango/sb65064/promo.asp?
Scroll to the bottom. See the No thanks, return me to fandango?
That’s all you had to do in the first place in most of these cases.
Refunds should take between three to five business days however when the money gets placed back into your account is up to your own financial institutions. There is nothing wrong with the companies participating in the promotions in my opinion the problem starts with us as consumers. We’re in such a rush to complete our purchase and move on with life that we do not normally READ all the things we should while shopping online. It doesn’t make us stupid. It doesn’t make us victims. It makes us human. And whether you like it or not, everyone working at WLI and all of their partners and affiliates are also human. The reason WLI gives refunds so easily is because they understand people don’t read everything while they are shopping online. They understand children can get a hold of their parents cards, with or without permission and sign up for the memberships. They understand that (even though they shouldn’t) some people give their family members and even friends their card to make a transaction online which is authorized and that person signed up for the membership knowingly or not doesn’t really matter. If you don’t want the service or membership, you don’t have to keep it. You don’t have to make excuses or lie. You just have to ask for your money back. Pretty fair if you ask me. Have you ever dealt with a company or service that does not give a refund so easily? Of course you have, I don’t even need to provide a list I’m sure. And in my opinion those are the real scammers and crooks. This is only my opinion(s) of course.
Skip Nov 24
The way they get your card information is this: When you submit your payment information, if you accidentally “DOUBLE CLICK” on the submit button, you automatically enroll in their program. Don’t only notify your Credit Card Company and your bank, but also the company where the transaction originated. They will be glad to know that they too are part of the SCAM. If you don’t know where the transaction originated, when you call WLI*ReservationRewards at 1-800-732-7031, they will tell you where it originated.
Jon Nov 27
I got caught by this on ebgames.com. I canceled and got my refund. My account is no longer active, I cannot log onto it. A month later I get another charge. How am I getting charged when my account is no longer even there? I’m opening a dispute with my bank and sent them another mail explaining why I should not be getting charged. This is aggravating.
Tonia Nov 29
I just found out that my credit card has been hit by WLI Reservation Rewards. Luckily it has only been for 2 months, at $10 a pop. I called my credit card company, and they seemed to know this was a problem, and immediately cancelled my credit card. I didn’t truly know the extent of this until I found this website. I called the 800 number for them and found out that I supposedly signed up for this when I signed up for a Classmates.com account. I guaranteed the young lady on the phone that I would never sign up for a service like this, and she told me that they got an “electronic signature” from me while I was opening up the Classmates account. Nice!!
Merc. Dec 16
My husbands card was just charged 10usd by Webloyalty… this is amazing seeing he has been in Iraq for 8 months without his card. I called the bank tonight and will call Webloyalty Monday to get our money back.
Ray Dec 21
I also got ripped off. My credit statement shows two $10 transactions, one from WLI reservationrewards and the other with WLI shopperdiscount. I called them today 12/21, 2007 and their customer service rep said that I got one charged after I made a purchase from an auto parts dealer, so I looked this information on my credit card statement and I did buy something from thepartsbin.com. After this purchase, I have noticed that I starting getting charged the $10.00 from shopperdiscount. The other charge of $10.00 came after I used my credit card from usairways.com website. I looked over the charge from usairways, yet I didn’t get any discount or any other benefits from shopperdiscount or reservationdiscount.
Why would these two companies US Airways and Partsbin give out my credit card information without confirming the purchase with me first. I think that we need to also put companies that allow access to your personal credit card info under the microscope and investigate them as well. They also get a kick backs from shopper/reservation discounts.
as of the date posted above, I am waiting for the refund to come through, I will also call them again and request that they also pay me the interest thats on my credit card statement for the total amount of charges. From July 2007 to Dec 2007, the total credit they are going to issue me is $90.00. But that’s one credit card, as I also use others for online purchase.
I think the best resolution to this problem is to get a credit card that let you create a web safe number based on your credit card. I used to use capital one card and it was the best. You can select how long you wanted that web created number to be effective(min. one month) as well as the max amount that you wanted on that number. When I make a purchase of $20.00, I create a number for just that amount so anything else that tries to get charged after the $20 will not go through.
I would highly recommand this web safe credit card.
Take care of yourself and others. As one, we cannot do much, but with others we have the power to do what we want.
Aun Dec 27
This company just tried to rip me off too! I saw it on my statment and called the number to ask them what it was and how they got my info. I was told that a transaction I made offered me a $10 cash back for my next perchase, which I remember that and I also thought that it was part of finishing my transaction with KBTOYS but then this crap about coupons and discounts came up so I closed the screen and deleted all e-mails believing that it was just spam mail. Then I noticed the money taken from my account. I asked to speak with a manager and quickly got a refund and they canceled my membership. I asked how they got my information because I KNOW that I DID NOT give them my account number or my address and I was told that I had typed in my e-mail address twice which to them is a signiture confirmation allowing them to get my info from KB TOYS. I thought I was finishing my order with kb not allowing these psycos to take my money! I told him that its crazy making people believe that they are finishing a transaction with a company and reservation rewards is actually taking their information to take money from unknowing customers! And this is what the guy said WE DON’T STEAL! I never used those words and that is when the guy quickly refunded me and cancelled my account. Very funny I NEVER accused them of STEALING I just din’t understand how they got my info and the manager got defensive really quick!
Sandy in Georgia Jan 1
Here is my email to these schmucks!
I was checking my bank statement and noticed a charge of $10.00 taken out of my checking account 12-17-07. I also went back in my statements and found charges back through June 2007 which were not authorized. That’s a good scam if you sneak these charges in on everyone each month. I don’t usually balance my checkbook every month but you can be sure I will from now on. I don’t know what this is for nor have I ever asked for your services. I want these charges refunded and no further charges made. I am sending a copy of this to the Better Business Bureau and will pursue with the Georgia Attorney General if you do not stop fraudulently charging me for something I did not ask for nor want. I really would like to know how you got my credit card information in the first place!!!!
Please reply at your earliest convenience.
I’m pretty savvy about my money but they really got me and I will not let a month go by from now on without checking ALL charges!
Todd in California Jan 6
Here’s an email I just sent to Bill O’Reilly at Fox News…I think the only way to go after them is to raise the public level of outrage. This is actually the second time these shysters snookered me in two years. They insist that they sent three confirmation emails to me. I’m a programmer, so I’m not new to this game…I seriously doubt they sent anything to me.
Hi Bill –
I am an AVID watcher of the Factor. I really appreciate the depth of coverage and topics that you select for presentation. Love the book too. Have recommended it to friends and family.
Here’s something that you may want to do an expose’ about: A company by the name of Reservation Rewards (aka WebLoyalty.com) somehow is able to glom onto credit card information when one purchases airline tickets or rents a vehicle through a participating vendor (in my case it was Hertz). Hertz apparently provides the user’s credit card information to Reservation Rewards unbeknownst to the unwitting customer, and, Voila! monthly charges start appearing on the credit card from WLI*Reservation Rewards. Now…it isn’t much, $11/month in my case.
But that really isn’t the point…How can it be legal for a company to pass my credit card information along to another company and have the 2nd company start charging my card for a service that I never requested? They must be able to skirt a bunch of laws on the books somehow to get this to pass muster.
I did a little research on the web to see if I was the only one scammed by this company and there are a plethora of blogs talking about how WebLoyalty/Reservation Rewards bilked thousands of individuals. The fact that Hertz (a supposedly reputable car rental agency) allows themselves to be a party to this activity is also astonishing. If vendors that use the web for reservations or bookings are trying to enhance the public’s perception of the “safety” of web-based transactions, Hertz isn’t doing the industry any favors. I will never book another car from Hertz.
Attached is a page I found on the web about Reservation Rewards. I am more than willing to share any and all information regarding my personal experience with this company.
Highest Regards,
Todd
D McCallum Jan 21
It is January 2008, I reserved a hotel room back in Sept./Oct. and started seeing these charges from wli*reservationrewards show on my debit card statements and initially did nothing because I thought I was being charged for the online reservations. After 2 mths I stil kept seeing this occur and did a google search and found all of you have also been had. Glad to see there is a class action suit against them. Request inclusion in this suit, because these people are just wrong for taking honest people’s hard-earned dollars and they are none the wiser. Some one please keep me informed and I am going to contact my card co. and the state BBB.
D. McCallum from PA.
serega Feb 2
pos yourgirls
Krista Feb 4
We just discovered a hit on our CC on 02/01/08 for “WLI ReservationsRewards” for $12.00 and are trying to get this straightened out. Very shady operation. We have no idea of how they got our CC number.
After reading through pages and pages of various website complaints including ones that say they clicked on links to get $10, what question comes to my mind is why is NO ONE is holding the businesses that provide the clickable links accountable???? Surely, they know this advertiser has questionable business practices and yet so many keep the business relation. Perhaps it’s time to step up to include complaints about companies sponsoring the ads.
This company and others like it need to be shut down.
Bobby Mar 10
March 2008 and they are still at it. Got hit 4 times for $10 each. Started at Nerds.net. I guess my $20 lower price was not worth it to buy from Nerds. I called and they canceled my “membership” but I won’t hold my breath waiting on a refund.
Steve Mar 17
Hmm… Just noticed a $12 charge on my corporate AMX from webloyalty.com. I rarely use the card for anything but expensable charges but for valentines day I ordered my wife some flowers on it so she wouldn’t see the charges. Who did I order the flowers from? FTD!!! Crooked as …..
Fritz Mar 26
Just discovered this charge on one of our credit cards. Tracked the culprit down based on info here. AMC Theaters ticket purchase at Fandango.com. Called and was told I would be refunded the $80 (8 months at $10). Also called the credit card company to get the cancellation number on record. They said if the charges continued at this point they would pursue as fraud though they could not stop future charges. I contacted AMC Theaters and let them know they had lost a customer and would be reported to the CT Attorney General as well. Thanks for the help and the blog – the good side of the web!!
Allan Jul 3
I have been done by this as well via Easyjet in the UK – whenever did the name “sleazyjet” seem mpre appropriate?
These people should be KILLED.
Michael Jul 10
Just noticed this charge on my card and did some research to find it had been going on for 7 months. Since we use this card often it wasn’t until we stopped using it that I caught this crap. They did say they would return the charges within 7 business days, however, I am still going to report the local networks and to the card people
May Jul 17
I too was scammed by reservationsrewards.com. I didn’t notice the charges until now. I called reservationsrewards.com and they told me that the membership started after I had order flowers from USAflorist.com. I told them to cancel the membership and issue me a refund, the customer service rep didn’t even hesitate. I’m just hoping to get my money back. And why are they still in business? It is wrong for them to deceive the consumers with their shady shcemes of pop up windows.
Cleo Aug 14
Complain to your state’s attorney general. Do it immediately. Print out everything you can find out about this company and send it to the attorney general of your state. The company is located in CT, you might want to file a complaint with the attorney general of CT. I filed a complaint with my state’s attorney general, and followed up. Reservation Rewards response is that they have no idea who I am, and need MORE of my personal information which other than an e-mail address I refused to give. However I did share proof of the fraud with my attorney general. If enough people complain to law enforcement, we will shut this scam down, but you have to go to the Attorney General complaining to customer service will do little to stop the company. After my repeated complaint to my state’s attorney general RR sent me an e-mail from their Associate General Counsel. HYSTERICAL! So instead of a member of the company I get a lawyer? Are they trying to intimidate me? I am glad I am making them spend money on attorney fees!!!! There goes the $60 they stole from me!!! My bank refunded the charges, but it still feels good to know I got them back.
Charly Sep 15
If anyone is interested, we are trying a frotal attack and it is not working. I just received two emails from Reservation Rewards and Shopper Discounts and Rewards after makina a purchase on Woman Within. We need to hit up thier partners. Companies sign up for this scan thourgh a program that Webloyalty calls “Web Loyalty Parnter Program.†So it appears that the people who we think we can trust are just as guilty. Some of thier partners are: A&E TV All posters.com Amazon.com American West/US Air Barns and Noble Brylanehome Chadwick Columbiahouse.com Computergeeks.com D.Leonards.com Easy Jet EB Games Expedia.com Fandago.com FTD Geraliacoffiees.com Hampton Inn (IVR) Hertz Homeclick.com Hotels.com JCWhitney.com Nerds.net Shutterfly Tiger Direct USA Florist Women Within
We can also contact the principles of the company directly. Here are some contact email addresses.
Richard Fernandez – rick@webloyalty.com Vincent D’Agostino – vince@webloyalty.com Gary Cacace – gary@webloyalty.com Eli Chalfin – eli@webloyalty.com Martin Child – martin.child@webloyalty.com Matt Gilbert – matt.gilbert@webloyalty.com Martin Isaac – marty@webloyalty.com Jeffrey Kendall – jeff@webloyalty.com Sloane Levy – Sloane.Levy@webloyalty.com David Lynch – David.Lynch@webloyalty.com customerservice@webloyalty.com info@webloyalty.com hr@webloyalty.com bizdev@webloyalty.com customerservice@webloyalty.com bizdev@webloyalty.com customerservice@webloyalty.com
Pass it on.
Conrad D. Frame Sep 24
I had seen the reservations rewards 9.00 charge on my statement and didnt think anything of it until I noticed it several more times. I finally looked it up online, found this message board, and realized I was being scammed. Pissed, I called them and demanded to have it cancelled and to have a full refund. The guy was actually pleasant about it and agreed without too much of a hassle.
It had been charging since February 2004 and came to about $500.00 total. It all appeared back in my account yesterday and im happy I found this page. THANK YOU.
These guys are scum for doing this to so many people. I’ve been telling everyone I know about it and advising them to check their statements thoroughly.
Tim L.Oliver Sep 26
I didn’t bother calling them. After seeing the scam they are doing,I advised my bank to do chagebacks for the time period the withdrew funds from my debit card. 6 months worth.
Frank Nov 19
As of Nov 2008 they are still stealing peoples money. I got scammed from FTD flowers and they are now charging 12 dollars a month. I am going to call then today and demand my money back.
Dave Dec 23
As of Dec 2008 they still are, through campusfood.com. 12 dollars a month.
Tim L.Oliver Dec 25
Since I’ve not checked here in a while,update from my Sept. 26th post…my bank successfully did the 6 months worth of chargebacks. I did not contact them. Screw them. Let them pay the fees due to the chargebacks.
jgalk Jan 15
Me AND my wife got taken by these jokers using the same trickery. I canceled both transactions and called to demand my money back. I’m waiting to see if it actually occurs. My question is…how are they still in business? All these complaints, people calling and writing the state Attorney General, Better Business Bureau and even TV personalities, and they’re still at it. HOW?
jgalk Jan 15
By the way, when you call, make SURE you ask for your money back. The rep tried twice to simply say, “I canceled your account, is there anything else I can do for you?” Intentionally skipping the fact that I had also asked for a refund. So I told him, “Yes, I want my money back.” He actually tried slipping this past me several times, until he finally said it would be returned and gave me an amount.
DVigar Feb 24
I just got scammed as well. The only online site I have used for purchases in the last few months was Continental Airlines. Has anyone else had a similar experience while using Continrental’s site? I called their customer service and was told they had never heard of this.
Tim L.Oliver Mar 1
No,I’ve never used Continental’s website. It was Orbitz’s website that got me.Of course,customer service won’t know anything about it,just do a charge back and get a new card with a different account number.
PJ Mar 9
I knew someone who worked there around the time of the first suit in 06, but left well before the second. A group of us were out and over drinks my gfs brother told me quite a few interesting things. The retailers receive a huge amount of money for referring their clients to these “programs”. Basically, these reserve rewards programs have over 1 mm active members because many do not know about the charges. I’m curious how many of their “1 mm clients” have been clients for a long period of time, and actually USE the sites. The sites like staples.com, etc, are promised loads of money, on a per hundred thousand hits or on some sort of percentage of people who clicked the offer to those who signed up. So the websites are just as guilty. Webloyalty has to build a custom redirect page that takes you away from the site you are on to get your credit card info on THEIR servers, then send you back to the site you were on. Anyone in the company can access your credit card information. Unreal.
Peter Mar 19
I had this problem when I bought a game from Gamestop.com online. I promptly emailed gamestop about these thieving activities and this was their reply:
Dear Customer,
At the end of a purchase from GameStop.com/EBgames.com we have a link to the Reservation Rewards program. They offer customers the opportunity to receive an electronic gift voucher for GameStop.com/EBgames.com if the customer would like to sign up for a trial membership with Reservation Rewards.
In order to sign up for this program customers would have to type their email address twice and click on the button labeled YES, I have read and agree to the Offer and Billing Details and authorize GameStop.com/EBgames.com to securely transfer my name, address and credit or debit card information to Reservation Rewards for billing and benefit processing. I understand that the first 30 days of benefits are free and that I will be billed $12 a month thereafter and may cancel my membership at any time.
Thank you for your feedback concerning the program. We respect your opinion and will take your remarks into consideration as we evaluate the benefits and value this program has for our customers.
Best Regards,
John
Customer Service Supervisor
Well, … Needless to say that they lost me as a customer because I NEVER did what they say and surely NEVER gave anyone the right to steal money out of my account. So if this is Gamestop’s point taken then I will take my business elsewhere from now on. My only hope is that other people will too, so they don’t get scammed out of their hard earned money for nothing.
Be warned, these sites allow this scamming apparently …
Rajneesh Apr 11
I would not have even cared to look at the $10 per month charges had it not been for my account with mint.com to track my monthly expenditure. I received a notification from mint.com that my account has been charged $10 and that “mint.com hates those”. This made me search for reservation rewards and I came across this website. These bastards have been charging me for the last 16 months. On calling, the nice lady agreed to revert back last 2 months charges but for a full refund, she said that I need to complete a form and mail it back to them. It’s sat and am waiting to see if they give my money back and send me the form.
I am going to make sure I receive all my money back.
Chris Jones Jul 31
I just bought a camera from Buy.com and had to navigate through the sleazy deceptive third party marketing affiliate to get my order going. I was tempted to cancel, having been taken by a similar outfit a couple of years ago when I bought tickets through Fandango. This page, and cnet’s article, just renewed my outrage over this practice and just inspired this letter to Buy.com:
Hi,
While placing an order this week, I was disturbed to see that your company has affiliated with a click-through marketing company whose “offer” intrudes in the process during the checkout process. To say that I was disturbed is actually a gross understatement. I came very close to canceling my order and taking my business elsewhere. Had I not already committed the time to selecting the product on your website and filling out everything I would have abandoned it without hesitation.
See, I have been misled into signing up for a similar service on Fandango a couple of years ago and went through a great deal of trouble to get the 8 months worth of charges that I didn’t previously notice credited back to me. They didn’t want to do it, even though it was obvious to the rep that I didn’t want the service and certainly wouldn’t have intentionally agreed to it. The whole layout is very misleading, and you must admit that no one is going to read all of the fine print, because the whole thing APPEARS to just be a coupon much like other coupons that are given by merchants for doing business.
This is a sleazy way of getting business, and I suspect that you aren’t hearing many complaints because either people eventually forget where they originally accidentally signed up for the service, or they deal with the marketer and never bother going back to the merchant. In my case I never did contact Fandango and I’m sure Fandango is assuming I must have been pleased with the “service” because they didn’t hear a complaint from me. Rest assured, there are a great many dissatisfied people who aren’t contacting you. Don’t naively assume otherwise.
I urge you — STRONGLY urge you — to please consider discontinuing this relationship. You’ve gotten my money through sale of a product, and you don’t need a couple more dollars from a sleazy, misleading, deceptive borderline criminal marketing company who can’t bring themselves to market their product in a more honest, clear way. I can assure you that as long as your ordering process works as it does today, with the sleazy marketing outfit intruding in the process, I won’t be buying anything from you. You do have competition who has every advantage you have, but without the third party. The camera I just ordered was available elsewhere for exactly the same price. I chose you because of my past relationship and because I knew the ordering process works as expected, with quick smooth delivery. How about leaving it at that and not doing me any additional favors of offering such “deals” from a third party?
I’ll be back when your marketing affiliate is gone.
Best regards,
C. Chris Jones
tenzin Nov 23
These thieves, without contributing anything good for the GDP, but 24/7 stealing innocent people money, should be hanged. If His Almighty has to judge the case, the verdict will be, “sentenced these Ghosts to serve in hell forever…”
Brian Davies Jun 23
I don’t like ordering stuff using 2co. It is impossible to get hold of them to cancel standing orders.
jannina wright Jul 4
That happened to me and I am wondering why. I am asking my boyfriend about it and asking everything when using the internet. this is stealing the card number and they must be prosecuted.