November 23, 2009
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You Could Be A Victim Of Online Retailers, Pt.3
Proof is in the document.The government was able to obtain documents that indicate the marketing companies were well aware of the fact that credit card customers did not know that they were signing up for any monthly membership. According to one document reviewed, an employee with Vertrue recorded that nearly 98 percent of the company's call volume came from credit card customers complaining and wanting to cancel the membership which they say they knew nothing about. Another employee from the Webloyalty Company indicated that nearly 90 percent of the company's members said they had no idea they were signing up for any membership when they made their online credit card purchase. Additional documents obtained by the Senate Committee indicated that Affinion itself knew that their chances of getting customers to sign up for the program were four times greater than if the company solicited the customer directly.
The monthly credit card transactions range from $9 or more. For some customers, the fee appears to be small and sometimes goes un-noticed for months or years before they become aware of it. Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty all claim they send out confirmation emails on their enrollment to the card customers. The Senate report states that the three marketing companies were deliberate in their design and intent to mislead card customers. The report also indicates that retailers are well aware of the marketing companies' deceptive practices and are not willing to end the practice because they receive commission for passing on the customer's credit card information.
The six month investigation revealed that 88 online retailers have profited over $1 million from the fees marketing companies have collected from the memberships and 19 web retailers, including Buy.com, Priceline.com, Hotwire.com, Travelocity.com, and FTD.com have made more than $10 million off unsuspecting credit card customers. According to the Senate Committee, over 35 million customers have unwittingly signed up for memberships in Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty's clubs.