February 18, 2010
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News: IL Sues Online Marketer
An Illinois (IL) online marketing firm is being sued for deceptive practices and processing unauthorized consumer credit card transactions. Lisa Madigan, IL's Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Peel, Inc. and the company's President, Brian Dale for deceiving credit card consumers in an online "free trial" promotion. Madigan said. "Because of cases like this, it's important that consumers carefully review their monthly credit card statements to ensure they're not being unexpectedly billed." Peel, Inc. operates several online marketing sites including seattlecoffeedirect.com, metroroasters.com, posterpass.com and shopdani.com. The web sites offered a variety of products including coffee, jewelry, and posters.
According to the suit which was filed in Cook County Circuit Court, Dale's web sites offered "free trials" where the customer was only required to pay a small shipping and handling fee. The sites acquired the credit card information from the consumer to pay for the fees. However, the companies use the credit card information to enroll the customer in a membership which charges their card account $19.99 to $49.99 a month. After the customers discovered the unauthorized charges, for many, any attempt to contact the company's customer service department was futile. Some customers were able to get through to customer service and were told they would be receiving a credit for the unauthorized charges and would stop charging the fees, however, never did.
Together, the Illinois Consumer Fraud Bureau and the Better Business Bureau received over 2,300 complaints by customers claiming Peel Inc. processed unauthorized credit card charges on their accounts. The lawsuit claims that the defendants, Peel Inc. and Dale violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Madigan is asking for a permanent injunction barring the defendants from doing business in Illinois, $50,000 fine for violating the Consumer Fraud Act, a $50,000 fine for each violation, and restitution. Any additional consumers who believe they have been violated by Peel Inc and its web sites may contact Madigan's office at www.illinoisattornegeneral.gov.