Got Ripped Off
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Got Ripped Off
Many on-line places have problems w/ this. Below is a post I copy / paste from "Adam Rosi-Kessel's Fair and Balanced Weblog" that best explains what's up.
This is what we found out. We were got ripped off as well. This e-mail from another source helped us understand exactly what happened. Hope this helps you.
Message:
Hi... I recently encountered a problem with this company but I got to the bottom of it, and thought I'd share what I found out.
I'm actually on the other end of things... I have a web store, and one of my customers saw this $9 charge on her credit card statement. When she called to find out what it was, they told her she'd signed up for this rewards program via MY website. I, of course, was appalled, could not imagine how that could be true (thought maybe they had hacked into my servers??) and so I called the folks who provide our secure credit card processing (www.virtualcart.com) to see if they could shed any light. Turns out, they were 100% aware of the stupid thing... in fact, they signed up for it.
Here's how it works - shopping cart providers (like VirtualCart) have an agreement with this company (Webloyalty, aka WLI Reservations Rewards) whereby when a customer gets to the confirmation page of a transaction in a store that uses a VirtualCart shopping cart, they see a little box saying: "Your purchase is complete. Click here to claim your $10 Cash Back Reward on your next purchase!"
It looks, for all intents and purposes, as though it's part of the store that you're on but underneath the "Continue" button that you can click, in small print, it says "By clicking above, you can claim your reward from the reward provider, Reservation Rewards." It basically banks on the assumption that customers trust the site they're on, THINK they're getting $10 back from that store, and so they click on it. Once you click on it, it pulls your credit card information from the site you just used, and signs you up for this "Rewards" program. It's the most god-awful got ripped off I've ever heard of, but as I said, the people providing cart services to vendors have CHOSEN to be part of it (although, in my case, as I suspect in many, without the vendor even knowing!!). When I spoke to my shopping cart provider, they were quick to tell me that they thoroughly researched this program, that places like Yahoo and Expedia all use it, etc etc. I then had to formally submit a request for them to DISABLE this stupid thing on my web store (I couldn't even do it myself through my control panel).
It's a pretty hideous got ripped off, but that's how it works. Hope this is helpful...
Kerry
Here's a list of some of the companies that people have purchased from which have passed cc info to WLI:
fandango.com
movietickets.com
ebay.com
wdrake.com (Walter Drake)
classmates.com
amazon.com
joann.com
jessicalondon.com
travelvalue.com (WLI aka)
travelvalueplus.com (WLI aka)
buyerassurance.com (WLI aka)
reservationrewards.com (WLI aka)
chadwicks.com
orbitz.com
jyfonline
columbiahouse.com
lillianvernon.com
skinstore.com
deepdvddiscount.com
accstation.com
virtualcart.com (shoppingcart - beware of any purchases made through online stores using this shoppingcart)
yahoo stores
expedia.com
priceline.com
ubid.com
onetravel.com
sprint.com
bidz.com
buy.com
1800flowers.com
charlotteflowers.com
priceline.com
mypoints.com
webloyalty.com (WLI)
restaurant.com
dvdplanet.com
cooking.com
allposters.com
musicspace.com
aetv.com
half.com
drugstore.com
jcwhitney.com
hotelreservations.com
lanebryant.com
ccnow.com (shoppingcart - beware of any purchases made through online stores using this shoppingcart)
lernercatalog.com
americangreetings.com
vistaprints.com
gifttree.com
ebags.com
electronicsplus.com
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