Yes, I found it hard to believe as well. When my bank security called to question the $9.00 charge I was irritated they would bother me with such a small amount. After all, they said it was denied and we ended the call. However, after writing to Entertainment Rewards and asking what they were doing, I received email from Entertainment Rewards Club notifying me that my bank denied their $9.00 charge and I needed to contact them to correct the situation. This is what they sent me:
"Dear Valued Entertainment Customer,
Thank you for your recent inquiry. The $9 charge you received is for the Entertainment Rewards program. When you made a purchase through Ticketmaster you were invited to try Entertainment Rewards free for 30 days and receive a Cash Back Award on your next Ticketmaster purchase. After clicking on the continue button you were taken to a page describing the Entertainment Rewards program. By entering your email address twice and clicking "Yes" you were entered into the Entertainment Rewards program. By clicking "Yes" you agreed to the following:
1. A 30-day free trial to www.entertainmentrewardsclub.com that may be cancelled at any time.
2. After your free trial, you will be billed $9 per month.
3. You authorized Ticketmaster to securely pass your name, address and credit card information to www.entertainmentrewardsclub.com for benefit processing.
4. You have read and agreed to the offer details.
However it does look like you have cancled and are no longer going to be charged."
Really? I haven't purchased tickets from Ticketmaster since, maybe the 90's. That would explain why the purchase was declined...the expiration date was wrong!!! So, who's the criminal. Well, actually I believe it's both of them. Ticketmaster, you see, owns Entertainment Rewards Club, so would benefit from passing along those credit card numbers and see who is stupid enough not to notice the $9.00 fee on their bank statement.
Word to the wise, READ YOUR BANK STATEMENT! You'd be surprised how many double charges, overcharges, fees that don't belong, etc., I find on my statement every month. If you don't catch them right away you are screwed. We all use our debit cards and not checks, so yes, the statement is a little busy with information. Just don't say I didn't warn you about this scam.
What I don't understand is if the internet is peppered with bitching from people who were burned by this scam, why are either of these companies still doing it? I will be contacting my local attorney general and whoever else I can pester until someone pays attention. I can be VERY annoying if you ignore me. You should be too!
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2 comments:
First of all, before you even get charged for a product you need to read whatever legal disclosure comes with what you are signing up for. This practice of selling you a product when you're not paying attention is also popular with financial institutions. Credit protection is the most popular example. If you get a free subscription of a magazine with a credit card it'll be automatically renewed unless you expressly ask that it not be renewed.
This action, while annoying, is also completely legal so you'll be wasting your time with any professional you contact.
First of all, if you read my comment you would see that I haven't bought a thing from Ticketmaster since the 90's. Therefore reading legal disclosures or not paying attention to what I'm agreeing to are moot. However, since I was notified by my investment firm that my personal information was stolen along with 200,000 other people, it's a little curious that this happened now. Thank you for yoru comments but I'm perfectly capable of deciding what is a waste of my time.
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