My wife and I put all internet purchases on one credit card. On 1/3/04, I noticed a $14.95 charge on my credit card statement from AP9*SimpleEscapes, a company I have never heard of, nor had any dealings with. I called the phone number listed on the statement, and reached a recording. The recording asked for a phone number to access my membership number. After getting that number, I was directed to www.dealpass.com. I had never heard of this website, or visited it until that day. The website gave only an email address and a PO box number in Illinois, but no phone number.
PO Box 5152
Des Plaines, IL 60017-5152
877-836-6903 (number for SimpleEscapes recording)
Checking my past statements, I had been billed monthly by this company since 10/19/04. I had mistaken the charges for my wife's orders from another company.
On 1/3/04 I called my credit card company, Wells Fargo Credit Card Services Inc., to dispute the charges. I was told I must contact the company to stop the charges. The representative I talked to knew that SimpleEscapes was the name for dealpass.com. I was also told that dealpass.com is affliated with Wells Fargo, and is given customer information for direct marketing.
Researching this on usacomplaints.com and www.consumeraffairs.com, I discovered that other people have had similar charges made to their accounts by this same company, without any authorization. This company has gone by several names:
MWI Essentials
MWI Connections
MWI Galleria
MWI Home and Garden
MWI Homeworks
MWI Premier Health
MWI Vital Home Club
MWI, Inc.
MemeberWorks
Simple Escapes
GalleriaUSA
Several people have reported the charges after becoming members of Classmates.com. My wife joined this website on 9/19/04.
Several people also reported receiving a letter from SimpleEscapes, saying that unless the letter was signed and returned within 30 days, their credit card would be charged. I believe I received one of these letters, but discarded it as junk mail.
On 1/4/04, I was able to reach a representative by entering 00 during the recorded telephone message (an option that is not given in the recording). I was only aware of this code from reading other consumer's complaints about this company. Raykeeta (#18234) asked for my name and address, and I was told I had joined SimpleEscapes through Classmates.com. My wife does not remember any reference to or advertisement from SimpleEscapes when she joined Classmates.com.
I was told that I would be refunded all charges to my credit card within 3 business days. I also asked for written confirmation of this, and was told I would receive a letter to that effect.
I also asked for the CEO's name and the address of the main office:
Gabriel Gary Johnson, CEO
Virtrue
9500 W Dodge Road
Omaha, NE 68114-3314
I did not authorize these charges, have never used the dealpass.com website, and have not had any other suspicious charges on this credit card. I am also filing complaints with:
Federal Trade Commission
http://www.ftc. Gov/ftc/consumer.htm
Illinois Attorney General's Consumer Fraud Bureau
http://www.ag. State. Il.Us/consumers/
California Department of Consumer Affairs
http://www.dca.ca. Gov/complainthelp/consumer-complaint.htm
Nebraska Attorney General's Office
http://www.ago. State. Ne.Us/
Geoff
Hayward, California
U.S.A.
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