Back in December I purchased movie tickets off of Moviefone for my husband and myself. Afterwards, I was offered a $10 off coupon for my next Moviefone.com ticket purchase. I thought to myself "that's a pretty good deal, " and I clicked on it and printed it out, thinking nothing of it. Apparently I was getting this coupon through a company called reservation rewards, which I assumed was free.
Fast-forward to today. My husband pays all the credit card bills. When I get a statement, I don't even open it. It just goes straight onto his computer desk. He never questions any of my charges. I was about to make an online purchase using the same card I used back in December, but I wanted to make sure I had enough money on the card, so I logged on to check my statement. That's when I noticed a $9 charge from a company I wasn't familiar with. I decided to check other statements and there it was; $9 every month back to December. Needless to say, I was speechless.
I tried contacting the 800 number that was on my statement. Nobody was in yet at 7 AM, but I was offered the option of cancelling my account. I found it very unusual that the first option on the menu was cancelling the account, when usually it's one of the last. I looked into it more and found this website. I realized that many other people had the same problem with fradulent charges from this company. Something as simple as clicking on a "bonus" at a reputable website led to months of charges for many people.
I called back at 9 AM when they opened. They were able to tell me exactly when and why the charges started. The man I spoke with told me that they usually indicate that "after 30 days, your card starts to be charged" for the service. I don't remember reading that, but I'm sure it was in very fine print. I stressed the fact that I had never even HEARD of their company until today. At first, he agreed to refund the $9 fee for this month and this month only... Not good enough. It wasn't until I mentioned that I would call the credit card company and complain of fradulent charges that he agreed to give me a full refund, insisting it wasn't something they "normally do."
A word to the wise, be CAREFUL what you agree to and sign up for online. Even sites that seem reputable can give your credit card number away to a company like this one. Read EVERYTHING and if this happens to you, call them and demand a refund. Don't settle for being ripped off!
Kris
Hauppauge, New York
U.S.A.
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