* If this company is refusing to give your money back YOU CAN GET IT BACK. Skip to the bottom of this post and find the link there.
In June 08 i noticed a credit card charge for 14.95$ from a company called Shopping Essentials Plus. I did not recognize this company and did not recall purchasing their services. I called their customer service line (1 800 319 8827) to figure out why i was being charged, at this point i was willing to admit it was legit and i simply didn't recognize the company. However after speaking the with the representative (Nerely was her name, service# 21097) i quickly realized that this company was indeed charging me with out my permission.
They insisted i had submitted my email address twice and thereby confirmed an interest in their 30 day free trial service and a 10$ coupon. I received no such coupon or 30 days of free service and as such demanded a complete refund of all monthly charges dating back to November '07. They rep refused to give a full refund and instead told me she had canceled my "subscription" and refunded the most recent charge. I informed her i would be contacting law enforcement if i did not receive my money in full. She didn't back down and refused a full refund saying that the terms and conditions i had agreed to did not entitle me for one, even though i told her quite clearly that i did not agree to them and had not.
At this point i recorded all the contact information and documented everything i could. I asked for information on contacting their corporate office which i was refused.
I hung up and did a whois lookup on the web site.
Http://whois. Domaintools.com/shopping-essentials.com
The link above reveals that the shopping essentials web site is owned by a company called adaptive marketing based in Omaha Nebraska USA (or at least their servers are). I called the number listed by the Whois look up and asked to be transfered to who ever could handle a refund request.
I was transfered to what i believe was the same call center as before this time with a different rep. I was given the same run around as before, they refused a full refund although she did offer one more addition month's worth of refund. She insisted she shouldn't because she could get in trouble but was attempting to pretend kindness.
At this point I did some digging on their website (www.adaptivemarketing.com) and found their best practices posting.
* HOW TO GET YOUR MONEY BACK *
http://www.adaptivemarketing.com/about_bp.Asp
For those that dont want to follow the link. Entry number 4. Reads as follows.
"4. NO QUESTIONS ASKED Full Refund Policy for Unauthorized Charge Complaints.
Adaptive Marketing LLC will provide a full and prompt credit or refund to any consumer who is charged a membership fee but claims that he or she did not authorize that charge."
Well after reading that i promptly called back (and got Nerely again). I told her i had seen the posting on the website and either they were going to honor it or i would be filing a police report. She became very cooperative, offered some excuses as to why it was not offered to me before and told me my money will be refunded in full in a few business days.
I hung up and promptly filed a police report documenting what happened. If i don't receive the promised refund i'll be filing charges. I also made sure to inform the company that if they ever charge me for anything ever again i will file charges.
Adaptive marketing has ALOT of smaller business that they own. I would be willing to wager alot of them engage in this sort of deception. If you have been hit by them please please use the link above and nail get your money back from these thieves. They post on their website that they're generating revenue in the range of 300 million dollars. I hate to think of how much of that is stolen from people who don't even know. Nail them where it hurts.
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