Consumers Beware!
I went to an online site to order magazines supporting my nephew's school. A promotional box highlighted ~ to receive a discounted coupon for your order click here. I clicked and received a mini pop up box that required you to click on another box stating what I thought was the standard "you agree to the terms & conditions of the site." I agreed and was directed to an online form that required personal information which I also completed. I waited to be directed to the site that would allow me to review the discounted information, but the site just kept sending to the form that I had already completed. So, I concluded that the site was having technical difficulties, as I had to go out of the site three times. Eventually I was able to the order the magazines without using a discounted coupon, as that part of the process was never completed.
Imagine my surprise when we received a bill from Embarq (telephone company) stating that we owe $14.95 taxes to Email Discounts. My fiance contacted Email Discounts and wanted to know what the charges were for. Email Discounts informed him that I had authorized the billing for their services. Since the phone is only in his name and he did not give me permission to add charges to his phone, they had no other recourse but to cancel the charges. When my fiance first confronted me about the charges, I had no idea what he was talking about nor did I have any clue what I had purchased.
When you contact Email Discounts directly, you get the run around. They are very guarded in giving you any information, but are real expressive in letting you know that you did approve the charges when you clicked on the box.
Evidently in the extreme fine print (of the mini pop-up box) you not only agree to the terms of the site, but agree that Email Discounts can bill your phone company a monthly fee of $14.95 for an uncertain period of time. When I first entered the online site it appeared to me that the promotion box was part of site and I am not totally convinced that the owner of the site isn't a sharer of the scam. Please note that to date I have not received any details of what I had unknowingly purchased from Email Discounts, just a bill.
According to Embarq the federal government allows companies like Email Discounts to charge against your phone bill. The only thing a consumer can do to stop that from occurring is to place a block that keeps any company from charging anything against your phone bill without your consent first. I strongly encourage everyone reading this to place the block, it is free and can serve as a great protection in the event this should unknowingly happen to you.
Best regards
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