Easybakeware.com offered a free bakeware pan. I quote directly from their website:
"Choose any one pan free. How can that be? We want you to try a pan - ON US!" "Just take one free, with no further obligation to you. Yours to keep, FREE!" "$20 value! Yours FREE!"
Somehow, I still had the impression I was being offered a baking pan for free.
When looking over my Visa bill, I noticed some company I had never heard of charged my Visa debit card for $29.95 for a free trial of something called a "journey pass". I never ordered any free trial. I had to call my bank to get the phone number the charge originated from, but when I called the company, it turned out to be something called Global Travel. They said they were one of Easy Bakeware's companies, that I had requested the free trial and that "nobody here is going to give you a refund." I have absolutely no emails, merchandise or information about this company!
I was ordering bakeware. What does bakeware have to do with travel? When I entered my e-mail address on EasyBakeware.com's site, as well as my Visa card information for the shipping charges, it was because Easybakeware required a credit card to pay for shipping costs for the "free" bakeware. It was not to agree to the terms of some fly-by-night travel service!
Now I know why their bakeware is "free." This is scam; deceptive advertising and bait and switch.
I never gave Global Travel my credit card information. It was given to them by Easybakeware. I received nothing tangible from Global Travel, which I believe constitutes fraud.
I did a little research, and found many other complaints. Apparently, you don't learn about the monthly charge until you check the button for the $1 shipping. And it is buried within a huge paragraph of ad copy, so it is very easy to just go down and click 'submit'.
Also, I found out that the website is very deceptive about adding the part about having a monthly fee charged to you. This doesn't show up until AFTER you enter your credit card information. I had read the entire screen before I entered my card info. Who would think you would need to reread a screen before hitting "enter" because new information and conditions were added?
I don't have time to study every offer to make sure they are legitimate and are not attempting to switch people to an entirely different offer. But as a precaution, I carefully read EVERYTHING on easybakeware's site before ordering, and all of it promised a free pan with no obligation to purchase anything. (And there is absolutely NOTHING on their website about Global Travel.)
I searched the web and found no less than nearly 36 million searches on "Journey Pass." The simplest search brought up 100 complaints about Global Travel, many concerning the very same thing that happened to me through the EasyBakeware.com website.
Regarding their unuthorized use of my Visa card number, please see the following from easybakeware's website:
From easybakeware.com's "privacy notice":
Orders
We request information from you on our order form. To buy from us, you must provide contact information (like name and shipping address) and financial information (like credit card number, expiration date). This information is used for billing purposes and to fill your orders. If we have trouble processing an order, we'll use this information to contact you.
Security
We take precautions to protect your information. When you submit sensitive information via the website, your information is protected both online and offline.
While we use encryption to protect sensitive information transmitted online, we also protect your information offline. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, billing or customer service) are granted access to personally identifiable information. The computers/servers in which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment.
I suggest anyone who has been ripped off dispute the charge, contact the Federal Trade Commission and your state's Attorney General's Office. Even if I don't get my money back, which is in doubt, I hope I can at least stop them from taking other peoples' money.
* This address and phone number for Global Travel was taken from other usacomplaints.com, since I still have absolutely no information about this company.
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