After using our credit card to purchase a bus fare in June "Passport to Fun" (PtF) began charging our VISA $36.95 each month for a service we never requested or authorized. The charges continued through June for a total of over $2,100. We never knew who they were, what they did, or in any way benefited from their subscription service.
We thought these VISA charges were for something else, and therefore did not recognize the fees as being fraudulent until the summer of 2011. When we detected the unauthorized charges, we contacted PtF to
1) Explain that we'd never authorized the payments and wanted them to stop immediately,
2) Inquire about how they obtained our VISA card details, and
3) Request a refund of all charges.
PtF indicated that they had obtained our credit card details from Greyhound Bus Lines following the purchase of tickets in June. We have no idea why Greyhound authorized the release of this data.
PtF then offered to refund only the last two months of charges, including that from June when PtF had cynically increased the rate to $41.95! PtF refused to refund the rest of our money, although we explained we were senior citizens on a fixed social security income.
We are now preparing to escalate our complaint against PtF and will be seeking advocacy from a number of agencies, media investigative reporters, Chambers of Commerce, the BBB, and senior citizens groups.
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