I received a notice that my 'annual membership' in something called Everyday Values, based in Nashville, TN, was about to be renewed for $129.99... And to call a phone number on the notice if I wished to cancel. I had never heard of Everyday Values and had no idea what it was or did. I learned nothing by calling the phone number on the notice - it was disconnected. Through another 'ripoff report' that I found by Googling "Everyday Values, " I was put on to Everyday Values Gold in Stamford Connecticut. This one had a phone number that worked. After being passed from one warily polite and unhelpful person to his 'supervisor, " I learned that Everyday Values and Everyday Values Gold are one and the same - my name was in the records of Everyday Values Gold. And what, I inquired, did Everyday Values Gold do? It dealt in discount coupons. How had I become a member in the first place, when I had never heard of Everyday Values and certainly had no desire to join? Ah, I learned, it had something to do with Budget Rent A Car. I was told that I'd received a discount check from Budget Rent A Car, and had cashed it. Perhaps I had; I'd rented from Budget before, and if someone had put a discount check for Budget in front of me, I would have signed it. But how did that make me a member of Everyday Values? Because the signing of that check, I was told, constituted my enrollment in the Everyday Values program. How long had I been a member, I asked? Four years. So I had been charged an annual fee each of those four years? Yes: first $119.99, more recently $129.99 (apparently the everyday values had increased!). Had I ever made use of this program, I asked? Well, the supervisor couldn't tell me that. No, I said, clearly I hadn't, since I'd never heard of it... This was, in short, an out and out scam. The supervisor has said he's canceled my next renewal fee - of $129.99 — and that he'll be sending me a form to request reimbursement for the other four annual fees - nearly $500 in all. Somehow I think it's going to take some pressure on local legal and political authorities to get that refund. Here's hoping this report helps makes others aware of this creepy scam. For starters, you need to check your credit card charges every month! It's negligence in doing that that enables fraudsters like Everyday Values to suck money from unsuspecting consumers.
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