Like many others, I was scammed by Entertainment Rewards and possibly by Ticketmaster. Tickets to an event were purchased in April.
It was, sadly, on an often-used, balance-carrying card, and I did not realize until 4 months later that I was being billed $7 a month for a service called Entertainment Rewards, which I had not signed up for and did not even know what it was about.
I got lucky and was able to pay off the card in full, but then I received a bill the next month for $7. "What's this?" I thought. It had a toll-free number, so I called it, and it was Entertainment Rewards.
On the first call, I waited on hold for 45 minutes and gave up. I called my credit card company (Discover) and disputed all of the Entertainment Rewards charges. I was given an immediate credit of roughly $40. Nice. But they told me I had to deal with Entertainment Rewards to stop future charges.
At work the next day, I called them on my cell and set the phone aside while I was on hold and did my job. I did my job for an hour and a half before a human picked up. This is a major part of the Entertainment Rewards scam. They leave you on hold for an inordinate period of time, hoping you will give up.
The man on the phone cancelled my account and gave me a confirmation number for that. The confirmation number is useful, by the way. I gave it to the Discover Card people, and they said that the number would serve as proof that would allow them to refuse future charges. So get that number and give it to your credit card company.
Anyway, the Entertainment Rewards man blamed me and claimed I had signed up for the service. I had not. But, whatever, it was his word against mine. I asked for a refund. He said, as others have reported, that they do not do that. I asked to speak to a supervisor. He put me on hold for a while and then came back, offering me a one-month refund. I asked him, "Didn't you say you have a no refund policy?" He said that he was "overruled."
I mentioned consumer complaints, and he said, "We don't follow third party Web sites."
I said I would report them to the Better Business Bureau. He said, "We're not a member of that organization." Duh. As if the BBB would let them in!
Anyway, since I had disputed the charges back through April, I took my one-month refund and got off the phone. I had worked way too hard to get $7 back. I think my rate was under $4 an hour for that. I had to give up.
But, and this is important, they have so far not answered the dispute that I filed with Discover. It looks, as I write this, that I will win all of the money back on the dispute. For me, it is a treat because the card now has a $40 negative balance, which is a night out or some shopping for me.
My advice is: Do wait on hold. Be firm but polite with the representative. Demand a full refund. When you have had all you can take with them on the phone, give it up. But make sure you call your credit card company, dispute all of their charges, and give them the cancellation number you receive when you cancel so that they can block future charges.
Also, request a copy of the Ticketmaster receipt (I did and promptly received it), because that receipt will show no record of anything pertaining to Entertainment Rewards. Should Entertainment Rewards fight back on your dispute, you can use that receipt to prove that you purchased tickets with no mention of them. Then it is up to them to provide documentation of you signing up, which they cannot do, because you probably did not. I am guessing that because they cannot prove you signed up, they probably just do not answer a lot of disputes.
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