My most recent credit card bill had an item of $149.95 charged on November 4 by "HDI*SimpleEscapes". The item did not give a location only a telehone number - 800-839-0098. Neither my wife nor I made this charge.
I called the number and the woman who answered said that Simple Escapes was a membership program that gave discount in stores and for travel, etc. When I asked for the details of my supposed membership, she said that my wife had agreed to join in conjunction with a catalog order she made in October through The Company Store, a company she has done business with for several years. Upon my insistence that my wife would never have made such an agreement, she said that she would see that my credit card was credited for the $149.95 charge. She refused to give me the name and address of the company that made the charge and also refused to give me her name, only her employee number (No. 189229.
My credit card file shows that my wife did make a purchase from The Company Store during that time period but in September not October as the woman stated. And, lo and behold, a month later, November 5, a charge of $99.95 from "HDI*Simple Escapes", telephone 888-366-1305, appeared on our bill. Unfortunately, at the time I did not recognize it as the ripoff it was. This perpetuated the problem leading to a repeat of the charge this year. To our knowledge, at no time have we ever received any information from "Simple Escapes", neither by regular mail or email.
To me, a retired lawyer, this is credit card theft pure and simple. I will certainly report this to the FTC and my state consumer protection agency.
John
Alexandria, Virginia
U.S.A.
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