Right about the time the government declared me disabled due to continuous migraines, this company supposedly called me and set up an account. This was during a time period when all medications stopped working and I was awaiting an experimental surgical procedure to try to help my head. I rarely got out of bed, I was barely cognitive, and I had trouble eating due to non-stop nausea. All calls went (and pretty much still do) go through our answering machine first.
I do remember this company calling us when we lived pretty much in the middle of nowhere (in rural South Dakota on an Indian Reservation) when my migraines first went to the twenty-four hour schedule. I told them no then, but somehow they got all of my checking account and other pertinent information for our new address. They starting charging me beginning in May! The first charge was $59.95 and each charge since has been $19.95. The charges are all some type of electronic checks that they write from my checking account with all my information to themselves.
Because of my dibilitating condition, I do not do much in the way of banking, focusing what is left of my energies on my family. I do not write more than a handful of checks in a year, so I rely on the bank to keep my account straight. I just happened to go on-line today to make a bank transfer and I saw this funky check. I could even view it like a paper check. That is where I got the information about the company and how I persued this situation. Needless to say, I closed my checking account and the bank is investigating the withdrawals.
It seems this company has several schemes going on, and I highly recommend everyone BEWARE of them. Like some of the other people who have written about this company—and I have yet to read all of them because of my head—I got the run around when I called them, too. They could not prove anything to me that I actually signed up for this program legitimately.
I even had to ask what kind of company it was and what services they offered. I told her I have not received any services for the 25 months I have been paying for this service against my wishes, and sked for my money back. The lady I spoke to said you could only get your money back in the first 30 days, and that she could refund me $19.95. [When I went back and investigated old bank statements back to the April- May period she said I signed up in. That is when I found out that the first month is not $19.95 like all the other charges I had found, but $40 higher! So, why was she only sending back $19.95?! ] The lady at Direct Advantage also offered me $100 worth of gas coupons. I asked her to explain how that works. Evidently, you have to send in all your gas receipts and who knows what else to supposedly get your money back. Yeah, I really don't trust them, and I'm afraid if I dare send them my gasoline receipts they will use the information I provide for some other scheme.
I hope this site and my bank can help me recover my money. I had to work on this letter for hours and take lots of medication to be able to even write about this, but I hope it helps other people. I am wondering if the timing of my disability news and the origins of the charges were a simple coincidence or if someone out there is selling information out there to companies like Direct Advantage so that they can target people with disabilities and/or the elderly in schemes like this. Obviously, depending on the disability, some of us don't check out statements regularly or closely, so they can sneak little payments in like this. Little payments add up over time and over the amount of people, too. BEWARE!
Maria
Naples, Utah
U.S.A.
0 comments