This company is either engaged in wholesale internet and credit card fraud or has the most incompetent customer service staff known to man.
August I called to cancel my membership to traveleer's Advantage. I was not using the service so I saw no need to continue. The did eventually refund my membership fee.
August 4 another 89.99 was authorized to be taken from my account by Traveler's Advantage. I called immediately to get the membership cancelled for a second time and to get the authorization removed.
The first CSR supposedly cancelled the account but said he could do nothing about the charge, that it would be 10 to 15 business days before the refund processed. I explained again that the money had not yet been removed from my account and simply removing the authorization would end the situation. I had already spoken to my bank and they informed me that I could no file a fraud report and recovery request until the money was actually taken but they could remove the authorization on their end and to contact them. They, in turn claimed that it couldn't be done.
I asked for his supervisor. He put me on hold, a computerized voice said "recording" so I know there is a record of this there, someone opened the line up and I heard them talking in the background but no one spoke to me. I said hello repeatedly and they finally hung up on me. I called back immediately and got another CSR, told my story again, they hung up on me again.
It seems they have absolutely no knowledge of the way the process works.
I called again and told this CSR I was not going to tell my story again until I had a supervisor on the line so transfer me. They did.
This person was actually worse than the others. He confirmed that the first CSR had given me an invalid cancellation code. He cancelled again and reiterated that the process was automated and no one could cancell the authorization, perhaps the executive supervisor could help me but of course all of them were out. I cussed him out, questioned his competence, got ANOTHER cancellation code and hung up.
I called again the following morning to talk to an executive supervisor, went through two more layers of clueless people and finally got an executive supervisor.
He confirmed that the account had been cancelled, which the previous two could not do, said that my original invalid code was valid indeed? And that there was no way to remove the authorization.
While we were talking I checked my acct again. Not only had the money now been removed but two checks I had written for bills had bounced as a result. I now had two bills that had to be repaid, with late fees and bounced check fees from my bank and theirs, a negative balance, and 10 days till payday.
He confirmed that they had a record that I had called in August of last year, but that I had been sent additional materials and the acct had not been canceled.
In order to get them to correct their screwup, which has now cost me a couple of hundred dollars, I have to dig through my records and find my cancellation number from LAST year and follow a multistep administrative process with their corporate HQ in order to have the overdraft charges covered.
It is not standard operating proceedure to make customers pay for mistakes made in the customer service dept. I have worked in customer service long enough to know that. I also know that no company completely automates processes without human oversight so the statement that no one has the authorizaton code to reverse the charge authorization is an outright lie. And after all of that, if I am willing to do what will amount, at my present rate of remuneration, about $1,400 worth of administrative work, they may or may not replace the money they have cost me... If it is not illegal it should be!
My local BBB and State Attorney General will be receiving a copy of this. I refuse to be a victim any longer and if I can stop them from victimizing anyone else this way, I will feel I have done something worthwhile.
CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS
Trilegiant Corporation
100 Connecticut Ave.
Norwalk, CT 06850
Theresa
Cincinnat, Ohio
U.S.A.
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