Watch out for sneaky membership clubs

admin — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:50:50 +0000

You can find great deals shopping online. That’s especially true for the holidays. But there is one kind of deal you need to watch for. It could cost you serious money. And you might never know what hit you.

Imagine that you’re shopping online. You find and purchase the items you want. After checkout, on the confirmation page, you see an apparent coupon. It offers you $10 off your next purchase. Not bad. You were planning on doing more shopping, anyway.

It looks like some kind of loyalty bonus from the shopping site. But it isn’t. It’s actually an offer from a third party. You click through and enter your information. You will get a coupon for your next purchase. But your credit card will be charged every month.

These third parties are actually discount shopping clubs. By entering your information, you’ve signed up for a monthly membership. But you’d have a hard time learning that from their Web sites. (Hint: It’s buried deep in the fine print.)

Some of the membership companies that do this are Webloyalty, Affinion Group and Vertrue Inc.

I never heard of them. Maybe I just don’t get around enough. But I’ve heard of the supposedly legitimate sites that work with them. How about Buy.com, Shutterfly.com, Fandango, Priceline and Ticketmaster? I’ve used every one of them. Shame on them!

Getting scammed by these offers is easy. You don’t even enter your credit card number. These clubs have deals with online retailers. The retailers—the ones you trust!—give them your card number. What a sleazy thing to do!

The monthly charge is usually $10 to $20 per month. Some people might not notice. It could be months before they realize what’s going on.

This is underhanded and deceptive. If these offers are worthwhile, why are they done this way? And why are otherwise legitimate sites involved in this? They get paid, that’s why! If you see one of these when you buy something, complain. LOUDLY!

Now, these clubs do give members access to discount offers. I’m not sure what they offer is actually worth paying for. I’ll leave that up to you.

And what they’re doing isn’t illegal. At least, not yet. Congress is looking at it. This video from the Today Show has some details: See right!

When you’re online, here’s a good rule of thumb. If you go looking for something specific—like a free program—fine. Grab it. But if someone tries to give you something unasked, BE CAREFUL. The Internet is the Wild West. You’d think you could trust sites where you shop. You’d be mistaken.

If this appears on your credit card, dispute it. You might well beat it. If you’ve already paid, you may be out of luck. Nonetheless, contact the Better Business Bureau and your state’s Attorney General’s Office. The National Association of Attorneys General can help you find yours.

You can still get deals online. The holidays often bring discounted prices. You could also check price comparison sites for specific items. And don’t forget to visit my Coupon Center for online savings.

Timucuan Preserve » Shopping Online

Watch out for sneaky membership clubs