Are you being ripped off by an online company?

Question:

In 2006, AOL announced that it would stop charging for @aol.com email addresses. Since then most of the customers have been switched to the free service, however there are still a few less internet savvy users out there that are paying for email service that is supposed to be free; many of them not even noticing.

This is just one example of how people are being ripped off every day from online companies. Are you being ripped off? How about someone you know?

Answer:

While I am not currently being ripped off by AOL’s shady business practice of continually billing someone for something that is free, I think I might know someone who is. And all I have to say is: If this person is paying for this service than he/she is less internet savvy than I could have ever imagined and he/she deserves it.

Other than that, I am not currently being ripped off by any online company to my knowledge. There was a time a few years ago, however, that “someone” I know was being ripped off by a company who cheated him out of a couple hundred dollars…he has not seen that money to this day.

Webloyalty, Vertrue, and Affinion are companies that charge your credit card tiny amounts. Usually when they show up on your card you’ll see the words “rewards” or “club.” Most people don’t recall paying for a service or signing up for one and now the Senate has finally decided to do something about these companies.

So, when exactly do you sign up for things like WebLoyalty? Have you ever purchased something online then found yourself barraged by popups for $10 off or some kind of rebate? That’s where they get you.

Webloyalty has been known to act like a company that had something to hide. It has grown to be a company that hides information from the public and buries negative stores to try to make sure people don’t see them.

Now, however, there is one person out there trying to get the company to talk about their shady business practices:

However, Webloyalty may have learned from past mistakes. Webloyalty’s corporate PR office e-mailed me after I Twittered that I was looking for former employees of these three companies — no luck, I probably would have done better hitting some of the bars in downtown Stamford — to ask if I needed anything.

I wanted to know: How is the company considering changing its practices in light of the congressional investigation? “Although the incidence of individuals who appear to have clicked through our process without reading what they were doing is quite small as compared to all of our members, even a few is too many,” Beth Kitchener, Webloyalty’s vice president of corporate communications, said in an e-mail exchange. “The class action lawsuit settlement as well as the issues raised by the Senate Commerce Committee put an exclamation point on the need to get this number as low as possible.”

Source

While it’s been a few years since I found myself angry about overdraft fees in my own bank account, after reading a few articles on the internet about other people incurring fees (and accumulating them over the course of a few days) I have once again found myself angry at banks for allowing people to incur these fees.

First of all, I know that banks make most of their money on fees that they charge their customers. I also know that it is a bit of an unsavory business practice to allow a customer to incur fees on top of fees all over the same few days.

How much do you have to put on your debit card until your bank decides that it’s time to start rejecting the card?

It works with prepaid cards, and I believe that debit cards should also work this way…If there isn’t enough money on the card it is declined. If there is enough money on the card, the transaction goes through flawlessly.

Perhaps banks think that they are doing their customers some kind of favor by allowing customers to get the insufficient funds fee on their bank account rather than just being declined in line at the grocery store.

You never hear stories about people getting NSF or overdraft fees on big purchases like the weekly grocery trip (which can be quite expensive for some) or even for purchases for over $20. It seems like every time I hear a story about someone getting overdraft fees, it’s typically on a cup of coffee or something small and under $10.

However, I do know someone who was allowed to overdraft their account by $500. This is why I have to ask the question, At what point does the bank say, “Wait…you can’t do that.”

Overdraft fees are stupid.

If you’re one of the people who have fallen for the Snuggie and its strange marketing/advertising techniques, then you may end up with a rebate check in the mail that you didn’t sign up for and you really shouldn’t be cashing.

What’s happening is months after people are buying their Snuggies, they are getting rebate checks in the mail for around $8. However, the check is from a company that, when you cash the check, you enroll yourself in a membership for “Great Fun” and you have just given them the ability to withdraw $150 from your bank account or charge it to your credit card.

This type of business practice is immoral, but not illegal because the notice that they will be taking $150 from you is stated on the check.

One representative from the company Great Fun has said that the business practice is not deceptive and also said that the terms are clear and inconspicuous. He went on to say that if customers want to get a refund because they feel as though they have been misled, all they have to do is call and ask.

That is just something that is praying on those who wouldn’t know any better. The method they have to sending out the checks isn’t random, they are completely calculated and they know what they’re doing. This is a very shady way of doing business. At least when most other companies send you checks in the mail like this, they include a note on it that says “This is Not a Check.”

This company isn’t Great Fun at all.

Is America Online charging you or someone you know for free e-mail?

Question:

In 2006, AOL announced that it would stop charging for @aol.com email addresses. Since then most of the customers have been switched to the free service, however there are still a few less internet savvy users out there that are paying for email service that is supposed to be free; many of them not even noticing.

Are you being ripped off? How about someone you know?

Answer:

While I am not currently being ripped off by AOL’s shady business practice of continually billing someone for something that is free, I think I might know someone who is. And all I have to say is: If this person is paying for this service than he/she is less internet savvy than I could have ever imagined and he/she deserves it.