Shopping Essentials makes unauthorized charges

ComplaintsScamsShopping Essentials

Complaint

0
Inga M.
Country: United States
Shopping Essentials has been debiting my checking account for $19.95 without my permission or knowledge. I don't know how they got my bank information. I searched the web and found many complaints about them. It's a scam! I called the company to have the charges reversed. The girl said she got a confirmation from my email address, for the membership, I then told her that her company has reports all over ripoffreport and they reversed the charges right away. Get them on the phone and be persistent! Talk to your bank as well about the charges.


Here is address of Shopping Essentials if anyone needs to write to them:

Shopping Essentials
SM P.O. Box 5152 Des Plaines, IL 60017-5152
Attention: Customer Relations                
Phone: 888-243-6180

Comments

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  • 0
    Anonymous
    My son had ordered something from Vita-cost, and then received a $59.85 withdrawal from his account today. I called Shopping Essentials and chewed them out and got the money debited back without giving an account number. They new him by his name and address.  Parents have your kids be so careful with what they order online cuz many of the internet sites are hooked into some other fraudulous site to get a piect of the action. They and we work too hard to be taken advantage of.
  • 0
    XxViciouSxX
    does anybody know if they have a website? they tried to scam me, i knew it was a scam though, but i would like some revenge for them thinking that they could fool me, if anyone knows of how they can be reached online i would like to know... im going to get some revenge, if i get anymoney out of it i will let all of you guys know, it belongs to you guys anyway
  • 0
    scam
    I ordered from restraurant.com and all of a sudden I was enrolled in a company called shopping essentials plus. They have been charging my charge card since September and I never noticed until I stopped using the charge card. This company is a scam. Called the company and they said they would credit my account the full amount. Let's see how long that takes.
  • 0
    Winn
    They stole my credit card information and keep charging on my card. I reported to the fraud department.
  • 0
    Goobetter
    I am now a victim, but the dollar amount is too small for my bank to investigate.  I don't have much for details, but I will help if you are still investigating.  Goobetter@gmail.com
  • 0
    DLJ
    I'd like to know how the heck they got our information. My husband and I are totally peeved about this. They have taken out $79.80 already and we just caught it. When I tried to call Shopping Essentials and they wanted my member number, phone number, and credit card number... wtf! I never got a member number. So I'm sure as heck not going to give them my credit card number which I didn't use. I used my debit card number from my account at the Credit Union.  I'd like to know how I am supposed to contact them? Oh by the way we checked to see how far this went back and found that it started after I'd ordered some vitamins from Vitacost.
  • 0
    Olympicfish
    I just recieved by debit card statement and found a $14.95 charge that I did not recognize. I called the number and then googled their name and found this page immediately. I called the company back and within 5 minutes was off the phone with an apology, a refund (within 2 days, we'll see) and it is done. I hope it was this easy.
    Good luck
  • 0
    Olympic fish
    My charge came from a phone conversation with a catalog company. They simply signed me up for something I did not want. The refund was easy.
  • 0
    AnnaZed
    What you say is completely untrue. At the Vitacost site after the credit card info has been input a screen pops open and asks about your experience with the site (like a survey) then tells you that you will get a discount on your next order then **poof!** the screen closes. There is no filling out emails or checking yes or no (Vitacost is apparently doing that "for you") then the "Shopping Essentials" charges start.

    I had to cancel my card and get a new one because of these scammers. The bank knew all about them and said that my information had been "permanently compromised" and that they were notorious for selling people's information to others as well. They insisted at the bank that I close that account and open a new one. The bank did this at no charge as part of their online safety protocols.
  • 0
    LSW
    I had the same situation happen to me. I never ordered or even visited any of the websites related to this company but my I discovered that $11.95 had been charged to my account under the name MVQ*SHOPESSPLUS.

    My bank provided me a phone number associated with these charges. (1-888-238-1798). When I called the phone number I was transferred to a supervisor who immediately agreed to reverse all of the charges buy was very evasive when I began asking questions about the company.

    The following is a portion of the letter I composed and will mail to all of the involved companies and to the BBB & the Attorney General of the State of Alabama.

    "I have never registered for a service from this company, or any of the other related companies. Per Dana (agent #154130) I placed an order from The Stitchery. This is a brazen lie. I have never visited that website.

    According to Dana (agent #154130), The Stitchery is part of shopping-essentials.com, another website on which I have never registered or visited. Dana (agent #154130) told me that a confirmation e-mail had been sent to my e-mail account however no such e-mail was received.

    Dana (agent #154103) explained that someone had apparently stolen my bank account number and e-mail address and deducted these charges from my account. The “someone” he referred to was your company.

    After researching this fraudulent and illegal activity, I found that Adaptive Marketing, LLC and its parent company Vertrue, Inc., along with VistaPrint USA, Inc. and its parent company VistaPrint Limited, are all incestuously related, each with the intent of defrauding unsuspecting and unprotected users.

    During my limited research regarding these activities, I discovered that this blatant fraud was wide-spread with hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of complaints from other users.

    Additionally a class action lawsuit is being filed by Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Eberz P.C.; 1311 Mamaroneck Avenue; White Plains, NY 10605; Telephone: (914) 517-5000.

    The lawsuit maintains that : “…Adaptive Marketing, LLC (“Adaptive”) and its parent company Vertrue, Inc. (“Vertrue”), along with VistaPrint USA, Inc. (“VistaPrint”) and its parent company VistaPrint Limited (collectively “Defendants”), are perpetrating; specifically, the practice of imposing unauthorized charges upon unsuspecting consumers who order services or merchandise from VistaPrint and whose personal and confidential credit card and bank account information is then accessed by Adaptive Marketing and Vertrue without Plaintiff’s or the Class’ prior permission.”

    Hope this helps
  • 0
    Mary Newton
    I just had $14.95 taken out of my banking account without my knowledge by shopping essentials.  How can I get it back and stop future incidents
  • 0
    JAD
    I HAVE BEEN WAITING SINCE OCTOBER 25 FOR $25 REBATE CHECK FOR PURCHASING A PRODUCT FROM  EXPRESSIONS CATALOG. I WAS ABLE TO GET THE MEMBERSHIP FEE CANCELLED BUT HAVE NOT BEEN SENT THE REBATE. I HAVE A LIST OF PEOPLE SPOKEN WITH AND A BIG RUN AROUND. ALSO, MY NAME HAS BEEN SOLD TO OTHER CATALOGS AND MY MAIL BOX IS INUNDATED. I HAVE TO CALL EACH ONE AND CANCEL AND STILL RECEIVE THEM. SHOPPING ESSENTIALS SUPPOSEDLY HANDLES ALL PROBLEMS AFTER THE INITIAL PURCHASE FROM CATALOG. I THINK THIS IS A SCAM AND THEY HOPE YOU WILL GET TIRED OF TRYING TO GET YOUR MONEY.
  • 0
    jake
    in reviewing my credit card acc't[chase]i found a charge of 16.95 that i can't recall authorizing.i called to cancel and request a refund,they said it would be credited to my acc't in 3 to 5 business days. all this was done in a pleasent manner with no b.s.will update when acc't is credited
  • 0
    Lawrence Raigrodski
    I was charged monthly fees for three months in 2007 by Shopping Essentials.  We had cancelled the service immmediately, but they charged our credit card immediately.
  • 0
    benz
    on 2/2/10 I reviewed my bank statements for tax purposes and came across a mysterious $19.95 charge 5 months in a row from Shopping Essentials. I googled Shopping Essentials and found this site. Thank you all for posting! I immediately called Shopping Essentials, insisted on speaking with a supervisor and she (to my amazement) offered to issue a credit to my card within the next 48 hours. I was lucky because after June (and a different fraud case) I changed my card number and at that point my account was closed. My bank says that because this transaction involves my older card it may take up to 10 days to show up. I then called Vitacost and was totally amazed at their take on the situation. The rep I spoke with was very aware of their practices, had no problem with me referring to it as a scam and was more than willing to hear me out; but she stated that I did indeed sign up for an account with Shopping Essentials when I provided my email address which they considered a signature. I assured them I do not consider my email a signature, but she said Vitacost does that. The fact that she was so open about this was crazy and when I asked her how she felt about losing a customer she could care less, completely indifferent. I think they make as much money off of people who don't dispute the charges than regular customers anyway. Of course my next step will be to contact the BBB.
  • 0
    BriDav
    I noticed a charge from this company on my credit card. I read the comments saying it was a scam and called them armed with this knowledge. I actually called my bank first and reported it as a fraudulent use of my account. I then called the phone number listed on my account transaction and informed them that I had not signed up for anything. She tried to tell me that I had and I quickly informed her that the company had already been reported for fraud. I told her she had two options, we could take care of this now and I could call my bank and let them know it was a mistake, or I could call my bank again and let them know they had refused to refund my money or cancel my account. She was very quick to apologize and refund my money. Play hard ball guys, play hard ball.
  • 0
    CNANA
    MY SCAM AMOUNT WAS NOT WITH AN ONLINE ORDER, BUT OVER THE PHONE AND SO NO, I DID NOT AGREE TO THE CHARGE, DID NOT "CHECK" ANY BOX, ETC. SO GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE.
  • 0
    Leanne
    Same here been getting billed for about 1 year for $11-13/month I called to have it stopped they claimed I signed up when I brought something with visa from the stichery.com never ordered from them - contacting attorny general.
  • 0
    scam
    this is really a scam they tell you that they are gonna send you a free $25 wallmart gift card as a way of saying thank you for your past purchased and be charge only a dollar and they'll give you a discount card where you get 40% discount when ever you make a purchased to any of their participating store nation wide and you will received this in the mail but the package has'nt come yet and it's been 4 months now and their charging me $19.95 to my card which I did'nt authorized how did they get my info... be carefull phone calls from this company are scam we should all file a complaint against this company thousand of people are getting scammed
  • 0
    Donald Jenkins
    A Debit showed up on my card today for $69.00, I called Shopping essentials
    they denied even billing me and said they could not give me credit without the card number. Like an idiot I gave it to her and still she said no record
    was found. Yet it was in black and white on the Bank statement. So she says are there any other cards connected to the account so she basically tricked me out of three more credit card numbers, very slick crooked people. I don't know how they got my credit card number in the first place?. Don't they have to have the expiration dates and the 3 digit security numbers? How are they getting this information? They must be capturing it from other purchases.Called my State AG and got a volunteer worker who could barely talk. Said she would send me a claims form in a week or two, what a joke.
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