Unauthorized Charges
Complaint
Zita Rundel
Country: United States
I've been getting a $16.95 charge to my Discover Credit Card for several months now. I do not recall making any charges to any such service. They say 'membership' when I tried to call the number that shows up: 888-833-7279 and the voice recorded message says 'Thank you for calling membership services. We are unavailable at this time. Call back during business hours....' This seems to be what I get regardless of the time I call.
The full information that shows up on my billing is:
WC *VALUE PLUS 888-833-7279 MN 89463225 12
In looking this up on the internet, I see that I am not alone in these type charges. I also do not know how they got my information to make such charges.
I would like to cancel and have my money refunded.
Zita
The full information that shows up on my billing is:
WC *VALUE PLUS 888-833-7279 MN 89463225 12
In looking this up on the internet, I see that I am not alone in these type charges. I also do not know how they got my information to make such charges.
I would like to cancel and have my money refunded.
Zita
Comments
Jun 21 Deal Surprise Inc 909-465-0339 CA – When I called they were still closed. I will try later.
Jul 02 EASY SAVER 800-262-6199 – I called and cancelled and asked for a full refund. They gave me a refund for only 1 month. I called back and got their mailing address so I can request a full refund. I have to wait to see if my VISA was credited.
Here is the address;
Consumer Affairs
PO 280
Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17274
When writing to them you have to include a reference number that the representative should provide you when you call to complain.
You can find more info on this company on BBB’s site;
http://www.dc.bbb.org/report.html?national=Y&compid=7628
Jul 10 WC *Value Plus 888-833-7279 – I called and cancelled my membership that I never signed for and the reprensentative said that consumer affairs dept will send a form to me so I can get money back. (Yeah right). I waited an hour and I called back and I spoke to Ariel. I demanded my full refund and she state that I should call back within 24 – 48 hours to receive my full refund. I will call back tomorrow and we will see what happens. Then I have to wait to see if my VISA was credited.
WC *VALUE PLUS 888-833-7279 MN $ 14.95 these were the charges
Mail and fax that back to substantiate your claim, and keep copies of all correspondence.
When you find fraudulent charges on an account statement, and you find thru searching on-line, a pattern of similar fraudulent activity connected to that "merchant", always file a complaint with FTC and your state AG.
I
Got new card.
http://www.complaintsboard.com/bycompany/wc-value-plus-a292.html
Amazing.
Most of the complaints are "billing or collection" issues, which would include unauthorized charges similar to what most complaints are alleging.
The BBB report claims all complaints are "resolved", and that the "number and type of complaints are not unusual for a company in this industry.". I guess in this "industry" it is "normal" to just take money from people's bank accounts, or put charges on their credit cards. How apparently routine unauthorized charges can be "resolved", just by giving the money back, with no warning to other consumers, is beyond me.
Provell
11100 Wayzata Blvd
Suite 680
Hopkins, MN 55305
Telephone: (952) 258-2000
Fax: (952) 258-2100
www.valueplusonline.com
The BBB reports on members and non-members. If a company is a member of the BBB, it is stated in this report
Original Business Start Date: March 1986
Principal: Mr. George S Richards, Pres/CEO
Customer Contact: Mr. Michael Murphy - (952) 258-2000
TOB Classification: Business Promotions - General
BBB Membership: This company is not a member.
Additional DBA Names
Budget Savers
Damark
DMK Vacation Passport
Value Plus
Membership Services
Principal Officer
Mr. George S Richards is the Pres/CEO of the company.
Customer Service Contact
Mr. Michael Murphy is the complaint contact person for this company and should be contacted at (952) 258-2000 before filing a complaint with the BBB.
Customer Experience
Provell has been the subject of some complaints, mainly regarding sales practices, refund issues and billing. Complaints processed by the Bureau in it's three year reporting period have been resolved the complaint issues. The number and type of complaints are not unusual for a company in this industry.
When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.
The Bureau processed a total of 121 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. 73 of these were closed in the past year. Of the total of 121 complaints closed in 36 months, 73 were closed in the last year.
Billing or Collection Issues
BBB Definition: Billing or Collection Issues - Claim alleging billing errors, unauthorized charges, or questionable collection practices.
Resolved
BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues.
10 - Company resolved the complaint issues. The consumer acknowledged acceptance to the BBB.
81 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB.
Administratively Closed
BBB Definition: Administratively Closed - The BBB determined that the complaint could not be satisfactorily settled using standard methods of voluntary dispute resolution
2 - BBB determined the company made a reasonable offer to resolve the issues, but the consumer did not accept the offer.
Sales Practice Issues
BBB Definition: Sales Practice Issues - Claims of alleged sales presentations made in person or by telephone that contain misrepresentations of the product or service, high pressure sales practices, failure to disclose key conditions of the offer, and verbal representations not consistent with written contractual terms or agreements.
Resolved
BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues.
10 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB.
Administratively Closed
BBB Definition:
Administratively Closed - The BBB determined that the complaint could not be satisfactorily settled using standard methods of voluntary dispute resolution
1 - BBB determined the company made a reasonable offer to resolve the issues, but the consumer did not accept the offer.
Delivery Issues
BBB Definition: Delivery Issues - Claims alleging delayed delivery of ordered merchandise.
Resolved
BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues.
3 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB.
Administratively Closed
BBB Definition:
Administratively Closed - The BBB determined that the complaint could not be satisfactorily settled using standard methods of voluntary dispute resolution
1 - BBB determined the company made a reasonable offer to resolve the issues, but the consumer did not accept the offer.
Customer Service Issues
BBB Definition: Service Issues - Claims of alleged delay in completing service, failure to provide promised service, inferior quality of provided service, or damaged merchandise as a result of delivery service.
BBB Definition: Customer Service Issues - Claims alleging unsatisfactory customer service, including personnel's failure to provide assistance in a timely manner, failure to address or respond to customer dissatisfaction, unavailability for customer support, and/or inappropriate behavior or attitude exhibited by company staff.
Resolved
BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues.
2 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB.
Product Issues
BBB Definition: Product Issues - Claim alleging a product does not meet the expectations of the complainant, including defective merchandise.
Resolved
BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues.
1 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB.
Refund or Exchange Issues
BBB Definition: Refund or Exchange Issues - Claim of alleged failure to honor company policy or verbal commitment to provide refunds, exchanges, or credit for products or services.
Resolved
BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues.
1 - Company resolved
BBB Definition: resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues.
the complaint issues. The consumer acknowledged acceptance to the BBB.
9 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB.
Company Management
Additional company management personnel include:
Mr. Mike McGowan - Supervisor, Marketing
Additional DBA's, and Telephone Numbers
Additional DBA Names
WC Value Plus Membership Services
Additional Phone Numbers
Tel: (800) 475-1942
Tel: (888) 833-7279
For example:
www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/243/RipOff0243472.htm
They appear to get account information from a number of other companies, and use it to open "memberships" and charge the accounts. Even when they agree to credit back the charges, they have been reported to run thru additional charges a few months later.
If you find their charges on your accounts, dispute in writing thru your bank (Reg. E dispute of an unauthorized charge for checking accounts, FCBA dispute for credit cards), and close the account or change the account number to block future charges.
File complaints with FTC.
They may be getting information from other merchants, or they may be getting information thru "list brokers" such as this, who may in turn be getting it from some merchants, or possibly even banks.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/10/listbrokers.shtm
"For Release: October 9, 2007
Federal Enforcers Target List Brokers
Defendants Sold Consumers’ Account Information to Undercover Investigators Posing as Corrupt Cross-Border Telemarketers; Sale of Data Could Facilitate Identity Theft
The Federal Trade Commission has joined forces with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois to halt an illegal operation that sold lists of consumers to Canadian telemarketers who planned to use them unlawfully. The lists included consumers’ credit card and bank account information, exposing thousands of consumers to possible identity theft, and violating federal law.
The USPIS set up an undercover sting – using postal inspectors who posed as Canadian telemarketers – and sought to buy lists that contained consumers’ credit card account numbers and security codes, and bank account numbers and routing codes, so they could offer credit cards to U.S. consumers for a one-time, up-front fee. It’s a violation of federal law to sell such lists, but Practical Marketing, Inc., sold them to the undercover inspectors. Randy G. Massey, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, brought federal criminal charges, and Practical Marketing pled guilty to identity theft and was sentenced to a criminal fine of $10,000, and ordered to make payment of $100,000 to the Postal Inspection Service Fraud Fund to assist the Service in investigating and prosecuting fraud cases.
In a separate civil action, the FTC charged Practical Marketing and its principals with assisting telemarketers who were purchasing lists in order to solicit U.S. consumers to pay advance fees to get “guaranteed” credit cards with substantial credit limits. Selling lists with unencrypted credit card and bank account information – so called “full data leads”– violates the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule. In addition, the TSR bars telemarketers from charging fees in advance to obtain credit cards. The FTC charged that the telemarketers violated the Rule by offering advance-fee credit cards, and the list brokers knowingly assisted the telemarketers in that unlawful conduct.
..."
That is how bank ACH disputes are supposed to work.
Adding FTC Consumer Sentinal and various consumer forum complaints on top of this assists other consumers in knowing how to handle the matter, and provides a trail for use when Texas AG finally gets around to dealing with them.
See, for example, this case:
http://www.occ.treas.gov/netbank/FurstandNolleACHPolicyPaper6.pdf
"...
An example at the federal level is the complaint filed in January of 2004 by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charging a third-party ACH processor, First American Payment Processing, Inc. (“First American”) with violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).44 Specifically, the FTC alleged that First American processed ACH payments for telemarketers who they knew or
should have known were deceptively selling advance-fee credit cards and engaging in other deceptive or abusive telemarketing practices.45 Additionally, the FTC alleged that First American engaged in an unfair practice by systematically breaching its contractual promise to
banks to adhere to the NACHA Rules governing the ACH network. The NACHA Rules
specifically prohibit the processing of ACH transactions on behalf of merchants engaged in “cold-call” outbound telemarketing.46 The final order issued by the FTC prohibits First American from processing payments if it has information indicating that the business practices of a merchant violate the TSR, NACHA Rules, or the FTC Act.47 Such information would include
when unauthorized return rates exceed the 2.5 percent threshold for return entry monitoring under NACHA Rules, or when there are significant numbers of consumer complaints in any given month regarding unauthorized charges. In addition, the order requires First American to investigate the business practices of each of the companies for which it processes transactions.
..."
As already noted above, obtaining and selling consumer bank account and credit card information, to be then used to put thru unauthorized charges, is identity theft.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/10/listbrokers.shtm
From above:
"Luis M. - 15 Aug 2007
They could not tell me how they got my info, but readily refunded my money. I then called EASY SAVER in Florida AND THE SAME LADY ANSWERED!! I asked her what kind if scam this is, all she said is she would refund my money and cancel. Late July I went back to the bank (about to have back surgery) and I asked for a manager. She said she could not refund onky csnctl. I asked, you get info from a third party you can't or wont name. I was at tge branch and she spoke to my rep and told her both companies have been charging me 14.95 EACH since October 2006! She says she has proof I signed up for this when I purchase a vacuum cleaner in October I never did such a thing. I asked for an invoice and by coincidence they were closing.I called today and they said tgerecwas hi billing deprmt. Then I simply asked "you get personal info from a third party AND DO NOT VERIFY OR CALL TO CONFIRM ANY INVOICES AND CHARGE about 30$/month and you see they never use U R services, you dont have a bilking dept, you say you say you dont know the name of the company thatsold me a 260$ product, cannot provide invoice for said item and will npt return approx. 675$. She asked I not contact Consumer Affairs, that they will run an internal investigation and get back to me! I am having my bank take on an investigation!! And disputing ALL the charges. I may have to pay certain costs,but by costs will not supercede the 260+ and approx. 360$ in fradulent costs. So it is worth it. IF OTHERS DO NOT HAVE THE TIME, please contact me and I would love to assist in any way possible. I am disabled and have some TIME on my hands."