I am just a smidge hot under the collar. You see, two days in a row I have found that unscrupulous internet companies are trying to STEAL FROM ME. And have suceeded apparently to some degree. So I am writing this rant, dear readers, as a warning to you! And to HURT the companies that did this to me.
So here goes. First on my shizzle list is Restaurant.com and Shopping Essentials. Yesterday I found a $14.95 charge on my bank account through my debit card that I knew I had not authorized. It was for Shopping Essentials. I called their number to find out what was going on, and they claim I signed up for their membership when I bought gift certificates from Restaurant.com. I DID buy GC’s, and after my purchase, a screen popped up offering me a $10 rebate on my purchase. I quickly saw that it was shady and just closed the window. I DID NOT sign up for Shopping Essentials and I certainly DID NOT give them my debit card number! Which leads me to the conclusion that those jerkwads at Restaurant.com GAVE THE JERKWADS AT SHOPPING ESSENTIALS my debit card number!?!?!?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO YOUR CUSTOMERS??????
I got the lovely customer service rep from Shopping Essentials to cancel my “membership” but I am having to go through the dispute process with my bank to get the charges removed. I BETTER WIN THIS and get my $$ back or Restaurant.com is going to be very sorry. I will trash them every chance I get. I might even make it a weekly feature on this here blog. I also already filed a report on ripoffreport.com in the name of both these companies. Oh, and also I cancelled my debit card and ordered a new one, just to be safe, WHICH IS VERY INCONVENIENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I have no debit card for 7-10 days. THANKS AGAIN RESTAURANT.COM & SHOPPING ESSENTIALS. AND BY “THANKS” I mean, “YOU SUCK”!!
So, then today I open my phone bill and there is a $16 NEW SERVICE charge from Enhanced Services Billing/Residential Email, LLC. I have NO IDEA what this is and my blood pressure begins to rise. So I call THEIR toll-free number and am told I signed up for this service (I still have no idea what this service is) over the internet. I “cancelled” the service and suposedly they ARE refunding my money. However the customer service rep said that there will be a charge on next month’s bill that has already been billed and that I am going to have to call them BACK to get that one credited AS WELL. So, my next call was to my phone company, AT&T, to give them hell for letting some 3rd party charge my account. The very nice (seriously nicest, most helpful CS rep EVER) explained that AT&T has to accept these because of monopoly laws, that they have no choice, but he told me how to block them in the future, AFTER I get my money credited back. He said that there has never been any problem with getting the credits returned but that it does take 1-2 billing cycles. I explained to him that AT&T could afford to lose the $16/month until the credit comes through more than I could and that I would not be paying that portion of my bill. He said he would make a note of that on my account. Anyways, he was cool. He also explained that there are 4 companies that run this kind of scam, and they do it in partnerships with websites that offer contest entry or surveys-for-money. They roll it into the fine print of their “terms and conditions” – you know that little box we check just so we can get through the process but never actually read – and basically screw us over. AND IT’S NOT ILLEGAL!! AAAHH!! So, a few weeks ago I told you I had been doing surveys through CashCrate. I have also been doing them through InboxDollars. I think it is one of their partners that did this to me, but I am a little confused as to how, since I never use my actual home phone number when I am required to enter a phone number. So, my advice to any of you who are on similar sites is, be very very careful. Read that fine print!! As for me, I am done with both sites, just to stay on the safe side. I am terrified I am going to see more charges in other areas of my life!! Next thing you know I am gonna get signed up for satellite dish service or something!!
Ok, so the moral of the story is: NEVER BUY ANYTHING FROM RESTAURANT.COM and ANY CHARGES FROM SHOPPING ESSENTIALS or ENHANCED SERVICES BILLING/RESIDENTIAL EMAIL LLC on any of your bills are a MAJOR RED FLAG you need to get taken care of right away!!
GRR!! AND I’M ANGRY!! AND YOU DO NOT WANT TO MESS WITH ME! MY HUBBY WORKS HARD FOR OUR $$ SO DON’T TRY TO STEAL IT!!!
I’m sorry they did that to you, and I won’t use their services as a result. FYI – Financial Advisors recommend NOT using debit cards online/phone/mail and to use a real credit card instead. The dispute process is much easier with a real credit card – you have more rights than in the process of disputing a debit card transaction with a bank.
I always use a real credit card for these transactions and once I get the item I purchased and am satisfied that it was what I paid for, I go online and pay my credit card bill.
Thanks for the heads up! I was going to look into the companies you recommended last week, but will now heed your warning. Sorry for your frustration…I hope things get resolved quickly!
Eew. I have been buying from restaurant.com for years and never had anything like this happen! 🙁 So sorry to hear you did.
I DO know how you feel though! In December I made a purchase from Aerosoles.com for $6.95. Yeah, they debited my account for $160 (mind you this is 2 weeks before xmas), without notifying me or anything. Long story short, they were legally allowed to do what they did. I did eventually get my money back, but had to file a fraud thing through the bank, cancel my debit card, etc. So no debit card while out shopping for Christmas…grrr….add them to your “avoid” list!
Which reminds me. The Hyatt charged me $3 for “drinking the bottle of water in the room.” But I didn’t touch it. I called to have it taken off my bill, but 3 weeks have gone by and it’s still there. Time to call them again.
I know it’s only $3, but if they did that to EVERY guest and only 50% of them fought it, they’d make a lot of money.
this has NOTHING to do with anything but we ate at smokey bones BBQ and they “accidently” charged my debit card $580 for 2 meals. it was a disaster and took a while to get it fixed and they still charged me for my original bill~~ they suck too~~ it is the one @union center off of 75
Yeah, me again. I just wanted to let you know that there is something for you and Emily over at my place (and NO, it’s not more coupons, so don’t get your hopes up!)
What a coincidence, I was just checking out my credit card statement online and saw $405 worth of charges I didn’t make. I can totally symphathize with you right now. I hate dealing with this kind of stuff. Its torture!!
I find it interesting that your restaurant.com charge was almost as much as you earned from cashcrate. Did you get your check for that yet?
I just had a $250.00 charge from something called Mobile Solutions. I got their #, and was transfered to 4 different people before getting an answering maching telling me all disputes needed to be sent in writing! I don’t even know how to approach that one, so I let the bank handle it. I am going to order a new card, just to be on the safe side.
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Oh no, now I’m scared! Just last night I signed up to do surveys through a referral to mysurvey.com. I hope they don’t run the same kind of schemes! I’m so sorry this happened, that kind of thing makes me so so mad.
SAME THING happened to me!
I just checked my bank account today and there was a charge from Shopping Essentials. Could not figure out where they got my info but, I did order from restaurant.com in December. UGGHHH!
Hi, I know that stinks, I’ve had this happen to me too and it really stinks.
I never use my debit card for online purchases any more and another thing you can do if you want to still earn money from cashcrate or similar sites, is once a month or however often you need it, buy a prepaid charge card to use when you need to have one to complete offers online.
Some offers are free the first month when you sign up, but then you have to call to cancel after or you will get charged.
Emily, mysurvey.com is a completely different thing and 100% legit and you will never even need a charge card. You just do surveys and get paid. I’ve been doing them for years and no money is ever ever needed.
My firm is investigating fraudulent credit card transactions with Shopping Essential. Apparently, Shopping Essentials has “partnered” with several web retailers. We are trying to determine how and why these fraudulent transactions are taking place. I am trying to find out who else has been a victim of this scheme. Contact me to share your experience. 205-838-9012 or madkins@msnattorneys.com Micah Adkins