[ecurbh]

Here is the email we sent to Fandango:

Please delete completely my name, email, account numbers and all other records you have for me.

I have just found out that through your website I was offered some 'coupon' or something that cost me $9 per month through RESERVATION REWARDS until I caught it and cancelled it through my bank.

This is clearly fraudulent. I never intended to authorize you to give my bank account info to any third party company, and I received NO services from this 'Reservation Rewards' company. A brief google search on "Reservation Rewards" shows thousands of complaints about this company and YOUR company. Fandango's name is indeed being harmed by your relationships.

I wanted movie tickets. I had really enjoyed your service. But I will not do business with a company that allows a fraudulent company access to my bank account.

[ecurbh]

Please forgive this non-LOTR ping, but I am really mad about this.

[xJones]

Thanks for the heads up.

[Drango]

If you'll post the Fandango number I'll call em.

[HairOfTheDog]

Ping to friends. I know this isn't my normal subject matter for pings... but we really think folk should complain to sites like Fandango for associating with these kind of fraudulent companies.

[Lil'freeper]

fyi

[Darksheare]

Egads guys, thanks for the head's up!

[Darksheare]

Credit card stealth charges scam heads up by FReeper ecrubh and his wife.

[JoJo Gunn]

Something for the tech ping?

[Corin Stormhands]

Where is the HQ for Fandango?

Find out and copy this information to the Attorney General and Chamber of Commerce.

[freedumb2003]

May I humbly suggest that this go to news or f-news (I never understood the difference)?

I think it is too important for chat.

That's just my opinion. Please don't swat me :)

[sionnsar]

important ping to article

[trussell]

Another one to watch for...

On your telephone bill-- ORBIT TELECOM

They charged 12.95 on my sept. bill...said it was a set up fee...non refundable.

15.95 on my October bill. I disputed the set up fee and got it refunded.

I didn't catch it first time, because the "confirmation" email was caught by my spam filter!

They got my info when I was surfing the net...was offered a "surveys for money" opportunity. Filled out the info...got to the last screen where they say it will cost...I backed out, I didn't click through!

[GretchenM]

Excellent work and thanks for the report.

[js1138]

Nothing is free, apparently including discounts.

[Tarantulas]

I just bought something from cheaperthandirt.com, where some FReepers might shop for gun-related items, and at the end of the purchase there was a "click here to save $10 on your next purchase" link. So I clicked it and it reminded me of this thread. Here's the information from that page:

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Congratulations...
click YES below to register for Reservation Rewards and get your Money-Saving Discounts up to 50%... plus your $10.00 Cash Back Award!

Thank You... sign up to claim your rewards!
To thank you for your purchase at CheaperThanDirt.com today, click YES below to get your $10.00 Cash Back Award on your next CheaperThanDirt.com purchase plus sign up for all the money-saving benefits of Reservation Rewards, our premier online travel discounts and protection program!

Get your $10.00 Cash Back Award on your next CheaperThanDirt.com purchase just for trying Reservation Rewards plus enjoy all this FREE for the next 30 days...

Discounts up to 50% at leading Retailers you know and trust
Get discounts up to 50% on products and services you use every day from top retailers nationwide like participating Sears Portrait Studios, The Sports Authority, Pearle Vision locations and more. These include nationwide retailers... plus plenty of local stores and service providers right where you live.

Discounts up to 50% at Top Attractions
You save up to 50% at more than 17,000 top attractions nationwide and close to home. Get discounts at theme parks, museums, aquariums, zoos and more. Enjoy discounts at top name locations like Six Flags and many more! Plus save money at lots of local attractions in your hometown and state!

Dining Discounts -- Buy 1 Get 1 FREE
Get great "Buy 1 Get 1 FREE" deals at over 35,000 popular family restaurants and fast food chains. These discounts are great when on a cross-country trip or even in your own neighborhood. Save at popular national chains like participating Pizza Hut, Planet Hollywood, Bennigan's, McDonalds, International House of Pancakes restaurants and many more! Plus save at local restaurants too!

Extra Reward -- $10.00 Cash Back Award on your next CheaperThanDirt.com purchase
As a member of Reservation Rewards you get your $10.00 Cash Back Award good for your next CheaperThanDirt.com purchase. Just make a purchase anytime in the next 3 months, send Reservation Rewards your receipt and Cash Back Award Coupon and we'll send you the Cash! It's that easy and no minimum purchase is required! So, go ahead and save money shopping for your favorite things at CheaperThanDirt.com... get anything you want... it's up to you! Click here for full details on your $10.00 Cash Back Award

So claim all your Reservation Rewards benefits... plus get your $10.00 Cash Back Award! You'll get your $10.00 Cash Back Award Coupon and instructions on the next page so you can access the site and start saving today! Plus we'll send your Membership Kit email to you at your email address. Try all the benefits for the next 30 days FREE and see how much you save! There's no obligation to continue. If you are completely satisfied, do nothing and you'll enjoy ongoing savings for only $9 a month and of course you have our Money-Back Guarantee as described in the Offer Details! You can print out up to 100 discount coupons every year for your favorite places whenever you want!

Plus you get even more than discounts... you also get valuable Travel Protection with Trip Delay Protection, Hotel Over-Booking Protection, 24-Hour Road & Tow Protection and more!

Click here for more benefit information.

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Then at the bottom of the page there is a box with the following information inside it:
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Offer Details:
Get your $10.00 Cash Back Award on your next CheaperThanDirt.com purchase, Money-Saving Discounts FREE for the next 30 days plus all the valuable benefits of Reservation Rewards, with our compliments. It's a Special Reward for your purchase at CheaperThanDirt.com today! If you are 100% satisfied during your trial, do nothing. All your Reservation Rewards discounts and protection will automatically continue for just $9 a month billed by Reservation Rewards to the credit card or deducted from the debit card you used at CheaperThanDirt.com today. For your convenience Reservation Rewards will use the contact and credit or debit card information you provided to CheaperThanDirt.com today for billing and benefit processing. In the event your monthly membership fee were to ever change, you would be notified before you are billed. Reservation Rewards benefits may be enhanced or modified at any time without prior notice. And, you have our Money Back Guarantee! If at anytime you are not completely satisfied during your trial or thereafter, simply call Reservation Rewards toll free at 1-888-688-5995 to let us know you wish to cancel your monthly membership benefits and that you wish to receive a refund of the current month's fee and owe nothing further. All your benefits and access will then be canceled immediately. All the money you save is yours to keep!

Consent to receive electronic disclosures. Please read carefully and save or print a copy for your records. Reservation Rewards will communicate your benefit and other membership information to you, including payment authorization made by clicking Yes, by electronic communications, including email and electronic postings on our site. Your Membership Kit email will also include a copy of the Offer Details for your convenience. In order to view this membership and benefit information in electronic form, you need to have access to a computer with Internet browser version IE 5.5 or Netscape 4.7 or higher. In order to receive Reservation Rewards you must agree to receive these communications electronically and by clicking Yes you consent to do so. You may withdraw this consent by canceling the service. Of course if you would also like a printed copy of any membership information you can email us at customerservice@reservationrewards.com to request it and we will be happy to send it at no charge. You can update your email address on the Reservation Rewards profile page.

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Beside the box is the following:
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Check this box to accept your $10.00 Cash Back Award plus Reservation Rewards benefits!

By checking here, entering my email address as my electronic signature and clicking YES, I have read and agree to the Offer Details and authorize CheaperThanDirt.com to securely transfer my name, address and credit or debit card information to Reservation Rewards for billing and benefit processing. After a 30-day free trial, my credit or debit card will be charged $9 per month.

Enter your email address here:

Verify email:

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Then there's a big red button that says "YES! Click here now" and below that it says:
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I want my Reservation Rewards discounts plus my $10.00 Cash Back Award!

No thanks, please take me back to CheaperThanDirt.com

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And at the very bottom of the page it says:
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Offer only available to residents of the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and is not available to current Reservation Rewards members. Terms of Service apply. Reservation Rewards is owned and operated by webloyalty.com. All trademarks and or copyrights are the property of their respective owners, and unless otherwise noted, Reservation Rewards is not affiliated with the respective owners. Apple computer users need to print coupons using Netscape Navigator or Communicator. Merchants participating in this program vary by location. Reservation Rewards benefits cannot be accessed via WebTV. Privacy Policy ©2003, webloyalty.com, inc. 20415-1003

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I don't know what was on the Fandango page, but if it's anything like what was on cheaperthandirt.com, it seems like an issue of "read everything before signing on the dotted line." It was pretty clear to me when I read their "Offer Details" that Reservation Rewards was going to be charging my credit card $9 a month whether I ever ordered anything else from cheaperthandirt.com or not.

[BJungNan]

bump for good FReeper original article - no copying Washington Post!

[FairOpinion]

I had a similar experience, when shopping at another site.

I agree, that the sites, which allow this deceptive practice should be help responsible for it.

When I called reservations rewards, they did reverse the charges immediately. So call them again.

But what they are doing, in cahoots with a lot of supposedly legitimate merchants, does border on fraud. I wonder who would investigate this, the FBI?

[Dashing Dasher]

I keep wondering how these people sleep at night.

I've had two Phishing emails about "My eBay Account", which I immediately sent off to abuse@ebay.com.

This is getting out of hand... but what is being done? Are these people being prosecuted?

[nhloonranger]

WLI ReservationRewards is committing fraud via the SmartBargains website as well. Same exact scam as you described.

I noticed the $9.00 charge on my VISA card in my July statement, but WLI has been charging me $9/month since January! Shame on me for not checking my statement more carefully. But SHAME on SmartBargains.com for being complicit in this fraud, and for treating their customers this way.

SmartBargains has lost my business forever, and I'll be posting on as many forums as possible to suggest people BOYCOTT SmartBargains and all other mercants who allow WLI to thieve from their web sites.

As for WLI, I have contacted the CT attorney general's office. Someone needs to shut these scammers down.

[ThePythonicCow]

I got bit by this one just now - a year and a half after your original post. My son bought some movie tickets online at Fandango, and probably clicked on something he didn't read closely enough. Thirty days later, I got hit for $10 on that card. I noticed it a week later, just now, and will be calling for a refund.

I found this FR post by doing a Google search for "reservationrewards fandango".

Guess the bastards are still at it. I got a big pile of hits on that Google search, for several front company names for Reservation Rewards, and for a variety of online vendors in addition to Fandango.