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OPINIONS
Thumbs down: Shoppers, beware of misleading online offers
The next time you're buying movie or plane tickets online, you might want to throw in some extra caution before responding to any pitches you receive.
An investigative report released Tuesday by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation says many of those offers you get while "checking out" on a purchase are ploys to get consumers unwittingly to join a club that will place monthly charges on a credit or debit card.
The report by the committee, chaired by U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., focused on three direct marketing companies -- Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty. The report alleges that the three companies gain access to online customers by entering into financial agreements with reputable online Web sites and retailers.
According to the investigation, the three companies insert their sales offers into the "post-transaction" phase of an online purchase, after consumers have made a purchase but before they have completed the confirmation process. These offers usually promise cash back rewards and appear to be related to the transaction. In addition, the consumer's credit or debit card data is transferred to the membership club, which after a while begins charging a monthly fee of $10-20, the Senate report says.
Sound like a dubious practice? Indeed it is, and it has resulted in more than 35 million enrollments into the three companies' membership clubs since 1999.
Clearly, Congress should move quickly to outlaw these kinds of practices and at the least require companies to be more forthright about what the consumer is getting into.
Meanwhile, consumers should be on high alert when conducting online purchases so that they don't become unwilling members of a club they don't want to join.
