webloyalty

Update: Dec. 15, 2009 7:50 a.m.: To include US Airways in list of companies that have stopped using post-transaction companies.

Priceline, an online travel site accused by the government of selling customer credit card information to "scam" marketers, says it no longer has any relationship with those marketing firms.

Company spokesman Brian Ek said Priceline, perhaps best known as the "name your price" company, stopped using post-transaction firm Affinion sometime last month. The news was first reported by The Connecticut Post.

In May, the U.S. Senate launched a probe of the company, as … Read more

For years, baffled consumers looked to Visa, MasterCard, and American Express for answers when mysterious charges from "shadowy companies" began appearing on their credit card statements.

Even though all three card companies have rules designed to protect users from unauthorized charges as well as to weed out problem-plagued merchants, thousands of people appear to have complained to their card companies for years about three post-transaction marketing companies: Webloyalty, Vertrue, and Affinion. Perhaps as many as 30 million people were affected, according to a government report.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation launched an investigation … Read more

Another e-tailer criticized by federal lawmakers two weeks ago for profiting from "misleading" and "deceptive" marketing practices appears to be rethinking its position.

VistaPrint, an online printing company, announced Monday it has "terminated its contract" with Vertrue, a so-called post-transaction marketing company that has come under scrutiny along with competitors Affinion and Webloyalty. This summer, the U.S. Senate Commerce committee began looking into scores of consumer complaints about the marketers--some going back years.

VistaPrint said in a statement that the company's contract with Vertrue ends December 20.

The three Connecticut-based marketing firms … Read more

Web shoppers are in need of a digital-age Ralph Nader, the kind of firebrand consumer advocate who can focus public scorn on unscrupulous merchants.

Last week, the U.S. Senate Commerce committee revealed that some of the Web's best-known retailers, including Barnes & Noble, Hotwire, Yahoo, Pizza Hut, Travelocity, Fandango, and Victoria's Secret, were part of a dubious marketing operation designed to mislead their own customers.

Serious questions about who's policing e-commerce were raised after the Commerce committee issued a report detailing how three marketing firms, Affinion, Webloyalty, and Vertrue, generated $1.4 billion with the help … Read more

First, the good news for consumers: the U.S. government's investigation into how dozens of well-known online stores worked with controversial marketers to "deceive" customers out of $1.4 billion has prompted some retailers, including Continental Airlines, to sever ties with the marketers.

Now, the bad news: the marketers--Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty--are still in business and judging from the responses of many of the retailers involved, such as Priceline, Classmates.com, FTD, Shutterfly, and Orbitz, it will be business as usual. They see nothing wrong with the marketing practices that millions of angry online shoppers and members … Read more

Updated at 2:50 p.m. PST to include quotes from senators and names of retailers that do business with Vertrue, Webloyalty, and Affinion.

Words like "scam," "fraud," and "arrest" filled the air during a Senate hearing on Tuesday that focused on the controversial marketing companies that allegedly dupe consumers into paying monthly fees to join online loyalty programs.

Vertrue, Webloyalty, and Affinion generated more than $1.4 billion by "misleading" Web shoppers, said members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which called the hearing. Lawmakers saved … Read more

Tuesday could turn out to be an embarrassing day for a score of online retailers, such as Continental Airlines, FTD, and Classmates.com.

The so-called mystery charges that have appeared on some of their customers' credit card statements will come under scrutiny at a hearing held by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

At the center of the federal probe are Webloyalty, Affinion, and Vertrue, companies that make "cash-back" and coupon offers to consumers and charge them monthly fees to enroll in their loyalty programs. The reason the government is involved is that for … Read more

Update 1:15 p.m. PDT: Added quotes from Vertrue.

Vertrue, which operates a so-called Web loyalty program, apparently isn't as forthcoming with information as some U.S. Senators would like.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate's Commerce Committee issued a subpoena to Vertrue requiring that the privately held company turn over documents that committee investigators requested in May, including communications with business partners and credit card companies.

Companies like Norwalk, Conn.-based Vertue, along with WebLoyalty and Affinion, are marketers that make "cash-back" and coupon offers to consumers and charge those who enroll in their … Read more

Update: 11:20 a.m. Friday, July 24, 2009: To include comments from Orbitz.

Thousands of Web shoppers have complained that "mystery charges" are showing up on their credit card statements and have accused those who operate so-called Web loyalty programs of duping them into signing up.

As a result, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee is investigating Vertrue, WebLoyalty, and Affinion--companies who make "cash-back" and coupon offers to consumers and charge those who enroll in their loyalty programs.

If you think that anyone who unwittingly signs up to one of these programs must be an … Read more