I do look over my charge card each month.
I ordered a book for my daughter online recently and I'm here tonight to say watch out for these guys at Discount Book Sale.com . I am not linking to them on purpose; I don't have permission. Just here to report the facts...
What they are doing sure sounds like fraud to me and I repeated that word to my customer service man in Manila (not Florida) several times. In any case, when you buy a book there all is fine and dandy then you get an email from another place; Best Brand Value. com saying you are welcome to shop with them and blah, blah, blah. I didn't read it all and find out they charged my charge card $19.95 because they were offering me a membership and that I had to cancel it within 3 days if I didn't want it!!! This was buried in the middle of a really spammy looking email.
I just talked to a customer service rep in Manila and refused to get off the phone and insisted upon a refund and a cancellation. Well, he couldn't issue a refund because it was beyone 3 days but he said but he could cancel it. We went round and round. OK, he was in the midst of cancelling it but I wouldn't budge on getting my refund. "This call is being recorded ma'am he told me". "Good, I am glad it's being recorded because what you are doing is called Internet fraud, it's illegal, I am reporting it to my police department and my credit card company and I'm telling everyone I can what is happening", I replied. I asked for the US address since it is supposed to be in the US. I got a P.O. Box in Old Color Guard, Florida.
I didn't see that they automatically signed me up for a trial membership and who were these people, and where did they come from - I didn't even buy from that company; it is very sly....and they would charge my charge card automatically every ??? month? until I cancelled.
Blah, what a bad way to end a good day. All is well, I wouldn't back down or get off the phone, he assures me I am going to get a refund...
List junkie says:
Call credit card company and alert them; no charges from discountbooksale or bestbrandvalue either!
Watch out my friends!
I am babbling, thanks for listening and beware.
37 comments:
Thanks for taking the time to warn us. What a mess!!!
Sorry that that happened to you!
I hate, hate, hate hanging on the line waiting for customer service. You're a brave woman!
Sue
The very same thing just happened to me today! I ordered books from DiscountBookSales.com , and then started receiving emails about my membership in BestBrandValues which would be charged to my credit card at a rate of $19.95 per month until I cancelled. It gave a toll free number to call and cancel, but I was never able to make it work... just got a busy signal. Anyway, I just got off the phone with DiscountBookSales, and demanded that the membership be cancelled, and threatened legal action. She assured me that it would be cancelled, and gave me a cancellation number. What bothers me is that they have my credit card number, and no telling what else they will do. These people are crooks! BEWARE!!!! There should be something that could be done about this. From now on, I'm sticking to Amazon.com!
I got my refund and my cancellation number. They feel like a dangerous outfit all right. Long live Amazon!
Wanted to purchase book for my daughter Peach Fuzz, Volume 3. Found it at DiscountBookSale.com
They offered 1st time purchase discount for $5 and 3.99 shipping. Few days later notified me by email that it is out of stock. I canceled order. They started charging $19.99 to my credit card from DBS books place for fake membership which was never disclosed or mentioned at all. I have all emails from them and never was any membership even mentioned. This is against the law and pure theft. They promised 2 months of refund but would not refund first month. So I lost 19.99 and received absolutely nothing in return. Now that I searched on the internet there are thousands of complaints from consumers all over the internet. Here are 3 links. http://www.ripoffreport.com/Teachers/DBS-Book-Sale/dbs-book-sale-i-was-charged-19-e4d23.htm http://imakefish.blogspot.com/2009/08/beware-best-brand-value-and-discount.html http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/dbs-books-c217085.html. It appears that this criminal organization is operating under the name of https://www.bestbrandvalues.com/books.aspx. I hope some action can be taken to close them and stop this unethical and criminal group. Since they are operating supposedly from Florida this is under Florida Attorney General jurisdiction.You can file a complaint on line against these scamers. Hundreds are victims of this scam. BIG BEWARE!!
Same problem-don't order from hot mavie sale or best brand value!!
They sent me an email saying they were charging my credit card $19.95 for a membership I didnt sign up for and their phone number has been conveniently busy all day long. Their website wont let me cancel the membership without a password that I don't have. They just keep you going round and round. I hope they get busted.
The scam also applies to discountpostersale.com. What a pain in the you know what to have to deal with this! Some people just need to be called out and this is one of them. Stay away from them. I didn't have to struggle as much getting a discount however the customer service rep did get fiesty with me telling me that when I accepted a whopping $1 discount on a poster, that was my accepting membership into this ridiculous company and they believe that is plainly stated.
I ordered a book from discount book sale yesterday. Today, my husband found an email from Best Brand Value. He almost deleted it, thinking that it was spam, but he ended up alerting me to it. I was in shock and like you think that they are comitting fraud. I let them know. I did call the company and cancelled, but not without being hung up on by the first person with whom I spoke. My husband will be calling our credit card company tonight and letting them know not to accept any charges from either company.
I can't help but wonder how many innocent people this fraudulent company is preying on. They need to be shut down.
And they are still at it. I ordered a book from this outfit because of the great price. No where did I see that I was signing up for a membership. Luckily I checked my email today and called to cancel. Definitely not worth the savings. I'll gladly pay more and stick to known outfits.
I ran across the same problem today. The phone number they listed as part of their customer service was invalid and I couldn't figure out the password (because I never signed up for a membership). I found an email that I had trashed a couple of days earlier with the password they assigned to my account. When I entered it, it allowed me to cancel the membership. Just to be safe I called my credit card company and had a note put in my file that any charges from BestBrandValues would be disputed immediately. I'll be checking the online statement daily. What a pain!
Thank you so much for posting this. I ordered a book as well and today saw the email about the membership - searched the company online and found your warning. I immediately called and cancelled but will be monitoring my credit card closely to make sure they don't charge anything. What a MAJOR SCAM!!. Liz B.
I ordered books from HotMovieSale and then I got email from BestBrandValues with few hours to cancel a membership that I never authorise so it asked me for a password, what I did is saying I forgot option on they web so I received an email with few numbers as password 'it works' or a least it said that it cancel the membership.
There is a company that checks all of this companies as it is illegal to use credits cards in an unsafe way like this, I am going to contact them and give them the information about this companies. If you know other ways please do it so this companies does not abuse and still from anyone else.
Thank you for putting this warning online. I've run into the same thing with these people but caught it soon enough to cancel it. I will keep an eye on my credit card though.
John
I am so freaked out after reading all of these bad comments! I ordered a book from discountbooksale.com and the tracking number they gave me doesn't show up in the UPS tracking system. I called to cancel the membership that they fraudulently enrolled me in, and the automated system did not work. I eventually spoke with someone who said they cancelled my membership. Hopefully that is true! I'm sure I'll never get the book, and I'm dismayed that I will probably have to dispute the charge with my bank.
I also got sucked into this. I ordered a Metallica DVD for my stepson's birthday. I had originally been looking at Walmart's website for this item, and this link was provided at the bottom of the page for the item. When I ordered it I was required to give name, address, e-mail credit card number etc. just as you would whenever you order anything from anywhere. Nothing unusual. I didn't know anything about any membership. A few days later I find out from an e-mail that I was signed up for this "membership", and that the so-called free trial was over, and was being billed 19.95. I also tried the 1-866-529-3413 number and got nothing but a busy signal every time. I'll contact my credit card company, although it may be too late. I'll also contact Walmart about this fraud link on their website, so maybe they'll remove it before anyone else get taken under the guise of Walmart.
Thanks to everyone who posted here, so I know that I didn't make a mistake - I'm not the only person this happened to. I'm not sure what can be done to nail these crooks, but I think if we file complaints with each of our staes' Attourney General's office that might at least get some investigations going. Unfortunately, they're probably located in some other country or move around to avoid getting collared. Good luck everyone.
P.S. I hope that by posting this comment, I'm not unknowingly being signed up for something else!
One more comment on this. Do any of you know of any lawyers that might want to put together a class-action lawsuit? (I think it only takes a minimum of 4 complainants to initiate one) The money that was fraudulently obtained from us, along with the distress that we have all suffered might make a case. Not looking to make an extra buck; we each only got scammed out of a little bit. However, if they have to make refunds to everyone, plus punitive damages, that could add up to a lot for them. Could also result in a subsequent criminal fraud case, since there would already be a significant amount of evidence/written testimony/deposition. Just a thought...I'll check back, and look into possibilities from my end.
I just had the same experience after finding a good deal yesterday on a book my wife wanted. Placed the order, then received a confirming email saying I had agreed to a $19.95/month charge. What????? El Scammo Grande! I called the phone number listed for "customer no-service" and put it on speakerphone since I suspected it might be awhile. Finally, I got a recording saying, "leave a message and a customer service rep. would call." Hah! Fat Chance! Today I called again and got right through to a live American person who said she would cancel the membership and I would receive a confirming email this evening (like I believed her). Amazingly, I received the email within 10 minutes. I still plan to call Visa and alert them. Moral of story: BEFORE placing orders, do a Google search with seller name and see what pops up. If it's a problem company, you'll find out quickly and can stay away.
Look out for hotbooksale.com - they're the same company and if you look closely you'll see the membership notice at the bottom of a book page. I caught the notice before ordering and went looking for scam notices. Thanks!
I just found out that Best Brand Value....a company I NEVER heard of has been charging my account since November 09...and would only refund $30.00. In this day and age, I have no money to throw away!!! I'm so pissed that I missed this and they got so much money from me. If there is ever a class action suit....I'd be a part of this. How do they get away with this. No wonder their books are so cheap!
I am working for the company they are trying to degrade with.let me inform you guys that when you are placing your order before you submitted your order, you will see the order summary and if you are READING the OFFER DETAILS beside it, you will found out that there is a membership involve and if you are checking your e-mail it's either in SPAM or in your in box you will find out that you have joined a membership.sometimes let us not blame it to the company, blame ourselves as well because we are not FULLY AWARE of what we are doing...and to those people who called in our customer service department you cannot blame our representatives because mostly of our customer shows disrespectful and sometimes shouting at the customer service representatives.let us think that we are not the one who put you on that situation.you yourself is the one who's responsible enough of what you are doing.next time BE AWARE of what you are doing and READ every details on the website that you are subscribing for...anyways i hope that it clears your mind and clarify all of your thoughts.thank you so much for reading and enjoy using again our websites.thanks once more!!!
I only wish I'd seen these comments BEFORE I ordered a book from DISCOUNTBOOKSALE that also shows BBV (Best Brand Value)on my credit card statement. I never saw the email others have mentioned getting but did see the charges on my credit card two more times after the book purchases before I got through today to "cancel" a membership I NEVER agreed to. I will supposedly get a credit for the last two months of charges. I will NEVER order anything from this company again.
So if i bought a movie from Hot Movie Sales will they start charging me...? They took a dollar from me for a "trial run" and i did do something with Best Brand Value, but i had no idea i was becoming a paying member! on the BBV website there was a "cancel membership", i did, will this suffice? but also i had a charge for $9.95 that i have no idea where it came from... hot movie sales, or BBV
Same thing just happened to me and I'm now going on my blog to warn people...what a sneaky scam!
I just had the same thing happen. As soon as I received the email from Best Brand Values I called the toll free number they listed in their email and after twice going through the phone tree cancellation process which didn't work, I finally chose a service rep and was able to get one on the line. She said she would cancel my "membership" and that there would be no charges to my credit card. I am also going to call my credit card company to alert them. What is really offensive is that they ask you when you buy a book if you want this service, and I indicated that I didn't, but they enrolled me anyway. What scum!
I got ripped off too! Bought 1 book early this year. Didn't notice anything about some trial membership? 3 days? Give me a break you don't even get their product in three days. They are only in the business to take advantage of hard working people! They got me for about $90. $9.59 a month, only way I noticed is my bank issued me a new visa /debit and told me to contact this company if I still wanted this auto deducted from my account. I complained and got about $30 back. Not enough!!
Same thing happened to me, too. They've been getting me since April- I look over my statement, but just assumed my husband was buying stuff (I didn't connect, month to month, that it was the exact same amount being charged). I called and got 3 months' worth of refunds, and then called Visa to see if they could do anything about the previous 3 months. Turns out, they can only dispute charges with a company back 3 months. I'm sure the only reason I got the refund from Discount Books at all is because they have had a lot of people calling credit companies on them. Bastards.
same thing happened to me. Ordered from Nuva Live . Com and somehow got signed up for this membership with Best Brand Values . Com. I had enough for my order but the monthly "membership" fee with the alias company caused overdraft. I tried calling both companies customer service numbers and both had recording with same male voice and directed me to support on there website and hung up without allowing me to talk to a live person. Very upset
when they send you another email about registration, it is in the last paragraph. they bill you $1 for 7 days, then the 19.95. just call the toll free no right away, they will reverse the $1 and send you a confirmation that you have canceled. after the book has been charged to your credit card, call the cc company and block any further best brand values charges. NEVER USE AN ATM TO PURCHASE PRODUCTS, ALWAYS USE A CREDIT CARD, they have leverage.
Same thing happened to me, been charged $19.95 since last June 2010, and just noticed it today. Count me in for the class-action suit against these robbers. I called and canclled the membership, and asked for my money back, but, don't if I ever see a penny of it back. The credit card is crediting me back 3mos, but, I won't get the rest of the money. BEWARE!!!
they are still out there doing the same thing. Do not order from this company, they are trying to scam every customer they have!
I was on this site and several times before I checked-out for my purchase it mentioned being a "member". I saw the trial offer of the membership club for $1 and accepted it because I knew I could come back over the next 7 days of trial and purchase more things for the holidays. I also read the Service Agreement which states "DESCRIPTION OF SERVICE
If you sign up for a membership, you may receive an incentive for joining the program. As a member, you are entitled to access discounts and/or other benefits on certain products and services offered by the provider of this Service, as explained in the program materials or on the program website. Some benefits may not be available in your area. Please see your program materials and program website for details and limitations. This program is not available for Corporate Accounts or for customers who purchase products for business or institutional use or for the purpose of resale. We reserve the right to suspend or end the program or certain aspects thereof, without prior notice, in our sole discretion. We also reserve the right to suspend or end certain aspects of the program in certain geographic areas, without prior notice, in our sole discretion. We reserve the right to request additional information, to reject any order or to cancel any membership."
Unfortunately I forgot all about signing up for this and they charged me 6 months of membership fees ($9.95 per month)
This is like a Sam's Club or BJs Wholesale Club, or paying to belong to Amazon's special program to give you free shipping for a year.
Well I called and only got one month refunded.
I emailed and called again and got 2 more months refunded.
Next time I sign up for a membership to get wholesale prices on products I am going to create a reminder in my calendar to cancel the membership after the holiday shopping season.
Too many times with too many people. Companies like these need to feel the pressure of the law. Contact your state Attorney general and florida's AT and better business bureau.
late to the party but I just found out due to my neglect that bbv hotmovie sales has been charging me 9.95 a month to my credit card since january. My own stupidity for not checking my transactions every month. I would love to see a class action suit against bbv hot movie or book sales what they are doing is wrong. My understanding from another comment online was nowhere in writing on their site does it say you were getting signed up for anything. The company was called and they are closing my account and refunding me 19.95. Would have appreciated all monies refunded from January total 80.55.
Is there a class action suit? I don't recall what I ever ordered and I'm guessing they may have been charging me for maybe a full year. That's $200+ down the drain! I'd love to join a class action suit if there is one!!
Ok, I've had the same thing happen only I bought a game off SmartGameShopper.com. But then I'm getting charged by Best Brand Values and getting extra charges that I didn't know about. So the problem with these guys is they go through different names so how do you know whether the business you just bought something from is linked to them? Anyway, I'm going to head to my Credit Union today and fill out a dipute form. If anyone hears about a class action lawsuit against these guys, let me know.
I feel pretty stupid for not catching it sooner but I inadvertently signed up for a membership 18 months ago at $19.95 a month. Yeah, that's $359.10.
Same thing happened to me ~ ordered one book and ended up getting auto-billed every month thereafter. This company must be avoided at all cost. You will NOT get your money back. You WILL be ripped off.
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