Getting your money back from “Entertainment Rewards”
I’ve just watched a report on NBC4 about cramming, a scam in which companies fraudulently or deceptively obtain your credit card information and begin billing you on a regular basis for services which you have not received. The report describes how a DC woman was charged $9.99 a month for 13 months. It also makes some recommendations on what you should do to get your money back. The woman in the story got $10 refunded.
This happened to me last year and I got all my money back, so I thought I might post what I did here in the hope that it might be of some help to others in a similar predicament.
I got caught up in one of these schemes after making a purchase from Ticketmaster in April. A company called Entertainment Rewards somehow got my information and billed my card for $7 a month for 8 months. I rang the number listed in my debit card statement and requested that the charges be reversed. After some arguing I got 3 months of charges refunded.
I was not satisfied with that at all so I did some sleuthing on the internet and found the company’s real-world address, and the name of its Chief Executive Officer, here. (At the time this information was not posted on their website, though the address is now.) I then composed and sent the following letter to the CEO.
Alan Bittker
Chief Executive Officer
Entertainment Rewards.
1414 E. Maple Road
Troy MI, 48083Dear Mr. Bittker,
I am writing regarding charges that your company has made to my checking account.
On at least eight separate occasions your company has made charges of $7.00 to my account. These charges were unauthorized. I have never requested any service or product from Entertainment Rewards, nor have I provided you with any of my account information. I have never received an invoice or receipt from Entertainment Rewards for any service or product.
I telephoned your customer service center on January 26, 2006 to request that these unauthorized charges be reversed. I spoke with a customer service representative named “Crystalâ€, who, working under the supervision of Ms. Candice P*****, agreed to reverse the charges to my account.
She provided me with the following confirmation number: ************
However, at present, only three of the unauthorized charges to my account have been reversed.
I hereby by demand that all unauthorized charges that have been made to my account by Entertainment Rewards be reversed immediately.
Thank you for your prompt compliance with this request.
Sincerely,
Ali Hassan, PhD
I wasn’t exactly hopeful, but a month later I got a telephone call, and subsequently an e-mail, from an assistant of Mr. Bittker’s telling me that they would refund all the outstanding money.
I got burned by those guys, too–
I noticed right away, though, so it wasn’t too much of a stink to get the $10 back.
(In my case, it was Fandango that assisted Entertainment Rewards in “fraudulently receiving” my credit card information.)
Maryann Rivers is the CEO of Entertainment. I have been trying to contact her by phone but none of the contact numbers from the Entertainment Company know or will share the information on how to contact her.
Is this a scam company or ……. just a rip-off company……….. Or perhaps a front for thieves?
THIS IS TOO FUNNY. I ACTUALLY WORK FOR ENT. REWARDS AND CAN ASSURE YOU ALL THAT IT IS NOT A SCAM AT ALL. IN FACT ITS A GREAT PROGRAM WHERE MEMBERS CAN PRINT 50% OFF AND 2 FOR 1 DISCOUNTS FOR DINING, SHOPPING, TRAVEL, AND MUCH MORE. FURTHER MORE EACH MEMBER ENROLLS THEMSELVES BY ENTERING THEIR E-MAIL ADDRESS TWICE AND SELECTING “YES!” TO JOIN OUR FREE TRIAL AND GET A CASHBACK AWARD. THE FUNNY THING IS THAT SOME PEOPLE THAT ENROLL THEMSELVES ARE IDIOTS AND DON’T BOTHER TO READ THE TERMS. IF THEY AREN’T INTERESTED THEY CAN SIMPLY SELECT “NO THANKS” AND BE ON THEIR WAY. NO, THEY INSTEAD UNWITTINGLY (STUPIDLY) FOLLOW THE ENROLLMENT PROCESS WHICH ALLOWS OUR PARTNER TO PASS THEIR BILLING INFO. THIS IS ALL MENTIONED ON THE ENROLLMENT PAGE. COME ON PEOPLE! YOU’D HAVE TO BE A MORON TO ENROLL YOURSELF AND CLAIM YOU DIDN’T KNOW. IN ADDITION, WE SEND SEVERAL E-MAILS TO THE E-MAIL ADDRESS PROVIDED BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL WHICH REITERATES THE BENEFITS OF REWARDS AND HOW THE MEMBERSHIP CAN BE CANCELLED AT ANY TIME. I GUESS NO ONE BOTHERS TO CHECK THEIR E-MAIL EITHER. THEN THERES ALSO THE MEMBERS WHO GET CHARGED FOR MONTHS EVEN YEARS AND THEN THEY WANT A FULL REFUND. IF THEY’RE STUPID ENOUGH NOT TO NOTICE AN UNAUTHORIZED CHARGE WITHIN A FEW OF MONTHS THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES. APPARENTLY, BY THE LOOKS OF THIS MESSAGE BOARD, THERES QUITE A FEW MORONS WHO SHOULD BE ASHAMED. SO ALL OF YOU THAT “CLAIM” TO BE SCAMMED NEED TO KICK YOURSELVES IN THE BUTT FOR BEING SUCH RETARDS AND BLAME YOUR INCOMPETENCE INSTEAD OF BLAIMING IT ON BAD BUSINESS.
I also work for Entertainment rewards. It is funny how all you customers say were a scam company. You all are the one’s that enroll yourselves. If we were such a scam company why do we give you your money back. We do provide you with our phone number everytime we send the billing statement. You all should just open your eyes and read carefully next time. Also dont think we are going to give you your refund if you raise your voice and ask for a supervisor. We love when you do that. All we do is joke about it and you all are the one’s that sound all stupid. Hey folks just open your eyes and be smarter next time.
This is for SAM and Jonathan (and all the people at ‘Entertainment Rewards’),
You ‘flim-flam’ people have talking the same rhetoric for centuries…saying how the people who are duped are at fault. At least back in the day, the con-artists had the gumption of pulling their rip-off face-to-face. Unfortunately, in the 21st century, you’re faceless and hide behind the guise of modern technology and deceptive language. There’s a big difference is something being ‘legally’ correct and something being ‘morally’ correct. I also see how the ‘Entertainment Rewards’ regime has you well versed in toting the company line…you both would have made good nazis, with your blind devotion and “I’m just following orders” attitude.
Entertainment Rewards also provides their services to schools for fundraisers. Perhaps a letter to all school superintendents the fact that ER is a fraudulent company.
Hey you f**king c***ts that work at ENTERTAINMENT REWARDS! Rot in hell forever. Your job is trash. Chris Rohan (above) said everything that needs to be said. Laugh all you want, dicks, but the joke is on you (look at your life)! I assumed the only people that worked there were poor, single moms who had no choice! Guess I was wrong about that one…Get a real job you sheisty freaks. What are you making…8 bucks an hour? Talking about, “you customers” and getting off on your little phone power trips. Jesus. Kill yourself now!! What do you really have to live for? -RC
I got scamed and have never had this happened to me before.
The employee’s at Entertainment Rewards are ignorant JERKS! If they could purchased a concert ticket on ticket master they would realize that the pop up window is a SCAM when it offers you a discount of $25 on your tickets for a thirty day trial basis with ER. I clicked out, but it still tracked my information. I did not want this services and got charged for almost a year at $99.00 dollars total. I WILL NEVER USE TICKET MASTER ONLINE AGAIN. CAN WE CLAIM THIS AS A LOSS AND A TAX RIGHT OFF?? SINCE NO ONE IS GETTING THEM OFF THE WEB!!! BBB IS MY NEXT TARGET.