Anyone else seeing charges fo TODAY’S ESCAPES and PASSPORT TO FUN on their credit cards? Each charge is for $12.95. I have no idea how these got on the statement. I’m guessing I bought something online and this was some sort of ‘extra’ bonus I may have opted into. Immediately call the nubmers on your statement and cancel. You might have to workaround the phone menu but you’ll be able to cancel by phone. Later: Some sites are saying this might be from aggreeing to some of the helpful offers when ordering thru VistaPrint.
Update 20070424: Due to comment trolls I’ve closed comments on this post.
I am closing comments on this post to save the annoyance of everyone. The relevant information on removing yourself from these services has been posted several times. But remember that when you respond to idiots, it only spurs them on. You don’t have to bite your tongue, just don’t react.
Comments
447 responses to “Passport to Fun and Today's Escapes on Credit Card Bill”
It’s Vista Print all right…I had the same problem a couple of years ago.
The bastards!
Just had my debit card for three months and I got two charges from these jerks. I have no idea at this time how they would have gotten my number as I just started researching this problem. Wow what a surprize.
Contact firesurfer7@aol.com regarding a class action suit against PASSPORTTOFUN. Many others are having this problem. Go to uspeakout.com. I was very annoyed by this company and their tactics and/or tactlessness. It’s a scam.
which number do I call?
Call 1-888-840-6303, sound irate (but intelligible), demand your charges reimbursed and your “membership” cancelled. My wife and I have done this twice (mine and hers) in the last couple of weeks. We got a cooperative person who promised to do what we asked. (Except, that is, for my wife’s demand to be reimbursed for mental pain and suffering. That’s okay. She only suffered for less than an hour from the time I found her charges to the end of her call.)
The real problem, the thing that allows these leeches to operate, is the legitimate companies, like Travelocity, that they pay to allow them to sucker us in by our own greedy hearts. At the end of a legitimate transaction, these bloodsucker offer us $20 off our charges or a $20 check to take a survey. We bite and are so hungry for the $20 that we don’t read the fine print or we take them at their word that we can cancel with no charge within 30 days. Then we forget or lose our notes to ourselves and don’t know where those charges are coming from when we notice them for the first time a year later.
Of course, my greedy heart will have me sending an email to firesurfer to see if I can get $50 from that class action suit with no involvement on my part. Oh well, you can’t change human nature from looking for something for nothing. I guess it just makes me mad that the “Passport to Fun” folks found it instead of me.
It’s worse than you think guys. I called the number that was on my credit card, and after they couldn’t find any record of my name, phone number or address, I told them the credit card number that they had charged. They had someone else’s name and address. I told them this was a fraudulent charge and they just sat there saying there was nothing they could do. I’m really annoyed.
This scam happened to me too. Don’t call the bastards directly, hit them where it counts and take some money from them too…
Call your credit card company and tell them you didn’t authorize the charges. Not only will they give you your money back, they will also charge the “passport to fun” bastards a “charge back fee”, and the more charge backs they get, the more likely their credit card processor is to drop them, and remove their ability to charge credit cards all together.
I got hit with a charge of $96.00. I had no clue until I read your blog. I think it was a scam when I booked a hotel room with Best Western over the internet. I will follow your advice
I was charged about 60.00 and it took me two months to finally do something about it.I did use Travelocity when I bought my plane ticket last December. I do not remember filling out a form, but I probably did. I just called to have my membership cancelled. I think it is unethical of Travelocity to have something this sketchy on their website. Yes, I was suckered into saving money, but Travelocity shared my credit card information with this company without my direct permission. I have contacted my credit card company and am fighting the charges.
Mine was titled “Passport of Fun” and they have been charging $7.95 to my account for as far back as my credit card company can see (6 months). Who knows how long I’ve been getting charged by these guys!! Has anyone figured out which online transaction could have triggered this?
March 18th, 2006
My $14.95 monthly charges were a result of an airline ticket booked through Travelocity. My son used my cc#, and there was an e-commerce rebate offer of $10.00. Hoping to save me some money, he checked the box, which automatically enrolled me into the program. Apparently there are 2 to 3 subsequent screens that explain the whole program; which I’m sure most people would ignore, since they are not aware that they had just signed up for the program.
Outrageous – I did however speak with a Member Services rep, and a Floor Sup. who were extremely nice; maybe the continous demands for refunds are putting them on notice. Anyhow, I was refunded the amount and the transaction has been cancelled.
The Floor Sup’s name is Tim, ID #16604. I say go straight to Tim if you need to get something refunded or cancelled.
i had this saome problem, except they took 9.95 not 12.95 from me but they charged it 2 times!
I also had an unauthorized charge for Today’s Escapes. No idea how they got my crdit card number. I did do some recent flight and car reservation on line. I’m in the process of calling both my credit card compnay and them to complain.
I had the $14.95 charge on my CC for two months. After reading this blog I think it got there through some link on Travelocity. I’m calling to cancel and I’ll definitely stop using Travelocity going forward – too much crap going on that site anyway (and they don’t let me get to JetBlue and Southwest so they have made themselves pretty irrelevant). Thanks for the help on your blog!
BTW – just got off the phone and they backed out my charge right away (like they’ve had a few calls) but they can only do the previous month – to get more back you have to go after the CC company to get the charges back.
I have been charged for $12.95 for passport to fun for 3 months now – I have called them and
requested they stop billing me 2 months ago – they still keep billing – may a threat of turining them in to the district attorney’s office will help. I am going to attempt to
resolve this matter –
PASSPORT TO FUN – DEALPASS Problem solution:
It starts at the conclusion of a normal internet activity (for me it was VistaPrint). You are invited to answer a brief questionnaire about the company. At the end of this, you are asked if you want some bonus material or free offers down the line.
It makes no difference from this point on. The questionnaire feeds through the PTF-DP people. They have your email address and credit card number provided by yours truly earlier in the legitimate transaction.
Either of two things may happen next. You may be automatically billed each month showing PTF or DP as the payee and the amount may vary between $7.95 and $14.95. It will include a credit company reference number.
Alternate event is when you receive a boiler-plate email that tells you when your first bill will be, the payee’s name (them) and the monthly fee.
If you rarely check your credit card bills this might go unnoticed for months.
Wanting to clip this scam before any billing came about, I called the credit company. They can not do anything until after the first billing. THEN, call them with the charge and the reference number and they will help you through the return process. Their policy prevents them from doing anything before the fact such as denying payment to PTF-DP.
If you do get an email as I did, there are cancellation options at the bottom. One has you going on-line to hunt around for the cancellation paragraph. It falls under the tab Contact Us. BUT before you can get there, you have to log in and read their policy rules and agree to them. No thank you.
The second option is to call 1-888-840-6303. I did this. After going through a couple button choices, I actually had a human who said something about me wanting to cancel. I said I did. She asked me for my Zip code. I provided it. She said “You’re cancelled” and hanged up.
I’ll still check my next monthly statement.
/s/ John in Fairfax
I’m pleased that I didn’t include a real email address with an earlier reply. The one I did include seems to appear with my comments.
ahhh i got suckered in too. i checked my payment statement and saw $14.95 from Passport to FUn and was like…what on earth was this? I called them and they said they will cancel me and reimburse me. Just in case I wont get badgered again in the next month I called American Express to see if they could block them. Unfortunatly they couldnt, but they set up an inquiry/investigation. I’ve also been getting charged $9.00 from some rewards company…also no idea what this is, but it seems to be connected to Travelocity. I still love using travelocity..i find them convenient and helpful even when I made so many travel changes over time. However, I’m appalled that they would associate with such other companies that unfairly sucker customers in. I despise paying for things I don’t want in the first place…
I just got hit with the charge on my AMEX and called the number listed above. Thanks so much!
Although the ptf agent told me that they would refund my charge, somehow I don’t believe that I’ve seen the end of this scam.
The agent told me that I was charged on the basis of a refund I received from Travelocity. There was no refund and I haven’t been to the Travelocity site for months.
I did call Travelocity who denied sharing my information with anyone as is stated in their privacy policy. Somehow I don’t believe them either. The cc information came from someone. I went up the supervisory chain until I got to their “fraud” department.
I also explained that I will be going to the Attorney General of Florida (which I will) and be notifying the Miami Herald (which I will, as well) and will notify the airlines that I usually used to book flights using Travelocity (which I will).
Similar kinds of fraud take place by BellSouth in sharing information with others who state that they will be setting up a web site for small businesses. The web sites that they do set up have no value whatsoever.
These kinds of scams must be stopped.
HUGE SCAM!!!!!!!!!! THEY GOT ME BY TELEPHONE!!! THE GUY WHO RUNS THIS BUSINESS LIVES IN CALIFORNIA! YET THE NUMBER YOU CALL TO CANCEL…WHICH THEY WON’T DO! (IS IN INDIA!) I HAD TO CLOSE OUT MY ACCOUNT BECAUSE OVER A MONTH THEY CHARGED A CRAZY AMOUNT OF $300!!! UNDER MY NOSE! BEWARE! KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR ACCOUNT BALANCE, THEY CLEANED OUT THIS OLDER COUPLE FROM WELLS FARGO! OVER 2,000 OVER 6 MONTHS! YOU MIGHT HAVE TO CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNT!! ANY MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS SCAM FEEL FREE TO WRITE ME AT lamamikookie@yahoo.com
I too just found a weird charge on my credit card labeled “Passport To Fun” and I want to thank the creator(s) of this site for helping me firgure out what the deal was. I too was duped by the VISTA PRINT Survey! I called the number on the credit card statement and got a very cooperative customer service person who assured me my memebership would be canceled and that i would be reimbursed on my credit card with in 2 business days. I gues it is a waiting game now to see if it really happens. I’ll keep you posted.
I think we should make a list of all companies that deal with Adaptive Marketing and Great Escapes and contact their CEO Office & also have a boycott against them!
Please! Email call the Executive office of Travelocity and post other CEO or Exec Contact information
michelle.peluso@travelocty.com
priscilla.marin@travelocity.com
Also, Catalog Favorites 1-800-221-1133 uses Great Escape amd so does bargain network!
1-866-636-8511
Ordered the “Hee Haw” dvds and was offered this scam. I was to receive coupons by mail (which I did receive but the savings was nothing compared to the 12.95 I paid per month). My husband was supposed to receive a 25.00 gift card from Walmart and has yet to receive it. He cancelled yesterday by an automative system that confirmed the cancellation but I called my bank this a.m. to alert them. The charge is pending on my debit card; but if it ‘hits’ my account I am to call my bank back and take action. I hate to be scammed and next time if I am appoached with one of these “deals”-I will just say no!!!! thanx!! barbara
I just found charges on my card also prior to reading this site. I stumbled here while looking for information about PTF online. I saw the charge on my statement that I never really look at since it’s a business credit card and I don’t look until the end of the year. I called the PTF 800 number and chose the cancellation option. I then called back to ask what this was all about. She said I agreed to a 30-day trial from a post order on VistaPrint. I said no, I always close those offer windows. She tried to explain further, but I said I already cancelled so I don’t care and hung up. I then came across the comment above about calling your credit card company to request a charge back fee. So I called and ended up just getting credited the $64 from over a 5 month period. I didn’t get to charge them, but I’m happy with the results. Just be more careful on what surveys you take!
I just called and inquired about 3 charges since January. I got a RUDE manager who said she could only offer me 1 month of credit (the current month). I asked her if she knew that she charged me 3 months without my concent….she said I was supposed to receive something in the mail…which I didn’t…the only thing she could ‘do’ for me is give me an address in Nebraska to the cusotmer relations people and that’s it. As it stands, I’m out of $40.00 b/c of these ediots.
I have just found out from my banker that i have been charged for a couple of months and this tactic is very clever for being a scam, becareful. I just read all these messages posted and i guess i’m not the only one that was charged.good luck everyone in getting your money back
Like others, I just tripped across this forum as I was searching out “Passport to Fun” to find out what the heck I was being charged $12.95 for on my AmEx. I called and got 2 very helpful CSRs. My order for “Free” business cards from Vista Print was the culprit. I argued that even if I had inadvertantly (or foolishly) agreed to some pop-up terms, I had never heard from PTF as to membership benefits or anything. They agreed to immediately cancel membership and refunded me the past 3 months of fees.
This is yet another lesson to check through your credit card statements VERY carefully.
Sigh.
This happened to me also. $14.95 through VistaPrint. I call 888-840-6303 spoke with Alexandar and they claimed to refund my charges, 6 total. I rarely check my statements, I would advise everyone to check your statements more closely. I there an alternate way to report these people, I am ready to put them out of business.
thanks,
Sorry, my English is not good.
I also was charged from PTF. Today I go online to check my debit card statement and found that I was charged twice by PTF and Athome Network. Actually I did registered for free trial for these two website but I didn’t expect being charged twice. I call PTF and talked to a sale rep. He told me he couldn’t see the second time I was charge! I doubt that how this could happen because I did registered on April,14 and PTF transaction showed up on that day but then show up again on April,17. After talking to him, he told me he would call be back after he talked to his supervisor. I also call Athome reward to ask them about the second transaction. I got the same answer that she couldn’t see the second transaction and she would email me. I couldn’t wait longer so I call PTF again. When I press my phone NO I used to register, it said my membership was cancelled. I wait to talk to the rep and ask if I would be charged twice, he hang up the phone on me. Then I call AThome reward, I found that my membership was cancelled too. I guess these two PTF and Athome reward are the same company. My bank statement also shows shopping essential twice which I never heard about it before. I called the number showing on my statement. They didn’t even have my name on membership list. How could they charge my money. These scam transaction are still pending and the banker can’t do anything until they are posted so I can file the dispute. I’m scared that I would be charge for next month.
Suchada
So I just got tricked into the scam as well, but this time it was through a different way. I never believe those “win a FREE iPod” ad banners or popup windows, but there was one offer I always heard of, my friend actually got an ipod from these people (he showed me the packaging and everything.) Stupidly, when it popped up on my window I agreed.
I found out I had to sign up for an offer. The Passport to Fun one seemed the most innocent (though in retrospect I shouldve picked a more reliable company like Entertainment Weekly…gaah. Hindsight is always 20/20, right?) So now I’m in this 7-day “free” trial period. I really don’t want to be charged. I called them but I hadn’t received my membership ID number yet (is this even real? Is there such a number that one receives?) In a nutshell she told me that until I got hte number I wasn’t technically in the system…I just better not be charged. I DID get an email from them saying that they would get back to me in a day or two (which is ridiculous in itself…)
I cannot believe I was so stupid, and getting my money back sounds like it isn’t going to be fun. The price I pay, I guess.
well, an update:
So I was still in the trial period and I emailed them saying that I wanted to cancel my membership. Well, today they got back to me saying…that they cancelled it.
Too easy? I’ll let you know if they still billed my account.
I just phoned to cancel membership. I accepted memebership over phone, wrote down all information they gave me, and later realized I had never received the “packet” of materials including a $50. WalMart card. Called back to cancel after a $24. per month charge showed up on my credit card. They insisted that I wait to cancel until after they sent me a new “packet” which consisted only of a folder with a coupon for the WalMart card which would be valid only after I filled out a survey (2-3 weeks processing time). By that time I would have at least another $24 charge to my card and virtually nothing to show for it, so I cancelled again. I figured I would have $70plus invested just to get the $50.WalMart card. I didn’t ask for any charges to be taken off the credit card–didn’t suppose they would do it. The person to whom I spoke had such an accent that it was very difficult to understand and I figured if I could just get the membership cancelled and stop the charges, that would be a big step. I received nothing that would help secure all the discounts they claim to have available. I am guessing that this is the same Passport to Fun that you all are talking about.
I recieved a telemarketing phone call from a fast speaking female individual with a thick Middle Eastern accent, trying to sell me a membership to “passport to fun”. She offered me a gift card in exchange for membership. I couldn’t understand her for obvious reasons. She slowed down when she advertised the things I would recieved and spoke really fast when she was getting into the details. I asked her several times to slow down and repeat herself. She did not comply. She asked me for my mailing address so that she could send me some information on the program to look over. I gave her my address so she could send the info to me. Then she proceeded with billing information, and I quickly said I wasn’t purchasing anything, because I couldn’t understand what it was she was selling. She kept talking really fast to explain what she was selling. I still couldn’t understand her, so I just hung up on her. A couple of days later, I recieved a pamphlet in the mail. I skimmed through it and put it aside. A couple of days after that, I notice a debit from my personal bank account for $1 from this company, and the transaction is still pending. This was an unauthorized transaction. I never gave anyone the okay to debit my account. In fact, I never gave this company any information about my bank or account #. I have no idea how this personal information was obtained. I would like this company and every employee that works for this company to be put to justice.
Here’s a twist–several months ago, my credit card was stolen and used to order things from Time Life (CDs, magazine subsrciptions). They also ordered this thing, and the charge only came through now. What’s quite annoying is that I have the delivery address for the magazine subscriptions, and neither my credit card company nor the NYPD (or any federal agencies) even want to hear it.
Anyhow, I called passport to fucked and they removed the charges.
Unfortunately, they got me too. VistaPrint, and yes, it was from the survey. I called the number that our bank had for PassporttoFun, and the automated voice said that the number was unavailable for our area code. I then got the number from above (1-888-840-6303) and spoke with the “Supervisor” (an Indian woman) who was veryt appologetic. I told them that I had signed up for the class action law suite, and she immediately told me that she would reimburse 11 months-worth of $12.95 payments in 3 to 5 days. I called the bank, and they are going to be watching my account, and letting me know if or when it shows up. I will not hold my breath.
What a scam! I am paying overdrawn fees, scraping up money for gas, and this schmuck is making out like a bandit.
I noticed the charge on my account and checked with my wife, who never heard of them. I called the 888# and was able to cancel via an automated system. Tomorrow I will call the bank and ask them not to accept any more charges from them.Also I hope they credit the #14.95!
Hello!
I placed an order with VistaPrint on April, 18 and today I got an email
“You currently have a membership with Passport to FunSM, where you can get […].
As a reminder, the next billing date for your $14.95 membership fee is May 15, 2006. Your account will be billed on or after this date, according to the membership terms agreed upon.
Your membership fee will show up on your statement as follows:
PASSPORTVISTA 888-801-2604
I called 888-840-6303, and cancelled a membership through button menu.
That’s my story 🙂
I just found out passport of fun has been stealing money from me on my credit card.
How can they do this. Where are the police to protect me. Someone should go to jail this is theft clearly. Passport to steal is what it really is. They have transfered there call center to Montreal Canada to avoid people going to their offices.
I belive the credit card company has a hand in this by allowing it to happen
I also got swept into this scam. Thanks to Vista Print. (Everyone boycott VistaPrint!)
Here’s how I solved it, I called up my credit card co. and they assigned a new credit card acct. # to me. This way, PTF has no way to charge me under the old acct number. A new acct number is somewhat a hassle but so so worth it.
I am thrilled! Hope this is helpful to all of you.
Let’s unite and fight scam artists on the internet. It’s ruining our capitalist way of life.
I was called on the phone also.On the Wal mart card I gave my account number.They went thru alot of different things I said no just forget it they took it upon themselfs to take it out any ways they cre also in with Athomerewars,and shoppingessentials. I got a new credit card and account number they took alot out of my account also. Beaware I am very pissed off. I just wish I could get a hold of the man who took it upon himself to charge me for this.
I ALSO FOUND CHARGES ON MY BANK CARD FROM PASSPORT TO FUN I NEVER ORDERED ANYTHING FROM THEM I ORDERED FROM RONCO AND I STARTED SEEING CHARGES FROM PASSPORT BUNCH OF DAMN CROOKS
I CALLED THE 800# GOT RECORDINGS AND CANCLED
WE WILL SEE
I just got charged 9.95 from the same company and I had no idea these companies were allowed to take your information from what you believe is a legitimage site, like travelocity. I called the company directly myself, and they could not find any record of my name, address or phone number. So hmmm…how are they able to charge my card when they don’t even know who I am??? Either way, they then asked me for my credit card number to help expediate the process…..yah right, HA HA HA…no way! So my advice…call your credit card company, they have a little more pull at getting your money back, plus they will probably be a little nicer than if we personally call ( i have a little bit of rage towards these people). Your cc company will dispute the charges, refund you your money & charge the company a fee to return your money, now that’s how YOU can scam THEM!
I appreciate the info re: the cancellation phone number. My personal experince was through Travelocity. I booked a filght & at the end of the booking, “Click here to claim your special reward- $20 cash back-CONTINUE” prompt appeared. I don’t personally hold Travelocity responsible b/c the booking was complete and the offer was completely optional. I opted to check it out. Now, I am always been a firm believer that “there’s no free lunch,” and continued to read the fine print. Passport to Fun + offered $20 check (siting refunded trip dollars) that would arrive in 3-4 wks; a 30 day trial membership would begin, which could be cancelled w/in the first 30 days, otherwise a monthly membership charge of $14.95 would appear on the AMEX provided during booking. I accepted.
Additionally, another $10 check could be mine in 3-4wks if I tried out Shopping Essentials +: same rules & cancellation polocies. I accepted, and wrote down the cancellation number (1 800 316 8821-automated system.)
Within 30 days, I called the Passport to Fun + number I had so carefully copied a few weeks earlier. 1 800 801 2580…THIS NUMBER IS INCORRECT! I double-checked it, and sure enough, it’s for an insurance company. The correct number is 1 888 840 6303; I called and spoke with Covette, ID#23974-very pleasant, in Houston, TX-cancelled my membership and (after I asked)said I would not have any charges posted to my AMEX. She then offered a $30 gas card. I declined. When the card is accepted, you are agreeing to continue your membership. The ID# of the person with whom you speak is your confirmation number. I had Covette verify also that my Shopping Essentials + membership had been cancelled as well; I am uncomfortable cancelling with automated systems. She confirmed it had been cancelled.
WRITE DOWN ALL NAMES, DATES, TIMES, CONFIRMATION NUMBERS. Send yourself an email with this info so you will not loose it; CHECK YOUR STATEMENTS!
I feel I have taken all the necessary steps to cancel these memberships and will report back when I receive my next statement. I have yet to receive the $30 cash refund, but they still have 1 week to live up to their promise.
does anyone know where they are located. if so contact The Weaver Law Group in Jacksonvile Fl or email theweaverlawgroup@hotmail.com
credit cards let’s say you spend an average of 200 a month on your credit card cause you don’t want to much on it then one month you spend 500 they freeze your account probly before then to make sure you are the one using it or you make a payment and 3 days later you want the credit to be done stuff takes time sit back relax cause let’s face it stress kills how you may ask you get mad at someone and then everybody is mad and soon someone misses a stop sign and before ya know it 3 people are dead because negative thoughts and energy you put out into the world feel the peace embrace the peace be one or i’ll knock your fucking head off but then i will feel the peace be one at peace
people will always steal by the way that is why i keep my cash with me then they wil have to break into my house to get it i have no bank accounts no credit cards they are a waste of money and just make a middle man i deal in cash which if credit cards are so bad then just get rid of them they will probly be to easy to steal from anyway
I have also been tricked into this “passport to fun”, not much fun at all.
I just now found the “passport to fun” charge on my credit card statement. I called the number on my statement, and found out they’ve been charging my card since June ’05! (unfortunately, I don’t check my statements as carefully as I should). I asked to speak with a supervisor, and she told me she could only credit my card back for one month. She said I signed up on hotwire. (I NEVER buy stuff on hotwire by the way). I made a big stink, and finally she agreed to credit my card for 3 months. I said o.k., then started doing a little research and read everyone’s comments about this scam. So, I called the company back and demanded a refund in full. They said they couldn’t go back further than 3 months, and I told them about how I’d read all of these negative comments, and about how I knew that a class-action suit was being filed against them, and the supervisor agreed to credit my mastercard for the full amount (totalling $127.20). We’ll see if this actually happens.
After responding to an e-bay solicitation for a free auction starter kit, I gave my c.c. info for shipping. On the confirmation page there was a list of offers with the “yes box” already checked. Luckily, I paged down to check “no” on all the offers-So I thought. After hitting submit a $10.00 instant re-bate came up, so I clicked it to find out that somehow I had subscribed to this “passport to fun” mumbo jumbo. I tried to page back and find out just what I had purchased, but low and behold the pages had expired. At least I am aware and will check my statement well. It’s a crying shame that internet users must be so vigilant so as to not get scammed. There has to be some way to put these sneaks on notice.
I was taken advantage through Bargain Network which was an ad in our local newspaper. We were trying to purchase a vehicle that was repossesed and the ad gave us a 1-800 number to buy the list of cars for $3.00…we were to cancel the program after 30 days and from what I was told, that program was supposed to provide a 1-800 number for Passport to Fun, this did NOT happen. I was charged $16.95 a month for the last 7 months ($118.65). I was totally unaware of the connection between the two companies and therefore did not look for membership charges on my credit card account. I have contacted the company and they have no interest in hearing about the fact that they are scamming people…I spoke with several “supervisors” and was told I could be credited only two months-we’ll see. I will be contacting all the numbers each of you have suggested, and I will contact our local news company that investigates this type of fraud. I will forward all your comments to this company so if you are contacted by anyone from Contact 6 in Milwaukee Wisconsin (WITI TV)please share your story.
I, too got caught by Passport to Fun, but at the same time the signed me up for AT Home Rewards. You were supposed to get discount from a lot of stores. They deducted $1.00 for each (PTF and At Home Rewards). I was supposed to get 30 days free use of the cards, but I could see right away that I would not be able to use them so I called and cancelled. My 30 days is not quite up, so don’t know whether or not I will get a charge. Thanks for all of your warnings. I will watch closely to see if I am charged. There are so many scammers out there, you are almost afraid to sign up for anything. I’m sure I won’t get the 2 dollars back and just think how much money they would make if they only get a dollar or two from everyone. We on the other hand will probably just dismiss that charge while they get rich.
Yep! There it was “passport to fun” Never heard of them…but 14.95 was on my bill. This is out right stealing!!! Called my credit card company and disputed the charge.
Hit by the same scam…from Travelocity of all places. Send a letter to your State’s Consumer Fraud Agency and the company at: Adaptive Marketing 9500 W Dodge Road, Omaha, NE 68114. Then send Travelocity a note at consumer.relations@travelocity.com and let them know you will not do business with them if they continue their partnership with unscrupulous companies like Adaptive Marketing!
One more viticm here! I found that I got charge twice.
I didn’t get attention on those footnote when taking thier survey after buying from buy.com; however, I did called for the cancallation at once when I got an email about their membership.
Even I did and they said my account was cancelled, I still have got charge! Mine is 19.99 a month and it did twice!
Just spoke to a resprestative and she said my account is cancelled now and they will refund to me. Now, let’s see…
but for safety, I will speak to my bank to block the transaction from this company next or just close this account if the bank can’t help! shit!
Well it’s been a few weeks, but no other charges from the company as of yet. (I’m comment #30-31, fyi.) My advice: if you get sucked into this scam, call them AS SOON AS YOU FIND OUT. I guess the earlier you call them and demand a cancellation of your “account”/refund, the less money they have from you, and the more willing they’ll be to just let you go without hassle. Just act quickly- with this “company,” with the bank, with anyone involved. Be safe.
Thanks for the info on your blog. I knowingly signed up for a 7 day trial for $1, for some sort of freebee online, intending to cancel in 7 days. However, I had a hard time finding out how to contact the company. I couldn’t find the original site that got me into the membership so I was worried I would get stuck. But after a few tries on google, I found your blog with an 800 number and I was bale to cancel. Thanks so much. I got out only $1 poorer thanks to you and others who have posted on your blog.
I found this site on google and used the number here to contact “Passport to Fun” they were assholes on the phone, but I found that by combining pressure on them with pressure on Travelocity I got an email today saying they were cancelling my account and refunding the entire amount the had charged me.
These people are nuts, how can they just take money without your authorization? I called there 800 #, and told them I want my money now and to be cancelled. The gentleman was very nice about it. I should have my money in 2 days.
My wife has been noticing charges on our credit card statement to passport to fun for the past 2 months. I called to cancel the membership after getting the number from one of the other blogs on this site. The guy was really nice and when I asked him how we even got signed up for the membership, he told me it was through some other offer that my wife had signed up for when we were looking for a car. My suggestion is to read and read again the extremely fine print on these offers. If it seems too good to be true, it usually is.
Hi, I found this site because this morning I noticed a “Passporttofun” transaction in my bank statement and I remember doing this from travelocity last month when I bought my plane tickets. Thinking that it was going to save me money as well, I agreed with the survey.
Anyway, I didn’t remember what it was until I found this site and apparantly everybody has been tricked into this scam. Well, I called them today and I spoke with “Chris” who sounded to be nice and friendly and gave me some confirmation number for my cancellation. I’m hoping that it is cancelled…otherwise I’m calling my bank and talk to them about it as well as travelocity…I’m sorry that we all have fall into this trap.
OK, you people are seriously fucking stupid!!! U wre not tricked into some scam…u AGREED. I don;t know why all u americans do this…agree then pretend like u were scammed…why do u think this stuff doesn’t happen in canada….we dont need a ” NO CALL LIST” cuz we know how to say noooooooooooooooooooooo. And for your information I have three of these programs in CAanada, and the stores that offer arent even HALF as good as the ones in the states n i say a shit load of money,so either say no when this shit gets offered to u or shut up!
“OK, you people are seriously fucking stupid!!! U wre not tricked into some scam…u AGREED. I don;t know why all u americans do this…agree then pretend like u were scammed…why do u think this stuff doesn’t happen in canada….we dont need a ” NO CALL LIST” cuz we know how to say noooooooooooooooooooooo. And for your information I have three of these programs in CAanada, and the stores that offer arent even HALF as good as the ones in the states n i say a shit load of money,so either say no when this shit gets offered to u or shut up!”
There’s genius at it’s best right there. Ha.
I went to their website which was http://www.passporttofun.com/PTA/(jswjgj55yd3nzsjwn3l2yx3m)/login.aspx
and canceled through there…go to my account and follow the directions for canceling. I tried the phone number several times and each time the operator came on and said there was no such number kind of thing. Hopefully this works.
Use this URL instead since it split up there
http://tinyurl.com/z582x
All I can say is, if you see Passport to Fun…don’t fill it out. You don’t see the details of what you are doing until after you have completed the survey.
I just called the suckers, If I was in the states I would go postal
The guy from canada probably dodge the draft!!!!
update: I am post #56 and a 19.95 charge showed up on my satement today. I will be calling around tomorrow. grrrrr!!! And mr. canada guy, chill out, there is nothing to yell about here.
i didnt realize so many others had this issue. i think my charge was through travelocity as were someone else on this list. thanks for the info.
I have had these offers come across for me several times and unless you just dont read (as you should) or don’t listen (again as you should) these things shouldnt happen. ITs not legal to sign you up for something that you did not agree to (and yes you must listen and read..)
Just be careful. (Canadian person makes a lot of sense if you ask me)
you should also be aware of the bargain network and other companies whom you see on tv, because that is what happened to me. You should really watch out for anything on the internet that you think is too good to be true because it is. Never, ever give out your credit card unless it is a website you trust and even then watch for scam program and read the fine print.
I feel for you all. You should sue these rip off artists!
I just spoke to Stephany ID# 7442 with Today’s Escapes after finding two charges each for $14.95 within 2 days of each other. He was unable to find any records of any account under my name or my fiance’s name. He very nicely asked me to give him the credit card number the charge was found on so he could find the account information. Sure! Get a pen! Here’s our credit card numbers…while I’m at it, here’s the number for my 401k account…oh, and my address– we keep a spare key hidden in….
Oh, wait…sorry. Anyway, he gave me a fax number (ATTN: Consumer Affairs, 1-402-661-2189). All you have to do is fax them a copy of your statement (?!) and ask them to cancel your membership and refund the charges. Meanwhile, all that vital information is being sent to crooks who don’t even have the common courtesy to provide a toll-free fax number!!!
When dealing with these types of visa checkcard transaction, you need to call your bank and dispute the charges, most all banks will provide you with provisional credit and then go after bargain network for the funds. I work at a bank and I have had numerous people in complaining about these charges. Calling the company does not help, most of the time you get the run around.
I GOT THE SAME BULL THIS MORNING. NO ONE COULD TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT IT. I WAS CHARGED 16.95 TWICE TODAY.
I received a $14.95 charge from passport to fun and I called 1-800-211-9741 and I cancelled thru the automated line, and then I called back and spoke to Lakesha #17548 and she confirmed that it had been cancelled. I will be checking my account statements regularly to make sure no other charges are applied from this company or their affiliates. I think my charge came from when I ordered a cd from time life music. I am going to report this charge to my bank as an unauthorized charge so that I can get my money back and make sure that no other charges come thru. If you need an address try this one…passport to fun membership services p.o. box 5152 des plaines, il 60017-5152. Also, if you call the number from your statement and it ask for a member id # continue to listen to the options and it will give you an option to enter your telephone # and then it will give you the member id #…write down any information you get for future reference, just in case.
I found a charge for $1.00 on my bank card account and when I called the 1-800 (passport to fun)number, I first spoke to Jennifer ID#25946 who told me I could cancel the monthly membership and still receive the rest of the year for $29.95. I asked her how they received my credit card number and she said that me or someone in my household had agreed to this program. When I asked her if she had a recording of that agreement, she said yes, just one moment. When she came back, all she had was her supervisor Tony, ID#16390, who flatly said that on the 14th, that me or someone in my household had made a purchase(not from them) and that he was not allowed to tell me what that purchase was, and that that was how they had gotten my credit card number, and the current charges were now being cancelled and the membership was now cancelled and that he was busy and he had other clients that he needed to go help, and he hung up.
I was checking my debit card transactions and found a 14.95 charge for pass port to fun. id never heard of these guys before and had known i had never signed up for any of their services. i called the number and told them they had no right to take my debit card number from another site and use it to charge me for things i never even signed up for. I told them if the charges were not refunded to my account and my services cancelled I would be talking to a lawyer. What they are doing is theft. Plain and simple. You cant unknowingly sign up for something and then they take money from you that way. I hope this suit against them follows through because they deserved to get raped the same way theyve been raping everyone else.
I have no idea how they conned me, even the bank couldn’t locate a phone number. Glad I googled, and found this website. I called the phone number listed above and spoke with
Mark ID#26065. My account is now blocked to further charges. I can use the $19.95 for better things. KUDOS to all the other people that researched it for me.REWARE if it says “Passport to Fun” If you see them listed run the other way and don’t include an account number. Thanks to all of you!!!!
My mother in law is getting these charges on her debit card also since the beginning of the year. What the hell is this website they have. She is 50 yrs old and doesnt even use the internet(as the bank says)
I got grounded because my dad got charged for it and blamed me for ordering it. I wish theyd shut this crp up or else someone may lose something big.
I am part of their scam also. I had $1 charged April 17 then April 25 they charged my Discover card $19.95, then again in May & Now June. Thanks to this & another site I found about this this. Disguisting. I called Discover & they are disputing & all charges will be removed they said. I also got thru to Passport in India & a nice wqoman said they would credit my account onluy for June. We will see!!!
I just noticed that I have been charged 14.95 and because I don’t check my statements regularly (good lesson eh?) I called my bank and found out I had been charged since April. I think I know the origin of this. I ordered body-flex over the phone. They offered me numerous other things to which I said no to. I finally agreed to one and I believe the price was 14.95. They said it was a one month free trial and pay nothing if I cancelled w/in the month and I would get my coupons of a $50. walmart card or something and discounts on certain restaurants. I thought, what could it hurt? I will cancel within the first month if I dont like it. I got my body flex and searched the package and NOTHING… no coupons OR a number to cancel.. so I called the body flex number and I told him I hadn’t gotten my coupons.. The guy said.. “you didn’t order it, you said no to the option.” I sighed a sigh of relief and thought GOOD! … until I looked at my statement today. 🙁 Going to have to call and see if I can straighten this out. Thank Goodness my bank branch in a supermarket is open today and did what they could at this point. I canceled my debit/credit card and am disputing the charges but she said that it COULD be that I may have to cancel the account. WHAT a pain!!
I just got my credit card statement . And I have this charge from PASSPORT TO FUN ,it’s 9.99 .I never enroll inanything or I would say I am not a internet shopper still I don’t know how they got my credit card info and all.
I was just burned for this for 6 months @ 14.95 each. It was such a small charge that I finally decided to investigate it. When I called to cancel they told me that my wife had signed up for it thru a Favorites catalog. She said that she never signed up for it. I spoke to my cc company’s fraud department and they said that they have had many disputes about this company.
I have a charge of 199.99. When I called they had my current address but the phone # on their record had been disconnected almost a year ago.
File a fraud report with your credit card company. By law they have to investigate and if they keep seeing the same company name on complaints it will help them shut the “company” down.
Check your card statement EVERY month. It’s a pain but it’s worth it…..
My charge was for $12.95: but get this! I called Visa to get it removed and first CSR gave me another CSR, who hooked me up to Passport To Fun to cancel – of course they tried to keep me and gave me some sales pitch. Plus their hold commercial was irritating.
I’ve never had Visa connect me to company to try to retain me as customer. Visa must get a kickback…
Hi, I got somehow roped into this one, along with charges from Todays Escapes and Shopping Essentials, by an outfit called Online Suppliers, who try to enlist people for ebusiness, and I suspect a big part of their ebusiness are these scams. I actually asked for a trial of one or two of these, supposedly free for 30 days and am now getting charged $12.95 each month for each. I am in process of trying to close out and get my 3-4 months of charges back. Yes, we need to be smarter about these things, but some of these guys are so good at what they do. If you are reading this and haven’t gotten bitten yet, take a big lesson from the rest of us. Jeanne Baker
We also were charged $19.95 because we ordered the magic bullet off a television add. This is crap that they can do this. We called the 800 number and they insist we agreed to it. We are now disputing it with the credit card company.
Hello,
I just noticed the charge on my Amex. Can anyone tell me what the best method to get the money back is? The people who cancelled the account and asked for reimbursement from PTF, did you get your money back? If I dispute the charge with Amex, will I again get charged next month?
I appreciate your help.
I finally woke up and found out that PASSPORTTOFUN was billing me for a service that I had never signed up for (How they got my information I’ll never know$. They billed me 1.00 on 4/12 $14.95 three times, (2 times in one month, 5/1 & 5/29) then on 6/30. Damn, what a rip-off….Reading several of the Bolgs at this Web-site I found their complete Phone # (1-888-840-6303) and called them…After about 20 min of conversation(In general, cordial) with a representive and her supervisor, regarding the fact that I had NOT ordered any service, Have never received any packet of information (called fullment material), gas credit cards, etc. they agreed to refund the latest $14.95 charge within two business days and the previous 2 along with the 1.00 charge on the next billing cycle (Next Month). With the ID numbers of the rep and her supervisor WE WILL SEE WHAT HAPPENS…BY THE WAY, THEY WERE CALLING FROM MONTREAL Canada….
Bud
I have found complaints on other websites from people that bought something on Vista Print and ended up getting signed up for a membership service like passportofun. I have bought stuff on VistaPrint, and had no problems. Do any of you know what you might have clicked on to unknowingly get billed for Passportofun?
I called and cancelled through an automated dialing system. I will never order from vistaprint again. It feels horrible to be scammed like this. Also, you really see how much your bank will or will not help in times like this. My bank wanted me to pay them 30 dollars to stop payment on the 14 dollar charge from passporttofun.
I just bought business cards from Vistaprint.com. I signed up with 3 different “discount” companies, that each offered $10 off my total $45.xx purchase from Visatprint. They were:
1) Vista Print Rewards/www.dealpass.com 1-888-243-6185
2) Shopping Essentials 1-877-234-1337
3) Passport to Fun.
It sounds like all of you who made entries on this blog keep up with your own finances: checking each of your credit/debit card monthly statements, writing down contact information of associations you join. Actually, you’re just wining babies who need to grow up and become more mature with your own actions.
I’m calling them to cancel now my subscriptions(within my 30-day Free Trial period).
Good Luck in Life!
Wisdom calls aloud in the streets, but you’re not humble, and therefore you don’t listen. He who has ears, let him hear.
Lessons from YARF YODAA:
You
Are
Responsible
For
Your
Own
Decisions
And
Actions.
I found a charge on my mastercard for passportoffun for $14.95. I looked and found it on the previous month as well. (It happened through Vista print business cards) After reading this blog I called 1-888-840-6303, and I firmly but kindly requested these charges be removed. The associate said he could refund this months charge, but not the previous months charge. At this point I mentioned that I had found a group who was pressing charges on Passportoffun and I would be quick to join it if I don’t get a full refund. After a quick consultation with his supervisor, he promised that all of the charges would be refunded within 4 business days. He was polite and fairly easy to work with.
We just noticed a $16.95 charge on our account from “Passport to Fun”, Husband had taken over the bills and checking account for the past year..enough said..he never noticed another charge from “Bargain Network”. I had called off an infomercial (dummy me) for 30 free trial..but canceled the very next day after the call. After looking into it they had charged $14.95 from May 2005 and $16.95 a month since April of this year…TOTAL OF $215.30!!!!! Do not speak w/ cust serv..go straight to a MGR..After telling them these charges were not Authorized and never gave out my debit info, he gave me his ID# and promised to reverse ALL charges. What a SCAM..please make sure you all do not give up and make them reverse ALL charges.. They are in a bad situation knowing SO many people know their scam now! CALI
I just received an unsolicited phone call from PTF (obviously from my Vista Print order. I called Vist Print (1-800-961-2075) and told them in no uncertain terms that I will no longer do business with them as long as they associate with PTF. They, naturally, denied passing my information on to them, but I haven’t made any online purchases recently EXCEPT VP…so the devil’s in the details. I was REALLY happy with the VP products…but this is highly unacceptable.
I was charged $29.90($14.95 for Shopping essential,$14.95 for pasport to fun) every month from Aug. 2004 to Apr. 2005. I did not know what it is. so I called the company and they said I signed up for membership. But they had others name under my account. They said I was signed under others name, address, and phone number. so I called to the number they gave me. He was my neighbor and he also did not know anything about it. We both called to the company because our information are abused. But they only said they will cancel my membership but not to reimburse my money. They gave me the address of headoffice and let me send a mail to them and ask them to reimburse my money. I did two month ago, but still I don’t have any answer neither reimbursed money. What should I do?
Wow, these scoundrels have been busy. My wife ordered 2 cd’s from Time Life over the phone & next thing Ya know we are being billed $12.95 a month! I might add we recieved no services or offers what-so-ever. Just got thru disputing as well as closing my credit card account. According to customer service this is happening alot be careful out there with those credit card #’s!
Well have to say same here. Vista Printed and f*cked over. I got a full refund – over100 bucks. My business partner had the same thing. Not sure how they signed me up, but however it is the charges are not clear.
F*ck vistaprint – I’ve cancelled everything from them.
They got me too!!!
Called lovely passport to fun this morning and was told that I signed up for this through an order that I placed through vistaprint. The operator told me that I enrolled in this through a 30 day trial period and after that time I was responsible for the fees. They agreed only to refund the last month’s charge and said that this was something that I enrolled in so there was nothing more that they could do.
I then called my bank to dispute the charges and they said that they could 1. put a block on this recurring charge from passport to fun and 2. refund for just the last 60 days. I then called back to passport to fun and spoke to Kendrick who assured me that I had clicked on some random ad whilst checking out my order and voila I was signed up for this. At any rate the second operator was much more understanding and agreed to refund all the charges that were made.
I will never use vista print again and will be contacting them as well. The fact that this is happening to numerous people shows what an obvious scam that this is……we cannot all collectively be this stupid.
I just opened my credit card bill and I noticed a $19.95 fee charged to my account. We haven’t used this card for any on-line purchases. It is used for emergencies…Haven’t had one yet! Where did they get my number????
I was just charged 29.95 on my debt card statement from Todaysescapes, they have been charging me for 4 monthes without my knowledge. I pay my college tuition bills online with pay pal but thats it. How can they get away with this? And canada guy is an A**hole
Hi everyone,I’m remaining annonymous because I still work for Today’s escapes and passport to fun(PTF),but I agree with everyone it is a scam in a sence. all I can advise you all to do,is when you order things through infomercial,or over the internet, be cautious of the things that they offer you,one little 25 dollar gift card could cost you a 19/95 charge every month, or worse, a 149.95 charge a year. and also,when you call into cancel, just tell the representative, these charges have put your bank account in the negative,and you want all your money back. they’re gonna have to transfer you to a supervison, and they will give it all back (they have to). well be careful everybody,hope I helped somebody.
They got me to the rotten bumbs.I have no idea how they got my number from credit card.
They were very courteous on the phone when I cancelled. It seemed routine to them. Anyone else who has this problem should be able to process refunds as well. This blog helped a lot. We’ll see if it goes through.
I say we all get together and blow the whole damned place up!!!!
just kidding
we need to call the police and put an end to those bastards stealing our money
Ehh, read the damn fine print. If you can’t read or don’t remember to cancel, it’s your own damn fault.
thank you for providing us all with the telephone number for PTF!!! I checked my credit card (routinely) this am and then again this afternoon and found that today, PTF had charged my card $29.90. I immeditaely called them and the rep started telling me how “i subscribed for their membership” a word of advice–DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE TELL THEM OF ANY AUTO DEBITS OR ONLINE PURCHASES YOU MAY MAKE WITH YOUR CARDS–THEY IMMEDIATELY TELL YOU THAT YOU WERE OFFERED A $ REBATE AND THAT’S HOW YOU SIGNED UP. i ADVISED THE REP ADAMANTLY THAT I HAD HAD MY BLOCKBUSTER MEMBERSHIP SINCE 2004 AND THAT SHE WAS LYING. SO SHE CHANGED HER STORY AND TOLD ME “I DIDN’T SAY IT WAS AN ONLINE PURCHASE, YOU RESPONDED TO AN INFO MERCIAL OVER THE PHONE”. WELL, THAT WAS AS FAR AS THAT WAS GOING. I TOLD HER THAT I NEVER IN MY LIFE HAVE PURCHASED ANYTHING FROM AND INFOMERCIAL OR OVER THE TELEPHONE. SHE REFUSED TO LET ME SPEAK TO A SUPERVISOR, BUT I STRONGLY ADVISED HER THAT SHE SHOULD AND THEN I SPOKE TO SUPERVISOR NAMED CHRISTINE ID # 21403. AGAIN A HEATED DEBATE, BUT ULTIMATELY SHE AGREED TO CANCEL THE MEMBERSHIP AND REFUNDED THE CHARGE OF $29.90. SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO BE A PRI*K!! THANKS AGAIN FOR THE NUMBER WHICH IF ANYONE ELSE NEEDS IT, IT IS 1-888-840-6303. GOOD LUCK! BY THE WAY, I THINK IT HELPS TO MENTIONS THE CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST THEM!!
PassPortToFun + ShoppingEssetials one in the same.
My Wife had perchased airline tickets thru Travelocity.com. During the purchase process, travelocity offered you a $20.00 gift certificate
as a thankyou for using them. (Damn swindlers signed you up to passporttofun with accpting the gift) That wasn’t nough for travelocity. A second offer was givin for a $10.00 gift certificate (Again travelocity signed you up for ShoppingEssentials) both of which withdrawl &14.95 on a monthly basis. That’s $30.00 a month. (SOB’s) Thanks to the info of this blog I had recieved a full refund of all moneys. Travelocity will NEVER see my buisness again. Expedia.com is the way to go. $50.00 or so more costly, but your bank accounts are SAFE.
My story…I signed up for trial memberships, watched my cards closely and the day pending charges showed I called and canceled…still waiting for refunds (canceled three today)…the passport to fun seemed legit enough, and it may be worth what they are advertising (although we never got far enough for me to see their products)…anyhow, I ordered something 18 July 2006 from them, today (3 Aug 2006) they charge me for their membership fee, but I never saw a charge from my order, or never saw my order (they say 7 to 10 days)…so I call to inquire about it…the lady automatically assumed I was calling to dispute the membership fee and went into her canned answer…she basically told me the bank declined my order charge due to a conflict in address…yet the membership charge went thru 12 days later…so i asked to speak to a manager and was transferred…I asked him why I was not contacted about the problem so it could be fixed…his response was, “our members do not like phone calls from us so we don’t contact them about problems…we fix them when they figure out there is a problem…” — so basically this tells you they are not a legit business, because every online company I have ever dealt with contacts me when there is a problem…my best logical assumption is…they don’t call because if they give hint to charging your credit card, they would lose all the ‘unknowing members’…way scandalous ——- while I think these people should be put out of business/shot in the head, if your not paying attention to your statements and questioning EVERYTHING, your an open target waiting to be raped…
I wold like to know if anyone got the money back from these criminals? They have been charging my credit card since January 06. It is a total of $90.
All the infromation is very useful in this forum, but is there any results?
thanks
hi again, well PTF said they issued a credit to my card, but of course, that was untrue. the best bet, even though it may be a hassle, is to report the card stolen, cancel your cards, and get a new card. i asked my c card company to block this merchant from ever charging anything to my account again, and they are unable to block a single merchant. they also advised me that this charge, being the first one, is set up as a recurring charge!!! luckily i caught it on the first charge but i cancelled my card regardless.
AP9*VPREWARDSUS.COM just credited my account for the $14.95 – I will report back on the other two, SHOPPINGESSENTIAL & AP9*PASSPORT TO FUN as soon as they come through.
My wife ordered on the phone something similar to the George Forman grill at the end of June. In July & August we were charged $14.95 for some kind of membership fee. PassPorttofun never said anything about a promotion. They also claim they sent a Wal-Mart Gift Certificate, not true, never received anything like that. I then got a call from wife saying see had just spoke with supervisor and that they wouldn’t refund the July payment because we called to late, at the same time I was on the phone with a customer rep that said they would refund both charges. Bottomline this group is fraudulent, I will go to my credit card company if they don’t credit my card.
VAL,
You have to be Stern yet Intelligent & Demand they
return every penny they have taken. They have the process down pat. 1st person will try to convince oyu its legite while looking up your info. Ask her how it all came about. “I WANT EVERY RED CENT YOU YOU WITHDRAWL FROM MY ACCOUNT”. She will give you last months withdrawl, then transfer you to a supervisor who will refund the rest. I got all my money back. DO NOT EXCEPT ANYTHING LESS THAN WHAT THEY HAVE TAKEN. They have to or it then becomes a legal issue beings they never send you anything they promise. Not even e-mail with discount offers.Hope this helps
I was checking my bank account and notice 6 different transactions 3 were from ap9passportoffun and the other 3 were from ap9shoppingessential on the last one I wasn’t able to find anything.
On 5/27/06 I phone ordered some Time Life music CDs for my folks that they had seen advertised on TV. The telephone rep gave me the spiel that if I would like, their related company would send me a $50 Wal-Mart gift certificate for trying their Coupon Saving Book. She said that I could cancel it within 30 days and pay nothing and the $50 gift cert was mine either way. I said okay. She then said I would be getting a call from the other company to confirm it. About a month later (I don’t have the exact date but it was after 7/15/06) I got a call from Passport to Fun. This telephone rep told me that I would have 7 to 10 days from the day that we were talking to cancel. I said that is too short of time, considering the time for the mailing before I even see it. She kept pushed by saying the $50 gift cert would be mine either way. I said okay, send it. Then she told me that they would need to charge my credit card $1 to verify the transaction and asked me if I would authorize her doing that. I said no, cancel the whole thing, it’s too much trouble and I did not want to deal with it. She whined and pushed but I kept saying no until we hung up and I never gave her my credit card info. Today I found on my bank statement a $14.95 charge dated 7/6/06 from AP9*PassportToFun 800-211-9741. That date was before they called me. I am so glad I have found this web sit and the Rip-off Report.com site. I will act on this first thing on Monday. I think I will go cancel my bank acct since I was using a debit card, not a credit card and also call Passport to Fun to tell them to refund the charge. Oh, and surprise, I have not receive their Coupon Book nor the Wal-Mart $50 gift cert if we were still in doubt that they were an honest company.
I had never heard of these guys, but found the charge of $14.95 on my AmEx bill. I was told that I enrolled when I used USSearch.com to run an address check on someone. I called the number on the statement and they promised to cancel the account and refund the charge within 2 days. We’ll see! Thanks for the blog. Never would have known of the scam otherwise.
Update: (I’m entry #120) I called AP9 at 1-800-211-9741 this morning. I had to input either my acct# or my phone# to find out the status of my acct, so gave my phone #. A message came on saying it was cancelled on Aug 1. That must have been the date their phone rep called me and I had refused their program. Then I was given the option of selecting #1 if I still needed more info. A rep came on and she was nice and easy to talk with, not intimidating or aggressive. She claimed I had agreed to the service when I ordered the Time Life CDs and after 30 days they started charging the monthly fee. I explained that in that 30 days I had not received their products nor heard from them and when I did hear from them on 8/1 that I had said no. She asked what I would like done at this point. I said refund the $14.95. She said okay, it would be refunded within 2 business days.
Then I called my bank. The teller said that inactivating my debit card will prevent any more deductions and a new debit card will arrive within 2 weeks—inconvenient yes, but worth it to stop the charges Also, note a credit can still come thru on a canceled debit card, but a charge cannot.
After reading all these many web sites about these rip-off artists, I think from now on with any on-line or phone order that is at all questionable I will start using the prepaid gift/credit cards like Tony the site admin at http://www.secondchancecritic.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52 web site suggested in response to the 5/3/06 entry by prchulo1. It is worth a read if you haven’t gone to that site yet. Using the address exactly as I wrote it will get directly to the correct thread.
Two of Three have credited now (AP9*VPREWARDSUS.COM & AP9*PASSPORT) Waiting on SHOPPINGESSENTIAL.
All three credited now, good luck to everyone with this and dont forget to watch bank statments regularly.
found this site as I ‘googled’ for passport to fun and travelers advantage. I have been ‘scammed’ into membership in both of these ‘companies’. Beware of using Travelocity (although Travelers Advantage denied having any relationship to them); the first time this year I used Travelocity, I ‘responded’ to a questionaire ($20 off my ticket price to complete the series of questions); the next two months (little slow on checking my debit entries!!) I found $14.95 charges from PassPort to Fun; contacted them and cancelled immediately. From the tone/rudeness of the person at Passport to Fun, I was one of many who cancel (wonder why!). Last month, I noticed a new $10.00 charge from Traveler’s Advantage – just called them and emailed them; still have not (due to security protections -HA!)reached the responsible person to cancel (allegedly I must call 877.259.2689-we shall see)
Anyway, both have one thing in common; they both are run out of an ‘office’ in Connecticut.
“Googling” the 800/888 #’s on my debit description, both turn out to be from a company called Trilegiant Corporation Norwalk CT
A little further investigation on this company and the picture (scam concept) gets very clear.
a. Connecticut BBB (www.connecticut.bbb.org/commonreport.html?bid=41001179) has a long list of complaints about said company
b. Company signed a consent agreement with State of Florida in Aug 05 – a copy of that settlement is on the site above – all have the same tale – charged unknowingly and without specific permission)
I too plan to have my current debit card cancelled and a new one issued but it is certainly inconvenient.
Thanks for the chance to vent my frustration!Found this site via Google so my thanks to them as well.
Traveler’s BEWARE!
Man, I’m the type of person (as I am young and slowly learning my lessons about credit) to charge up to within $5 of my credit limit. I have a monthly charge of $4 and some change, and I don’t want any over-limit fees. I did that yet again this month, and was watching every penny. I just knew I had it all under control.
Then I checked my account online today, and I was $9 off! How could this have happened?! Passport to Fun charged me $12.95.
Well I didn’t know what Passport to Fun was, so I googled it, of course. I got this site in my search, and read some of the comments. Thank you for the advice! I already cancelled my account before I read the ones about calling the credit card company for a possible refund. I’ll have to do that tomorrow.
I don’t even know where I picked it up! After reading some of the comments about what it was, I do remember getting e-mail from them a few months ago, but I thought it was spam! So I unsubscribed my e-mail address from them and thought it was done. But obviously not.
All I can say is 1. Don’t stay so close to your credit limit!
2. Read your statement every time!
And 3. Watch out for those inbox messages that might not be spam after all!
My fiance and I were going through his bank statements a few moments ago and we noticed “passporttofun” spamming charges of $16.95 for the past month. There must be about 8 individual charges of $16.95 each. We have no idea where these came from. We have made one e-bay purchase in the past couple months, but that’s it. I immediatly googled “passport to fun” and found this forum. It’s a relief to see there are others who have been scammed by the same company and I’m defiantly going to do something about this to have the money refunded and put an end to any further charges. I appreciate all of the advice on what actions to take.
What a surpise to see that I’m not the only one to get hammered by these guys. I opened my CC statement today and saw these $19.95 charges and so I was online and found out from my bank that they hit me up for the last 3 months, right under my nose. I’m pretty good at watching my charges so this just stuck out like a sore thumb. I googled the passporttofun and found this site, wow. I’m glad I read it and found out what a scam those guys are. I called them and spoke with Constantine, he was actually nice about it and said they would cancel my acct today. He kept trying to keep my in the service, sounded like a whole year for one fee of $19.95. I ain’t having it.
how do i get them from charging my card?
it’s nice to know i am not the only one i’ve just bought one thing via internet my entire life and this guys started charging my account before that i have no idea how the hell that happened my mom got really pissed.. thanks to everyone that have said something about this and for your advices
I am glad I googled this. I just called them and they told me becuase I purshed something from tv (excercise tapes) claims claimed they offered this with a $50 gift card to Walmart. I did not approve of paasport to fun nor did I even get an give card for walmart. They never sent me anything in the mail in regards to this information. I was able to call and my refund with out having to do anything else.
I called VistaPrint and they immediately removed me from the service and informed me that my account would be fully reimbursed within 60 days. Not fully satisfied I called the issuing bank of the credit card. They are filing papers againstPassportToFun and will be issuing me temporary credit in full.
I would strongly encourage any of you who got entrapped by this as a result of VistaPrint to call their corporate offices at: 781-890-8434.
Got a great phone number from my bank to call Passport to Fun. The number is 888-801-2604 and was able to speak with someone to cancel and reimburse my account.
Special note to the Candian dude: If you disagree with this, why post a comment? Two: Get anger and stress management treatments, man.
Just found charges on my Chase card for $14.95 each charged 07/20 & 07/27 –
Get this: Passport to Fun is a 3rd-party vendor for Chase… so Chase is in f*ckin’ cahoots with PTF –
Interesting – I just spoke with Chase rep that patched the call in with PTF rep Louisa #2943; to get charges removed, Louisa asked for my credit card #…
I work at a bank and have customers calling in on this on almost a daily basis. There seems to be three charges that almost always show up together “AP9 Shopping Essentials” “AP9 Todays Escapes” and “AP9 Passport to Fun”.
If you see those on your statement get a hold of your bank right away they WONT STOP BILLING YOU UNLESS YOU DO SOMETHING.
File a claim with your bank, I’ve never seen the fees from these three companies not get reversed, the bank I work for basically knows these transactions are fraudulent and will side with their customer.
Always read your bank/credit card statements and SAVE THEM in case you do catch something like this too late.
It’s your money. Keep it that way.
I just found the same thing thru Vista Print. I called the 888 # on my bank statement and was able to cancel thru an automated system. However, I now have to go digging thru all of my statements to find out exactly how many times the jerks charged me.
NEVER order anything thru Vista Print – they are scam artists.
I also found another on for Reservation Rewards with a $10.00 charge. I have no idea where or what that one is for. I went online for it and it looks like some sort of discount club. If you find this hit the cancel membership option. Once you do that it will give you an option (all the way at the bottom of the page) to request a refund of dues paid. I hit that and received an email confirmation that my dues paid will be refunded to my card and my membership will be cancelled. I guess I will wait to see if I actually get the refund credited back.
This teaches you a BIG lesson about ordering stuff online or off TV – DON’T!!!!!!!!!!
This is a scam and it happened to me too. I called and tried getting the fees reversed which they refused to do, i stated that i read all these comments and that it isnt fair that they are doing this to people
I do not know who you people are but if you do not put back all the money you took out of my account you will be hearing from my lawyers. I had never or will never order anything from you people I do not know who did but I want it stopped NOW!!!
my husband has severe depression. he signed up for identity theft protection, which we already have through pre-paid legal (another scam, but i’ll talk about that at another time). So he was charged 30 bucks for privacy matters 30 bucks for today’s escape, 20 bucks for passport to funand 20 bucks for At home reward.
and of course we’re just rolling in dough so this doesn’t affect us at ALL. NOT. I wanna maim someone. i am so grateful to have found this site early on. now all i wanna do is shake my husband and say “WHAT were you THINKING????” Thank you for everyone who contributed. GOD BLESS YOU!!!!
The best way to avoid these kinds of charges is by using a credit card with virtual account number. These virtual account numbers are generated on the web (on your Credit Card portal) and can be used only by one merchant and are valid only for about one month. Hence the worst case being you will be charged for 1 month.
It’s truly amazing that when people read these BLOGS we all either have learned something from others or have something to say about all that are not as perfect as Canadians are. HA ha ha, why were you on this site then!!!
As far as the FINE PRINT, I did not see on it as I READ IT that the company and all affiliates will be charging me for something other that the one purchase I authorized. NOTHING at all was indicated that I will be charged for airline tickets, rental car, and hotel along with a subscribtion to PTF or anything else. This is against the law and theft. I suggest all of you just for the cause get with the class action suit. Really read the fine print, there is nothing indicating that you are signing up for something other than what you initially accepted.
I feel for all of you getting slammed, but you need to beware web offers.
However, as the light in this dismal darkness, I love the dealpass family of websites. We consistently use these websites to save huge amounts (well, 20%). I am currently signed up for Today’s Escapes, Passport To Fun, and Shopping Essentials. They are all slightly different in what they offer, but they all offer some lineup of retailers that sell you gift cards for 20% off after the rebate. The monthly fee of $13 – $15 is made up by ordering 3 $25 gift cards. If it was that way all the time, I would not use them. However, you can usually wait a month or two and call to cancel. They will offer you a whole year for the cost of the monthly fee (automated system).
Retailers we spend at anyway:
Target
KMart
Toys R Us
Babies R Us
Amazon.com
Panera
Pizza Hut ($10 for $8)
Just those let us spend $3200 and get back $640.
Work the system. It is a good deal.
Dear Grant,
I don’t know who the F**K you are, but MY guess? You work for these A**HOLES. You want to promote your SLIMY company? Do it somewhere else.
My wife has a credit card (mbna) and is a very cautious person, yet I was looking at her statements and found the “ap9passporttofun” had been digning her for $14.95 since 2/06. I called mbna and they gave excellent service. They cancelled the card, set it up as fraud, and are refunding the 7 months to us. My wife only buys from major catalog people, and reputable local people, so I have no idea how they got her number. ?? Hmm, I use it, once and a long while… I hope I didn’t do it. :9
CALL 800*211*9741. CUSTOMER SERVICE REP WAS VERY HELPFUL AND COURTEOUS. I TOO WAS A VICTIM. THERE WERE 2 ENTRIES ON MY STATEMENT. AP9 PASSPORT TO FUN AND AP9 AT HOME REWARDS. EACH WERE $14.95. DON’T BE FOOLED WHEN THEY SAY THEY CANCELLED YOUR ORDER BUT YOU CAN STILL USE THE SERVICES FOR THE REST OF THE MONTH.THEY ARE CHARGING YOU FOR THAT MONTH!! YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT CLEAR TO THEM THAT YOU WANT A REFUND. WE NEED TO BE MORE CAREFUL WHEN WE ORDER ONLINE. PEOPLE ALWAYS FIND A WAY TO MAKE MONEY. JUST IMAGINE HOW MANY PEOPLE THEY SCREWED ALREADY. WATCH YOUR STATEMENTS!!!
I went to my bank account and found that 19.80 was taken out for this and I have no idea why. I never siged for anything and never agreed to anything. I found there website and emailed them to put my money back that they had no right to take it. How did they do this.
I have been getting charged $9.95 per month starting Apr 05! Chase credit card company says it is too late & I can’t get money back. I’ve called over& over but even when I have names & employee #s-they say I didn’t complain in time. Spvsr Lois at Passport says “It is all your own fault” So, asking the credit card company to get it back doesn’t always work.
Thanks everyone for all the support! By everyone leaving a reply is the only reason I was able to get in touch with these bastards!
Found $141 taken from my account. Possibly through Target. My bank is reimbursing and following up. I’m definitely on board for a classaction suite. I didn’t agree to ANYTHING online or over the phone!
I also found charges to my bank account. There was one for $1.00 on 8/23/06 and then another one for $19.95 on 8/30/06. I emailed the company and am waiting for a response back. I am demanding a 100% refund back to my account, because I too did not sign up for this Passporttofun membership. I don’t see how they seem to get away with this, but to me it seems illegal. Someone needs to go after them and put a stop to this once and for all. It’s totally rediculous and wrong! I won’t stop until I get refunded totally!!!
Kate
My husband bought business cards through Vistaprint. That was about a month ago and today we notice a 14.95 charge to our credit card. I really appreciate all the advise offered here. We are taking care of the charges and will never be using Vistaprint again.
SHOPPINGESSENTIAL is the one on my CC I never went on this and have no clue who did.. I have been trying to contact it and have been getting the run around the charge I have been getting the last two months is for 12.95 and due to this I have had and over limit fee. I only decided to get a CC to help my credit and keep the ballance good. now they do this and mess it all up I want to kick there behinds. I have never ordered anything form over the net so if they dont put it back I will help kick so booty
So i purchased business cards here and everything seemed fine until i saw inmy credit card activity i had been charged this pas Saturday for a charge. And i know i didnt even use that credit card that day. So i called my cc company and asked them what the charge was and they told me. they conected me to the company that charged me wich was passportofun. Then i told the rep i never got any information at all. And that i never asked to sign up so i told her i wanted to cancel and she said yeah. So now im going to wait and see if they are going to charge me again for $14.95.
I have been getting these wierd charges from passport to fun and some reservation place. I tried cancelling them and im still seeing charges. I was told the only thing i could do to guarantee it to stop is to cancell my cards and get new ones. thats bull that i have to be charged to cancel becuase some one is charging me for something i didnt ask for. I will not use services of anyone associated with these scam artist.
I talked to Vista Print this morning after reading all of this… (I too have been charged for the past 7 months from PTF.) I told them they have great products. Why do they need to partner with these scums… Don’t think they will do anything about the partnership. But they agreed to refund me for the past 7 months. Let’s see if the check will come.
They claimed I signed up for a $10 cash prize at the end of my order & in return I signed up for this membership. I asked them why would I agreed to accept $10 for a $14.95/month membership that I don’t even know what it is. That’s too bad w/Vistaprint because I like their products… now I can’t order from them anymore.
I just read about 200 “blogs” regarding Passport to “Fun” (you’re right…it should be Passport to Hell!) and someone mentioned a class action suit against them. Could you give me some information on this? I bought a birthday present for my husband back in March. I remember the CSR asking if I wanted to join some “club/membership” something, but I ALSO remember saying NO!! But some way, PTF latched on to my bank card information anyway. They’ve been taking anywhere from $1.00 to $14.95 out of our account for the past 6 mos. They actually take out different amounts monthly, I guess so it throws you off. (I check our account constantly but via the phone which doesn’t give you WHO the charge is for) I’ve already called that SLIMEY company (THANKS TO THIS SITE!!) & cancelled everything and hopefully will get a refund. They said within 2 business days but you never know, they could tell you anything just to get you off the phone. These people need to know they can’t do this & have people just roll over & say, “how far would you like me to bend over this time sir??” You know? And as for the guy from Canada…freedom of speech is one of OUR rights as Americans…so…BITE ME!
I bought business cards through vistaprint.com over 4 months ago and just saw a $14.95 charge to my checking account. I don’t even remember signing up for any membership thing, so obviously they’re very good at these scams. I just called 800.840.6303 and they were very nice and said they’d refund the charge within a few business days. I just hope they actually follow through!!
My husband thought he would get help with foreclosures….
We got help alright. The first take was $19.80, we canceled and they took another $19.80 under another company name. I called this number 1-800-211-9749. I still need a second number for another cancelation. What a rip off.
In June, I was on the Web and received a pop-up from Consumer Promotions Center (http://www.consumerpromotioncenter.com/) enticing me with a free computer. I fell for the bait. Before I gave up on their scam, I had purchased many items from their co-conspirators. The web site said that if I participated correctly, I would receive a free laptop. I spent hours going through page after page making selections. After every page, I was told that I was almost finished. This, of course, suckered me into doing another page. There was no end to it. I finally had to quit and go to bed. I never received the laptop. I wonder if anyone ever has. Before, I went to bed, I sent them an email and cancelled all my selections, but I have never heard from them, and have written them several times. This has cost me a lot of time and money involving their co-conspirators who have charged my credit card.
I bet you can’t quess who I’m having problems with besides CPC. Yes, PTF, TE, and SE. So, don’t get involved with the Consumer Promotion Center either.
Thank you! My bank account has been getting charged also but my bank had no records of any phone numbers or any details to even cancel these charges. Thanks a bunch for the site and all your help!
Keep watching your bills you never know what we’ll get hit for next!
Thank you all!!!! Specially Big AL, I wrote in this blog a couple of months ago, now I saw the results….I’ve received today 10 payments on my credit card account of 12.95 each. I’ve got my money back!!!!
I went to the bank, then they called this people of Today’s Escapes and after talking to the “supervisor”, I politely asked for the total refund of all the unauthorized charges. This call was made from the bank, with another person in the line helping me out. It was necessary to give this people the debit card number….but finally it worked!!! I’m so happy….
I think it is working for a lot of people, so….good luck to everyone, and do not give up.
Those SOBs!!!
I’ve been hit by Passport To Fun (888-999-0557) as well as Reservation Rewards (800-732-7031).
From reading all the comments, I believe one is from VistaPrint and the other is from online travel reservations…
No more online surveys for me…
I have spent many hours fighting with two companies and finally received a partial refund. The two companies are Passport to Fun and Shopping Essentials. I was informed that when purchasing an plane ticket in March throught Travelocity, I apparently agreed to become a member. My rate however was 14.95 per month for both companies and due to an extended illness it went unnoticed for five months. I also found out from my bank, Bank of America, these companies not only are affiliated with each other but they are also affiliated with Bank of America. This will no longer be my bank after Monday due to their lack of assistance and their rudeness in treating me like some kind of illiterate who probably just forgot that I joined up.
I noticed this erroneous charge to “todaysescapes” on my credit bill the first month. I immediately called and got a middle eastern gent who said “This is today’s escapes–you need an escape.” He then hung up on me and any further attempts to call were not answered. I called my credit card company and found out this was through a room I booked with Travelocity! I have tried for THREE MONTHS to get this off of my account–through the original ripoff company and through my credit card. I’ve had the chargeback done to them each month and I’ve had all associated fees backed off of my credit card–but I want to cancel the credit card entirely and these jokers are continuing to screw up the process by monthly charging my account. I have now written a letter and included this website’s initial postings, along with a copy of the “Ripoff Report.” Hopefully this will end soon. Hey Canada Guy–I’m not stupid–but your intelligence shows through your lack of a good vocabulary.
I had recently ordered a howto cd set from video professor, and this pass port to fun offer came up after the order was placed with some kind of live chat thing it said. I kindly declined the offer, and the live chat said ok, i have you down that you declined the offer. Now 10 days later i get a 19.99 charge that is very fradulent, and a 29$ over the limit fee. Passport for fun has got another thing comeing during there business hours tomorrow.
Thanks for setting up this awesome site – I have been scammed by Passport of Fun since March when I ordered through Vista-print. Same as everyone – $10 offer to which I denied, but for some reason $14.95 has been charged every month. According to both POF and VistaP, I apparently accepted the offer… but have I seen my $10 rebate, or $25 food card – NO! Spoke to POF yesterday, Rebecca #25715 to inquire what this was, low and behold I was charged again, yesterday!! 2nd charge in one month!! Called them today and spoke to Joshua #17186… said he would cancel my membership with only 1 month. I asked to speak to a manager…never got through. Called vista print and spoke to Shauna, explaining the same story – she said I should see a refund to my account for the past 8 months in 7 to 10 days. Let’s hope so… I’ll keep you posted! Guess they know we’re onto them!! ps.. I’ve also informed my bank of these unauthorized charges.
VistaPrint – 1-888-316-7153, POF – 1-888-840-6303 (expect to wait up to 5 minutes)
i actually would like to reply to everyone on this page,it’s not a scam and if your to busy in life to read your card statement or terms of agreement then your stupid for that.yall are letting a legit company take money out of your accounts as far back as six months? just how dumb could you be? u make that much money that u weren’t noticing money leaving the account? i mean it’s not like they have your info in a book and just pick out who they want to charge each month and how much they want to.stop being in such a rush slow down and read what they offer or listen to what they tell u stop trying to get everything for free.so basically i think yall are the bastards and the idiotsfor not checking i look at everything i get what jackasses!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA and now yall are filing a lawsuit yall aint gone get shit back duh they have all that shit in writing yall dont think that they cover thay assess just in case shit like this pop up. yall some damn fools!!!!!!!!!
Anybody agrees with ashley?
I GOT SCAMMED ALONG WITH THE REST OF YOU. I have never even heard of PTF. I have used Vista Print so I guess that’s where they go my #. I called by CC company and they said they would take care of it. I am just waiting now to see. I even call PTF twice and cancelled…
I a charge, but i think i got charged bigger than you, i got charged 59. and some change. I called and cancelled but i will call them personally and have them reimburse the money. i will tell them about the class law suite.. maybe they will get scare we should also get the Better Business B.
I’ve been charged $14.95 twice a month since last December–one from Passport to fun and one from Shopping Essentials. Working it through the bank right now, not sure if that will have better luck or going right to the companies.
Hi,
I’m french. I’ve been to philadelphia during 3 month this summer and I’ve made a mistake on a website. I was affraid and I was right…I’ve 3 withdrawals of $19.95 of todayescapes and I really don’t know what it is. Can somebody tell me exactly what I have to do? If I must close my account or which number I must call ? and what I have to say…
Thank you very much..!
Totally fraud charges to your account people!! Call your bank, cancel card and be reinbursed for the amounts. I did and everything is smiles again..STOP SHOPPING ONLINE is what I was told…
Well–since the time I posted to this weblog, I (1) contacted the “Today’s Escapes” company AGAIN and got the SAME person. This time I told him that I (a) wanted a total refund of all charges; (b) the charges were bogus in the first place; (c) wanted to be removed IMMEDIATELY from their charge/membership/whatever list and wanted all future charges STOPPED. I then (2) lodged ANOTHER complaint with the credit card company and sent them pages of complaints from both this website and the “ripoff” report as well as the Better Business Bureau website where they list “Today’s Escapes” as NOT being a recommended business. I also (3) lodged a complaint with the Better Business Bureau myself. I have gotten (1) two credit checks back from my credit card company in the amount of the last charge and the associated fees irroneously charged to my account (2) a letter from the Better Business Bureau telling me that they contacted the company and demanded my money back in FULL and (3) a letter from Today’s Escapes claiming that I went to a website that I didn’t go to and claiming that I clicked on a button labeled “YES, Sign Me Up” after making a purchace that I did not make. I will be replying to the Better Business Bureau and I will be also sending copies of my reply to my credit card company. I don’t think, based on the many chargebacks that “Today’s Escapes” now has on their bank, that they will bother me too much longer. They claim that on 9/23 my membership was cancelled and that they refunded me a full five month’s membership fees that they had initially charged me. Since I haven’t been able to get back into my credit card statement to check this, I’m not convinced that this is true–(site is down) but as soon as I can get back into the site to check it, you can be sure I will. Good luck to anyone with this company (or any of the associated companies) on their tail–they are leeches and are VERY hard to shake!!
i have been scamed. it came from time magazine. which sucks. call 800-211-9741 and complain plmplain and you will get all your refund back. just complain
Is that also a number for todays escapes ? I’ve tried with another number but the problem is that they ask you for a number of identification, that I don’t have…:-(
We got hit from AP9 TODAYSESCAPES, AP9 SHOPPINGESSENTIALS, UMG BUYERSEDGE and UMG MY ADVISOR for $73.80 all in one month. I called our CC company (MBNA), filed a fraud claim, cancelled my CC and had a new number issued on 9-28-06. MBNA credited ALL fraud charges immediately and are handling things from here. Out of curiosity, I called one of the scammers….they wanted either my membership # (HOW CAN YOU HAVE A MEM # IF YOU ARE NOT ONE?) -OR- MY CC #….YEAH, I’M GONNA GIVE THEM THAT!!!! Needless to say, I hung up & am letting MBNA do their thing.
As for the people who have left comments that have these anger issues, let me tell you this: I CAN ASSURE YOU 100% THAT I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR ANYTHING SUCH AS “FREE TRIALS” OR ANY THING ELSE OF THAT NATURE. YOUR TIME WOULD BE BETTER SPENT IN ANGER MANAGEMENT COUNSELING RATHER THAN LIGHTING INTO INNOCENT PEOPLE WHO ARE VICTIMS OF FRAUD.
Maria:
Read the comment that I left 10-17-06. Hope your situation turns out as well as my has!
Got my money back–in toto. Got my credit card shut down. My advice to get this problem solved? Contact the Better Business Bureau – contact the company and request cancellation of their charges–document, document, document. Contact your credit card–either file a fraud complaint or report lost or stolen card to prevent further charges. Don’t give up.
My wife has been supposedly handling the bank statements for the past couple of years, but I got tired of constantly being overdrawn each month so I just took a look at the statements online… 14.95 at least 2 times a month sometimes more for at least the last 4 months (as far back as the online statements go) from PTF and another one called At Home Rewards both are through AP9. Don’t know how long this has been going on.
I am dreading what I will find out when I call my bank (Bank of America) after the one poster above that said they are linked. I know so far it has totaled $149.50 just for those 4 months… but our house burned down in June which is as far back as the online statements go, so I know it had to have been going on for at least several months before that. Looks like we have a long fight ahead of us. I will post back on what happens.
I have ask for three months for you to concel my accaount055729153 and you are stell billing me. please concile and give me my money back also this coyse me to go into overdraft. i can not afford this. THINK YOU Kathleen McKain.
I just got scammed for a dollar from passport to fun and I have no idea how they got my information. I closed my credit card account and started a new one.
I just got charged for 16.95 by “Passport To Fun” on my cc and I have no idea how they could have gotten my info. Anytime I purchase online I always check no and opt out of any additional offers or “special programs”. This really discourages me from making future online transactions regardless of the convenience.
My husband and I have been battling with these people for three months now. We notified our bank and our bank told us there was nothing they could do. We’re being hit by AP9 Privacymatters123 for 29.95, AP9 Passporttofun for 19.95, AP9 todaysescapes for 19.95, AP9 simplyyou for 19.95, and tisciences for 58.90. I had never even heard of these places before this. I have never filled out a survey or signed up for any of the “special offers” on websites and I have never booked anything through travelocity. I have no idea how these people found us. We’ve even changed our debit card number to try and get it to stop. I’m going to take your guys’ advice and contact the better buisness bureau and my bank again and tell them to look at this website if they don’t believe me when I tell them these companies are a scam. Thank you so much for posting this blog!! Wish me luck!!
Hi, Laura! If I were you I would close the bank account and go to a different institution for two reasons:
1. The scammers can’t hit a closed account
2. Sounds to me like the bank is not committed to their customers
We, too, have no idea how four scammers got a hold of our credit card. Fortunately for us, MBNA has fully cooperated with us in this matter, credited the fraudulent amounts, closed that account and issued new numbers.
BEST OF LUCK!!!!
Hi everyone, I had same problem with Passport to Fun, although I specifically remember I clicked on “No Thanks” button but somehow it haunt me too.
I looked at their parent company’ Vertrue, Inc BBB report (look at Nebraska) http://www.bbbnebraska.org/commonreport.html?bid=107000028
you’ll see tons of unsatisfactory records and complains and even government actions by several states general attorney’s for same action since 2000 basically: charging customer credit cards without their consent!!! even paid up to millions for costs and fee, so why they are still in business and doing same thing!! so why major credit cards like VISA, AMEX … despite the facty they spending time and money on disputes and closing account not blocking this merchant and removing their authorization of charging credit cards? WELCOME to capitalism, as long as you can generate revenue within legal limits you are ok and they can’t touch you even if you screwing inocent people (don’t forget that credit card companies will benefit too they are getting 1-2% of these transactions too.
So, can they charge you legally? absolutely, they record you IP address and who can prove that you did not intend to subscribe to those b** shi**? contact them as them FULL REFUND and don’t settle with less, Close your credit cards and telling them youn did not directly authorize for these charges, and fight back by filing complaint with FTC, filing a complaint with BBB (Nebraska), even contact your state attorney genera; and spread the word in your freinds and families even call your local radio/tv station that they put in their special news and aware everyone that be careful of such pop up ads, free offers, free free gift card and avoid doing business with such companies as much as possible.
Now I see that I’m not the ONLY one that has been billed (& billed & billed) by “Passport to Fun”. About a year ago I purchased business cards from Vista Print – maybe that is how I got connected to this place. ANYWAY, I just noticed today they have “attempted” to bill my PayPal account 26 times. They starting billing me $19.95 and increasing to $59.85!!! Thank God I haven’t put any money in my PayPal account for several months so the charges were denied….I need my PayPal account now & can’t put $$ fearing they will suck it all out!! Help! Guess I could write the PO Box I see from their website. I have nothing from them & want nothing from them. Hope I can keep them off my back… I don’t know how I got there in the first place…Sheila M./Orlando, FL
Thanks to everyone for posting – I thought it was some erroneous charge my husband made. We caught it right away, waiting on refund. Good to see some of you got yours! We were told it was through Time-Life – not that I believe much these people say..but we do order (DID! DID!) through Time-Life Music. Bank was alerted, as well. Next stop – FTC! Thanks for all your posts, everyone and best of luck to you all.
I second that (REF: “thanks to everyone for posting”) as I too read more of the comments here & decided to contact PayPal & have them help me with this. They have yet to get ONE DIME of my $$, but I have used this PayPal account for over 4 years & like the convenience of making purchases on eBay (& other places)…. I have reported numerous emails I have received from IP’s that “look like” PayPal sent them…and they have provided me with excellent follow-up & feedback. Hopefully they will do the same with this PASSPORT scam. I want to use their PayPal Plus Credit Card & unless they block them from attempting to take $ out of my bank accounts, I won’t use it. So – I’m sure PayPal will assist me. I agree, don’t call the scam company – they will only try to pull more info out of you so they can suck out your hard earned $$$. I too have filed a complaint with the FTC. AMEN, good luck to everyone!! Sheila/FLORIDA
Wanted to update – bank reflects the refund this AM. My husband did call, I agree with Sheila above, I wasn’t thrilled with it at first, but bank suggested. That’s how we found out, or so the SCAM co. says, it was thru a purchase from Time-Life.
Anyway, money back. Good luck to you all!
UGH I was sucked into this scam as well. Luckily I did a little research on the company before calling my credit card company. I also let the ‘passport to fun’ company know that I knew about thier class action suit. I was able to get all my money back without hassle this way. The number I call was 888-999-0557. Hope everyone had as easy of a time as I did.
I just got scammed from these jerks also. I called today and they said I should have my money back in 2 days….how is this company still getting away with this. Shame on me for not checking my statement enough but I have charges for 8 months!!
I hope we can really get this people.
Thanks for the info.
I too am a victim of the passpotoffun scam. It came from vista print.com. I called and cancelled , and as I was looking at other statements saw that I was charged for 2 months (14.95) I just called my bank to get the number again to have the 1st charge taken off. The second was refunded. I scan my
statements each month. I will be more careful of ordering on line from now on. I was feeling kind of guilty thinking I pressed a button accidently, but if there are this many people writing about this, I can see it is no accident, just a scam
The bloggers saying people were stupid were entertaining – illiterate, ignorant and crass –but entertaining. This blog is not for them, it is for those trying to assist one another, and I am glad they are. Because of them, I was able to trace my issue back to Vista Print.
I check my bank account over the phone each day that is why I was able to catch the $199.95 charge that PTF was trying to take from my account before it even posted. While I may be on top of things more than others, it still is unethical for companies that we buy products from to knowingly scam its customers. I say knowingly, because when I called Vista Print, I spoke with Stacey and then I was transferred to a supervisor, Insgley. He assured me they were going to reevaluate their relationship with PTF. This is a lie, because if you read previous blogs, they made this same claim to previous callers a long time ago.
I ordered invitations from Vista Print early in 2005. The offer they are claiming that I allegedly applied for came with the $10 off the next order. I specifically remember forgoing this because I did not plan to order again, I was ordering wedding invites. I do not ever take any offers over the internet- ever. This was not my doing. Vista Print said “when I entered my email address again.” I only had to enter it again when I had to reorder my invites because they were incorrect.
When I called PTF I spoke with Louanne ID#26135. She told me I ordered off an infomercial and I need to speak with my spouse. Nice try I already had. She was actually trying to tell me I never claimed my gift card, and I could still get it! Then she was rude when I laughed at her, although she agree to cancel my account when I showed her what rude really was. She said two bank statements – I said no – today. Be firm that it is TODAY – not in the next two bank statements, I got it done. I asked her for the company that the charges originated from and she told me that was private. Then I spoke with supervisor Charles ID# 14934, he told me I ordered off “Get Rich.” When I asked for the website, he instructed me to Google it. I told him if I was looking for “get rich quick info” I would be filling out a job application at PTF.
At any rate, I filled out a fraud affidavit at my bank, and she is who printed out the 65 pages of complaints that told me I was scammed by Vista Print. From there, I went to fill out a police report.
You need to check your bank statements every night. If I had not, I would be waiting for months like these poor folks before me. Because I check it every night, I was able to stop payment before it posted. As for the class action suit, I hope they all get money; I just do not sue for it. I am however filing a complaint with the States Attorney’s Office and the BBB tomorrow. I live in a rural area; our attorney would probably salivate over a case like this. More importantly, it can set a president so people are being looked out for.
For those who are happy with the service, that is great. If you specifically go out of your way to sign up, then you wanted the product, and you knew what you were getting into. I never signed up for it – period.
last night my son requested a mini bank statement from his bank and we found out that there were 2 purchase of 19.80 by passporttofun and one from motors bargain.this is insane since we did nit use his card for weeks.this co.should be lock for doing this thing.how do they get the info from your card since we don’t use it never on line or for purchase.
Please do not email FireSurfer about the Home Works Plus lawsuit. Formerly I forwarded all inquiries to a link that is no longer working.
To join the class action suit simply go to
http://girardgibbs.com/memberworks.html
and sign up .
I pray you all get your money back.
This morning as I checked my bank statements, I found a charge of 29.95 to passport to fun. I have called my bank and cancelled the Visa Debit card it was drawn from also filing fradulent claim charge. I don’t know how we were signed up for this. Haven’t bought airline tickets online for over 1 1/2 years. This sucks. Hope the one charge was all they got us for!!
I was charged $14.95 by PTF. After calling to challenge them they wanted me to give them the CC no. again. I never used them, never joined them, do not know them nor want too. As for giving them the CC NO. I did not and they would not do anything. Tried to contact bank but it was closed. Will try tomorrow in hopes that something can be done. Will also turn it over to State Attorneys office as a Fraud Complaint.
I just found charges for 19.95 for AP9*PA dating back to 5/2006, Have been charged monthly since then. Told me I ordered something thru an infomercial. That would be when I ordered my Magic Bullet and am now remembering being promised a $25 Walmart giftcard wich I never received. Made it sound like it was part of the promo. They are saying they will refund…We’ll see.
11/30/2006 I had two charges, one from Passport To Fun, and one from SHOPPING ESSENTIALS. Both for 14.95, same day charges. As soon as I saw the charges and the company name, I entered it in google and found this site before I cancelled, and filed claims. I called and got my quote “membership” number by entering my phone number. Funny thing is, I entered the cell phone number that I no longer have and cancelled last spring. I use a different number now, but I had a hunch… I understand that when your info is “stolen”, the thieves often wait up to six months before using it. Also noteworthy was the fact that both Passport To Fun and Shopping Essentials have the exact same phone menu exept for the company name, and I had a different quote “membership” number at each place. I also called my bank, cancelled my VISA/Debit card, and filed a claim to have the charges taken off!
I got a mailer from Better Homes and Gardens fiving me a member number to enter into a $2,000,000 sweepstakes. I read all the fine print on the back and I knew that “no purchase was necessary”. “Mary” then told me that I could sign up to recieve three magazines for free. She then transferred me to her supervisor and he “gave me” two other magazines, a watch, and an electronic organizer. I had to give him my credit card number and he told me that I could cancel my service within 90 days. I just did this today and all of it sounded fishy so I started doing some research. I haven’t been charged yet but I intend to cancel my “membership” before I do. I can’t believe I got sucked in to something like this.
Why am I being charged 19.95 A month From my bank acc, ? I want this to stop now.
Why am I being charged 19.95 A month From my bank acc, ? I want this to stop now.
I recently encountered this “Passport to Fun” problem and it is no fun! I was connected with another one called “Home Rewards.” I talked to a lady at the ph.# on my mom’s bank statement and she said she would stop the membership to Home Rewards and it was not deducted from mom’s account this month…however the Passport to Fun was once again deducting $12.95 out of her account. I had went through the maze of phone options to try to stop it and it said I had but she would have the benefits for a year FREE of charge..like they say, “Freedom isn’t FREE.” God knows if I will ever get them to stop deducting it from her account.
I think there should be something done to these co. that talk elderly people (and not so elderly ones) who don’t understand that this is an ongoing charge that will be taken out of their account. On limited income at times the unexpected deduction from their Visa Check Card makes their account short and checks bounce.
My mom didn’t have internet nor did she use Travelocity or anythink close to it. She got hit with Home Rewards and Pasport to Fun each deducting $12.95 from her Visa Check Card. At “Home Rewards” I actually talked to a person who said it was probably linked to a magazine order. Once they get your Check Card info you can’t get it charged back even though it looks like a Visa charge card because the bank told me you are responsible for who you give the info to. I have been dumb enough to get suckered in to their traps before. It can be a nightmare…don’t use your Visa CHECK CARD to order things unless you are positive who and what they are. Warn your elderly friends and relatives…they are sitting ducks for these creeps!
I called that exact number 1-888-840-6304 and the automated trash said it was cancelled from my mom’s account but this month another $12.95 on her Visa Check Card blowing in the breeze for these jerks!
Guess your TV station didn’t nip the Passport “Not So Fun” in the bud. My 83 year old mother is donating $12.95/mo. to the jerks on her Visa Check Card and here this is in December. Thanks for the try. If you give them my name I will give them all the info I have on them getting poor old people to give up their grocery money to them.
Nancy, if I were you I would close out your mom’s bank account(s) and open a new one. (Remember to notify the Social Security Administration and any other sources that are allowed to directly deposit to or draft from the account that she has a new account number). Tell your bank rep that any drafts from these companies are unauthorized. Alert the bank IN WRITING to any bank drafts that ARE authorized. Have them sign the notice, give them a copy and keep one for yourself. Do not sign on for a check card. Have your mom either write checks, pay cash or use a credit card (prepaid or otherwise) for normal monthly expenditures. Pay bills the old fashioned way: with a check, envelope and stamp. If a check card is used for monthly transactions, it will be harder for the bank to recognize fraudulent activity. Have your bank rep “flag” her account. By flagging the account, the banker will keep a watchful eye on the account. Lastly, have a talk with your mom advising her against giving information out to “companies” or entering any “sweepstakes” without you two discussing it first. She needs your help to be protected from these vultures.
Last night I was tired after booking a flight on Travelocity, and clicked on the $20 saving, entered my credit info and wondered what I signed up for. Today I saw the charge on my card online, along with a telephone number: PASSPORTTOFUN 888-801-2580 CT, and when I called, I was able to automatically cancel. However, I was suspicious, just too easy. So I went to dealpass.com (their site), logged in using the member number on the credit card charge, and it spelled out terms with an “I agree” button. No way was I going to click. So I called back and had to choose #2 (order things), I kept getting channelled to the same option, I pressed 0 several times, and finally got a live person who confirmed the cancel, but then said that she would issue a refund. I asked whether I would have gotten the refund if I had not talked to her, and she said no, that you have to request it. So please request the refund and don’t think that just because you cancelled using their automated phone that you will get your money back.
WHY IM I BEEING CHAGE FOR (2) $19.95 . THIS NEED TO STOP .I HAVE STOP MY DEBITECARD TO DAY I PAY YOU LAST MONTH BUT I DID NOT GET ANYB THANG FROM YOUB ,.. IT MUST STOP . GIVE IT BACK TO MY BANK . IM NOT PAYING IT OUT . IM ON A FIX IN COME.
MY EMAIL HAS CHAGE IT IS PLEASANTDREAM_6@HOTMAIL.COM
These scoundrels charged our Amex account $149.95 for a “membership” in their discount travel and purchase club. We called their number 888-840-6303 to cancel and were told okay. We also got Amex to cancel the charge. We have written the company shown on the Amex charge, Ahorros Saludables, 680 Washington Blvd, Suite 1100, Stamford CT 06901, that unless they provide us with a full and satisfactory account of how they came to bill us for this unauthorized charge that we will file with the Connecticut Attorney General.
Ed and Marsha:
Passport to Fun scammed me for over $200. I finally reported my Am Ex card lost just to get PTF away from me. I also wrote Am Ex to get refunded all of the UNAUTHORIZED PTF charges to my account. Please do file a complaint witht he Connecticut Attorney General!
I had purchased a game online for $19.95 a few months ago and thought that it was over but then I got a charge from Passport to Fun on my statement for $19.95 and thought that maybe the first one did not go through but now that I read this, I checked and it has come out three times now on top of the $19.95 for the game that was purchased… This is ridiculous. They just tried to take it out again but I pulled the funds before they could so I could figure this out…
Well I think like a lot of other people I got hit by Passport to Fun. I check my C.C. Bill monthy and saw this charge that I know I never made. After looking stuff up on-line I found this website and found out the Tavelocity was tricking people into this deal for $14.95 that for the most part never know about. Well one month to the date of me booking tickets with Travelocity the charge showed up on my account. So if you get a save some money screen when you are on travelocity stay clear. C.C. company will get you a refund by do it ASAP!!!
Today’s Escapes tried to scam me. Luckily I caught it early and they only got $20.95. I just called the 800 number and they had the gall to try and sale me the product. I told them I wasn’t interested, to erase all of my information, and to give me all my money back as soon as possible. If you are firm and professional they will usually do it. We’ll see if they do. Hydroderm has also done a similar thing. I’ve been fighting for months to get $69.00 back from those guys. They have been very unprofessional.
I just logged on to my American Express credit card account and notice a charge of $14.95 towards membership of PASSPORT TO FUN 888-801-2604 CT. I have not signed up for any such thing. I thought of doing some search on this company and came across this and few other places and see what this charge could be from. Last month I did order some business cards from Vista Print but don’t remember signing up for anything else. Oh well… I see it as fraudulent charge and am going to call my credit card company to cancel and credit me. I will make sure this is not recurring one.
Hate when this kinda frauds happen.
somehow they got a credit card i had already cancelled. my credit card co. was no help and forwarded my calls to them. they said someone at my home autorized this. NO ONE WAS EVEN HERE THAT WEEK. it is scary how they had all my info. and charged a card that hasn’t been used in 6 mos.
no, i think ashley is a ?*&%L. my credit card had been cancelled and they still got to it and i was billed. how scary is that?
i ordered something online a couple of weeks ago and this past weekend while checking my card balance i noticed a charge from CTUS essential shopping…i called the number that they listed and was assured the $19.95 charge would be removed in two days…i checked my card again today and this same company had not only NOT given me credit they had also posted another charge of $19.95 on my account for “passport to fun”..i called my credit card company and canceled my card…then called the number for passport to fun, which by the way is a completely different number from the one listed for the first charge…again i was assured this new charge would be removed from my account…and i told the guy that i talked to about how i had looked up the company he is working for on the internet and found a ton of people that have been scammed by them..he said he was in houston texas, and made the comment that he had family in dallas, which is where i am..LOL..i told him i knew he wasn’t personally responsible but to not be surprised if a local tv crew shows up asking questions…that is my next step…we have a lot of stations here that do consumer fraud investigations …that is where i am taking this..wish me luck.
Thank all of you for your comments. Finding this site and your comments may have saved me some otherwise lost money. This pssspotosht outfit had taken 165.00 out of my account thru some sort of spinoff on a TV infomercial. My girlfriend had cancelled the order that she placed on my card within the allotted time. Several calls from her to the 1st pssspotocrp outfit resulted in nothing. The monthly deductions from my account still occured. I found your comments today and called the PASSPORT TO FUN 888-801-2604 number. They tried to put me off saying they would refund only the last 15.00 deduction and cancel any further deductions. They tried various arguments to try and (lie) support this. I insisted on a complete refund until a supposed supervisor agreed to a full credit to my account. All I received as confirmation of the agreement was their Names and employee IDs. These were Erin ID 4365 and Carol ID 3450.
Did you get the rebate from them?
I also got screwed by this program! The funny thing is after I realized what I had just signed up for after ordering from Vista Print I called and cancelled this Passport membership! Still a month later I get charged for it anyway! I called and got a refund but don’t know if I trust them to do it or not.
Got suckered in, too. Bought a Magic Bullet from a TV ad. Was offered the passport to fun, but did not accept. Got the bill 2 months later. Called the 800 number and talked to Henry, ID 25687. He cancelled the membership, after explaining how and why we got changed (from his point of view). He said that we had received a $50 gift card to the Walmart (we didn’t), and that he’d be happy to extend the offer to a full year for us for the same price as one month, $19.95. We declined out of spite, even though it seems like a decent program, we don’t trust noone with such a slimy outwards appearance (I’m refering to the company, not Henry).
Just want to thank you for your web site. I thought I was going nuts or losing my mind until I found this site. What a good person you are.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Oh hell no!!!! I never recieved anything from them promised gas cards and then call reversed all charges and now 5 months later a charge did they think I don’t check my account!!! I will be taking them to court if need be!!!!
Don’t get trapped!!!
AP9*VPREWARDSUS.CO 888-243-6185
These people are SUCH jerks… i saw them coming up too and they said it was for something i purchased in November 2005 – the stole $135 of my money… such bastards! I feel cheated and decieved… what a slimy way to do a business!!!!
This is an update to my previous post.
I have received credit on both of the charges that had appeared on my credit card statement. Of course I had canceled my card as soon as I noticed that second charge. But, I am not done with them yet…I am reporting them everywhere and everyone that will listen to me.
I did however learn a valuable lesson from this experience. Please, everyone, pay attention to what information anyone ask you for when you are ordering something. The whole thing that got me into this situation started with an offer for something “FREE”…how many times have I heard, “nothing is free”?…enough to finally have heard the warnings. C’mon ya’ll, wise up..fight back and in the future if you really want something for free, come back to this site and you will get all the free advice you could possibly imagine. Thanks for making this available to me. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to ya’ll from Dallas, Texas.
suck my american dick!
you all dont worry about canada guy. Hes probably a 13 year old pimply faced fat kid who spends 20 hours a day on his mom’s computer. no doubt he will probably be completely psycho by the time he’s an adult. 7 or 8 failed marriages will ensue. His obituary will read: John Doe, found under overpass, curled up next to empty bottle of MD 20/20, succumbed to extreme low ambient temperatures. Anyone recognizing the picture of gluteus maximus, please call to identify. But no one will call because John spent his life alienating others and lacked the general social skills that most people find attractive.
i just realized today that i was getting charged $14.95/month for AP9 PASSPORTTOFUN….the only reason i realized this is because i’m currently deployed overseas and haven’t used a credit card, let alone my wallet in over 30 days, haven’t had a single transaction on my card until today….then realized it’s appeared the last 2 months without me knowing…i just filed a fraud inquiry with my bank, and as soon as i’m able to access a phone, i’ll call the associated 800 number. thanks to all who have posted here, i was in complete aww and was slightly pissed, but now feel better that i know what this is about, and that others have had luck resolving this issue.
Suggest emailing “TRUSTe” as they are THE validating site for these fraud operations.
Carolyn Hodge
Director of Marketing
TRUSTe
Phone: (415) 520-3400
Email: mediarelations@truste.org
Kevin Lewis
Landis Communications, Inc.
Phone: 415-561-0888
Email: kevin@landispr.com
TRUSTe EMAIL
Certification:
privacyseals@truste.org
(415) 520-3405
Renewals:
sealrenewal@truste.org
(415) 520-3403
Sponsorships/Partnerships:
privacyleader@truste.org
(415) 520-3401
Questions about the Web site:
kputman@truste.org
I have just now learned that my account has bean charged 30.00 for the pass 6 month, by passaport to fun. I didn’t even know what that was until I searched google. So please give me a number that I can call to solve this matter. This people need to get real carrers and quit stealing from hard working families. We have 5 smal children my husband is the only one that works,because we can’t pay for day care for me to work . And peeople like that get way with things like that!!!
I must have opted in to this service through Travelocity, and when I got the paperwork decided to decline the membership. That was about a year ago. I sent all the correct papers, etc. to unsubscribe and now I’ve got a charge to my account from them for $59.85. It’s awful how they just access your account like that! It is comforting to know I’m not alone, although, I don’t wish this on anyone. I’m having my bank reverse the withdrawl, and will also call the company. You’d think after all these people getting hit like this somewhere along the line Passport to Fun would have been shut down by the proper agency.
i used vistaprint also and got this horrible charge…i’ve tried to get it removed but to no avail!
i will get it done tomorrow. hey bastards who steal money, i hate you!
Same experience with PTF as others. Never signed up. Have no idea how they got cc# and other information. I called and was routed through the “standard” two levels of their employees. As with others they first very quickly agreed to refund the most recent charge and then the supervisor trying to say they only had to refund the most recent charge relented when I told him I considered this an attempt to defraud. I also read to him from their own web site “Offer a “no-questions-asked” refund policy for unauthorized charge complaints that provides a full and prompt refund for any member who is charged a fee but claims he or she did not authorize it.” I’m waiting for refund of $50.85
same here just got hit witha $14.95 charge.Could be the exspress 101 web site last thing I bought.I canceled my credit card,Got no where when I call the number…They wanted more info.I called and reported them to my credit card company
What is worse when you call the 1-888-840-6303, be prepared to talk to someone either in Canada, Toledo or wherever they want to be at with no address. It is best to have your bank fight them for fraud in any way possible.
Can we also go after those leget companies that are selling out our informations to those bandits?
If so, we all need to get involved in shutting down this scam.
I also had a charge on my AMEX $14.95 on 12/19, when I called on 12/27, they said they would reverse it. Then I receive an email the next day that it will be credited in two business days but I may have to wait for two statements to go by before I see it, well that is two more months. I emailed them back that I will not wait two months, but two business days only. I am going to wait two more days and call AMEX to deal with them. I believe we should all close our cards down. I feel they received my information from http://www.cheaptiickets.com
Actually after recalling back, it was not cheaptickets, it was Urban Rebound, an excercise trampoline I ordered online which transmitted my AMEX # to this passport-to-fun.
Thanks to everyone for their postings about PTF. We have been charged $14.95 for a year (confusion in our household about the charge, but we finally figured out that neither my wife or I knew what it was). We found their web site: no information about what they do. We called them and they were not helpful. Finally they agreed to refund 2 months out of 12. I called Travelocity and spoke to Rex Green in Bombay and told them I was very unhappy that they were associated with such a sleazy business. Rex called PTF and told me that they agreed to refund all our money in the next week to 10 days. I hope they do!
I’d like to do more. I think they are a scum-sucking organization that simply tries to stay below the radar and skim money from unsuspecting individuals while providing nothing in return. Any suggestions? BBB? FTC? Thanks!
Reed
I purchased a Miracle Blade knife set from a TV infomercial and opted into the PTF with the promise of a $50 Walmart gift card and the ability to cancel within 30 days. I ordered the knives 2 weeks ago and haven’t received anything from PTF. I knew what I was doing and thought that they must do this because the majority of folks probably forget to cancel within the 30 day window and I fully intended to cancel within 30 days…… Anyway, checked my credit card today and guess what…..they had already charged me. I did a quick google search and ended up here. Appreciate everyone’s advice and experiences, I’ll follow up if I can contribute any evidence or experience.
GLAD I FOUND THIS WEB SITE – PASSPORT TO FUN GOT ME TOO. NEVER HEARD OF THE JERKS. CHARGING ON MY AMERICAN EXPRESS 14.99 FOR THE PAST TWO MONTHS.
THANKS TO THIS SITE I LEARNED MANY THINGS. NEXT TIME I NEED “FREE” BUSINESS CARDS, I WILL AVOID VISTA PRINT.
LETS PUT A STOP TO THESE CREEPS.
having the same problem with “Passporttofun”
$19.95 monthy end of each month! Did you
resolve the problem? Got your money back??
I still won’t use my PayPal Debit card that I had established over 2 years ago, because PTF continues to charge my debit card – last charge made 12/29/06 for $99.75! Matter of fact, they have been trying to charge my card $99.75 four times, prior to that 7 times at $79.80, etc. – I could not get PayPal to help me ‘BLOCK” their charge efforts, so I have not used that debit card (I sold an item on eBay the other day and quickly transferred the credited funds to another person’s account so PTF wouldn’t take all the money)! Which surprises me, why wouldn’t PayPal want to help me “block” charges that are in fact, unauthorized charges, to my account? I thought PayPal would fight for me so I could use their debit card. Guess not…but I’m not going to stop now. I will keep everyone posted as well about what I find out. WHAT CROOKS!
[…] Andymatic reported Passport To Fun almost a year ago and has 250 comments from various other people who are also getting the charge. Rip-off Report has a number of entries related to Shopping Essentials. Sidenote: Rip-off Report has a Java applet scrolling news window. I can’t remember the last time I saw one of those on a site! […]
they got me too, im going to the bank to see what i can do.. dunno how they got me though, i dont even buy stuff online. thanks for all the info, i thought i was the only one. HA! 250 some other people.. wow, didnt know “companies” could do stuff like this.
They got me too. I checked my statement yesterday & had 2 charges for 19.95. One with passport to fun & one was shopping essentials. Both phone number listed were the same recording. How frustrating. I filed fraud with my bank and should hear back soon.
I was going out to go shopping and I wanted to make sure I had an amount of money in my account. Was I suprised when I found this on my charge card. I have never even given my card number out online. I am so pissed. These peolpe make me sick. It’s hard to make ends meet and these jerks are taking money from me for something I don’t even know what it is.
me again. I guess they turned it off. If I get charged again I’m going to be so pissed. It seemed like it took forever to talk to someone…just hold on and they will answer.
Great news! In my note above I said that PTF had agreed to refund the rest of my money when they got called by Travelocity. They actually refunded my money! It worked very well, and I highly recommend that you try this as well.
Reed
Today I logged on my account and saw this charge. I am going to call my bank and tell them this was not authorized. It was for 19.95! PTF are rip off artists!
I am also going to call the company! They are phishing and cheating us!
THIS STUFF IS TOTAL BULL. I GOT HIT BY 4 DIFFRENT THINGS ALL FROM ONE COMPANY YOU GOT IT PASSPORT TO FUN. HOMEWORKS, TODAYSESCAPES, CONNECTIONS ALL PART OF PASSPORTS TO FUN. CALL 1 NUBER TO CANCEL ALL 4 LUCKILY AND I GOT HIT FOR A TOTAL OF118.65 THESE PEOPLE NEED TO BE STOPPED.
these fuckers ..they told me that they canceled me and they charged me again for that 19.95. They are fuckers and I am going to change my bank because of them. I would realy like to know if anyone is going after them in court let me know because I would realy like to get them good.
I too got hit with the Passport to fun charge for $14.95. In my case it was a debit card where I only have enough to cover my legitimate charges. Now I not only got an unwanted charge but an overdraft fee as well! I did not use Travelocity so I have no idea where the charge came from. Will call my Bank today, etc. Thanks for this blog!
These sneaky bastards ripped me off for many,many months. I thought it was a charge from an internet purchase of a toy that I bought for my grandson. It’s purely a scam. I’ve reported them to the Penna. Attorney General’s Office. If there’s a class action suit, I want to be a part of it.
I finally caught on in Jan 2007 when it changed from 12.95 to 14.95.
So as with everyone else that has posted I too was caught with this scam and had it taken care of today. My charges dated back to December of 2006 and came to close to $200. I handled the issue in a total of 5 minutes. Tell them you are at work you dont have time to deal with this and unless the amount is refunded immediately you will bring legal action. The lady didn’t even pass me to the supervisor, she did it immediately.
Why do you people bother to call them more then once? Contact your credit card company and dispute the charges. They already know about these companies.
They do. My bank arranged a three way call (they are quite used to this apparently) and all agreed on the refund and removal from their subscription. If I see another month’s bill then another call I guess. If there is a class action suit somewhere, I’d be interested in finding out about it.
Al
This seems rather ridiculous… wtf
I have no idea where the charges stemmed from. I cant remember ever using travelocity or visa print…idk what I signed up for. They took 19.95 out of my account 3 times. I’m waiting for 7am to call now.
pssporttofun guys caught me charging my account for the past 5 months, i am waiting to call these frauds next morning..how they got my account
I too found charges to my cc. In Aug i signed thrpough Privacy Matters for what was supposed to be a $1 credit report or something and have been charged $14.95 for the past 6 months. I never noticed since i have automatic payments untill i acutally looked at my statment and went through my old ones. I will be calling someone soon. It’s almost $90! i could use that!!
Watch outalso for charges from AP9*shoppingessential. It is the same kind of fradulent charge as Todays Escapes. I just had it show up on my check card, had only opened the account a few days earlier and hadn’t used it yet.
Its not just Passport to Fun, they have a sister company too called At Home Rewards, its the exact same thing, you have to call and cancel as well.
They have an option number to choose to cancel the service, but this does not refund you the money you have been charged, you have to talk to a representative to get that back.
Publishers Clearing House is the same scam, they will start sending you things in the mail & then bills. They also sign you up for magazines and then bill you for them. They do this a lot to the elderly, who get confused with their double sided talk.
AP9*VPREWARDSUS.CO 888-243-6185
this is wat showed up on my account i am so mad at vistaprints. They wont stop calling me and giving me offers, and then this shit!!
When i called this number 888024306185. Its the number for vistaprints and that i am part of there membership. Which i never joined or accepted.
I would like to unsubscribe immediately, thank you
Sherry Bryant
I would like to unsubscribe immediately
Thanks for the great suggestion. I just did that with Citibank. My situation was a bit different in that I joined the 7-day trial period for $1, and then they continued to charge me after I cancelled. And not only did I request a challenge to the monthly fee, but also the scam of the gift cards, for which they promise a $5 cash back on each one that they then don’t give you if you cancel your membership during the trial period. When I then said I would return the cards and get my money back they said I couldn’t. The fine folk at Citibank agreed it was unreasonable (and that is why they have this 30-day return thingy) and would put in a claim for that too.
What a great idea and thanks again
I just noticed this charge on my monthly statement
for passport2fun. What is it?
Negative option schemes like MWI are a pain but if you handle them quickly and correctly, they don’t have to grow into a super-migraine. Here are the steps we recommend:
1. Notify your credit card company
You should immediately call your credit card company and tell them you want to dispute the charge, pursuant to the Fair Credit Billing Act, which requires banks and credit card companies to allow consumers to dispute a charge by demanding a proof of purchase.
If a company cannot provide the bank or credit card company with proof that the product or service was actually ordered by the consumer, the bank or credit card company does not have to charge the consumer’s account. You will most likely be asked to fill out and sign a simple form. Follow their directions. Fill out the form, make a copy, then mail the form to the bank. Keep the copy.
You have only 60 days to dispute the charge in writing. Don’t waste it.
2. Notify the company
Send a certified, return receipt requested letter (very important) to the company. We have suggested language you can use. Make a copy. Keep the copy. When the delivery receipt is returned to you, keep it too.
Don’t try to email or call the company. It is a waste of time and not legaaly binding.
Report Your Experience
If you’ve had a bad experience with a consumer product or service, we’d like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report
I recently noticed two charges from PASSPORTTOFUN (PASS PORT TO FUN 877-442-5780) and from EASY SAVER 800-262-6199 for 14.95 each. I have no idea how these charges got charged to my account. I immediately called both of the company’s and asked that they refund my money and that I did not want there server and that the charges were not authorized. After a runaround they told me that they would credit my account and cancel the service. They also told me that it was noted in there system that I ordered there service from a infomercial (I have never ordered from the TV). Several days go by and the changes were still posted on my account and I never received a refund. I then called bank of America and asked to dispute the changes. The dispute department told me that they are unable to dispute this charge because bank of America is affiliates with both of these company’s and that I would have to take it up with them. I asked for a supervisor /etc /etc to no avail. I then drove into a banking center and the manager tried to dispute the charges and was told the same. He also told me that it is common for “affiliate companies” to share information like checking / credit card numbers. I would bet that this is how they got my account numbers.
I ended up closing my account with bank of America and am much happier with my new bank. However I have still be unable to receive any refund from this company or there partner bank of America.
I’m sure that some day there will be a class action lawsuit against all three of these companies and I would love to be included.
Reference: bankofamericasux.com
I was told I purchased it from the TV which is a fn Lie!
I recently noticed two charges from PASSPORTTOFUN (PASS PORT TO FUN 877-442-5780) and from EASY SAVER 800-262-6199 for 14.95 each. I have no idea how these charges got charged to my account. I immediately called both of the company’s and asked that they refund my money and that I did not want there server and that the charges were not authorized. After a runaround they told me that they would credit my account and cancel the service. They also told me that it was noted in there system that I ordered there service from a infomercial (I have never ordered from the TV). Several days go by and the changes were still posted on my account and I never received a refund. I then called bank of America and asked to dispute the changes. The dispute department told me that they are unable to dispute this charge because bank of America is affiliates with both of these company’s and that I would have to take it up with them. I asked for a supervisor /etc /etc to no avail. I then drove into a banking center and the manager tried to dispute the charges and was told the same. He also told me that it is common for “affiliate companies” to share information like checking / credit card numbers. I would bet that this is how they got my account numbers.
I ended up closing my account with bank of America and am much happier with my new bank. However I have still be unable to receive any refund from this company or there partner bank of America.
I’m sure that some day there will be a class action lawsuit against all three of these companies and I would love to be included.
Reference: bankofamericasux.com
Same thing just happened to me, thanks for the blog about it! citibank does not apparently protect consumers from this as they are my bank. I ordered from vistaprint about 1.5 months ago (end of november) and this is the first time i’ve seen this. Have not had a chance to dispute it yet.
a friend of mine has had this come up 3 times in the last year hers is always paired with at home rewards
the first time it was easy to cancel the second time they continued to charge even after cancellation I’m not sure how they got he cc info he first time she sent a thing in to get a $25 gift card from walmart (best guess) but she claims her cc info was not on the thing she sent in. The second time I knowingly signed up for it to get a free credit report. This time (yet to be resolved) she signed up for a magazine again to get something free. I guess all I really have to add to this discusstion is to watch out for the “free” stuff and watch your statements and act fast when something is not right
I sent an e-mail about my issues I posed above to bank of america and here is what they had to say:
__________________________________________
The Bank of America Consumer Privacy Policy states that customers who do
not want their information shared with third parties may elect to
opt-out of third party sharing. Customers who choose to opt-out of
third party sharing can do so through one of the following channels:
– Self-service by visiting http://www.bankofamerica.com/privacy
Select the Set your Preferences Link
Fill in all of the appropriate fields and select the Submit option
– By calling a Privacy Response Unit expert at 1.888.341.5000
Option 1 is for customers with MBNA accounts only
Option 2 is for Bank of America accounts only
Option 3 is for Bank of America customers who also have MBNA
accounts.
– By visiting the nearest Bank of America banking center.
Please be prepared to provide the following information:
– First name, middle initial and last name
– Address, city, state and zip code
– Account or reference number for third party sharing opt-outs
– Social Security Number
– Telephone Number, if applicable
– E-mail address, if applicable.
Please allow up to 12 weeks for your request to be fully effective.
Because promotions from our affiliates are developed weeks and months in
advance, you may sometime receive solicitations if the promotion has
already been implemented. We appreciate your patience.
__________________________________________
I just got off the phone with this stupid Passport to Fun company. I’ve been hit three months in a row! The guy is reading off of a prompt card and just keeps repeating the same stupid information. I am reporting this to the Attorney General in Ohio. Also calling my credit card company. This is bull. There is another charge from a Natural Cures for 5.95. I have to call them next. The PTF company will only reimburse me two months. I’m so angry!
Thanks for the information…I ordered business cards through Vistaprint a few months back, and while I haven’t (yet!) received any charges from any of these sketchy companies I did call my bank to change my credit card number (and explained the situation, stating that my card might have been compromised).
I don’t remember hitting any of these pop-ups that people mention, above, but I don’t want to risk it.
Thanks for the blogs guys. I just noticed a $19.95 on my debit card and quickly called 1-888-840-6303 and demanded to speak to a manager. A guy named Abraham got on the line at first saying that they could not find my account (by searching name, address or zipcode) but then found it looking for my actual credit card number. I demanded a refund and Abraham agreed that it would take 2 business days and I even got a authorization code for the transaction. Guess my next step is to get a new credit card number which I will be doing today!
Yeah I just went online to check my statement and I have a charge from them and I have no clue why, i havent bought anything online in a looong time and yet this is still showing up.. ive had problems like this with some other websites and ive had to have my bank reverse them and im getting sick of it, my banks gotta be sick of me, im going to try going through the company itself so i dont have to bother the bank again and if they dont reverse it themselves ill go through my bank.. at least im not the only one
Good luck with your bank. Bank of America wouldn’t do anything for me! They are partners with these fraudulent companies.
O, and if the company says they will credit your acct don’t believe it. Keep an eye on your acct.
http://www.bankofamericasucks.com
http://www.bankofamericasucks.com
http://www.bankofamericasucks.com
http://www.bankofamericasucks.com
http://www.bankofamericasucks.com
http://www.bankofamericasucks.com
I recieved random charges from this site. I have NO idea how they got my information. I called and canceled my account by an automated phone system. I then called the bogus company back to speak to a rep. After waiting for the next 30 minutes on the phone, I finally hung up. I was planning to switch banks sooner or later, so I guess this just gives me all the more reason to shut down my account and change now.
I had checked my bank statement online this morning and found 2 14.95 charges. One from Pass Port to Fun and one from Shopping Essentials. Since my husband and I used the debit mastercard constantly. This charge was left un-noticed for for over six months and that equals out to $269.10.These charges started happening in May 2006.I questioned my husband about the charges and he had no idea what these charges were.He never purchased anything online.So we looked up Pass Port to fun and found this blog.Very helpful. I called them up and talked to Ilian #14715,Patricia #26169, and Omar #16002 about my situation. I Explained that I never signed up for anything and I have never given my CC number except for some beads I bought online through another company that I trust, but I always got a receipt for them.Ilian said that I signed up for this with my email address which is a hotmail account. I have no record of ever signing up for their services.I said that if they have my email account on record. Why am I not not getting a confirmation and receipt for these charges??I should always get a receipt for anything I pay for.Ilian failed to answer me on that.Pass Port to Fun could only refund the last 2 months of charges, but I am still out $200.00.On top of that and I got angry.They will not re-emburst me for the overdraft fee that I will be getting, because of their recent charges.That stinks. I will be talking to my bank first thing on Monday. I have files a complaint with the WA State attorney general concerning this problem. Is there a class action lawsuit being started. Let me know. I am in.
I cant believe how many of us there are. My husband and I check our bank account and there was this charge for Passport to Fun. They did cancel it. But now i am afraid they will charge next month too! This is a scam. 14.95 for something we dont even know about or signed up for.
Just experienced something similar to the above scams. Got my January AmEx statement & it had 4 charges of $1 each, plus 1 of $19.95 & 1 of $39.80, all indicating “membership” in something my husband & I did not authorize.
I’ll detail the 3 different names & phone #s here so they turn up in searches:
ATHOMEREWARDS 877-636-6858 in CT
BARGAIN NETWORK 800-333-1915 in CA
SAVINGSMART 800-316-8774 in CT
We have no sure idea how these jerks got the CC number; we’ve never done business with VistaPrint; my husband rarely shops online (though I frequently do), & it is his card which got hit.
The 4 charges of $1 look like “test” charges, & they occurred the same day he used his card at a gas pump — someone spying for numbers nearby? The 2 larger charges were dated 1 week later.
The good news is that when I called AmEx to dispute the charges, they credited our card right away for the total of all 6.
My rippoff was similar, several $1 charges from:
At Home Rewards (several $1 charges)
Bargain Network
Saving Smart
These occured after purchasing airline tickets from the LAN airline website.
The one commentator’s advice is correct, DO NOT CALL THEM. Call your credit card company to cancel you card and get a new one, and tell the credit card company you did not authorize the charges. They will remove the charges, charge back the A-holes, and charge them an addtional fee beyond that.
Get a credit card that allows you to view the interim statements online and check it at least 2-3 times per month.
I forgot to mention. My card was from American Express. They phoned me concerned that there was a problem with these charges. They won me for life for that….
I got two $14.95 charges two months in a row. I did not bother with Passport to Fun but disputed the charges with American Express. The charges were reversed right away and I asked AE to block this company rom charging me again.
I called the 1-800-211-9471 number to make sure this “membership” is cancelled. They now an automated system for cancellation, BUT BE CAREFUL. They say that you may press “1” to cancel your membership and choose to pay one “low fee of $14.95” for a full year of “service” without paying the monthly fee, giving them another chance to charge your credit card for $14.95.
I just called the number that appeared next to “Passport to fun” on my credit card statement. I spoke to someone who appeared to be able to take care of the problem. I told her I wanted to cancel my “membership” (as if I ever wanted to become a member in the first place), and I wanted to be reimbursed immediately for the $19.95 that they charged me. Let’s see if she actually did it, and is not yanking my chain. I’ll post again when I see the reimbursement on my online statement.
they have another company they hit you with as well called shopping essentials or some BS like that look for it as well. these’s guys have been nicking me for 30 bucks a month for who knows how long their # is 1-888-243-6180. let’s hope my dispute works
I just had this happen to me last week. omgosh on how many on just this site alone and for over a year, this has been going on. Passport to Fun put my money back into my account but same day a new company took out same amount of 14.95. It’s called “Value Plus” so be aware. Just think of the money these people are making on people who just looks over it.
We disputed this on Jan 27th and the Money was put back in on the 30th, but like I said was taken back out by another company.
Saw them on my statement last month but didn’t follow through on investigating. Today there they are again, so I called after killing my card. Seems that they got ALL of my info from an infomercial on 1/24/06, and even gave me a membership #
I asked how many of these cards did I get and was told ZERO. So I asked why do I even see these people on my statement. Long story short: Picking up a dispute form Friday and contacting VISA about these jokers.
But what I want to know is how does somebody get ‘unhooked’ from the recurring charges of a useless monthly newsletter that you get stuck with for ordering Natural Cures? They just wont stop charging me, and thier webby lacks any info on how to get free from them.
Has anyone contact “Vista Print” to find out HOW our credit card numbers managed to be given out (after ordering from Vista Print) and WHY we are being charged a monthly fee (19.99) from a company none of us recoginize – “PTF (passport to fun).
Like many people that have written in, I’m curious as to how this is happening. HOW, credit cards, bank accounts are suppose to be secure. At this point I’m thinking seriously about not using internet for paying bills or ordering anything. It’s not worth all the hassel.
My American Express Credit Card had several charges from PTF and I have no idea how they managed to get my credit info and CHARGE this amount to my account.
Not often do I check my accounts because I know what I order and when I order. However, now I’ve noticed I’m being billed for other orders, on different credit cards from companies I’ve never ordered from.
Somehow I feel like there is a “leak” somewhere in this system. Does anyone else feel this way? It’s just too easy to access our credit accounts, ALSO our bank accounts, which would really freak me out if they had access to my checking or savings. Lucklily I’ve not had that happen yet but would not surprise me after what I’ve learned
from “Andymatic.com”. (I’m so thankful for this site, surely we would have thought we were the only ones that were targeted).
This is such a burden, waste of time and totally unnessary.
Is there anything legal we can do about all this?
Like myself, I’m sure any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Again,
Diana
I just received my credit card statement and found 4 charges of $14.95 each from Passport of Fun and VPREWARDSUS.COM I have booked tickets from Travelocity and also had business cards printed at Vista Print. Thank you for giving me all the leads! I will try to contact my credit card company tomorrow and at the same time, cancel my “membership” from these scums. Has anybody contacted the Attorney General?????
This happen to me also. I did not realize that last month I had a charge of $14.50 until I saw this months. I immediately called Passport to Fun as was told that I got a free trial membership when I responsed to an infomercial in Dec. and when the trial period ended they started to charge me. They are crediting my account within the next several days. But I think this is ridiculous that one company and give out our credit card numbers to another.
We must be able to do something.
I have just logged onto this website to find out what this monthly charge is on my credit card bill. I have no idea how long this $19.95 charge has been going on my bill. I keep getting the run aroung when I call the number they have listed. I will be calling my credit card company and demanding a full refund of all charges made. I don’t even remember making an online purchase so I don’t understand where they got my credit card number from. I can’t believe how dishonest people are now days, like people don’t have enough stress in thier life the way it is. I thank everyone for thier tips, I don’t understand how any of this can be legal?
Thank you for all of the information. Vista Print and Bank of America are the two familiar names for my $14.95 PassPort and $14.95 Shopping Essentials. I tried to contact Vista Print, the only communication is via telephone (Lines open til midnight and I got a late start). They are a company in Bermuda and are then bound to the laws of that country. That is what the terms and use section had disclaimed. I will contact them and Bank of America and I do hope that the two are not truly affiliated, since I have always praised Bank of America. More time in my life wasted on some ass with a great idea to collect $14.95 from consumers who are to trusting. I wonder what the people around him/her think of their morals and standards. I think I have dated a few of these genius entrepreneurs.
Thanks Again.
In reviewing my bank statements I found a charge of 19.95 debited out of my account. I Found this site verifying it is a scam. The only recent order activity I’ve done was a phone order from Time/Life which I have cancelled indicateing they passed my info to “passport to fun” resulting in a fradulent charge on my checking account. I urge everyone to stop the practice of mail order/for I definately will. To stop this illegal practice of fraud resulting in making these BIG Companies and Scam Artists richer I will immediately stop giving vital info about myself ‘period’ even to legitament people I will question what they do with my ‘info’ before I hand it out freely.”LETS STOP FEEDING THESE LEECHES’
What exactly is Vista Print?
i wanna know what this is why they keep taking money out of my account
plz tell me because i want it to stop
I’d like to say I have seem to have yet another bad experience as well. I had ordered Business cards at a great price and the these charges of 14.95 started occuring. What a mess I just called today and my credit card will be credited with in two business days. We shall se what happens!
I am now going through the same headache. I used Travelocity and a couple of months later I noticed charges of 14.95 appearing on my credit card. I called the reference number on the charge, and found out that not only Passport of Fun but Shopping Essentials is also part of this scam and charging my card(they’re one and the same).
I was told that you can complain to their Member Services at 20 Glover Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06850.
The branch office that charged me is at 9500 West Dodge Road, Omaha, Nebraska, 68114. I suggest writing a letter of complaint. I will also be writing my credit card company, Better Business Bureau, my State Attorney General, and all of my elected representatives. This has to stop, it’s out and out fraud. Best of luck.
I got charged $19.95 twice this last statement on the same day. I think what happened was while entering PUBLISHERS CLEARING HOUSE SWEEPSTAKES, they take you through all these offers, so I though oh well, it can’t hurt to try some products for $1.00 each.I was charged $1.00 for AP9*PASSPORTTOFUN, AP9*SAVINGSMART, AP9 SHOPPINGESSENTIAL, AND COS*COSMETIQUE. I guess I will get some trial products in the mail, maybe? I never joined any club. I e-mailed them tonite to cancel. I will call my CC company too. I will also call the BBB and file a complaint. This pisses me off, and I’m so glad I stumbled on this site. I see this has been ongoing for years. Kudos to you for this website. Now I feel validated that it wasn’t just me they scammed. Thank you so much! Maybe someone should call a newspaper reporter and get the story out? It seems these people are finding all kinds of sites to reel us in. SHAME SHAME!!
I ordered some business cards from VISTAPRINT.com and then about 3 weeks after placing the business card order, i noticed a PASSPORTTOFUN charge of $14.95 on my online bank statement too. you guys are NOT ALONE. i’m disputing it on the phone with my bank right now as i type this. god, i hate scammers !!!!
2/8 I CALLED ALL THE COMPANIES THAT HAD ME SIGNED UP FOR MEMBERSHIPS, AND THEY ALL CANCELLED ME. THE ONES THAT CHARGED $19.95 SAID THEY WOULD REFUND.THEY WERE ALL PRETTY NICE, SO I THINK THEY ALL KNOW WHAT THEY DID IS WRONG. I KINDA FEEL SECURE NOW, MAYBE I WILL GET THE MONEY BACK. HOWEVER, LIKE SOMEONE SAID EARLIER ON, LISTEN CLOSELY, BECAUSE THEY TRY TO REEL YOU INTO ANOTHER DEAL. SAY NO!!! I COULD NOT DISPUTE CHARGES ON MY CARD UNTIL I HAD DEALT WITH THE COMPANIES FIRST, SO DO THAT FIRST. IF THEY DON’T COME THROUGH, THEN I WILL HAVE A LEG TO STAND ON.GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!!
I was going over my credit card statement because I had more charges than I expected this month when I found both a Passport of Fun and a Shopping Essentials charge for $16.95. I went back and saw that two charges have posted to my account every month as far as as the online statements go. Now I have to go back through all my paper statements, find all the charges and get them all reversed and file paperwork with my credit card company if I can’t get them reversed.
I am always very careful not to sign up for these sorts of scams when I shop online. I always decline all offers for anything. I haven’t always declined to fill out surveys but I think I will start doing that. In the case of these charges, I ordered some postcards from Vista Prints, started to fill out a survey but when they asked me for my account info to sign up for some shopping service, I immediately stopped.
I thought I was safe because I never gave them my credit card number but it looks like I was wrong.
2/10/07 I just got some cosmetics from the COS*cosmetique place that I did order. So, maybe they are okay, but I did not join their club. They cancelled me kindly. The others [AP9* ] actually credited back my money to my charge card just today, and they all cancelled me too. I will watch from now on! [YOU GUYS BETTER LOOK AT YOUR STATEMENTS]. I am shocked that some of you don’t bother. Even now, when all is resolved, they could still charge again in the future. Linda
2/10/07 Hey, I forgot! Please DO NOT USE YOUR DEBIT CARDS ON LINE!!!! They could wipe out your whole bank account!! Linda
I am working for the credit card company and I just got a call regardib=ng thid Passport for FUn. the cardmember had no Idea where the charge is comming from. What I suggest you to do is that you ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS check your statement every month.If there is any charge that you donot know always call your credit card company.belive me we help you. We can dispute the charges that are not authorized by you. you are not liable to make any payment that is not yours. call us call your credit card company. We will take care of the chrges. We will charge them back. we can also give you immidiate credit on your card. When you call credit card companies always ask for dispute REF#. If you have any questions for me I’ll check back regularly..I’ll be more than happy to answer.
LOL, I found this site because I was looking for a way INTO these programs! Maybe you all should not have been signed up for these programs, but they are legit programs that have saved me over $1000 the past year, by purchasing gift cards at a 20% discount. I do hope you get your money back though since you didn’t authorize the charges.
2/12/07 Chris, Do you work for any of these companies? If you do, I would ask that you suggest that they make a change to their practices. As in, making it more clear that if you oder ANYTHING, you WILL be signed up for a membership!! That definitely needs more clarification. If you don’t work for them, do you agree with me here? Also, if you were “looking to get into these programs”, how could you have “saved over $1,000 in the last year?” It seems you WERE ALREADY IN THESE PROGRAMS. Just curious, Linda
I just looked at my online banking statement today and noticed a charge of $19.95 from Passport to Fun. I called the number and talked to Ken #26198 and he said that the charge would be dropped in 3-5 business days. I actually signed up for Passport to Fun with TreasureTrooper (www.thetreasuretrooper.info) because treasuretrooper paid me to do it. I love treasuretrooper. The scary thing is that I used a prepaid visa giftcard to for it but the charge appeared on my regular debit card.
well, i’m so mad i could spit i just found a 19.95 payment on my debit card .And until this i’ve never heard of this place so everyone please be carefull they are slick
Thanks for the info.I called my credit card customer service and I got my money back.
THey were nice when I cancelled and they gave credit back for $14.95 and $14.95. But they still did not credit me the two other $14.95 charges. They are full of crap, because that was 12 days ago and I have a new charge of $14.95 Shopping Essentials. What the hell. Bank of America said it did not matter if I cancelled my card because they would still be billing me to that credit card #. I think that was crap. I wrote a letter to Vista Print with a copy of their DO NOT SHARE , terms and use section, to be of that list. BBB had over 350 cmplaints on Vista Print, which they are not a member, but BBB will still report on non-members. Here I go wasting more of my day with this crap. Yes, they are nice but they are full of it.
Thanks, guys. I was fooled ever since 2005! Initially I placed an order via VistaPrint. And it kept on charging to my CC each month. Even though my credit card co. is going to resolve this for me, still I am furious!!!!!
I wish someone has a link to where we can all file complaints against this scam. Or even against VistaPrint, since it is a public traded company.
To the guy from canada & Grant & Ashley please stfu. Put you together and you are still ½ an ass and likely involved somehow.
I had a need for a visual image finding software and found what I thought was great software to do this from regsoft. I downloaded and worked with the evaluation copy until I was happy with the software and then went on the site to buy the registration code.
Well AFTER i had completed my transaction with regsoft. AND lets just highlight COMPLETED MY TRANSACTION. I saw an offer for 10$ off your next purchase with regsoft if you fill out this quick survey. Well as I was impressed with the software I agreed to take the survey and off I went to this hell… I only could take two pages of the survey before I closed my IE window. There was NEVER any mention of any CHARGE for membership fee involved in the up front part of the survey. Then as I’m still waiting 24 hours later for a registration code… (um, after you charge my card I should have the code in minutes not days via email)
This is one day after my online registration purchase (that I still have not received) I receive the following email…
(notice this appears as spam mail and I just got lucky noticing it was part of the scam to protect them that they did notify me – Likely this company also sends spam mail so that most people would never get the mail as a spam blocker would move it automatically to a quarantine folder… nice work there pretty ingenious…. Look how far you have to read to find the upcoming charge information in what seems like spam mail)
EMAIL CONTENTS:
Dear XXXXXX XXXXX,
Welcome! You are receiving this email because you accepted a special offer to save money through the Shopping Essentials+SM savings service. With Shopping Essentials+, you can enjoy the finer things in life for less, with terrific savings on fashion, beauty, everyday items and so much more. Just take a moment to browse the Shopping Essentials+ website and see how you can save with major retailers today!
Claim your gift!
To claim your gift, simply log on to http://www.shoppingessentialsplus.com and click on the “Claim Your Free Gift” link.
Start saving right now — simply go to the URL below!
http://www.shoppingessentialsplus.com
For your reference, your membership ID# is: XXXXXXXXXX
Here are just some of the benefits and savings that await you:
l Save up to $7,200 at big-name retailers such as JCPenney®1, Kmart®2, Linens ‘n Things and many others through Shopping Essentials+.
l Save 20% on your personal care and fitness needs at stores like Bath & Body Works®3, CVS/pharmacy, Foot Locker, Regis Salons, Sports Authority® and more.
l Save 20% – 60% off4 lenses, frames and contact lenses at over 13,000 participating vision care centers nationwide.
l Enjoy up to 20% in online savings from Hickory Farms®, Bare Necessities, Ashford.com, eBags.com, Stacks and Stacks and more.
All of these benefits — and many others — are fully explained on the Shopping Essentials+ website.
So take advantage of your Shopping Essentials+ benefits during your 30-day trial membership period. We invite you to use our services for the full 30-day trial period. If within 30 days you don’t feel that our services and benefits are everything we say they are, simply call us toll-free at 1-800-316-8821 to cancel your membership. Shopping Essentials+ will automatically charge the membership fee to your card at the end of your 30-day trial period and, unless you call to cancel, at the then-current fee each new membership month.
The e-mail address that you entered when you enrolled (XXXXXXXX@XXXXX.XXX) is your electronic signature and constitutes your written authorization to debit your account. You can call the Customer Service number at any time to ask to review your electronic signature or to resolve a debit card related issue.
Beginning XXXXXXX, your monthly membership fee will be automatically debited each month on or about that same date from the checking account associated with the debit card that you provided on your date of enrollment.
Important: Please save this email for future reference, and bookmark http://www.shoppingessentialsplus.com for instant access to your benefits.
Sincerely,
Member Savings
This membership program is administered by Adaptive Marketing LLC, a leading provider of discount membership programs.
1 Terms and Conditions are applied to gift certificates/gift cards. Terms and Conditions for JCPenney Gift Cards are listed on the back of the Gift Cards and also at http://www.jcpenney.com. JCPenney is not a sponsor of this promotion and is not affiliated with Shopping Essentials+. The JCPenney name and logo are registered trademarks of J.C. Penney Company, Inc.
2 Participating vendors are neither sponsors, co-sponsors nor affiliates of Shopping Essentials+. Gift card/certificate savings are an exclusive offer of Shopping Essentials+ and are valid only on gift cards/certificates purchased through Shopping Essentials+. Please see back of gift card/certificate for terms and conditions of use. All vendor trademarks and copyrights remain the property of the individual vendor. Shopping Essentials+ uses vendor names, logos and any other vendor material by permission of each vendor. Please visit the Shopping Essentials+ website or call Member Savings for complete terms and conditions related to participating vendors.
3 Bath & Body Works is not a sponsor of this promotion. Savings offer is valid on gift card purchases made through Shopping Essentials+ only and does not consist of in-store or online discounts. The Bath & Body Works® name and logo are registered trademarks of Bathco, Inc.
4 This is not insurance.
END EMAIL
okay, so next steps … Cancel the credit card. DONE
next steps..
Email Regsoft the email that was sent to me where someone fraudulently added me to a membership and notify them I don’t like there practices and do not want there registration code and I will contest the charges in the Bank Branch first thing in the morning as the Bank wont let me contest over the phone 🙁
next steps..
Call the 800# and go through automated phone system to cancel the fraudulently obtained membership. DONE (wonder how much that 800# call cost… will call the phone company tomorrow to check)
next steps…
Wouldn’t they like to know
Oh for your information the responsible parties for this scam seem to have a web page:
http://www.adaptivemarketing.com
Which they list directions to get to there office
(Although I would be surprised if they are actually there)
Adaptive Marketing LLC – Directions
Adaptive Marketing LLC is located in downtown Stamford, CT, less than 40 miles from La Guardia Airport and JFK International Airport in New York City.
To get there by car or cab:
From I-95 Southbound: Take Exit #7 (Atlantic Ave). Follow the service road alongside I-95 to Washington Boulevard (4 lights/Swiss Bank /UBS building is on the right). Make a right turn onto Washington Boulevard. Make second left onto Division Street – 680 is on your left, 750 is on your right.
From I-95 Northbound:
Take Exit #7 (Greenwich Avenue). Follow the service road alongside I-95 to Washington Boulevard (2 lights/Train Station is directly ahead of you). Make a left turn onto Washington Boulevard (under I-95 overpass). Make second left onto Division Street – 680 is on your left, 750 is on your right.
To get there by train:
Our offices are an easy ride from New York City via Metro North or Boston via Amtrak. Take the train to the Stamford, CT, station.
From tracks 2 and 3 (center tracks) and track 4 (far track): Walk down the platform towards the Main Terminal, accessible by escalators from all platforms. Just before you reach the escalator, there is a stairwell leading down to an underground tunnel. Go down the stairs, and make a left. This will bring you to South State Street. Follow the directions from South State Street to the Stamford Towers.
From track 5 (near track): Exit the platform anywhere and you will be on South State Street. Follow the directions from South State Street to the Stamford Towers.
From South State Street: Once you are on South State Street, make a left and walk to the first intersection. This is Washington Boulevard. Cross to the opposite of Washington Boulevard and turn right. Continue walking straight, go underneath the overpass, and cross North State Street on the other side. Continue walking until you reach the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Division Street. The large pink building on your left is 680. The building on the opposite corner of Washington and Division is 750. The entrance to 680 is right around the corner when you reach the intersection of Division and Washington.
Passport to Fun have scamed me since last year and I didn’t know…they charged me $14.95 every month.
I had orderd things from Vista Print….after that these are the charges. My credit card company American Express does not care…they wont give my money back since it’s too late…and they wont STOP the future charges either…..! I just closed my account. Please let your friends know…let your town congress men know…let the police know….I’m going to let everybody know!
The best thing to do is to send it to the attorney generals office. It is a “Theft”
I’m on the phone with these scumbags as I’m writing on hold. I just tore this lady a new asshole and read her some of the comments from you guys. I can’t stand companies like this.
I got dupped also. Here’s what I did. After several calls to PTF, I found this website and read several entries regarding the ability of consumers to call their credit card to denounce “unauthorized” charges to the account. I did this and had my credit card drop the charges and also charge the PTF “company–(scam artists)” a charge back fee.
I understand that all credit card companies may not offer this service but possibly the threat of your actions to do this, plus your knowledge and participation in the class action suit against this company may prove beneficial when talking to one of the supervisors from PTF.
Hope this helps!!!!
Linda,
Nope, don’t work for them. I agree, you should be told exactly what you are getting and paying for. I am already in the program, but I think my membership expires soon. When I signed up, I used a “trick”. You call their number to cancel over the phone. Sometimes after you choose the cancel option, it offers you 1 year for $19.95 instead of paying $14 or $19 per month. Anyway, I appcepted and my year is almost up and I think my membership just ends. I don’t think I switch back to the monthly plan. Hope that helps.
I also received a charge on 2/13/07 for $19.95.
I had no idea who or what Passport To Fun was, so I did a google search and found this site. I got the phone number from previous posts, called and was told that I signed up for an internet offer that enrolled me in this program. I did cancel and the girl I spoke with, Natasha 26341 was very nice, indicated that I would receive a refund in 2-5 business days.
I really just wanted to say thanks to all of the posters here because if this website didn’t exist I probably would not have known exactly what to do.
Thanks.
UPDATE>>>>>>
Since my credit card company did not care…American Express.
I went to Police and told them the whole story…and I asked them to call passport to fun.
Passport to fun told the police that I had ordered some business cards from VISTA PRINT and right there I pushed the butten to become member to passport to fun! They are liers….!!!!!I pulled out my recipt from VISTA PRINT and there is nothing that showes I pushed anything.
I called VISTA PRINT…I told them that I already went to police and I’m contacting the media and I am contacting a lawyer and I told them there are 100000 of people in the inter-net who have been scamed!!! The guy said…”Ok. Mam…I’ll refund you ALL the money you are out…$165!” But so far nothing has happened.
Passport to fun Info: (That appeared on my statement).
Ahorros Saludables
680 Washington BLVD #1100
Stamford, CT 06901
Vista Print contact info:
Vistaprint.com
1-800-961-2075
Everybody……
May be we open an E-mail on behalf of everybody and we all just put our name in one e-mail and who much money they got out of us and in conection with what comany…(vista print, travelocity, etc.) and send it to everybodies state attorney…and better business b…..What do you say???We have to do this so others wont get into this problem and this way we get back at these scams!
I emailed Passport to Fun and said I would be in contact with my lawyer if they did not refund all of my money. Someone hummed and hawed about it, but I asked exactly when, where, and for what I signed up for that had me agree to their billing. Magically, a day later, I was refunded all my money.
Anyone know how to get a hold of AP9*ShoppingEssential. I need to get my money back from them as well.
2/17/07 RYAN: The 800# should be right under the charge on your credit card bill. Just be firm, and whatever you do, don’t accept ANY new offers, cuz they will try to reel you in again. I got my money credited from them in a couple of days. Check your credit card statement daily, they could still charge you!! Good luck!! Linda
Yeah, i just dealt with this today, Vista Print was the site I got charged from. Friggin snakes. I can’t beleive they are alowed to do that. I got Charged 14.95 x2 months for each Passport to Fun and Shopping Essentials. Both I was signed up for from Vista Print. I spoke with a represnetative today and they refunded me the 60.00 (so they said) we will see.
sounds like a plan.
referring to :
Tina :
Everybody……
May be we open an E-mail on behalf of everybody and we all just put our name in one e-mail and who much money they got out of us and in conection with what comany…(vista print, travelocity, etc.) and send it to everybodies state attorney…and better business b…..What do you say???We have to do this so others wont get into this problem and this way we get back at these scams!
sorry new to this type of forum
It happened to me also ($11.95/month), and I don’t remember ordering any PTF Membership. I buy airline tickets from Yahoo Travel (Travelocity) often. Guess that just ended.
I called PTFs customer service # (888-840-6303) and asked to cancel. They transferred me to another person (Mitchel) who said he would cancell the account. I complained that I didn’t order it, and asked him what the effective date was. He didn’t answer the question, but quickly offered to reimburse me for the past three months. Rather than debating (because I would probably loose ground anyway), I took the deal, and didn’t press it any further. I will be amazed if this charge goes away that easy. This is a ripoff, and the number of people who have responded to this site, would indicate that these crooks are raking it in.
I will also tell AMEX to block further charges on my account.
Thanks for this site…
We just found the PTF charges this weekend, and of course it’s a holiday, so we can’t talk to bank til tomorrow. I did speak toZena 26146 and her supervisor, Chris, and they said we’d get both months refunded. Tried to tell us only this month, but I mentioned the class action suit and their tone changed.
They said my husband agreed on Dec 6, 2006 and they have a confirmation email. I have checked our
bank statement doe dec and the only odd charge around that time was from dr*regsoft.com for $24.89. We can’t for the life of us remember what we bought for that amount, but it must have been a purchase in order for them to get our card number. Once we figure out what this was, I will let y’all know so you can another sammer site to the list.
Tina;
You said that your Credit company didnt help you. I am working for American Express and I have filed alot of complain about this passport for fun. Customer service has to set up a dispute for you and for sure you will be Credited back. Call American express again. I work for amex I know that we can help you as long as the chrg is not too old.(more that 60 days)
Thanks
Mary
I’m sorry to tell you, but all of you who think you’ve been scammed are just victims of your own inattention to detail. YOu get signed up for these kinds of prgrams when you want some cashback on your purchase. You get 30 days from the time you receive your material to cancel, and if you don’t, then it’s your own fault. You probably got the envelope in the mail and thought it was junk and threw it out. How is that their fault? For taking advantage of the general populations predictable characteristics?
I stayed a member and I’ve gotten great deals, on movie tickets and gift cards. I almost always save triple to four times what they charge me in deals and savings. So don’t blame them, blame yourselves.
I figured something like that happened. It’s still sneaky of them… you must admit.
No need to defend them so… do you work for them, or something?
OK, we finally find the one and only online card purchase we made anywhere near the time they claim we agreed to join their little club. My husband renewed his Norton AV. Symantec uses Digital River Regsoft to handle all its credit card customers. At this point we don’t know which of these two companies gave out our info, but will have our bank and lawyer check into it.
We did cancel our card, and they said it’s possible if they don’t credit us befor it’s goes into effect, we will lose the 2 mos $$ we paid them
Eddie R, he did *not* click on any banner, nor did he sign up for any gifts. It is a scam. If it weren’t, there wouldn’t be a class action against them
I believe it is employees who come in here and say good things about them, as no one else would have any reason to come here.
Go to the bank right now, cancel the debit card and get a new one. Then when the next billing statement rolls around they don’t have a valid number to charge. If it is a legit company they will call you about it, if not you’re done.
This is fraud, and we should not blame ourselves for this, but to take anyone or any company involved with it to the court. I called them up today about the unknown charge on my account, they said that I’d get a refund in 2 business day. I am in Massachusetts if any one is from Massachusetts let me know we can kick them at the court of law or we can kick them together in a class suit. Be careful take a look at the FTC tips:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/09/creditrptalert.htm
I have the same problem, in my credit card, what can I do, now to avoid more charges….somebody can help me?
The only reason anyone would have to find this site is a) because they were scammed by Passport to Fun or b) they were employees of said firm attempting to run damage control.
How many people think “I had a pleasant experience with Company X, therefore I’m going to set out to debunk rumors that they’re scamming customers out of their hard-earned cash…”
Please.
I have just discovered this company “PassportToFun” on my statement and also another company called “ValuePlus”. They have both being charging me $14.95 for the last two months. I am absolutely livid that these bastards can get away with doing this. I will take the steps advised on this site to deal with them. thank you.
TO: Marry…works for AMAX.
Amax told me they refund me only for two charges…but passport to fun…charged me since March of 2006!!!!AMAX said…too bad.
I’m going to use my Discover card from now on because I have 6 month of disputing a charge.
But thanks for caring.
2/22/07 Eddie R: With all do respect, you are full of crap!!! Don’t assume that we all are stupid morons. If you are happy with this way of tricking people, you are a very confused person!! Don’t knock us good, decent people that only try to do legitiment buisness. Are you getting a kick-back for insulting all of us? Shame on you for degrading us!!! Your comments are not needed!!
Yes “Eddie R”…
Any company that makes it money in this manner is not a legitamate, honest business, and will most likely not remain in business much longer. Haven’t these people (myself included) been through enough aggrivation without you insulting our intelligence? Go back to your job at Passport to Fun, and tell your boss that he is a scam artist.
Offer Details:
Simply click “Submit” to activate your trial membership and take advantage of the great savings that Passport to Fun+ has to offer, plus claim your $20.00 Cash Back. After your 30-day FREE trial period, it’s just $14.95 per month, automatically charged/debited to the card you register today. Remember, you can call us toll-free at 1-888-801-2580 within the first 30 days to cancel, and you will not be charged/debited. To ensure continuous service, you will automatically be charged/debited each month at our then-current fee, unless you call to cancel. No matter what, the $20.00 Cash Back Award is yours to claim. If for any reason you are dissatisfied, call our toll-free number to cancel, and you’ll no longer be charged/debited. If you used a debit card today, then beginning on or about 30 days from now, your monthly membership fee for Passport to Fun+ will be automatically debited each month on or about that same date from the checking account associated with the debit card you provided today.
Offer only available in the Continental US (not available to Alaska and Hawaii at this time).
Please check if you are using a Debit Card.
Simply click “Yes” to activate your trial membership and take advantage of the great savings that Shopping Essentials+ has to offer, plus claim your $10.00 Cash Back. After your 30-day FREE trial period, it’s just $14.95 per month, automatically charged/debited to the credit/debit card you register today. Remember, you can call us toll-free 1-800-316-8821 within the first 30 days to cancel, and you will not be charged/debited. To ensure continuous service, you will automatically be charged/debited each month at our then-current fee, unless you call to cancel. No matter what, the $10.00 Cash Back Award is yours to claim. If for any reason you are dissatisfied, call our toll-free number to cancel, and you’ll no longer be charged/debited. If you used a debit card today, then beginning on or about 30 days from now, your monthly membership fee for Shopping Essentials+ will be automatically debited each month on or about that same date from the checking account associated with the debit card you provided today.
Offer only available in the Continental US (not available to Alaska and Hawaii at this time).
Has anyone actually received the $20 or $10 that was promised by these people in the above offer terms?
I also got scammed by Passport to Fun.
This is how they scammed me.
I was signing up for the Disney DVD club online. Passport to fun is affiliated with Disney’s webservice and many other sites as well. So after signing up with Disney I was offered a $25 dollar gift certificate as appreciation for my business on Disney’s website. I want to make it clear that this was not a pop up window. To receive the $25 dollar gift all I had to do was enter my e-mail address as they already had all my information. There was NO disclaimer on the offer. But once I entered my e-mail I had somehow agreed to a free trial membership with Passport to fun without even knowing it and being that I did not receive any kind of e-mail verification as to my membership I did not call to cancel the membership. Hence the charges to my credit card.
My credit card company told me that these are valid transactions as companies such as Passport to Fun are affiliated with other online sites. So there is nothing they can do.
However after a four way call between myself, my attorney, my credit card company, and Passport to Fun I was able to have all my charges reimbursed. Though it was my credit card company who reimbursed me for the charges.
They can also get you by having you fill out online surveys for these websites. Pay attention when signing up for anything and never fill out surveys or gift offers affiliated with services you have ordered online. That really is the only way to avoid these kinds of scams.
Well this company is still stealing people info and money. I found 5 charges to my cc. thre of them were $1 charges on the 16 of feb and two charges of 19.95 on the 24 of feb. PassPorttofun, shopping essentials……and savingsmart.com.
I am sure I was dooped just as all of you the same way. I signed up for Stamps.com through and web offer and from that day I was being defrauded. I have called all the numbers and have had the cc reissued……but we as a whole group need to file charges to have these companies held for liabilty for their actions of stealing……They are flat out stealing and there has to be something we can do. Please anyone with a class action suit information please contact me. I am willing to pay to have these thieves jailed.
OBTW……..I signed up for the stamps.com on the 15 of feb. I was charged within just a 9 days. The offer says you have a 10 day grace period……..well do not believe them because they charged me before the time elapsed….without every sending me any notices of entering to any agreement.
I have since also canceled the stamps.com offer since I fill like they are part of this problem.
I have looked at http://www.adaptivemarketing.com/ and found that they are the owners of these scamming companies as well as being part of the etrust group.
How can we trust people like this?
SOMETING HAS GO TO BE DONE
JUST ANOTHER PISSED OFF VICTIM
I just found the same thing on my card today when I opened my new bill, I called the numbers on there and it says it’s cancelled, let’s see if it works… I’m just glad I caught it before it got any worse than this
and mine were for Passport to Fun Plus and Shopping Essentials Plus.
I also have the 1.00 charge from Saving Smart
but you get the run around on everything, bout irritating…. that class action suite still going?
After doing a survey for a company and in exchange I was to recieve a $25 gift certificate for Walmart. I did NOT agree to pay for a membership but according to passportoffun…I must have missed the $1 membership fee to get this suposed $25 gift certificate and an additional $19.95 that hit my checking account 7 days later.
Since I did not give any of my bank account info to this survey site, it makes me wonder how they actually got my account number?
I did manage to call them and tell them that I wanted the money back and the membership canceled. I also made sure to tell them that its a shame when you can do an internet search on passporttofun and the first thing that pops is are the mentions of scams.
look out for value plus they are out there too getting u the same way
The passport to fun charges also appeared on my credit card! I don’t know how it happened… it wasn’t through VistaPrint. I canceled the account in which the charges appeared, received a new account number, and the charges then began appearing on the new account. So, beware, a new account number may not solve your problem. I had to cancel my credit card completely.
Thank you to all of you because I was able to cancel my debit card before I saw the charges. I have recieved emails from Vista Print, Saving Smart, Today’s Escapes, Passport to Fun, AND Value Max! All thanking me for being a member. When I called the number listed here (1-888-840-6303), they knew exactly who I was but only had Value Max listed as the “only” membership I had. They cancelled that. But for fear of the other ones’ after reading this I quickly reported the issue to my debit card account and they issued me a new one.
It is so sad that no matter what we do or how safe we think we are, the internet can be a damaging and costly pain in the rear end.
I HAVE BEEN CHARGED 19.80 FROM OCTECT PLUS, AND PORT TO FUN ANOTHER 19.80. i AM SO MAD. WHAT CAN I DO TO GET MY MONEY BACK. I DON’T EVEN HAVE THE PHONE NUMBER OR ANY CONTACT INFORMATION TO SEE WHERE THIS IS COMING FROM. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY INFORMATION THAT MAY HELP ME?
I got nailed too by TODAYSESCAPES the thieves -I called and asked them where they got my credit card number. They said it was through a banner ad – I can certify that I wasn’t even in the country FAR FAR away from the internet when this charge was made. Someone please put them behind bars…..
Got hit with the first charge of $14.95 for PTF last month. Called, cancelled and charges were reversed within a few days. Well, it’s a new month, and guess what – a new charge for $14.95 showed up when checking my on-line banking statement. My wife called and got a recorded message that said our membership had been cancelled. Really? Will now wait until Monday and repeat the process. Have no clue as to how they got my debit/credit card info. In reading Victoria’s comment from 26 Feb, cancelling the card for a new one may not even work. At a minimum, my state’s AG Consumer Affairs office will get a complaint, as well as my bank. Whether or not any of this makes a difference remains to be seen.
I have one of my CC for $14.95 from Passportof fun. I have no idea where it came from either but I can calling my credit card company and telling them that it is a charge I did not authorize and have them take it off.
For those who have been told by their credit card to send a certified letter to the PASS PORT OF FUN regarding unauthorized charges and have had a tough time getting the folks who answer the phone at 1-888-999-0557 tell you what their addres is, try this:
9500 West Dodge, Ohmaha, Nebraska 68114
First, let me say that you guys were a big help to me. I have this pre-paid credit card that I use on-line instead of my Credit card for security reasons. Everytime I reload it money just coming up missing! I called tonight and the rep from priva cash told me that right after I loaded it the last time “shopping Essentials Plus” and “passport to fun” both charged me 19.95 each! I very rarely use my prepaid card. I mostly use it for Netflix. He gave me a number for both companies but I am having a hard time getting a hold of anyone. I feel very used and pissed off! The rep from priva cash also told me that they have been charging me for months now! This sucks.
You know what! I was just reading something from someone about Disney DVD! I also signed up for that recently! I wonder if that is where it came from!
My CC company reversed my Dec. and Jan. charges from PPof Fun and VPREWARDSUS.COM, issued me a new card and told me everything was taken care of. Lo and behold, when I get my statement today, there are two more charges for Feb! This time, they refuse to do anything. In the mean time, the scum bags are laughing their heads off when they see so many of us being taken. May diarrhea be with them!
Just an idea, I know I will never give my credit card online, why do they ask for it when there is an add saying it is free. People, I just advise to read what you are clicking.
What goes around comes around…..that’s all I have to say. Know your destiny.
The sneaky part about them is they got our CC number after we purchased online from a company that was totally unrelated to them. We didn’t click on any ad banners or accept anything for free. They just stole our information including our card number, phone number and address!!! We did not give them our information directly and they were not offering me anything for free. I didn’t even know of their existence.
I was also charged for Passport for Fun two different time once in January and once in March, both for $14.95. I have not recently used Travelocity but I have bought business cards thru Vista Print. Not sure if it came from there or not. But I called them and they immediately refunded my two charges and canceled my membership. Not sure how I even had a membership, This is outrageous. But my refund should be credited within 2 days . We will see.
These people are not amateurs. They are assholes. They are gonna reap what they sow!
I will never again even CLICK on (let alone take part in) any “special offers”, “polls”, etc… As the saying goes, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Noone is going to give you a free $25 Walmart gift card, free DVD, etc… In the future, I will only give my credit card # to reputable companies, such as Gap, Banana Republic, etc… Companies that stand behind their online purchasing. Tell your kids & your relatives to do the same. Hopefully over time, everyone will have been burned enough to wise up to these scammers, and put them out of business. I know I’ve certainly learned my lesson. NEVER CLICK ON SOMETHING YOU DON’T KNOW…. Good luck, everyone!
I just looked at my acount activity and found two charges of 14.95 on there. One was from Passport to fun and the other was At Home Rewards. Thanks to this website i got a number to call and cancel and demand my money back. They were trying to tell me that i had indeed verified these charges when i signed up for time magazine. I just kept repeating the following phrase “I did not authorize this and i want my money back” the man finally said that he would reimburse me and cancel my subscription. Just think for every one person that catches this, there are a lot more who do not. This guy is making some serious money from stealing and he needs to be in jail.
Add Orbitz to your list of scammers! Passport just slammed my account for $24.95
Watch out for credit reporting agencies also!!!
Yes, I feel stupid too! I thought that I was going to be getting a $1000 gift certificate to Target, but oh no I didn’t. They first had me sign up for all of these super deals and for some reason I’m still paying…NOT GETTING ANYTHING! I’ve talked on the phone to many people trying to clear my name, but new people keep on charging me. The latest is David J. Luiz this month for $19. Shopping Essentials was last month for $19.95 and Today Escapes has been all three months for a total of $59.85. I’m not rich so please stop!!! I’m calling the number that I got from this website – 1-888-999-0557. Thanks!
Jill, Have you called all of the asswipe companies? Look on your CC statement and their phone numbers should be below their names. Call all of them to cancel and to get the charges refunded back to your credit card!! I’ve read on this site that some will only go back 2 months. HURRY AND DO THIS NOW!! I called my CC company and asked to block them from charging, and they said they could’nt do it. So, read your statements VERY CAREFULLY EVERY DAY OR WEEK. I’M WAITING FOR THEM TO CHARGE ME AGAIN. Good luck and time is of the essence here.!!
3/11/07 I forgot something, Jill, they will try to reel you in again on the phone by making you other deals. JUST SAY NOOOO!!!!!!
I was lucky to have had money in my account. I called the number that was on my bank account. It was disconnected. I did a search on line, and found this site. Thank you btw. They could not find account. Sent me to a suprervisor, who refunded said they will refund my money in 2 days. We will see
Those Bastards got me also!!!
ATHOMEREWARDS 8884255874 CT $1.00
SAVINGSMART 8003168774 CT $1.00
TRIAL HOME BNI 8003331915 CA $1.00
ATHOMEREWARDS 8884255874 CT $19.95
BARGAIN HOME W 8003331915 CA $39.80
PURCH+FIN.CH &PERIODIC RATE $ 5.42
SAVINGSMART 8003168774 CT $1.00
ATHOMEREWARDS 8884255874 CT $19.95
BARGAIN HOME W 8003331915 CA $39.80
PURCH+FIN.CH &PERIODIC RATE $ 6.45
Those Bastards! Look at all the same telephone numbers.
Is that Class Action Suit Still active, if so please let me know.
My Credit Card Company Citicards said they would reimburse me 100% so we’ll see. They said after they investigate my “application” which I mailed a few days ago.
THESE CREEPS HAVE GOT TO BE STOPPED. I’M ALSO GOING TO CONTACT ALL INVOLVED bbb, aTT’Y gENERALS AND dIST. aTTORNEYS.
jOE mCdONALD, bOX 61, yULAN, ny 12792
These creeps have been billing my credit card for $14.95 for the past year!! I learned my lesson the hard way. Always just paid the cc bill without looking until the last time. Wow! I did inform the cc company and they have launched an investigation but could only refund the last 6 months. I have also purchased the credit protection now that monitors all unauthorized charges.
I forgot to add in my earlier comment that I did use the Vistaprint site a while back and I believe that it is from that site they took my info.
I’m so mad about this!! I just emailed my local news organization to get media attention if it hasn’t already received. I cannot believe that I called the number and was hung up on the first time I called! The next time, they finally gave me my money back. They didn’t even ask why I was calling, Just assumed it was to receive my money back. Very assumptive of wrongdoing. also, there appears to be a variance in what they charge, as I was asked on four different occasions how much I was charged.
Joe Here Again!
Let’s get a bit more info out there to all of you. I mailed five letters today to the 5 comnpanies that put unauthorized charges on my account, namely:
ATHOMEREWARDS
SAVINGSMART
TRIAL HOME BNI
BARGAIN HOME W
BARGAIN NETWORK & BARGAIN NETWORK, INC.
Here is an email address you should contact: It is to the CEO of BNI. his name is Norm Dominguez and his private email is Norm@bni.com. His fax is 909-608-7676. his telephone number is 909-608-7575.
Address of BNI is 545 College Commeerce Way, Upland, CA. 91786 and that offices numbers are tel. 1-800-825-8286 and their fax is 1-909-608-7676.
Seeing that these Bastards are from NY, CT and CA. I have also written all those States AG’s.
namely: Attorney General Hon. Andrew M. Cuomo, the Capital, Albany, NY 12224-0341;
Attorney General Hon. Richard Blumenthal, Office of the 55 Elm Street, Hartford, CT. 06106; and Attorney General Hon. Edmund G. Brown, Jr. Department of Justice, PO Box 944255, Sacramento, CA. 94244-2550.
And lastly, I just received my first rtesponse! It is from info@adaptivemarketing.com
re: Comments from Adaptive Marketing LLC Web Site (#1513024), which states :
” Thank you for contacting Member Savings. You will hear back from us shortly. Please expect a response within 1 to 2 business says. In the event you need to contact us regarding this inquiry, please refer to the case number at the top of this message.
Member Savings Representatives are available to respond to messages Monday through Friday 7:00a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Central Standard Time, excluding holidays.
This is an automated response. Please do not reply to this message. You will hear from one of our staff shortly.”
SCREW THEM, i’m already in touch with Citicard, all Attorney Generals, all BBBureaus, all Distrrict Attorney’s and all of those companies that billed my credit card account with no authorization.
Here’s a good suggestion!
Why don’t we contact TV and get Coverage. I often watch John Duesman and that other retired Detective on Channel’s 5 and 9 I think it is. they are looking for just these type of stories. Oh Ya, Arnold Diaz also in SHAME ON YOU. Let’s contact them! If you do ask them to contact me at 845-557-6785.
These companies have no idea who they’ll dealing with! I’n a retired BDeputy Sheriff and spent over 20 years in enforcement. they have NO IDEA how far i’ll go to get back just those $1.00 charges. I’ll spend $100.00.
LETSA KEEP AT THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Joe
Joe Here Again;
GOOD NEWS.
I received a call from NYS Attorney General’s Office already. They’re interested in our plight!
I’m to send them as much more info as i can.
In addition keep at it with channel 5, 9 and 11 hotlines. As well as with any and all other news channel’s that may “put us on the air”! Joe
I do not know how these people got my credit card number. I rarely order anything on line. However, everything that everyone has said is true about me. In the last year I did book a reservation, did buy on line one or two things. But there is a huge time span for what i charged and now the Pastport to fun company charging things to me. I called my credit card company. The pastport to fun didnot even have the account in my name.
I am upset. I will no longer use the internet to purchase.
these fuckers really piss me offfff my GOD
HAVING COMMUNICATED WITH NY, CT & CA ATTORNEY GENELRALS AND ALL THOSE BASTARD COMPANIES INVOLVED I AM NOW ATTEMPTING TO CONTACT JOHN DUESMAN AND/OR ARNOLD DIAZ OF CHANNEL 5 FOX NEWS. I WENT ONLINE WITH MyFoxNY.com and was successful in typing a complaint to them. let’s see what happens with that?
One other thing, being in touch with the BBBureaus of NY, CT and CA I was told it’s better to deal with the Federal Trade Commission, so I am trying to contact them also.
LET US ALL KEEP TRYING TO PUT THESE BASTARDS IN JAIL, WHERE THEY BELONG. ……………STAY TUNED. Joe
OK, I just called PRICE STORE (affiliate of Bargain Network) and the guy LIED and said I never had an account there. When I told him “No, no.. I DEFINITELY just got an email from Price Store with my membership ID” he remained adamant. Even when I gave him the membership ID # from the e-mail, he conveniently “couldn’t locate any account information” and insisted that I did not have an account. AND he even accused me of calling the wrong number- He said I must have called Bargain Network and I should have called 1-800-211-0000. There was quite an awkward silence when I matter-of-factly told him that that was the exact number I had dialed to reach him. I even heard other “representatives” in the background answering “Hi, thank you for calling BARGAIN NETWORK!”
I then called Bargain Network and out of sheer luck, I got a supervisor, who has access to BOTH company’s account databases (which was probably a load of shit, everyone probably has access to both), and he confirmed that I DID INDEED have an account with price store. He canceled both accounts for me.
BE CAREFUL! These people have no qualms about lying to you in order to rip you off! If you feel that you signed up for it… even if their fee isn’t on your credit card (it wasn’t on mine, though the first guy tried to use that as “proof” that I didn’t have an account)… then don’t listen to them! Ask for a supervisor or call as many times as it takes to get an honest answer. I hope you find this information helpful!
Good luck!
I have joined memberships like that before. The most confusing thing is when you click on one of their links to get your prize, they try to get you to join yet another club using your credit card number you submitted earlier.
Part of the way they make money is they automatically charge you renewal fees and membership fees. Unless your vigilant about keeping track of how many days you have left on your membership so you can cancel you’ll be sorry.
That being said I have received more gift cards than I have spent in membership fees. Lately, what I’ve been doing to protect my credit from their automatic charges is I purchase american express gift cards in small $ increments. After 30 days when I cancel, they will be unable to charge me automatically.
Another thing is those 7 day memberships aren’t worth it. After two or three days you get an email to redeem your gift card. You request for them to mail you a form, which unless you can mail it and they process it while your still a member, no gift card for you!
SECRET TO OUTWITTING these companies.
If you join, buy a credit card/gift card. Make sure it’s used up before they try to charge you again. Yes I have received my free gift cards from companies like complete home, but I don’t trust them enough to give them my credit card, especially when I see a lot of these companies have so many complaints and they are owned by the same companies.
OK so this sucks!! I have used vistaprint, enough times that I am a preferred member, to order my business cards. Now I see that I have two charges on my credit card bill for $14.95 each. I am very very upset and will NEVER use vistaprint again! I also plan to not only cancel my “membership” but to call the credit card company and telling them that I did not authorize the charges so that I can get my money back and “Passport to Fun” will also be charged!! DON’T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THIS!! TAKE MONEY FROM THEM BY CALLING YOUR CREDIT CARD COMPANY!!!
VistaPrint sucks.
I tried to use their Free Website and inputted my CC number.
Now I called 5 times to cancel it but they put me on holds for hours and finally told me that they can not cancel it. I have to wait their tech support call back.
Really Annoyed
I noticed Charges and it goes back 3 months so I called to cancel, they cancelled it, but did not refund the charges, I called back to speak to an operator and I cannot speak to anyone because the account has been cancelled. I was scammed on the Passport to Fun for 14.95 per month.
When you call the 1-800 number it gives you the option to cancel the account, but nothing about refunding charges.
I have turned them over to the Attorney General in my state.
It’s time we all took action to shut down this so called business. I just found out today that they have been taking money out of my bank account since January 2006. I demanded a refund and they told me that they will. If they don’t WILL file a law suit.
When I saw the charge for Today’s Escapes on my credit card, I tried calling the 800 number to cancel and I got the message that the number has been changed to an international number (which was then given). I’m not making an international call to cancel something that I didn’t order! I contacted my CC company and they have permanently reversed the charge and it is now in dispute with Today’s Escapes. If it shows up again I will let my card company know that its a fraudulent charge and if necessary have my acct closed and a new card sent.
Hi Shelly. Try this number: 1-888-840-6303. If it won’t accecpt your number then type in a fake number. If that don’t happen, try again.
After that – good luck. I’m sorry – I feel for you. Please think of something else to do and when you do, please share.
These scumbags are thieves and have stolen over $500.00 from me and I am in the mood to kick some ass.
One thing I’ve started to to was to bug the shit out of reporter to expose this business. Please do the same.
Guys and gals I work for a bank and I have been getting calls with these guys on cusotmers profile all the time. one thing I didn’t see listed but maybe I missed, please ask your bank to close your debit/credit card and have a new one issued. They can’t charge your card anymore if they don’t have your card info any longer. I know that doesn’t help get your money back but it’s a way to prevent any further loss. Man I feel soo bad for you all I hope they put these passport ppl in a prison with lots of horny men 😛
I had my CC account closed and a new card/number issued. New charges still appeared on my new account statement. Go figure!
Vista prints 14.95 twice this month now. I bought some buisness cards and kinda remember a bunch of adds afterward that would not stop popping up or let me submitt my order.
My daughter’s visa buxx card was charged by passport to fun. I find it interesting though that she was only charged $1 and $1.05 ( I wonder if they knew that she was a teen!) Her card was also charged by cosmetique, savesmart, at home rewards twice each for $1 and $1.05! Hopefully I can get this straightened out or get her a new card!
Cancleing your card will stop the charges, but if you have some pending charges from these people you might still get billed from them. Basically by closing your card you are taking away there aveune in which they are accessing your account. I saw someone signup for I-pay friends (not sure what it is) but after the i-pay charge passport to fun started poping up. I googled it with no luck just be careful disputing charges is like having your teeth pulled, it takes a long time and it hard on the customer 😛
I recently had a 14.95 charged to my credit card on March 19th. It was a passporttofun charged. I had no clue where this unauthorized charge came from. I immediately called my credit card company to dispute the charge.
Those of you who have been tricked into this phoney service – forget trying to talk to anyone using those 800 or 888 numbers. You will get nowhere. Go to the better business bureau in CT and look for Vertrue Incorporated. There you will find everything you need about the company. They seem to operate mosly out of Nebraska. Gary A Johnson is the President (203-674-7008.) Deborah Podrazo is the VP Corporate Services (402) 661-2575. Good luck!!
The charge won’t be on if you have your card number changed. If you just re order a card yes the chrge will continue. You need to cancle the card (the card number must be closed down) and get a new card issued. (whole new card number) If you do that the charges will stop.
I just called my bank today, also to reverse the payments they made for PASSPORT TO FUN & SHOPPING ESSENCE. What a hassle!!!!! I think I got it from vistaprint too. suckers!!!!!
I have been a member of passport to fun and some related programs for over 10 years. The memberships have saved me quite a bit of money opver time. I have allways received my gift cards as ordered and allways been treated with courtesy and respect over then phone. They do a good job of marketing and offering incentives to keep you as a member when you call to cancel but they will cancel and refund the current membership fees if asked.
If you feel you were scammed then you need to learn to read the conditions before you click yes. You never get something foir nothing, so if you purchase something and click on “Get $20 off your next order” know you must do something for the $20. In this case it is read the conditions and if you dissagree with them, don’t do it.
I just hope the class action lawsuit is fails. I only found this blog because I was doing a web search to try to find a way to sign up for “Passport to Fun Plus.” This is a new program that has an increased number of gift certificates available.
Only a member of the elite group of these criminals would write such a post…..Iope you burn in Hell
Take your nazi ass back to the hole it slithered out of.
And yes we need to make sure the Class Action suit is moving forward and to stop these bastards from stealing anymore of the peoples money through their corrupt ways.
Bob, how would someone ‘know’ they need to ‘do something’ to get that $20 off? I would think it was an appreciation for your order. Many legit companies do that. I won’t be as mean as Steve, but I DON’T believe you. Why is there only a couple of people that like P.T.F; and the rest of us are mounting in size? You must work for them or have stock in their bogus companies. Have you seen the reports and law suits on them? I suppose we are all wrong and these companies keep ripping us off. Why are they okay with refunding our money if they are legit?? You are in a dream world and we are getting the nightmare in the deal!!!
Let’s analyze Bob’s email. He says he’s been a member for 10 years. So how does he supposedly know about their refund policy and how -ahem- willing they are to refund… if asked.
Now we have to ask if he has read the posts like mine who did not click on anything, nor was I able to read any “conditions” because I did not have the opportunity, ever.
And last but not least, if he has been a member for 10 years, why, oh why has he been trying to sign up for Passport to Fun Plus? He should have known how, am I right?
There probably is not a “Bob”. The company most likely assigned someone to write a comment. Unfortunately there was not a lot of thinking going on in their brain about the logic of the comment, and of course the spelling errors show lack of care in the comment.
Hey, just my comment folks.
Ed-graduate of “The University Of Hard Knocks”!
ED:: I sooo agree with you! You took the words right out of my mouth!! Bob must be a plant here to make us feel like we are wrong, but we are not dummies, as he assumes. Another guy said he got to this site after being a member for many years, and wanted to join. I commented on him as well. It’s like they have a script to type here. Funny!!
I just absolutely LOVED your comments. They are so right on the ‘MONEY’, so to speak.
Joe McDonald Here Once Again. I GOT EVERY PENNY THAT THESE CROOKS STOLE FROM ME BACK! In fact, they “Overpaid” my Citi credit Card Company over $120.00, I shook them up so much. So keep at it.
The Culprits in my case were as follows; VERTRUE, Bargain Network, Bargain Network Inc, Bargain Home W, Bargain Homes, Trial Home BNI (not to be confused with BN, Inc of California), ATHOMEREWARDS, SAVINGSMART, Andymatic, Adaptive Marketing LLC, Member Savings, Member Works, and Member Services. ALL OF THESE are subsidiaries of Vertrue, Inc. or involved otherwise.
IF you’d been robbed also by any of these named firms don’t waste your time contacting Head Honcho of Vertrue james B. Duffy, rather, insist your Card Company take the lead! Also, advise Equifax, Experian and tRansUnion to put a Fraud alert on your card or cards. Naturally, if you’ve been had close that account and open another with a different card company if yours doesn’t want to help you.
The Individual’s who were the most help to recover all my monies were, a Mr. Mark Mastman whose email is markm@baregain.com; a Ms. Kimberly Massey whose email is kimberly.massey@vertrue.com and a Mary Randels whose email is Mary.Randels@vertrue.com
These people, the District Attorney’s and a Law Firm of California, i.e. Girard Gibbs LLC of 601 California St., 14th. floor, San Francisco, CA. 94108 (who is handling a Class Action Suit against most of them) were extremely helpful. Don’t back down. Keep on it! be firm and don’t put up with anyone’s NO.
GO GET THE BASTARDS, JUST LIKE I DID.
PS. I’m joining the Class Action Suit. I already have the paper’s to file…………………………… JOE
My husband Robbie use to work at Member Works. Located on Migill street in downtown Montreal. What they do is send you offers in the mail having you beleive that it is nothing more than junk mail. Most people throw it away, but what people fail to read is the fine print at the very bottem. Which says that unless you call to cancle with in thirty days your credit card will automatically be charged. Member works is also listed on the badbuisnessbureau.com. All I can tell you on my husbands advice is get your money back ASAP. Do a charge back if you have too..
this is a ripoff, they charged me over 100.00 before I noticed it. I got hit by vista print also. I am cancelling my charges with vista print also. I don’t know if you know this but vista print gets a kick back from every charge. Email me at mountainpawn@yahoo.com if you are interested in a class action.
I just found out that the credit card company also receives a kick back from these people. They are an affiliate of MBNA bank. The bank actually makes money off of these charges.
I work for a company that sells items through a catalog. Everybody that places an order with us is offered a $25 rebate for trying Passport to Fun PLUS, risk-free for 30 days. We have to be very clear that “if you don’t cancel within the 30 day free trial Passport to Fun PLUS will charge $9.95 a month to the card you used today and then each month thereafter at the THEN CURRENT monthly membership fee…” (It goes up to $12.95 the next month) It seems people agree to it in order to get the $25 rebate and then forget about it.
HCB – Fuck you. That makes you part of the scam. You are using trickery to scam people.
I too have been scammed. I was illegally charged by Shopping Essential. They gave me my money back. However, they claim that I signed up for their “service” and of course would admit no wrong doing. I most certainly did not sign for their “services. ” I wish we could band together and fight this company. I was reading that Washington Post article and saw that that Venture made 650 million dollars last year. That just angers me so much!! How many people are being ripped off without noticing it? I wish that someone would create a website that would address this and then get the word out to the public. Any ideas??
Hey, ANDYMATIC, can you compile a list of names or initials of everyone on this site who has been ripped off, and ask us to provide info. on our experiences. You have all our addresses. Then we can take action on a united front.
Is that possible? Alot of us want to do something, but don’t know how to get started.
Please don’t ask those on hear who think those rip-off companies are great. I’m sure you wouldn’t anyway. Thanks, Linda
Five months ago my husband and I used Travelocity to book a hotel. I had noticed a Passport to Fun charge on my bank account, but my husband and I thought it was our Sea World tickets being automatically drafted. Later on I realized that our Sea World tickets were labeled Anheiser Busch.
I called Passport to fun and they refunded one month, then I spoke to a manager and she claims that they will refund the rest, since neither my husband nor I signed up for anything. I never recieved anything in the mail for them, or any e-mails from their website either. Just the $14.95 charges.
We will see if they actually refund anything. I cancelled the supposed membership and they sent a conformation E-mail that had no conformation number. (It said, “here is your conformation number .
I signed up for a company called bargain.com.Membership cost a dollar I was supposed to get listings of car deals in my area All I got was a bunch of auction listings I could find myself.When I saw a new charge 29.99 from this company of 4/5/07 I called and canceled and was given my money back “prorated” Then on 4/9/07 I see on my internet banking I’ve been charged by passport to fun and savings smart for a total of guess what 29.99!!! I never gave them my bank account # guess I’ve had my identity stolen certainly makes me uncomfortable
I just got ripped off, too. I called and they said they will refund the April and Mar. payments they put on my credit card, but won’t refund for Feb. What a load of crap!!
I wanted to complain to the company by email and put a link in to this blog with all of the posts.
Their email form doesn’t work from the company website, and gave me a message to call the company. I called the company, and the representatives would not give me an email to send a complaint.
The representative gave me this address to contact the company:
PO Box 5152 Des Plaines, ILL
60017
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Preparing for our taxes we caught that there were debit charges on our bank statements starting in 10/2006 for Passport To Fun for $19.95. Not knowing what this was, we went to our bank Wachovia. Wachovia stopped the charges (they’re not set up as automated charges thru the bank, but typed in debit charges each month by PTF) and have put in an affadavit to get the money back for the previous 2 months. But they also did not know who Passport To Fun was, but they thought it was a scam. They were able to give us a 1-800 number. When I called, I was switched from person to person without any explanation of what this was for other than we were supposed to receive discounts in the mail, which WE NEVER RECEIVED. One person said I could only receive the discounts if I went to their website. Even though I had never used any benefits, had never heard of them, had never given them my debit card number, had never authorized ANYTHING, they don’t want to refund my money back to 10/06. Supposed my husband OK’d this when he ordered TimeLife CD’s on the phone, however he never heard of this at all. Wachovia said that Passport To Fun should provide a voice recording of his approval for the charges. But Passport To Fun won’t do this. WHY?
What can we do to stop Passport To Fun? I saw in the earlier posts that there was a class action suit. Is this true? If so then I want to participate. If not, how do I start one?
{Call 1-888-840-6303, sound irate (but intelligible), demand your charges reimbursed and your “membership” cancelled. My wife and I have done this twice (mine and hers) in the last couple of weeks. We got a cooperative person who promised to do what we asked. (Except, that is, for my wife’s demand to be reimbursed for mental pain and suffering. That’s okay. She only suffered for less than an hour from the time I found her charges to the end of her call.)
The real problem, the thing that allows these leeches to operate, is the legitimate companies, like Travelocity, that they pay to allow them to sucker us in by our own greedy hearts. At the end of a legitimate transaction, these bloodsucker offer us $20 off our charges or a $20 check to take a survey. We bite and are so hungry for the $20 that we don’t read the fine print or we take them at their word that we can cancel with no charge within 30 days. Then we forget or lose our notes to ourselves and don’t know where those charges are coming from when we notice them for the first time a year later.
Of course, my greedy heart will have me sending an email to firesurfer to see if I can get $50 from that class action suit with no involvement on my part. Oh well, you can’t change human nature from looking for something for nothing. I guess it just makes me mad that the “Passport to Fun” folks found it instead of me. }
That’s perfect, you nailed it. It’s legitmate, but they are counting on you’re greed (free 25$ gift card!) and ignorance (cancel WITHIN 30 days!), and as we can all see it works! Vertrue is a monster company, check it out, a business giant that’s internationally traded. As you’ve stated, you clicked on an offer, you chose, you accepted it all for your gift card or discount or whatever, and forgot to cancel! You can’t take that to court. They’re preying on you’re stupidity. And boy there’s a lot of stupid with credit cards in the US. And the stupid people are trying to change the company, trying to make them change their policies. The company is run by smart people. Smart and greedy people. The stupid and greedy people should change themselves and they’ll put the company out of business. Otherwise, the smart people will just find another way to legitmately slip one by the stupid people.
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Hi all!
Yep they got me for 14.95 too.. i called the number mentioned and talked with a guy.. he said that because i signed up for a 10 dollar rebate that is where i submitted a yes to get charged 14.95 per month after some trial period ended.. i dunnoooo. I asked him fro the owners name and he gave it to me.. some guy from Illinois asked for a physical address, he gave me a PO box…
anyways.. guess we have to read all terms when agreeing to something just to get past that page… i will never do it again that is for sure… All i wanted was post cards from vista print to promote my photo saw blades that i do… go figure!
oh i fogot to also give the owners name Gary Johnson that is what i was told…
Jess
http://www.charms4allandmore.com
Affordable photo gifts and things
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I was able to receive my money. Not becaause I was nice, but because he found from caler id I was a police officer. This guy is makiing 650 million. You can sweare out a warrant on him with your local da. don’t let hmi get awat there will be alot of motherstaken of advantaged of. Another fact is that this company is an affiliate of banc of america. I tried to dispute the charge and found that since they were an affiliate, the bank refused to dispute the chare without a written statetment. I have never had to fill out a form for a charge I didn’t make. WHy would a credit card company support a business that is such a crook. a google search on the internet shows many imporper if not crimninal activity. while an attorney may not want to spend the time on a case where the owner can just declare bancruptcy. They will however is you can bring in the bank that should have known of the criminal activitity. can you imaging the the amount of elderly people that cant even read the small writing on a credit card statement. From my understanding his net sales are in excess of 650 million. I have one more year of law school, I just wish I was graduated, I would take the case. I called from the department and received a total of 8 calls for the company wanting to refund llllllllllllllllllllllllllllll. emial me, I will give you any help I an.
Regaeds
I too used vista print.com. I have used my card online one time. It’s not listed as far as I know in any personal information on my computer. The site I used was supposed to be guaranteed security safe. But I suppose it wasn’t. I did look at two of these sites, so I guess the cookies they
downloaded must have gotten my card info somehow!!
Passport to fun charged me 19.95, Shopping essentials
charged me 19.95, Savingsmart charged 1.00, and Great fun
charged me 11.99 for March and April. I didn’t catch it last month because I didn’t check my statement, but I did this
month because I was charged for overdrawing my limit which ended up being 75.00 for a 63.00 overdraw. Now of
course I’m on the internet and phone trying to get this stopped as you all have done. After I have notified these
people I’m going to cancel my card and get another account. Thank you so much for all the information you have sent in to this website. It will help me tremendously.
Sandra C. Illinois 04/16/07
Soothsayer, GET OFF THIS SITE!!! Do you really think you are quite the psycologist, reading our minds, and, therefore, have analyzed our thinking to the point that you know us “idiots” so well??? You definitely need your brain analyzed, and when it comes up “crazy loon”, would you even know what that means? You are truly a waste of space and air. I hope you get what you desperately need, a lobotomy, because your brain sure is defective. Yes, you are right, none of us can read. How then can we write, you pompous asshole, lowest of the lows-moron? When you try to defend your companies, you are showing your stupidity by putting that in print for future litigation. Thanks, scumbag, for more evidence for court!! So get ready, Mr. Insane!!!!!!!!!! Please seek professional help, and do some soul-searching, ‘if you have a soul that does not belong to the devil’!! I certainly hope you have not procreated anyone who will be just like you. Don’t do that to an innocent child!!! JERK!!!
I also was hit with an unexplained charge. No one could tell me till my bank did a research and provided me with the telephone number.
When I called the first staff stated I was not on file, they requested my card number, not wanting to give it out, I requested a supervisor who insisted the card number was the only way to locate it.
They did located the “most recent charge” and stated they would refund this charge, however the other charges would have to be handled through the research department. I asked how they could explain how they do not have my name or an account listed for me, but are charging my account $14.95, where is the money going. They stated they could not give me that information for “my safety”.
I too am very upset as I am very careful on the net and do not sign up for anything offered that request my card number. It appears like some have said it was obtained through a buy out.
PROMISE I will stay on top of this. I along with my husband are in employed with law enforcement and we will stay on top of this. Local sheriff, a friend is interested in this.
Hey guys – I’m banning Soothsayer for now. Turns out they had been writing 29 comments total (some of them as other people).
But know that it is best to not react to people like that online. They are only in it for the attention. I apologize for his trolling behavior.
Soothsayer feel free to get your own blog at http://wordpress.com/
My fiancee just got these same charges, Passport to Fun and Today’s Escapes. I’m 99% sure it was Travelocity since she’s only made a couple of other charges. We reported it to her credit card company who canceled the charges andchanged her CC number so the bastards couldn’t do it again.
Contact: Girard Gibbs LLP for info re: class action lawsuit.
http://www.girardgibbs.com
Hey, Angel, I just e-mailed Girard Gibbs to have them add my name to the list. I said to expect lots of people from this site to e-mail also!! Finally, a quick way to get something started.
Thank you for his website!!
Hey, people, join in and feel better about the whole sucky thing. I do!!!!!!!
“Soothsayer, GET OFF THIS SITE!!! Do you really think you are quite the psycologist, reading our minds, and, therefore, have analyzed our thinking to the point that you know us “idiots” so well???”
Myself!? I wouldn’t waste the time. But market researchers get paid to do it. And I can guarantee you this venture is based off people’s neglect to listen/read ALL information where a credit card is involved. Since you got “scammed” you fit the bill of an oblivious dope who doesn’t dissect all terms and conditions when entering credit card info on the internet. You’re funny because you think my post will be used in a lawsuit. And funny is a nice way of saying “incredibley naive and stupidly backwards”. You live in the sticks and are on dial-up, right??
Anyway, I’ll be keeping an eye out to see how this “lawsuit” works out LOL!
Also, all you morons, your biggest problem is literacy. Spell it with me S-O-O-T-H-E-S-A-Y-E-R. If you read more, you might not be in this mess in the first place.
CLIX HERE FOR FREE TRIP TO MARS! CLIX HERE FOR A FREE 100,000 DOLLAR GIFT CARD TO FOOTLOCKER! HOW ABOUT 50$ CASHBACK REBATE OFF YOUR PURCHASE!? WANT IT?! CLICK HERE!
I noticed a charge from them for 14.95 this month. Apparently it was from Vista prints, which my wife purchased from online.
This is what happens when you let WIVES make purchases!!
DAN, umm, HELLO!! I hope you were joking! Does your wife know you e-mailed such a chauvinistic comment? SHAME on you, buddy!! If you have read any of these comments, you will see that there are lots of men getting taken advantage of also. Please refrain from slamming your wife in a public forum, as there may be trouble in paradise!! Karma, sometimes, is a cruel thing! Do better, okay??
I can hardly believe this is still going on over a year later. I belive my charge came through Travelocity. I called the number listed on my card, but could not get through. I was on hold for 20 minutes and then all of a sudden a dial tone. I called my credit card company and was told to fill out a form. Thanks for this website. I have added my name Gerard Gibbs site.
“I can hardly believe this is still going on over a year later.”
Heh, and for years to come!! As long as the American public keeps breeding the dopes they are, it’ll be all too easy.
Andy, I thought YOU-KNOW-WHO was banned from here!! He’s back. It’s very hard to hold my tongue! What happened that allows him to still be here?? Thanks!!
Mary and Linda … I was wondering if anyone ever responded to me so I finally got around to checking. I am very sorry you feel insulted, but it’s the truth. These people are taking advantage of how busy America is. That’s all. They’re no different than stadiums who charge you $7 for a Hot Dog because they know people want to eat and will pay the price. I don’t see anyone picketing Stadiums (& airports for that matter) demanding they stop taking advantage of people and overcharging. And do you think these gas prices will ever go down again? No. Because now that we’re all used to paying that much, why would any business in their right minds start charging less. Business, by nature, is unethical. These Passport to Fun people, and whoever their affiliates are, they’re making money off of our own sense of importance. And they get your attention by offering you money back on a purchase. I got my ten dollars back from a purchase at Columbia House (where I’ve been a member for soooo long). And not only did I get those ten back, but I got back another ten from another company trying to take advantage of Passport to Fun customers. I just stay on top of my mail and my memberships and am always sure to cancel. So I’m not getting scammed, but actually taking advantage of their free offers to save money and coming out on top. You all just need to pay more attention to what you’re doing and stop being too busy. The Devil’s in the details …
And Linda … I was curious if anyone else knew about Passport to Fun so that’s why I punched it into a search engine. Hell, I’m an idiot for trying to defend them, because the more of you that think this is a scam, the more I can continue to take advantage of the savings. If we were ALL utilizing their services correctly, they’d be out of business! So you know what? Please continue believing it’s fake (as in not legitimate). I don’t mind saving money at [the collective] your expense … and I can’t be sorry about that.