Complaint Review: AP9 Shopping Essentials

On November 12, I signed up for a free trial on a website called connection 123. I think I remember that they were offering free MP3 tracks.

I received an email confirming my subscription to a service called Dealpass.

I immediately cancelled the trial period and received an e-mail of cnofirmation saying that since I terminated my service, my credit card would not be billed and that I had nothing more to do.

Two days ago, my wife told me that we are charged $14.95 dollar monthly with a reference AP9 shoppingessentials and adked me whether I knew what it was.

I called the number on my credit card statement and had someone telling me that I signed up on November 12 for Dealpass and inviting me to login Dealpass.

I replied to the confirmation e-mail of November 17 asking them to explain how it is possible that they charged my credit card for services despite their confirmation e-mail saying that I terminated on time and would not be charged. I also asked them to cancel my service immediately and refund me all the charges unduly paid on my credit card.

I received an e-mail a few hours later saying that my service was terminated on November 15, 2005 and that I would not be charged anything.

I replied that precisely, my credit card was billed since November until April 27 and reiterated my request that they immediately put an end to my service and refund all the sums charged on my credit card.

They sent me another e-mail this morning saying that their records indicate that my Connection membership was canceled before I was subject to billing and that as a result I was not charged the monthly membership fee for this membership. They also invited me to check with my financial institution to see where the charge is occurring from.

I called them asking to talk to their legal department. Although I called the number mentionned on my credit card statement, which indicates that the service invoiced is Shoppingessentials, the person I talked to told me that I was calling Connection123 and that they were not shoppingessentials.

I therefore called my credit card company, who told me that they would revert the charges of the lest 3 months, but that they could not do anything else for the previous months. They also told me to check my statements every month to make sure that I am not charged by Dealpass/shopping essentials/connection 123 or whatever other affiliate of what I understand to be a holding called vertrue.

Although I was an attorney in France, I feel completely at the mercy of these people. In my country, something like that would expose the corporations to criminal investigations and an interdiction to do business, with eventually jail sentence for the corporate officers. Is there any means to have these people incur criminal sanctions.

What can I do in the meantime to make sure that theere is no fraudulent billing on my credit card by an affiliate of Vertrue?

Renaud
New Orleans, Louisiana
U.S.A.