JC Whitney - Possible SCAM alert!

[dfeck]

Background - I purchased a couple of bucket hooks for my tractor last November from JC Whitney. My wife has noticed a couple of suspicious charges on our credit card. They stand out because we keep our cards with virtually no balance. After calling the credit card company and reporting the suspicious charges they called back saying that this was authorized by me when I purchased the bucket hooks in November from JC Whitney. The charges come through on my credit card as - COMPLETE SAVINGS 800-8261885 CT -. Apparently, JC Whitney enrolls you into a monthly subscription savings program if you make the magic combinations during checkout. Not the savings you expect at a bank but a coupon based savings program.

I've tried discussing this with JC Whitney and they don't want to know nothing. See, they send your credit card to a 2nd party that owns this complete savings company and they are the ones that charge your credit card on a monthly basis. I've purchased many items on the internet and never had this happen. I consider myself very careful and double check everything before hitting the "submit" button. I'm sure there was some button I needed to un-check but I feel this is being deceptive to consumers. I'm lucky and was able to cancel with very little out of pocket. But can you imagine the people that might not notice this and continue to pay month in and month out. I needed to post this so that you can be careful making internet purchases especially from JC Whitney. I usually only buy from reputable sites and thought JC Whitney was one of them. I got duped on this one but hopefully I've learned from it. I found other people with the same issue with JC Whitney.

Ripoff Report Search Results: JC Whitney


Thanks
Doug

 

[Zick]

I've heard of this happening with other companys. Thanks for the heads up about JC Whitney, I haven't bought anything from them in a while and figure I won't be in the future now.

 

[dave1949]

Thanks for taking the time to alert everyone. This sort of thing seems to be more and more common.
Dave.

 

[Dutch445]

Many times this is tied in with a
"get 15% off your next order, click here"
type of offer. very very small print or none
at all!

 

[OKnewguy]

I had this thing happen with Vista Print. I ordered some business cards and after a couple of months noticed a $19 charge on our statements. I had somehow enrolled in their "preferred customer program" or whatever it was called. I had to fight them on the phone for awhile and they would not refund the previous months charges but did cancel the enrollment. Needless to say they will not be getting any of my business ever again.
Dave

 

[Jstpssng]

Background - I purchased a couple of bucket hooks for my tractor last November from JC Whitney. My wife has noticed a couple of suspicious charges on our credit card. They stand out because we keep our cards with virtually no balance. After calling the credit card company and reporting the suspicious charges they called back saying that this was authorized by me when I purchased the bucket hooks in November from JC Whitney. The charges come through on my credit card as - COMPLETE SAVINGS 800-8261885 CT -. Apparently, JC Whitney enrolls you into a monthly subscription savings program if you make the magic combinations during checkout. Not the savings you expect at a bank but a coupon based savings program.

I've tried discussing this with JC Whitney and they don't want to know nothing. See, they send your credit card to a 2nd party that owns this complete savings company and they are the ones that charge your credit card on a monthly basis. I've purchased many items on the internet and never had this happen. I consider myself very careful and double check everything before hitting the "submit" button. I'm sure there was some button I needed to un-check but I feel this is being deceptive to consumers. I'm lucky and was able to cancel with very little out of pocket. But can you imagine the people that might not notice this and continue to pay month in and month out. I needed to post this so that you can be careful making internet purchases especially from JC Whitney. I usually only buy from reputable sites and thought JC Whitney was one of them. I got duped on this one but hopefully I've learned from it. I found other people with the same issue with JC Whitney.

Ripoff Report Search Results: JC Whitney


Thanks
Doug

Yeah, they pulled the same stunt on me. I didn't catch it at first because it took them several months to completely fill my order. They also failed to honor thier "free shipping for orders over $100", because they split it into several smaller shipments.

In the long run they lose though, because I'll never place another order through them.

 

[Bird]

This made me curious as to how long J.C. Whitney had been around. I see they claim to have been in business since 1915. I guess it was 1960 when I ordered seat covers from my 1955 Cadillac Coupe deVille and was satisfied. In 1968, I ordered crash bars and rigid plastic saddle bags for my 305cc Yamaha motorcycle and was happy with that. But then I ordered an assortment of fishing tackle that looked like kids' toys and I sent it back and got a prompt refund. So I thought they were pretty good, but haven't done business with them in the last 41 years.

 

[Ken]

J.C.Whitney and probally miss spelled Warshawsky had adresses different but under stood same warehouse. They a bankruptcy it became J.C. Whitney. Used to buy a lot of auto motive parts never needed to return something changed because have not purchased from then in 30 years.
Not surprised about this scam alert. The just follow the money not how it is made.
ken

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I've seen this same thing elsewhere but don't remember where offhand. I wouldn't have thought JC Whitney would do this. I used to buy from them, but haven't in awhile.

 

[Western]

Surely they get some kind of "kickback", otherwise it would be a mute point to shaft your customers.

I don't like games like this by any business and certainly will avoid JC from now on. I don't think "mistakes" like this just happen.

Thanks for the thread..

 

[dfeck]

After stewing on this yesterday I decided to do more investigating. I found the website of the company "complete savings" and sent them an EMAIL about my thoughts and concerns that this was deceptive and borderline criminal. After 30mins of sending the EMAIL I got this response. I won't hold my breathe on the refund but I thought it was interesting nonetheless.


This notice confirms that your Membership in Complete Savings has been canceled as of 2/1/2010.

Your cancel confirmation number is: xxxxxxxx.

We have issued a refund of your Membership fee. This refund will appear as a credit to your account within the next 3-5 business days.

Please let us know if your request was resolved to your satisfaction. All responses submitted will go to our Customer Service Director for review because your feedback is important to us.

If you would like to provide feedback, please click here.

For other great ways to save, please click here: OnlineValuePack.com. There's no obligation. It's just our way of thanking you for trying Complete Savings.

Sincerely,

The Complete Savings Team
customerservice@completesavings.com
1-800-826-1885

 

[jayste]

This made me curious as to how long J.C. Whitney had been around. I see they claim to have been in business since 1915. I guess it was 1960 when I ordered seat covers from my 1955 Cadillac Coupe deVille and was satisfied. In 1968, I ordered crash bars and rigid plastic saddle bags for my 305cc Yamaha motorcycle and was happy with that. But then I ordered an assortment of fishing tackle that looked like kids' toys and I sent it back and got a prompt refund. So I thought they were pretty good, but haven't done business with them in the last 41 years.

Oh, the good old days! Mail order, paid with a check or cash? Here I sit typing on a computer over the internet! Some things I do look back and see as better. Not that I was around in 1955, Bird!

 

[jayste]

After stewing on this yesterday I decided to do more investigating. I found the website of the company "complete savings" and sent them an EMAIL about my thoughts and concerns that this was deceptive and borderline criminal. After 30mins of sending the EMAIL I got this response. I won't hold my breathe on the refund but I thought it was interesting nonetheless.


This notice confirms that your Membership in Complete Savings has been canceled as of 2/1/2010.

Your cancel confirmation number is: xxxxxxxx.

We have issued a refund of your Membership fee. This refund will appear as a credit to your account within the next 3-5 business days.

Please let us know if your request was resolved to your satisfaction. All responses submitted will go to our Customer Service Director for review because your feedback is important to us.

If you would like to provide feedback, please click here.

For other great ways to save, please click here: OnlineValuePack.com. There's no obligation. It's just our way of thanking you for trying Complete Savings.

Sincerely,

The Complete Savings Team
customerservice@completesavings.com
1-800-826-1885

Let me guess...You didn't take advantage of the "ValuePack" offer?! I don't fault you if you didn't!

 

[dfeck]

Let me guess...You didn't take advantage of the "ValuePack" offer?! I don't fault you if you didn't!

Ha, Ha! Saw that link and laughed. Wouldn't be funny if I did and that triggered another enrollment into their subscription.

 

[psj12]

This second party billing happened to me through Priceline.com. I didn't notice the $11.99 charge on my card for a couple months from greatfunsite.com. When I contacted greatfunsite.com they assured me I had a passworded account with them. I accused them of being crooks and they then offered to cancel my account. I told them this was not good enough and demanded all my money back since no goods or products were delivered and I didn't sign up for it. This is when they told me of their connection with Priceline and refused to refund past billing because I had not canceled in 30 days.

I contacted the Maryland Attorney General's office by phone and they told me this was becoming a common problem with second parties teaming up with big internet sites. It seems the Parent site receives a kickback from the second party company for every charge and it is a huge money maker for the parent site so they don't want to stop it. These second party companies are locatred in states where this is apparently legal. To make a long story short after they were contacted by the MD States Atorney's office they returned all my money. I won't do buisness with Priceline again!

 

[schmism]

Oh, the good old days! Mail order, paid with a check or cash?

you can still do that today.... most catalogs still support old fashion mail in order form with your check enclosed.

or better yet, get a prepaid visa (cash/debit card) for the amount your going to spend. use it online. then when they try to charge you for extra's you didnt order, there is no money on the card to pay for it.

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

After stewing on this yesterday I decided to do more investigating. I found the website of the company "complete savings" and sent them an EMAIL about my thoughts and concerns that this was deceptive and borderline criminal. After 30mins of sending the EMAIL I got this response. I won't hold my breathe on the refund but I thought it was interesting nonetheless.


This notice confirms that your Membership in Complete Savings has been canceled as of 2/1/2010.

Your cancel confirmation number is: xxxxxxxx.

We have issued a refund of your Membership fee. This refund will appear as a credit to your account within the next 3-5 business days.

Please let us know if your request was resolved to your satisfaction. All responses submitted will go to our Customer Service Director for review because your feedback is important to us.

If you would like to provide feedback, please click here.

For other great ways to save, please click here: OnlineValuePack.com. There's no obligation. It's just our way of thanking you for trying Complete Savings.

Sincerely,

The Complete Savings Team
customerservice@completesavings.com
1-800-826-1885

Personally I think I would ask them if they would accept my membership if I paid with a a third party, out of town,
post dated check, denominated in Zimbabwean dollars.

 

[dmccarty]

TBN Brain trust at work again.

We just got finished with a scam from DVDs, Blu-ray, CDs, Books, Video Games, Electronics and more - DeepDiscount.com that ended caused us to be billed $12 for seven months. The credit card showed "Shopper Discounts 800-889-8776 Ct." I thought it was something that the wifey had ordered but when I finally asked she had never heard of them.

We put almost EVERYTHING on the credit card since it is easier to track spending and we get 1% cash back. This makes it easy to miss a little charge especially with two people using the same card.

A quick Internet search resulted in many hits on this scam. She called Shopper Discounts and they refunded six of the charges which I do see on my credit card statement. I assume we used the other $12 as a discount but it was not worth fighting over. Lesson Learned. They did not have a problem returning the money.

I will verify that DeepDiscount is the company that did this and send them a note. I am sure they will not get rid of the scam since it makes them money so I will not shop with them again.

Buyer Beware.
Dan

 

[anojones]

This is becoming a common problem, the only answer is don't do business with the site that uses these services- and let them know why you won't use them again.

 

[robb01]

thanks for the heads up