Very disturbing experience with DDDVD
 

I am a long-time customer of DeepDiscountDVD, and have purchased literally thousands of dollars of DVDs from them.

Today, I bought a single DVD, and after I checked out, there was a link to get a $10 GC for filling out a survey. I skipped the link, but still somehow ended up on the survey page. It was a short (6 question) survey from Buyer's Assurance. In return for filling it out, I was to receive a $10 GC for a future purchase from DDD.

Here's the problem - unless you read the page carefully, you may miss the fact that completing the survey and entering your email address obligates you to a $7/month service from Buyer's Assurance. I suspect that this has gotten by a number of customers - I am usually pretty careful about this sort of thing, and I almost missed it.

Was I singled out here, or have others seen this, also?

...dan

Re: Very disturbing experience with DDDVD
 

Well, I can tell you that you were not singled out. I placed an order w/ DDD yesterday & got the same offer. Fortunately for me, I always read the fine print & saw that it involved signing up for Buyers Assurance so I skipped the whole thing.

You may be able to cancel it though. I seem to remember reading that there was a 30 day free trial but I could be mistaken. Contact Buyers Assurance to see if you can cancel.

I'm trying to find the thread, i think this issue has been addressed before. I thought DDD was going to take that ad down.

I remember this too! It was a year or so ago and a number of people complained about unauthorized charges being made to their credit cards. They eventually tracked it back to DeepDiscountDVD, but the way DDDVD was getting customers to agree to the charge was a bit sneakier!

If memory serves me well, DDDDVD had a pop-up appear after you placed your order stating that unless you clicked "No Thanks" you would automatically be enrolled with some 3rd-party service (and be charged a monthly fee).

The bad thing is that a number of people never read the pop-up and simply closed the window. Then, all of a sudden, there were monthly fees showing up on their credit cards!

I'm the one that originally tracked this crap back to DDD the first time they did it, and this is the third or fourth time I've seen others complaining about similar problems since then. I am absolutely disgusted that DDD is STILL doing this, and this is exactly why they will never get my business again. It's just so damn shady.

Originally, as rich-y said, you didn't have to sign up for anything, or even click the pop-up ad to get hit with this crap. DDD passed along all of my personal information, INCLUDING my credit card number, as soon as the order was made. They got me for $50, and I had to dispute the charge and have a new card issued. In my case, I never even saw the pop-up, because I had a pop-up blocker installed.

These complaints pop up here, and a DDD rep will all-of-a-sudden show up, apologize, and promise to remove the offending ads. And they do... for about a month, and then they start showing up again. This is not an isolated incident, people. DDD's sponsors purposefully try to defraud you, and DDD fully supports it. The DDD rep will say otherwise, of course, but the fact that this keeps happening is all the proof I need.

If you can use one time issue credit card numbers. Most companies now have them and they can only be charged up to the amount that you specify. Make it for one or two dollars over the amount that company says the cost will be if you want to be safe with pending charges for $1.00 or so that companies sometimes make to be sure the card is active. That way if your number does get passed along to an outside company, they can't charge anything because it will not go through.

This was not quite so sleazy as the pop-up, but still pretty bad. I was mostly surprised because I have done so much business with them over the past two years without having seen anything like this (not sure how the pop-up missed me the first time around).

...dan

Ive never ordered from this place...and from the sounds of this, Im not gonna start

For those of you who have been burned by the Buyer's Assurance deal, you might consider forwarding the information along to your state's attorney general's office.

Found it
http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=204168

Just had to comment on Buyer Assurance. You're supposed to have double warranty coverage while you are with them. I had to cancel my checkcard and when I called to change it I was told that they could not change checkcard numbers, that if you lose your card most banks will send you a card with the same number, and that once a monthly charge is declined once, the membership is cancelled and you can ONLY start a NEW one - which means you lose all your double warranty benefits.

Thanks for the info. I was considering placing an order with them - but no more. Ever - and I'll be sure to tell all my friends and family about this garbage.

If you got burned by this I'd love to see everybody go to the AGO with this. DDD deserves to be shut down and shut down hard for this.

I wonder if we're going to hear anything official from DDD regarding this? I for one would like to see some kind of open communication that was evident in the past from them.

I was in the process of stocking up my cart for a pretty substantial order, but I don't think I'll be going through with it now.

I can stand paying more money for DVDs, because I don't want the risk of having my personal information in the hands of some company a) i don't know about, and b) didn't want to initiate a transaction with in the first place.

Is the shorthand "DDDVD" ususally used when referring to these guys? I've always seen it as DDD - perhaps they don't realize this is about their store from the title of this thread. I know it's a long shot but who knows.

I'm surprised that the mod for this forum hasn't posted as he posted in the previous thread regarding DDD above.

Either way I could forgive them once for this (hey everybody has hired a knob at some point who made a bonehead decision) but I'm starting to get the vibe that this is just how they "operate".

Being unable to change checkcard numbers is BS. If a bank can't change a checkcard number because of unauthorized use, tell them to close the account and give you a check so that you will do business with another bank. I'm sure the bank can do something about changing the number!

It's probably to avoid confusion with DDDHouse, a popular Hong Kong retailer.

Re: Very disturbing experience with DDDVD
 

The same thing almost happened to me last night when I ordered. DeepDiscount really has to jettison this. It borders on deception. When checking out, one is almost led to believe that one must click on the Buyers' Assurance crap to complete the order. The lesson is to always read what you are signing on to. I will give them a call regarding this issue.

I got the survey, too. Didn't bother to fill it out, though... Am I going to still be charged for their "service" or was this only on the original pop-up?

I also just clicked "x" in the upper right-hand corner after I read the fine print. If I call DDDVD CSR, would they know and would they be able to get me off that service?

TIA

What is it that one actually has to click to NOT be signed up for this service?

If clicking the the closing "X" in the upper right hand corner signs you up for the service, I think the Attorney General in some states is going to be getting some complaints.

Dear DVDTalk Members,

This thread came to my attention and I want to address your concerns.

I want to apologize for any inconvenience that you have encountered and to tell you that this is not the same offer that ran last year.

The offer on our site is run by WebLoyalty and several steps are in place so that you can not be accidently be signed up. To sign up for the offer you must first click on the link to the survey page, you must also enter your email address twice, if these fields are not completed you will not be signed up for the offer. As another verification, before any card is billed an email is sent at the end of the free trial period to the customer verifying again that they want to accept the offer. We want to make certain that you are not accidentally signed up for any offers.

These offers are presented to give our customers access to programs that they may interest them and for them to take advantage of the free gift offered by WebLoyalty. We have taken many steps to assure that no one is accidentally signed up for any offer. We want your entire experience at DeepDiscountDVD.com to be a positive one. If at any time you do sign up for an offer and then decide that you're no longer interested you can cancel immediately.

Again, I do apologize for any confusion that may have resulted from this offer but I can assure you that you were not signed up for the program if you did not complete the fields for your email address.

Sincerely,

David Barker

:up:

I am now satisfied. :) Thank you for your time and information and for reassuring us on this forum!

:thumbsup:

As I've said in a few threads when people ask, you guys are always helpful and great prices. Keep up the good work :)

David,

Thanks for the clarification on the way the issue is related to the website and thank you for taking the time to personally come to the forum and respond. Customer Service at DDD has been superior and this only furthers that point.

Keep up the great work at DDD. :)

Not to be Mr. Negative, but I think these "offers" are so DDD can get a kickback. Not for our convience...