Be careful who you do business with. Occasionally I’ve sent flowers to people using 1-800-FLOWERS and it never occurred to me that they would try to scam me. A few days ago I get a check from them for $9.25 which was kind of a mystery. I turned the check over and on the back was an agreement (above) that if I cashed the check then they would send my credit card information to someone called Elite Excursions who would start billing me $19.99 a month.
I wonder how many people who get a lot of checks in the mail might deposit this without realizing they signed up for some bogus service that’s just going to con them out of their money.
I damn sure will never use 1-800-FLOWERS again!
Why are you complaining? Don’t you understand the text and terms?
This reminds me of freecreditreport[dot]com where you have to cancel otherwise you get billed every month, and it takes 6-8 business weeks to cancel.
I sure do. That’s why I’m publishing it for those who might throw it into a pile of checks that they are cashing not realizing that there’s a contract on the back.
I logged in and deleted my credit card. However after I deleted it I realized the card I had online with them expired. So I suppose I could cash the check and they would be screwed.
1-800-GAR BAGE. Gentlemen Start Your Junk Mail Filters.
Sadly, these sorts of scams are becoming more and more common from “reputable” companies. I got one recently from Budget Rent-A-Car. (link) I don’t rent with them anymore. Now I won’t buy from 1-800-Flowers either.
More and more “mainstream” companies are engaging in this kind of scam. I haven’t bought anything online, from a 1-800 number or even through a catalog in over a year. It’s brick and mortar for me, and if possible, I pay in cash.
A friend of mine was suckered by a similar scam. Tried to cancel, was given the runaround. So she ended up cancelling the credit card that was being charged.
Guess what? They sent her account to collections for $9.95. Now collection agencies are calling her for her $9.95 debt and claim they are going to destroy her credit rating.
These guys have been flagged as a scam many times.
Consumer Affairs
http://tiny.cc/QFwEE
Anyone ever spend a few hours trying to cancel an AOL account?
If you watch prime-time TV you would be understandably misinformed of the ratio of serial killers to retail shysters.
Crime, or organized crime, is perceived as much greater than offenses committed by ostensibly legitimate organizations.
Maybe someone should get a Nobel Prize in Commerce for small typeface usage. I would bet that, in terms of dollar value, deceptive contracts are more valuable to malefactors than all other crimes combined.
I guess 1-800-FLOWERS isn’t making much money, so they whore out their reputation in order to get some cash flow. And they’re not alone in doing this. Just cancel everything with 1-800-FLOWERS and Elite Excursions.
Virtual credit card accounts fixes this. Each number is tied to only one merchant id so nobody else can charge. you can also set a limit and expiration on the virtual account to whatever you like. the only provider i know is Citi. may be paypal also but I hate paypal
“Why are you complaining? Don’t you understand the text and terms?”
We do, but it’s clear that many people don’t read or understand the implications – if they did, these companies would not incur the expense of doing this. I visited friends in Texas last August, and was horrified by the volumes of unsolicited crap they were getting in the mail.
Sure, the terms are clearly written – in tiny print on the real check, but who wants to have to be on the defensive every time you deal with a company. This stuff, the Facebook scams, and everything will ultimately drive people away. These companies will be like bad neighborhoods that no one willingly goes to. Sure there are legit businesses there, but why bother with the grief.
These days anyone that does not use a one-time credit card for any interaction with an online or telephone merchant is just ignorant on how to protect their credit.
Most credit card services offer them… you request a one-time-use, limited time, limited value CC number. There is no cost, and the most you can lose is the amount that you authorized for that particular transaction.
I never ever put in my CC card number for anything if I can authorize a one time charge instead. I want my real CC number in the smallest number of databases possible.
And when is the last time that you asked for a new CC number outright? Haven’t changed it in the last year???? Dumb.
Anyone with any smarts should also have a Paypal/eBay secondary login dongle, so even if your account password is stolen or hacked, you can’t logon without the physical device that only you hold.
I got that same check (only used them once before) and I did read the fine print on the check. I totally expected it to be a ‘scam’.
Can’t someone mail them a turd?
Marc, I’m living in SE Asia these days so won’t be participating in this scam. But thank you for letting me know about it. I have an 85 year-old mother who would be very likely to cash a check like that. She’s always sending in for rebates and such, so she might very well not question it at all.
That’s why you should always, 100% of the time, examine every check you receive, on both sides. There are plenty of disreputable companies that will take every opportunity to annoy the crap out of you for 19.95.
Not to mention the three or four “domain service” companies that send email to your email of record or “official” letters to your address of record.
Sucks, but honestly, if you ever just cash/deposit a check without looking at it you are asking for victimization.
I think everyone is missing the point. Of course there are many ways to be scammed via credit card, and people should take all reasonable precautions. But here we have a supposedly reputable company perpetrating the scam! They have a real address, and a CEO, and managers that are (remarkably) are not hiding from the law. They should have ZERO customers tomorrow, and be in jail the day after.
#20 I agree with you but Bank of America tries to pull what I consider to be scams with their own customers.
I like the people at the local bank but if I was starting out I’d go to some local bank. The only reason I’m with bank of America is they bought my old bank. I think John D. is right about the need to avoid the big boys unless you move around.
What kind of country is yours? To us, the rest of the world, you sure look pathetic. A cowboy land. Most civilized countries have a government regulation agency to protect consumers from this king of abuses. But you don’t trust your government, right? Maybe they will come to get you… scary. You only trust private companies. Well, you get what you asked for.
It doesn’t matter what the critics say because I own the server and I rule.
The way I see it any company that deliberately tries to trick people into joining things because they aren’t paying attention is immoral. And I feel it’s my duty to express my outrage.
#25 Yeah thanks for the warning. I sometimes get checks like these and think its cool to receive free money. When I turn it over and read that I have to join something if I cash the check I tear it up and throw it away. I get the same disappointed feeling I get when my new twitter follower is just a porn spammer.
How is this for coincidence…While reading through the comments my Blackberry buzzed with an email from PayPal…”Get $10 off from 1800-Flowers.com! Hilarious.
#15 – Awake
Did they fix the bug yet where you could just click the back button when prompted for the token key and then log in again without entering it? I haven’t tried in awhile, but that system is only as secure as it is implemented – which used to be poorly. That said, it’s a good idea and I’m trying to convince some of my other online sites to use similar ideas.
Regarding the original post, there’s nothing wrong with alerting people to this “scam”, but this kind of thing is seriously OFN. I mean, like e-mail spam ads, SOMEONE must be falling for this to keep the people sending it out in business, but I struggle to understand why. Alarm bells should go off whenever you get a check in the mail that isn’t for money you know yourself to be owed. Yes, it stinks that people are trying to “trick” you, but if you didn’t ASSUME it was scam and try to disprove that notion the second you saw a company handing you money for no particular reason, then you have a problem.
Plus, and I can’t believe I’m coming to the defense of a company that wants to take advantage of the elderly and the judgement-impaired, but that agreement is pretty hard to miss and pretty clear about what you’re doing. I’ve got to guess that most of the people who sign that agreement know the risk they’re taking, understand the terms, but figure they’re going to take the free $9.25 and then be the savvy one who fights though the intentionally difficult cancellation process to “win” the $9.25. It’s not worth it. (That’s just my opinion, but everyone values their time and that risk differently I suppose…)
It’s funny people still order through a call center middleman (1800flowers.com and FTD) when you can google and call a florist direct. In other words, you spend $100 with 1800flowers or FTD, you get $60 worth of flowers. – Call a florist direct and get $100 worth of flowers.
yeah and some local florist are just as bad at schimming off the top of orders as well, So there let the truth be told,
This guy is right about what 1800, FTD and TF will do with your money.
This country was built on honest Mom and Pop shops, the big guys have perverted it and now have found another way to steal from you. It’s sad. Don’t let them get away with it, just don’t buy from the big guys. Stay local.