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Orbitz Sharing Customer Credit Card Information
tstorm writes "ConsumerAffairs.com has a warning about Orbitz and their affiliation with a company called MWI. Apparently numerous people who have booked travel through Orbitz are finding unauthorized $9.95 monthly charges on their credit card bills from MWI for membership in a 'discount entertainment service,' despite that fact that MWI doesn't appear to provide any actual product or service. It's also very difficult to opt-out of this membership, some people have gotten refunds for what they were already charged only to have another charge appear the following month."
Orbitz may well believe it, and this may well be what they're telling Orbitz, but the fact remains, I and many many other people have been burned by these slimebags. I was one of the lucky ones--I didn't have to fight with them to get my money back. Nonetheless, they did indeed bill my credit card after a single phone contact where I did NOT agree to any of their other garbage. It's not the press reporting being screwed by these people, it's other people.
7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001
My AMEX card number was obtained by someone, somehow and they used it to sign up for 2 AOL accounts.
When I received the bill, I called AMEX and they gave me the same line they gave you. Next month, charges again - called AMEX again (30 min hold) - said they would take care of the fraud, but I asked for a new card number to be sure. OK - they sent me a new card.
Next month - more charges! I called again - how can they get my new card number? The AMEX operator told me that AOL subscribes to a service that UPDATES THEM WITH THE NEW CARD NUMBER when a "subscriber" changes the number.
Six months of this and I was finally told by AMEX that I had to call AOL (who I have never dealt with) and cancel the account and see if I can find out the screen name and phone number of the unauthorized user. I called AOL and was hung up on three times and spent 30 minutes on hold to be told they could not give me any information on the account they were charging me for for "privacy reasons", but they could cancel it and I would only be liable for the charges up to that day!
AMEX said - we will see what we can do but AOL is hard to deal with. That is the story so far - see how well your CC takes care of fraudulant charges for you!
Just cancel your AMEX if this the best service they can offer. There are heaps of alternatives. I should have a Virgin credit card in the mail soon.
I always used it more as a safety valve--I never intentionally avoid canceling, but it's nice to know that if I were to, that the service loses the ability to charge. This is particularly important with sites like (ironically enough) Consumer Reports, who charge a ridiculous fee for one-time access, but a small monthly subscription fee. They hope you'll forget, and will be able to keep charging forever. (Why Consumer Reports engages in this kind of business practice merits another discussion.)