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Smart Savings Center Complaints - hidden membership charge

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Smart Savings Center

Posted: 2008-12-26 by   al sanflippo
hidden membership charge
Complaint Rating:  90 % with 30 votes
Company information:
smartsavingscenter
United States

on dec 17, 2008 we signed on to amazon.com to search for and order a dvd. the title was located and an order placed. turns out order was through smartsavinscenter. they charged us for dvd ($14.92 plus $1.00, plus $3.24) i assume for handling and shipping. the dvd arrived as agreed before christmas. today dec 26, 2008 my credit card bill arrived with an additional charge of $29.95. we called and after a long wait (over 15 min) talked to a rep. she said it was for a membership. we told her we did not want a membership and she said we could cancel it but the 29.95 could not be refunded because it was over 7 days. we were never told about this fee on the order form. we want a refund and will file all necessary complaints with bbb and atty generals office etc.
al sanflippo, magnolia, nj 08049 email to:almoose2558@aol.com
Comments United States DVD Order & Rental
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 319 days ago by   Bill Byrd 0 Votes
As noted before... I, too, ordered a book through Smartsavingscenter.com. On my Discover bill, I got the extra $1.00 charge, then the mysterious $29.95 charge. I tried to call, but got into the phone loop. Tried again and got the same results. Then, after the fact, I loged into the website and got the complaint list. This is very unfair and I am hoping Discover can help me. There was no mentions of a "membership fee" that I can recall. This will be my last purchase from this company.
 319 days ago by   Anna 0 Votes
Same here. Ordered 2 books through hotbooksale.com. a month ago. One book showed up, the other didnt although it states clearly on their website that the book is available for shipping in 2 days. yeaa right. My cc got charged for the book i received +$1 + $29.95..whaaaat? All the charges where made from smartsavingscenter.com and the $29.95 fee for some kind of monthly membership that i never even sign up for or it was sooo hidden i didnt see. I contacted my bank first, canceled my card, called hotbooksale.com customer service, canceled this invisible membership +requested refund in not so pleasant voice. It worked, refund will be made( so the rep said)within 90 days..wow. I also requested cancellation # that everybody should have in case you have to go through this bs again. I will never.. ever purchase from either of the companies.
 308 days ago by   angela martin 0 Votes
I also had the same expience with fraudulent charges from SMARTSAVINGSCENTER.COM that was a result of an order placed with HOTBOOKSALE.COM . I had four extra charges in one month and two one dollar charges the next month. after being sent in circles by the automated customer service number on my credit card statement listed for SMARTSAVINGS i finally resigned myself to leaving a voicemail, guess what, the account was full. I immediately called my credit card company fraud department, they have closed my account and are issueing a new card and will credit me back for the charges. I would not have know the origin of this fraud if it was not for this complaint board and caution anyone ordering from HOTBOOKSALES.COM to beware.
 307 days ago by   ariel 0 Votes
I got scammed through https://www.discountbooksale.com
DISCOUNT BOOKS SALE . COM - i got an email telling me of these hidden fees from smartsavingscenter.com but neglected to read the whole service agreement - will dispute the $29.95 fee with my cc
 300 days ago by   Barbara 0 Votes
I also got scammed by DISCOUNTED BOOK SALE.COM.
After I orderd a book for $ 8.17, I was charged the $29.95
for a membership fee that I did not ask for.
When I CALLED to check why I WAS CHARGED; I was told that
I checked a box accepting the membership terms.

Never checked to accept anything! All I wanted to order a book.
This scams are the perfect examples of why the economy is in
the shape it is in! GREED!!!

SMART SAVINGSCENTER SHOULD BE INVESTAGATED
BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE.

Barbara
 299 days ago by   halley 0 Votes
Same issues as above. Ripoff site of discountbooksale.com. I supposedly got a cancellation number on the same day as I ordered the book. Considering the comments, I'm thinking that I should probably cancel the credit card. Linda
 286 days ago by   GMyrkle 0 Votes
I had the same problem. Am I at any risk by just not paying the bill. I gotta call credit card company on Monday.
 279 days ago by   Dieter Klarmann 0 Votes
charge of $ 1.00 Was assessed against my Credit Card I purchaed the secret of roan inish. But I did not agree to Pay a Dollar Fee for What. Remove this Dolloar now by giving me credit on my account which you had no right to do so without my Permission. I want an answer now by the end of the Day or I will report this scam to the Federal Trade Commission.
 279 days ago by   Dieter Klarmann 0 Votes
See my first Text I wrote you.
 279 days ago by   Dieter Klarmann 0 Votes
What is this now.
 279 days ago by   Dieter Klarmann 0 Votes
When is this going to stop refund my $ 1.00 that you illlegally took from my account Now
 275 days ago by   Koalabay52 0 Votes
I also ordered an old Disney movie - not on a dvd but got the tape for a Christmas present. I thought it was only $4.00 but when I got my Visa bill they not only charged me 4.00, but 29.95 and 1.00! I called them beginning of Jan and told them I did not click on membership. She said I would receive a refund. NOT! I tried calling them and their answering service said to call back after 8pm or before 8am next morning. I called back Jan 29 in the morning and they were to cancel membership. I just received my Visa bill and another $1.00 is there. I just called them again and they said call back in 30 minutes that their computer down. How convenient of them! I will call back and maybe write to Visa even if it is only 1.00 and have them refund me. But that is how this company makes millions. I think I will write to the BBB. I did this years ago and the company refunded me and they went bankrupt because of lying to the public.
 264 days ago by   SydZ 0 Votes
I too ordered a book for a Christmas gift from hotbooksales.com, , and even though I thought I was being careful by canceling my membership for both hotbooks and smartsavingscenter.com (which I had never actually signed up for) within the 7 days, I still kept getting these 1 dollar charges. I looked at the site and realized that I would be charged 29.95 if I didn't cancel right away, so I thought everything would be fine. It's now March 1st and I've had 4 of these dollar charges, well after I canceled the membership. I called the 1 800 number for smart savings and got the guy to cancel my membership again, and give me the conformation number...I asked him why I was still being charged and he said that after you cancel your membership you are automatically signed up for a 2nd one...what?!?! Ridiculous. So I hope it's settled now and I'll stop getting charged. I can't help with getting money refunded, but I will say make sure you cancel online and on the phone, and I even canceled online a second time. Jerks.
 142 days ago by   JYCN 0 Votes
I ordered a used book for my daughter from Amazon.com 2 weeks ago. The seller is called Bookstores from Texas. The book hasn't come yet and now I know why after reading this complaint board. At first, I didn't make the connection when we had four separate unauthorized $1 charges on our visa card bill last month. This evening my visa card company questioned me about the charge of $9.95 to smartsavings.com, I told them I have never heard of that and wondered how it got hold of my credit card number. Now I realize I have been scammed by the online bookstore.
 89 days ago by   tplan2112 0 Votes
Sam with me . Got me an overdraft charge that I had to negotiate with my bank. They got me fot three months before I noticed.
 61 days ago by   Robert Tedrick 0 Votes
I ordered a DVD on line in February of 2009 from HOt Video and the billing went through Smart Savings. Occasionally I saw a charge on my Discover card but thought my wife must be ordering videos for a ministry that she is involved in. Shame on me for not asking her if she was making the purchases and not scrutinizing my Discover bill more closely. It turns out Smart Savings has billed my Discover card for $153.68 since February. I orginally thought I ordered a movie for the cost of $7.93. I called the toll free number on my Discover card and found out it was Smart Savings. I spoke with a rep. on September 8 and was told he could cancel my membership but could not refund money. I told him to cancel immediately and that I had never applied for a membership and would like to know why they thought I had. I was told Corporate management would contact me within 5 days. They did not. I called them again on 9-21-09 and was transferred to a manager which flatly said I did join and they would not refund any amount of money. I told the manager there was not way I subscribed and he basically said I did even though I had just told him I never did. I am going to contact Discover again to see if there is anything they can do. I hope anybody thinking about doing businhess with Hot Videos or Smart Savings thinks twice before being scammed like apparently so many.
 17 days ago by   Marisol77 0 Votes
I order a book for 6.00 dollar on July. Then when I received my bank statement there was the charge. I called and they told me that was a membership.This representative told me that if I want to cancelled I could do it but without credit back. well I cancelled but they keep charging me. I called again they told me that was one membership but ours wasn't cancelled back on July. Oh my God this company it's really bad. Please shop with caution because the book I ordered it cost me more than a hundred with those hidden charges. I

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