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Value Max review: Unauthorized charges to my checking account 127

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Author of the review
12:00 am EDT
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A company named Value Max, which is supposedly some kind of savings service for all kinds of different services, has taken $19.95 out of my checking account. Which also caused me $35.00 in insufficient funds fees and a bank service charge of $10.00 - a total of $64.95. Has anybody heard of this company? I want my money back immediately! How do I go about getting my money back?

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127 comments
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Sons of Anarchy
Cambridge, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

In 1989, Gary Johnson, a former CUC vice president founded Cardmember Publishing Company. In 1996, the companies shares began to be publicly traded under the name MemberWorks. In 2004, MemberWorks changed its name to VERTRUE. Three years later, in 2007, VERTRUE was de-listed and sold for approximately $800 million to a group of private equity investors led by One Equity Partners, the private equity arm of J.P. Morgan. Vertrue currently markets club memberships (including VALUEMAX) under the auspices of its subsidiary Adaptive Marketing, LLC.

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Sons of Anarchy
Cambridge, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

More than 450 e-commerce websites and retailers (such as Intelius) have partnered with Affinion, VERTRUE, and Webloyalty (all based in CT) to employ aggressive sales tactics against their online customers. Of the $1, 4 billion in total revenue earned through using these tactics, $792 million of this total was earned by Affinion, VERTRUE, and Webloyalty's e-commerce partners. Thousands of customers have contacted the companies using words like "fraud, tricked, deceptive, misleading, scam, deceitful, dishonest, betrayed, and robbed" to describe their experiences. In discussing methods for reducing the cost associated with the call centers, VERTRUE employees estimated that it received "7 million customer calls per year" and that "cancellation calls represent approximately 98% of call volume."

United States Senate, Committee On Commerce, Science, and Transportation Office of Oversight and Investigations Majority Staff, "Aggressive Sales Tactics On The Internet and Their Impact On American Consumers", Staff Report for Chairman Rockefeller NOVEMBER 16, 2009

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Sons of Anarchy
Cambridge, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

Intelius, one of the companies contacted by the Senate committee, recently revealed in documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it is under investigation by the Washington Attorney General's Office. Intelius has a partnership with Adaptive Marketing, a subsidiary of Vertrue Inc.

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Sons of Anarchy
Cambridge, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

Intelius, Inc.
500 108th Ave, NE
25th floor
Bellevue, WA 98004
Business: [protected]
Customer Service: [protected]'

VERY IMPORTANT TO CHECK OUT: WA Office of the Attorney General @ www.atg.wa.gov
11/18/09: Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna testifies to Congress about deceptive online marketing tactics McKenna’s five-page statement describes how certain marketing methods have been purposefully used to deceive consumers into paying monthly membership fees for services they didn’t want. also in the same press release dated 11/18/09, "McKenna’s concerns parallel those expressed by the committee in a new 35-page investigative report, "Aggressive Sales Tactics on the Internet and Their Impact on American Consumers.” The report charges that Web companies including Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty and their affiliates have earned more than $1.4 billion in the last decade by duping consumers."

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Sons of Anarchy
Cambridge, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

ValueMax is offered by Adaptive Marketing LLC which is a subsidiary of the parent company, Vertrue Inc., both of which are located at 20 Glover Avenue, Norwalk, CT. and share the same telephone number: [protected], according to the S.E.C filings. The corporation is registered in Delaware, MD. The principal executive offices are in Norwark, CT. Gary A. Johnson is the Chief Executive Officer and Director; George W.M. Thomas is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel.

Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center 600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20580 www.ftc.gov [protected]. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace

CT Office of the Attorney General @ 55 Elm Street, Hartford, CT [protected]
CT Department of Consumer Protection, www.ct.gov/dcp [protected]
CT Department of Banking, [protected], 260 Constitution Plaza, hartford, CT [protected]

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Intelius_Customer_Support
Bellevue, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

It sounds like you have accepted a third party company’s offer that is advertised on the Intelius website. If you no longer wish to be enrolled in that third party company’s service, please call [protected] Monday – Friday 4:30am – 9:00pm PST. We will be more than happy to assist you.

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gk28
Atlanta, US
Oct 28, 2009 9:53 am EDT

First, dispute all charges. Credit Card charges can be disputed up to 1 year after the charge, so cancel each and every charge to your card.

Second, call the numbers that show up on your account. To maintain some air of legitimacy, they maintain a semi-attentive customer service line for cancellations.

Third, write the FTC (https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/), complain to the Better Business Bureau, and write your State Government about Value Max. Their practices are all typical of a fradulent business:

- they make no effort to inform the user of the services they are purchasing. After an initial email, there is no further communication to the client
- entering the contract is masked under the guise of saving money on a person search on Intellius, which is equally culpable
- there is no publicly accessible information on what services Value Max provides. Their website is entirely behind a registration wall with no available customer service line declared on the site. valuemax123.com
- there is an established trend of victim customers who had no intention of purchasing the services of Value Max.

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Heidi Kuhnke
Delavan, US
Oct 26, 2009 12:30 pm EDT

I just noticed this charge and looked back on my last 5 statements and saw the exact same charge. They claim you enroll through Intelius so Intelius must submit all your info to them. I think its pretty crappy so I'm cancelling my membership with Intelius. When I spoke to Valuemax they will reverse the charges. I will be waiting to make sure that they reverse ALL charges. I can't believe that they are allowed to do this! I will be definitely be checking my statements much more carefully!

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NTR
, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

I work for this company. What I notice happens is that you give your information to classmates, Restaurants.com or Intellius and your information is transferred over to our company, and then we say you joined or you join youself and the company instantly charges you for two memberships. It suprising to see my co-workers believing this is real and not a scam. Word of advice: when you call in, do not get mad at the customer service person, they did do this to you, in order to get your refund or cancellation treat them with respect or else.

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lidziej
Lampasas, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

I was charged 24.95 twice. I called the number on my bank statement [protected]. When I said I did not know who they were and never signed up, the girl did not seemed surprised at all. She asked "how do you want to handle this?". I told her to cancel it and I want my money back. Was told they could only refund the most recent charge - will appear in 3-5 days. I had never heard of them - but I had used Intellius. I had used my bank card - I will stick to credit cards for on-line purchases from now on.

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red6969
Eglin AFB, US
Oct 07, 2009 9:28 pm EDT

I am so glad I am not the only one this has happen to. This program stole $24.95 out of my account without my permission. I am HIGHLY upset with this scam and the BBB WILL know about this ###, I promise you. I am thankful that I got my money back plus the negative balance that it left in my account, it took them 2 days to refund me but they did it 4 me anyway.

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Linscomb
Roca, US
Oct 07, 2009 12:20 pm EDT

I just had the same exact thing happen to me. Intelius and valuemax must be related in a scam. I am so mad at these people.

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gayleinaz
Gilbert, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

I got hit since February 2009. If they don't give me back my money, I plan to file a lawsuit. If anyone is interested in joining a class action suit, post back on this thread.

They've charged me about $180.00 so far!

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Mattdcarruth
Sulligent, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

[protected] I found a charge last night in the amount of $99.75 to my debit card account. When I check this morning into what it was I found out it was a company called Value Max. My online statement gave the 888 number, and I got my account number from them. I logged on there web site and found that I had a account there.
I had never heard of this company!
From some online searches I found out of the scam where they piggy backed with intelus, which I used this past February for a phone number search. I have reported them to my card company, and send intelus and value max an email.
Has anyone received an refund from them.
I will call the in the morning when they open again and see what can be accomplished.

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POd in Indiana
, US
Sep 08, 2009 9:25 am EDT

I was balancing my checkbook this morning & noticed a $24.95 fee from Valuemax. I called this number not knowing what that company even was. This is rediculous. They said I agreed to join. I most certainly did not. Funny how I didn't even know what it was! Thank god the bank puts phone numbers next to charges. They did agree willingly to refund my money, we'll see if they actually do it. If not, they will have one irate woman calling them again & I will not be nice about it. This is fraud & something should be done about them!

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fullofcomplaints
Phoenix, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

Thank goodness for this blog, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to figure out why I was charged by ValueMax. I too did some research on intelulis just a month ago and saw this charge. I just called ValueMax and they said they would refund my money in two days and cancel the membership and that I won't be charged anymore. I sure hope so! Thanks again to everyone's input on this blog.

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stevobevo
slc, US
Aug 12, 2009 7:39 pm EDT

I got ripped off by these people at valuemax and intelius. Watch out for what intelius does without your approval. I thought intelius was a legitimate site, but they're not. Watch out for value max and intelius! Dirt bags.

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firefly67
, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

Intellis is bascially a scam website and needs to be shut down by the FCC. They are conducting illegal and unauthorized credit card charges on anyone that signs up for their services. They are a info service and it's not worth it signing up with them no matter what info you need. They also have another side scam company called www.Valuemax123.com that will also conduct illegal unauthorized debit card charges on top of Intellis . They will charge you $19.95 or more every month of unauthorized debit charges. DO NOT SIGN UP OR GIVE YOUR CC # WITH THESE PEOPLE YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Contact the FCC or BBB to make sure these people are shut down immediately. Enough complaints and these folks will be shut down and sent to hard time in prison!

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EduB
Kent, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

Likewise, I join the string of complaints here against this "VALMAX" company that is CLEARLY using the pop-up mechanism to fraudulently charge consumers for a membership that was never approved. I called Citicards yesterday to advise them of the two unauthorized charges and what a shock! while I was still on the phone with Citicards, the rep received a confirmation that BOTH charges (one from Valmax and another from IDProtect Monitor Service) received an immediate credit confirmation via email from these companies. This morning, I noticed online that in my charges that have not yet been billed BOTH companies AGAIN have charged the same $19.95 amounts in the coming month - so, apparently, this is to be a MONTHLY occurrence! What fraud! The worst part of this is that although I never authorized either of these memberships, the responsibility is now on me to call and cancel these memberships directly with these clearly shady companies ... only in America!

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Jones89
, US
Aug 01, 2009 10:29 pm EDT

I think after I get my money back that I'm going to just cancell my credit card and order another one so they won't charge me again.And wait until I get on the phone with them tommorow morning.If I don't get my money back within the next 24 hours I am going to threaten them.

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Jones89
, US
Aug 01, 2009 10:23 pm EDT

Yeah Intelius is such a rip off.I agreed to the $15 dollar charge, but then I was charged 19.95 for identity protect.I called them and they said that the charge was pending.Which is true and that after it goes through they will put the money back in my account.So I checked my bank statement today and I found another charge for 24.95.I just tried to call them but their cust service is closed.However, I will definetly be calling them back tommorow morning because they owe me 45 bucks.Also I never did find who I was looking for on their site.And I couldn't find myself either.

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Elvester
Knoxville, US
Jul 27, 2009 1:40 pm EDT

These blood sucking, deceptive ### are the WORST!..My story is the same as most of yours, ..I used Intellius for a ONE-TIME (or so I thought) reverse cell phone lookup, ..and due to their sneakily designed website -inadvertently signed up for this "Value Max" service BS. I called Intellius raising mortal hell -and the guy refunded the charge and said I would be removed from the service.
Then, while checking my online bank acct. balance for this month, I see the 24.95$ charge to ValueMax -again!..I sent emails to both Intellius and Valuemax..and received an email from ValueMax saying they would unsign me yet again but nothing was said of a refund. I decided that's it - I logged a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, ..and I went to my bank and I'm being issued a new bank card #, ..and my bank is also going to file a dispute claim against the charge to ValueMax.
These two companies are no better than Nazis as far as I'm concerned - Do yourself a favor and NEVER, under ANY circumstances get involved with Intellius, EVER. I hope their headquarters gets wiped out in an earthquake...rotten, conniving ###.

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Mavrik
, US
Jul 22, 2009 12:18 pm EDT

I was also scammed by Intelius thru Valmax and another company Twenty4protectproplus, look out for this charge also. It has been being debited from my account now for 6 months and I knew nothing about it because I have been deployed to Afghanistan. I called and the representative informed me that both of these fraudulent companies collected through the same interest...they did say i would be getting a full refund after i threatened them with the judge advocate general. Its time to put a stop to these companies with a class action suit.

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Susanw004
Rancho Cucamonga, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

This happened to me today. I had been on disability for the last 5 months, with ZERO money in my account, I get my first paycheck (finally got back to work) today and they had deducted $59.85 out of my account. I called immediately as the number was provided along with the debit amount on my statement. I spoke to a supervisor and she stated she canceled my account and my money would be debited back into my account within 3 days. The number I called is [protected]. I also checked the BBB, and both Intelius, who I did use for a $1.95 search ONE time back in April, and Valuemax both have F ratings. I filed complaints against both companies, however I doubt it will do much good. I strongly advise against using Intelius for any reason. Good luck!

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John D M
Midd, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

Just like the other complaints, I found two charges on my credit card bill for $24.95 each, two days apart. It had a toll free number with it so I called, the guy obviously got dozens of calls like mine per day - he sounded as if he was reading from a script. Like the other people, he agreed to cancel the first charge with little effort - after i pressed and demanded I talked to someone else, he transferred me to a manager that sounded just a excited to talk to me as the first one. Again, after just a little effort he agreed to reimburse both charges to my credit card. I too did a reverse phone search online and they claim there was a "big ole" (as he put it) disclaimer that I had to click or it wouldn't advance to the next screen. Look folks, I work at a bank, I am trained to watch the fine print on legal documents - it wasn't big, that's for darned sure. This is a scam, no other way about it.

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lannb
Madison, US
Jul 03, 2009 7:49 pm EDT

Today I discovered $24.95 had been subtracted from my account. Not knowing what it was for I went to my credit union and they called the number to find out what Value Max was. To get someone on the phone, CU representative who was helping me, had to keep hitting "0" someone finally answered. After talking to the woman, who answered the phone, my credit union representative gave me the phone. I found out that I supposedly clicked on an email, I never received. Further into the conversation, she told me that I clicked on an ad, while I was on Intelius, which is a crock of crap. Yes, I was looking for a friends home's address and I used Intelius. No, I never clicked on an ad for ValueMax. This is a huge scam - Do Not Use Intelius! Supposedly, Value Max is refunding my money and cancelling my subscription. I was suppose to get an email with all the information, which I have yet to receive. First thing Monday morning I am calling my credit union back and telling them to issue me a new card.

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heather P
Hampton, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

I too used intellius! This is bull crap! I am calling them on monday to get my money back! Can i get my money back? this is so not cool!

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stillphil1
Adams, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

i just looked at my statement tonight and found 2 charges to my account from value max but my statement listed a toll free # to them i called them to have this cancelled the first person said they could only refund the most recent charge so i demanded to speak with a supervisor the supervisor said they would refund all charges and i will see them refunded to my account in 3 to 5 days so lets see what happens i will let you know... the # is [protected] they are located in conneticut...my e-mail is stillphil1@yahoo.com

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Clayton
Traverse City, US
Jun 16, 2009 4:06 pm EDT

I used Intelius also, and had the same thing happen! I did some research and sent them a message through the official valuemax web site, demanding a refund. I also made the point that I had no idea how they got a hold of my information, but I noticed they were in partnership with Intelius. I mentioned that they should be careful charging people when they don't know who they are or what services they even offer! I waited 2 days with got no responce.

Today I called and the guy on the phone was obviously used to calls like this. I said "hello, I contacted your company on the internet and I wanted to make sure you were refunding me the $40 that you took from my account without my permission". He transferred me to his boss who at first said "hello. (then verified my identity), I have refunded your $40. Here is your confirmaion number. Thank you for using Value Max". There was no argument, and at this point I had only been on the phone for a couple minutes. I responded with "thank you. What is Value Max even, and how did you get my information?". He paused and then said "we work with varous companies to off you discounts on things from health insurance to mall certificates". I asked him if my information may have been sold from Intellius, and if I would have my money taken from me again. He responded with "sir, I can't tell you that. I will tell you whether or not you have anything else pending in our computer". He did, and there wasn't. That was the end of it.

I'm really hoping I don't get ripped off again fom this! I only use my checking to pay bills, so there is a good chance it would screw up my credit and bill payments.

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Marta
Fayetteville, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

OH MY GOD, i just went into my bank account and notice a $19.95 charge from Value Max, I usually don't bother to see my statements, since I hardly purchase anything. I looked for more dates, and they had another charge last month. I too went into Intellius, and gave my credit card for a search of $1.95 - I will reporting this today to the Better Business Bureau, and will try to get this on the news, since I work for a National TV NETWORK.

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Duane Cadotte
Candler, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

I have received a full refund from Value max

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needmymoney87
Apopka, US
May 22, 2009 12:21 pm EDT

how do we shut these people down

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needmymoney87
Apopka, US
May 22, 2009 12:20 pm EDT

i so agree i went through intelius then bam next thing i see a charge from valuemax i called and said who r u guys they told me i told them i did not make this transaction they said we apologize we will credit u your 19.95 i said great now because of you guys transaction my bank charged me 30.00 they transferred me a guy came on said we apologize all u need to do is fax statement showing the charge i said ok did it they said it will take 21-30 days still waiting i called to check and the seem not to know anything about my fax and said i should receive a letter...how do we shut this companyDOWN!

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kyle
westpiont, US
May 19, 2009 8:34 am EDT

I used the intellus, waited a week, did not get any information I requested! Intellus did not charge me any money because they couldn't provide any information. Now, I get ripped off from a company ValueMax? I have not got anything from these people and they have be taking my money! These people are scam artist! Hey, lets make a catchy name and ripe people off. It's the greatest thing all we need is peoples credit card number and a line of b.s. like click hear to navigate from this page. Intellus, hha, they are worthless! I bet through paper trails their owned by the same crook!

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William Lepkowski
Westlake, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

I too used Intellius for an unlisted phone number. I didnot accept any offer from Valuemax, and suddenly a letter came in the mail advising that my credit card would be charged $19.95 even though I hadnot authorized the billing. I called Valuemax, complained and they indicated they would cancel my "membership".

Katlin 640@aol.com

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Ray
Bloomington, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

Same issues with Value Max. These people are scammers. I filled reports with Better Business Bureau;Attorney General in IL.They ar sneaky to say the least.

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roxanna vanderhorst
New York Mills, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

I am also a victim of VALUE MAX, no once but twice, this has been charged on my bank atm card, I only use this card for an emergency. I do not pay attention to the bank statement until this month, I have tried to no avail to get in contact with this company. I began to looked at my previous bank statement, there it was a charge for $19.95. I did not get any help from my bank. Can we get together and ask a tv station such as dateline to help us.

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Lane
Elmira, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

Same thing happened to me a week ago, I went to use my card, but the credit company was already aware of it. The security had hot boxed my card for me, without my knowledge, I am thankful they did. Went to my bank and thankfully got the transactions halted before they could go through. They card was canceled, and I am getting a new one.

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cherry
bklyn, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:25 am EDT

I too became a victim of the scam.. i could'nt figure where those inauthorized charges was coming from and when i finally called my credit card company, they told me it was a company called Value Max that was charging me for something i was unware of.. I immedialtely called the company and canceled.. I also let them know i didnt i agree to any of thse charges.

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Daniel-san
, US
May 06, 2009 2:01 pm EDT

19.95 SCAM

I am the latest on the apparently long list of people this scam was pulled on. What a-holes. How this is allowed to continue is beyond me. I called my credit cArd immediately to dispute the charge after reading this web page. Its pretty sad how some people/merchants exist to unscrupulously take advantage of others. This is what I get for giving them my business?!

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