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| Porn Users Forum » Auto Upselling - is it criminal ? I've Been Robbed ! |
| 1-17 of 17 Posts | Page 1 |
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| 07-17-09 01:06pm - 5637 days | Original Post - #1 | |
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OneMan (0)
Active User Posts: 29 Registered: Jan 12, '07 Location: Europe |
Auto Upselling - is it criminal ? I've Been Robbed ! I just joined Megasite.com and while inside the "safe" members area, I clicked on a link to see the DVD section....and it automatically "joined me up" to a different DVD site. I wasn't expressly asked, nor was I told that clicking on the link would sign me up. I was nota asked for my credit card details again, either. I was joined up to the downloadporn.com site and ironically, you can't even download stuff...streaming only ! I feel robbed, and that "thebestporn.com" should have a list of sites that use this spurious method to extort cash from you. I have never seen this before. I am aware of cross-selling.....at the time of registration, but thios is entirely differnet. "Safebilling" is the company that processes it, and the URL it goes to is www.safebilling.com/instant_upselling It is disgusting! Edited by Staff on Jul 17, 2009, 01:16pm (Khan: Direct URL Edited) | |
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| 07-17-09 01:48pm - 5637 days | #2 | |
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Drooler (0)
Disabled User  Posts: 1,831 Registered: Mar 11, '07 Location: USA |
That is disgusting. Mail a letter of complaint to your credit card company and dispute the charge. We've had a discussion here somewhere on PU about pre-checked cross sells, but this is even worse. Your credit card company should know about this. I wanted something new, so I left England for New England. | |
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| 07-17-09 02:09pm - 5637 days | #3 | |
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Rick (0)
Suspended  Posts: 401 Registered: Jan 05, '07 Location: Las Vegas, NV |
OneMan, I looked into this and wrote you an e-mail, please check your inbox. Thanks. The Best Porn - Ultimate Consumer Guide to Porn Porn Users - Porn Review by the People Ranks.com, Inc., Chief/Founder | |
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| 07-17-09 02:34pm - 5637 days | #4 | |
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Wittyguy (0)
Active User  Posts: 1,138 Registered: Feb 04, '08 Location: Left Coast, USA |
Sorry for your pain Oneman. Never heard of the automatic upselling gimmick before. Have to admit, I wouldn't bet on seeing much of it as it is unlawful and a sure way to piss off all your members. It's beend discussed before but the idea of having a "blacklist" of certain sites here at PU or TBP would be impractical. Websites change like the wind and it would be impossible for TBP to keep on the bad practices of websites. Relying info from PU members isn't always trustworthy either (I'm not implying that you or other PU members would make anything like this up but it relying on 2nd and 3rd info to blacklist a site wouldn't be smart). Legal liability on the part of PU/TBP is the biggest concern because if TBP blacklists a site and then the site removes the offending practice TBP could face a lawsuit for still having the site blacklisted. It could also be the case that the website blames the processing company for the unauthorized charges, claiming to the be innocent party that TBP is libelling. There is also the question of what the criteria are for blacklisting a site. You case would be a pretty clear blacklisting situation in my mind but what about less offensive problems. Overall, I think most of us have been burned by pornsites at least once. There will always be shadey operators in this biz and even the best of us will get burned on occasion. That's why we have PU to warn others and find out the backgrounds on sites we're interested in. Looking at it from the business operations perspective of TBP, I think it would be just too much of a headache and too many lawyer fees if they had a blacklist. I know that they choose to not list certain sites which is fine (your site might join that illustrious list soon I hope) but having them listed as a "no go" or blacklisted site probably won't work out. p.s. nice new tag line from Drooler | |
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| 07-17-09 02:58pm - 5637 days | #5 | |
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OneMan (0)
Active User Posts: 29 Registered: Jan 12, '07 Location: Europe |
IN ANSWER TO RICKS REPLY, I HAVE MADE AN AMMENDMENT TO MY ORIGINAL COMMENT AGAINST THE WEBSITE CONCERNED AND REPRODUCE IT BELOW: UPDATE: AFTER A CONVERSATION WITH A MEMBER OF THE www.THEBESTPORN.COM STAFF, I SHOULD ADD THAT THE LINK ACTUALLY SAID "CLICK FOR FULL ACCESS TO DVDS". RICK FEELS IT WAS CLEARLY AN INSTANT UPSELL. HOWEVER.....I have never seen this type of thing before....I was searching for the DVDs whic I believed on the strength of a user review, were free to access. What I found was a stealth charge, whereby my explicit, contractual consent - via a secure signup page - was not presented to me. Even it is legal, contractually it wasn't ! So, in terms of contract law, there was no clear, explicit offer and acceptance. Disgraceful. | |
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| 07-17-09 03:00pm - 5637 days | #6 | |
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OneMan (0)
Active User Posts: 29 Registered: Jan 12, '07 Location: Europe |
So I guess, the answer is to VERY careful, even when you are a member of a site......I have learned a lesson....but it is a shame that sites like this use these underhand methods in this day and age. But of course, my review of the site is yet to come..!..oh dear....I feel a dish best served cold...coming on ! You should not expect to have to be careful what you click on inside the members area...come on...am I being unreasonable here ? ! I dare not "explore" the site now. | |
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| 07-17-09 03:23pm - 5637 days | #7 | |
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mbaya (0)
Suspended  Posts: 891 Registered: Jul 07, '08 Location: new jersey |
I posted a long time ago that the same thing happend to me as a member of germangoogirls.com. I clicked on innocent links and was signed up for another site within the group. One link I clcked was labeled bonus sites and the other was hot sites. I will never again do business with any site run by John Thompson. I posted my very first comment to complain about this very type of problem regarding yet another site. There were prechecked sells that I did not see, then cancelled the sites. However, they signed me up for yet another site that I never had a chance to agree to as they never asked me. I quickly felt that PU was a helpful resource. | |
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| 07-17-09 04:58pm - 5637 days | #8 | |
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Rick (0)
Suspended Posts: 401 Registered: Jan 05, '07 Location: Las Vegas, NV |
A few updates: 1. I signed up myself to see exactly what they were doing. In the members area, there's a button called "DVDS" which opens an offer page, looking similar to a one page graphical ad. 2. I pulled a screen capture to illustrate what you see when clicking that link. Click here to view the offer page. 3. Clicking either "Click Here to get Full DVD Access" or "Click Here to Get Your Full DVD Access To Over 4,200 DVDS" will instantly sign you up to an additional site without any further verification (usually you'd see a billing page or submit button of some kind, on other sites). That then leads you to a confirmation page with your subscription id, etc. Based on my experiences with this web-site, I added a clear warning on the site facts of Mega Site Pass regarding this. It should help others be aware. I did think OneMan's description was a little vague, so I wanted to give you my point of view. The Best Porn - Ultimate Consumer Guide to Porn Porn Users - Porn Review by the People Ranks.com, Inc., Chief/Founder | |
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| 07-18-09 01:31am - 5636 days | #9 | |
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Drooler (0)
Disabled User Posts: 1,831 Registered: Mar 11, '07 Location: USA |
I have a question that might well be related to OneMan's "instant upsell" predicament. On the network that includes OnlyTease, they offer members to buy "fast tracks," which enable the user to get, ahead of the site posting schedule, access to photosets or vids that the user chooses. One can buy 10 fast tracks at a time. But how much are they? They don't say. So I haven't clicked the link to buy any, just in case there would be a double whammy of sticker shock and instant purchasing. Has anyone ever bought any and can say how much they were? I wanted something new, so I left England for New England. | |
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| 07-18-09 05:13am - 5636 days | #10 | |
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Jay G (0)
Disabled User  Posts: 96 Registered: Jan 12, '07 Location: USA |
While anybody can sue for anything, certainly, (Texas Beef Producers Vs. Opera, for example), there certainly doesn't seem to be any true legal grounds for suing a review site for "blacklisting." I don't see any legal grounds that Best Porn is forced to link to ANY site except sites it chooses. While slander is a legal argument, it is hard to use against someone using their free speech power to review something, and there definately is no implied right by any website to be linked to a review site. Jay G | |
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| 07-18-09 06:43am - 5636 days | #11 | |
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pat362 (0)
Active User  Posts: 3,575 Registered: Jan 23, '07 Location: canada |
Lets say for argument sake that a site does not have any legal rights to sue TBP or PU. It doesn't mean that it can't do it anyway. Regardless that the case is sure to get thrown out of court. It would still require the use of a lawyer or law firm to handle the case. Lawyers cost a lot of money. It's far better to safe and aaoid the possibility. This is a Country in which a women was awarded 4 million dollars because she spilled a Mcdonald coffee on herself while driving. The fact that you aren't allowed to eat while drving didn't sop this case from going to trial. Long live the Brown Coats. | |
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| 07-18-09 01:15pm - 5636 days | #12 | |
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Drooler (0)
Disabled User Posts: 1,831 Registered: Mar 11, '07 Location: USA |
Actually, the woman wasn't driving; her son was. As he was parking, the woman, who had the coffee cup between her legs, spilled coffee on her lap and later said that she got third degree burns from it. As for the settlement, I thought that the case was finally settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. I agree that it's a bit much to sue for something like that. Now we're all reminded every time we get coffee at a shop; the cup has a warning printed on it. I wanted something new, so I left England for New England. | |
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| 07-18-09 02:04pm - 5636 days | #13 | |
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mbaya (0)
Suspended Posts: 891 Registered: Jul 07, '08 Location: new jersey |
The coffee was served at at least 190 degrees and this was not the first time that this happend at McDonalds. They settled out of court for at least 700 other cases. Also, the woman suffered permanent damage to her genitals. The case was not as clear cut as has been portrayed in the press. There are those who think that "frivolous" lawsuits are jamming up the courts. If that had been you, I don't think you would have thought it frivolous. Check out http://www.vanfirm.com/mcdonalds-coffee-lawsuit.htm. There are many other stories on the web that give the truth. Edited on Jul 18, 2009, 02:25pm | |
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| 07-20-09 07:40pm - 5633 days | #14 | |
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pat362 (0)
Active User Posts: 3,575 Registered: Jan 23, '07 Location: canada |
Here's my problem with this. Even if this woman was a first time customer at this McDonald and had never bought a coffee so was unaware that the coffee was hotter than another restaurant. The fact remains that she ordered a hot coffee. Last I checked that means that the fresher it is. The closer it is to the boiling point. Why should McDonald be responsible for her burning herself anymore then if I buy a McDonald coffeee walk outside and throw it in the face of someone else. Does that mean that the person I have just burned with my coffee can sue McDonald because the coffee was too hot. If I bought a coffee and while riding in a car the driver did a quick maneuver that caused the coffee to spill on me then the only person I would blame is myself. Just on a side note I once had a co-worker in a restaurant bump into me while I was holding about 6 cups of steaming coffee. The result was a water blister the size of a softball on my right thigh. I survived with no long term issue. In my opinion this McDonald coffee suit was without a doubt frivolous and should never have gone to trial. Long live the Brown Coats. | |
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| 07-21-09 07:11am - 5633 days | #15 | |
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mbaya (0)
Suspended Posts: 891 Registered: Jul 07, '08 Location: new jersey |
The issue was decided that the woman was 20% responsible for the outcome as she did spill the coffee. The other 80% was due to the fact that McDonalds settled out of court on over 700 similar cases. They would not have done that if they did not feel that they had to. They established a consistent pattern of owning up to selling a defective product. The woman originally wanted to settle out of court for just her medical expenses, but got a sarcastic letter from the company. The jury found all of this compelling enough to find in her favor. Selling a defective product has been a winning argument in many court cases. Why did tobacco companies pay so much? Edited on Jul 21, 2009, 07:26am | |
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| 07-21-09 03:50pm - 5633 days | #16 | |
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kkman112 (0)
Active User Posts: 56 Registered: Mar 31, '07 Location: United States |
If you look at their main site: https://www.safebilling.com/ It reads (as of this posting):
So clearly the billing company sees the issue, but insead of helping their customers they are crying foul because a lot of them see upselling through their clients as an issue. They are trying to push through that their customers are commiting fraud on them for marking these illicit billing practices as fraud? I will NEVER join any site using this billing processor. I suggest the same to anyone. I feel your pain OneMan. Hope it gets resolved soon. | |
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| 07-21-09 05:16pm - 5633 days | #17 | |
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Drooler (0)
Disabled User Posts: 1,831 Registered: Mar 11, '07 Location: USA |
"and may be unable to be used for any internet purchases." Wow. Who wrote this little gem? Talk about tortured syntax! How about "and may become unusable for any internet purchases"? Wasn't so hard! I wanted something new, so I left England for New England. | |
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