Thanks Mark!
Becky, did I misunderstand about your charge? Was yours also reoccurring?
Brad
On 3/13/15 10:43 AM, Becky Yoose wrote:
Thank you, Mark.
On Fri, Mar 13, 2015 at 10:41 AM, Mark A. Matienzo <mark.matie...@gmail.com>
wrote:
Becky, Brad,
I passed on links to this thread to Louisa Kwasigroch at DLF, who may be
able to let you know if any other registered attendees had this issue.
Cheers,
Mark
--
Mark A. Matienzo <m...@matienzo.org>
Director of Technology, Digital Public Library of America
On Fri, Mar 13, 2015 at 11:26 AM, Becky Yoose <b.yo...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Brad,
If there was an option for an annual subscription for ACTIVE as part of
the
registration process, I'm wondering why this wasn't brought up during the
registration period. What you are describing would have been suspicious
to
anyone signing up for the conference.
If I remember correctly, DLF was the one who handled the fiances for
2013,
so if someone from DLF is on the list, can they doublecheck to see if
there
was anything like Brad described below?
Thanks,
Becky
On Fri, Mar 13, 2015 at 10:17 AM, Brad Busenius <bbusen...@uchicago.edu>
wrote:
They are separate charges. WithdrawalACT*Council is probably the charge
for the conference. I probably have that one too. The Active charge
came
later as an annual subscription. They used the conference registration
as a
way to trick people into opting in to their unrelated service. I assume
most people noticed this and opted out. I did not notice and therefore
did
not opt out. That's what I think happened, anyhow. I am looking for
confirmation on this. I've had to piece things together.
Brad
On 3/12/15 7:48 PM, Becky Yoose wrote:
A follow-up - the charge name that is listed on my statement for 2013
registration is WithdrawalACT*Council on Library which is different
than
what you have listed in your statement. :-(
Thanks,
Becky
Sent from the ball and chain
On Mar 12, 2015 7:22 PM, "Becky Yoose" <b.yo...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello Brad,
I'm sorry to hear about the suspicious charges! Per your request, I
checked the history of the the account I used to pay for 2013 and did
not
find a reoccurring charge like the one you described. I wonder what
happened with your account...
Thanks,
Becky
Sent from the ball and chain
On Mar 12, 2015 7:09 PM, "Brad Busenius" <bbusen...@uchicago.edu>
wrote:
Hi everybody,
I hope this is the right place to inquire about this. I have some
information about a possible problem with the company handling
registration
for code4lib. I recently noticed a suspicious charge on my credit
card
for
the amount of $64.95. The charge showed up as ACT*ACTIVE-NETWORK.
After
some investigation I found out this was from a company called ACTIVE
Network, LLC. Apparently this company handles registration for
events.
To my dismay I found out that I had been charged for this annually
since
2013. I'm very embarrassed that 1. I didn't notice this during the
registration process and 2. I didn't catch the charges earlier.
Anyhow,
after a quick email search I found something surprising; I had
received
emails from this company at my /work/ email address. I never noticed
the
emails because they looked like junkmail, however, upon reviewing
them I
discovered that at some point I had supposedly registered for a free
trial
that ended after a month, at which point I was automatically
enrolled
into
an annual subscription. Needless to say, I//did /not/ ever sign up
for
any
trial or subscription, at least not to my knowledge.
Since I have only used my personal credit card for work purposes 3
times,
it was easy to tie this to code4lib 2013. I looked at my receipt for
code4lib 2013 and saw that something called RegOnline (owned by
Lanyon
Solutions Inc) was used to process my event registration. Though I'm
not
sure this is the same company, RegOnline, Lanyon Solutions Inc, and
ACTIVE
Network, LLC all share the same physical address. I suspect these
three
companies are one and the same and will refer to them as ACTIVE
Network,
LLC for the rest of this email.
I did a little investigating and found out that ACTIVE Network, LLC.
uses
unscrupulous business practices to trick people into singing up for
their
annual subscription. The crux of this is an "automatic opt-in" they
employ
while processing enrollments for third parties. Though I'm very
embarrassed
I didn't catch this, in my own defense I wasn't expecting it while
registering for an academic conference. I'm not blaming anyone nor
am
I
angry with anyone on this list. I only send this email to inquire
and
inform:
1. To see if anyone else has had a similar experience.
2. To warn other people from code4lib to check their bank
statements.
3. To plead with the community to stop using ACTIVE Network, LLC and
anything affiliated with them for registration.
Let me be frank for a moment. ACTIVE Network, LLC engages in highly
unethical business practices. I did not intend to enroll in any
annual
subscriptions when I registered for code4lib and I never would have
agreed
to anything of the sort had I noticed what was happening.
Additionally,
the
subscription isn't at all relevant to code4lib. I'm not even sure
what
value is being provided by the subscription. I think it has
something
to do
with coupons for outdoor exercise equipment but I'm not even sure.
Also,
these guys are bad. They lost class action lawsuits in Iowa and
Vermont. In
fact, this whole thing is just bad all around. Since noticing the
fraudulent charges this morning, I've already disputed them with my
bank
and filed a formal complaint against ACTIVE Network, LLC with the
better
business bureau. Apparently I'm not the only one:
1. http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/bodywork/the-fit-list/
Active-Network-Consumer-Complaints.html
2.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/active-network-san-diego?sort_by=date_desc
3. http://legalnewsline.com/news/253622-active-network-will-
pay-160k-to-consumers-after-action-by-vermont-ag
4. https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Iowa%20ACTIVE%
20Network%2C%20LLC#hl=en&q=Active+Network+scam
I apologize if I've made an error in my investigation or if I've
done
something inappropriate by emailing this list. I can't imagine that
anyone
would have intended anything like this but I thought you should all
be
aware.
Sincerely,
Brad Busenius
Web Administrator
The University of Chicago Library
(773) 702-4391
