$9 Worth Of Social Change
As those that trouble to take a passing glance at The Midlothian Campaign know, I recently had a dispute with Gamefly about whether their practice of giving away my financial information to third parties is an appropriate "privacy policy."
I apologize up front for the length of this post, but as you will see if you read it, I believe it is an important topic. I believe it has to do with the future of the direction of the internet. Some think it is just about $9, but I think it is more than that.
After having gotten the impression that I had received my final brush-off from Gamefly, this evening, I was treated to the pleasure of both an email and a telephone call from Gamefly, saying they would like to "establish a dialogue" with me, so that we can "resolve this matter to [my] satisfaction." It seems they were contacted by the ESRB (the place that "certifies" Gamefly's "privacy policy") about the complaint that I made to ESRB. Mr. Rosen's email assured me that they take these matters "very seriously." So, I replied as follows.
Mr. Rosen,
Gamefly would like to establish a dialogue with me? I'm sorry, I was under the impression that Gamefly had resolved this matter to ITS satisfaction.
I quote:
"Thank you for the feedback. Again, we suggest that you contact Reservation Rewards/Web Loyalty about any future question having to do this situation."
Nonetheless, just in case you are not familiar with my previous dialogue with Gamefly, I have pasted the complete history below. [That history is omitted here, as many that have gotten this far will be glad to know. If you just have to know, visit The Midlothian Campaign.]
Also, because you are so kind as to indicate renewed interest, I will summarize for you what I consider to be "the bottom line."
1. I gave Gamefly my personal banking information for the purpose of making a purchase from Gamefly.
2. Gamefly, without my authorization, gave this information to a third party, who started making automatic debits from my bank account--also without my authorization.
3. My son, using the Gamefly account I established, clicked on a link that he tells me appeared to offer a $10 coupon for Gamefly. According to him, he was given the impression that it was "totally free" and you didn't have to do anything else. When I questioned him about it, he did say that he remembered "something like that" referring to "reservation rewards."
4. I did contact WLI Reservation Rewards, and they gave me the same story that Gamefly did: I "or someone in my household" authorized this transaction. Neither I nor my son "authorized" this transaction. My son could not have "authorized this transaction" because he and I presently have separate addresses and he has no idea what bank I am with, much less my banking information.
5. I have been a practicing civil litigation attorney in Illinois for the past 8 years, and I understand very well the distinction WLI and Gamefly are trying to make--that somehow by merely clicking on this link my son authorized Gamefly to give WLI my banking information for the purpose of continuing to make debits from my account after a "trial period" of WLI's "services" had expired, unless I--"or someone in my household," presumably--chose to cancel this "service."
6. As I have reiterated to Gamefly, I frankly have no idea whether this practice is technically within the limits of the law. And I don't care.
7. I complained to ESRB because they claim to "certify" Gamefly's "privacy policy" that claims that Gamefly is "committed to protecting the personal information collected about you," and I do not believe this practice of Gamefly's that they have established with WLI comports with that stated policy. I guess that is for Gamefly and ESRB to decide, but I am genuinely concerned about this practice, because you know as well as I do that a great many parents establish these accounts to be used by their children--and it seems to me that this practice is subject to rampant abuse.
And, I might add, if you go to ESRB's site, you will find they claim to "help parents and other consumers." I can tell you, their "certification" of your "privacy" policy did not help THIS parent and consumer. When I signed up with Gamefly, I certainly had no indication that this sort of thing was accepted practice by Gamefly.
8. WLI did reverse the $9 charge. However, I continue to have a sincere concern about this practice, and that is why I made my complaint. I do not care about the $9. I care about people being unwittingly deceived.
9. I originally contacted Gamefly, not with the intent of making complaints to the ESRB, or elsewhere (which I have), but because I was genuinely concerned about this situation and did not know if Gamefly was aware of how this situation was working out in practice, and I believed Gamefly should be aware of it. And, as you can see from the "dialogue" below, I got the "brush-off" from Gamefly, and the slap in the face, by Gamefly giving me the same line of b.s. that WLI did.
So, please don't insult me with your fine distinctions about how my son should have gotten an email and should have known to cancel this "service" with WLI. It is not only my son that has been deceived by this practice, and this does not involve Gamefly alone. This involves many people across the country and many internet companies, and that is why I feel concerned.
If you are truly concerned, try googling "WLI Reservation Rewards."
Or, follow these links, among many others:
http://adam.rosi-kessel.org/weblog/the_man/webloyalty_aka_wli_reservations_is_a_scam.html
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff119840.htm
http://www.complaints.com/directory/2004/september/20/54.htm
http://www.ahoyhoy.org/wordpress/index.php?p=577
http://www.wiphey.com/?p=13&cp=32
So, the "bottom line" is, you cannot "resolve" this matter to my satisfaction, except by ceasing your association with this ripoff scam. I got my $9 back--which I didn't particularly care about in the first place. So I doubt there is anything you can do to resolve this to "my" satisfaction. You can tell me over and over until you're blue in the face that this is somehow my fault and/or my son's fault. If that is Gamefly's position, as I have mentioned before, there is really nothing I can do about that. And, as they say, we will have to agree to disagree.
I just thought Gamefly might like to be known as an honest and above-board sort of company. If you choose to run your business otherwise, that is your concern. But don't expect me to like it, and don't expect me not to warn others. And don't expect me to be a return customer, when I know that my children--or even me, for that matter--could unwittingly "authorize" Gamefly to disseminate my personal banking information to third parties.
I am not an idiot, and I presume that you are not either. We both know how sensative private, personal financial information is, and the concerns that surround protecting this information with the proliferation of online shopping and services. So once again, I don't know and I don't really care if this practice is technically within the limits of the law. I only alerted Gamefly and ESRB because I do not think this is an above-board type of practice that should continue, or that is consistent with a "commitment" by Gamefly to protect my personal information.
Thank you for your concern.
I apologize up front for the length of this post, but as you will see if you read it, I believe it is an important topic. I believe it has to do with the future of the direction of the internet. Some think it is just about $9, but I think it is more than that.
After having gotten the impression that I had received my final brush-off from Gamefly, this evening, I was treated to the pleasure of both an email and a telephone call from Gamefly, saying they would like to "establish a dialogue" with me, so that we can "resolve this matter to [my] satisfaction." It seems they were contacted by the ESRB (the place that "certifies" Gamefly's "privacy policy") about the complaint that I made to ESRB. Mr. Rosen's email assured me that they take these matters "very seriously." So, I replied as follows.
Mr. Rosen,
Gamefly would like to establish a dialogue with me? I'm sorry, I was under the impression that Gamefly had resolved this matter to ITS satisfaction.
I quote:
"Thank you for the feedback. Again, we suggest that you contact Reservation Rewards/Web Loyalty about any future question having to do this situation."
Nonetheless, just in case you are not familiar with my previous dialogue with Gamefly, I have pasted the complete history below. [That history is omitted here, as many that have gotten this far will be glad to know. If you just have to know, visit The Midlothian Campaign.]
Also, because you are so kind as to indicate renewed interest, I will summarize for you what I consider to be "the bottom line."
1. I gave Gamefly my personal banking information for the purpose of making a purchase from Gamefly.
2. Gamefly, without my authorization, gave this information to a third party, who started making automatic debits from my bank account--also without my authorization.
3. My son, using the Gamefly account I established, clicked on a link that he tells me appeared to offer a $10 coupon for Gamefly. According to him, he was given the impression that it was "totally free" and you didn't have to do anything else. When I questioned him about it, he did say that he remembered "something like that" referring to "reservation rewards."
4. I did contact WLI Reservation Rewards, and they gave me the same story that Gamefly did: I "or someone in my household" authorized this transaction. Neither I nor my son "authorized" this transaction. My son could not have "authorized this transaction" because he and I presently have separate addresses and he has no idea what bank I am with, much less my banking information.
5. I have been a practicing civil litigation attorney in Illinois for the past 8 years, and I understand very well the distinction WLI and Gamefly are trying to make--that somehow by merely clicking on this link my son authorized Gamefly to give WLI my banking information for the purpose of continuing to make debits from my account after a "trial period" of WLI's "services" had expired, unless I--"or someone in my household," presumably--chose to cancel this "service."
6. As I have reiterated to Gamefly, I frankly have no idea whether this practice is technically within the limits of the law. And I don't care.
7. I complained to ESRB because they claim to "certify" Gamefly's "privacy policy" that claims that Gamefly is "committed to protecting the personal information collected about you," and I do not believe this practice of Gamefly's that they have established with WLI comports with that stated policy. I guess that is for Gamefly and ESRB to decide, but I am genuinely concerned about this practice, because you know as well as I do that a great many parents establish these accounts to be used by their children--and it seems to me that this practice is subject to rampant abuse.
And, I might add, if you go to ESRB's site, you will find they claim to "help parents and other consumers." I can tell you, their "certification" of your "privacy" policy did not help THIS parent and consumer. When I signed up with Gamefly, I certainly had no indication that this sort of thing was accepted practice by Gamefly.
8. WLI did reverse the $9 charge. However, I continue to have a sincere concern about this practice, and that is why I made my complaint. I do not care about the $9. I care about people being unwittingly deceived.
9. I originally contacted Gamefly, not with the intent of making complaints to the ESRB, or elsewhere (which I have), but because I was genuinely concerned about this situation and did not know if Gamefly was aware of how this situation was working out in practice, and I believed Gamefly should be aware of it. And, as you can see from the "dialogue" below, I got the "brush-off" from Gamefly, and the slap in the face, by Gamefly giving me the same line of b.s. that WLI did.
So, please don't insult me with your fine distinctions about how my son should have gotten an email and should have known to cancel this "service" with WLI. It is not only my son that has been deceived by this practice, and this does not involve Gamefly alone. This involves many people across the country and many internet companies, and that is why I feel concerned.
If you are truly concerned, try googling "WLI Reservation Rewards."
Or, follow these links, among many others:
http://adam.rosi-kessel.org/weblog/the_man/webloyalty_aka_wli_reservations_is_a_scam.html
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff119840.htm
http://www.complaints.com/directory/2004/september/20/54.htm
http://www.ahoyhoy.org/wordpress/index.php?p=577
http://www.wiphey.com/?p=13&cp=32
So, the "bottom line" is, you cannot "resolve" this matter to my satisfaction, except by ceasing your association with this ripoff scam. I got my $9 back--which I didn't particularly care about in the first place. So I doubt there is anything you can do to resolve this to "my" satisfaction. You can tell me over and over until you're blue in the face that this is somehow my fault and/or my son's fault. If that is Gamefly's position, as I have mentioned before, there is really nothing I can do about that. And, as they say, we will have to agree to disagree.
I just thought Gamefly might like to be known as an honest and above-board sort of company. If you choose to run your business otherwise, that is your concern. But don't expect me to like it, and don't expect me not to warn others. And don't expect me to be a return customer, when I know that my children--or even me, for that matter--could unwittingly "authorize" Gamefly to disseminate my personal banking information to third parties.
I am not an idiot, and I presume that you are not either. We both know how sensative private, personal financial information is, and the concerns that surround protecting this information with the proliferation of online shopping and services. So once again, I don't know and I don't really care if this practice is technically within the limits of the law. I only alerted Gamefly and ESRB because I do not think this is an above-board type of practice that should continue, or that is consistent with a "commitment" by Gamefly to protect my personal information.
Thank you for your concern.
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