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Hello Brad,
I feel really awful this happened to you and happy that you are
contesting the unscrupulous charges to your account. If there's anything
I can do please contact me directly.
I also thank you for alerting others who may have been unwittingly
conned into these false charges.
./fxk
On 3/12/15 8:08 PM, Brad Busenius 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
--
Fame is a vapor; popularity an accident; the only earthly certainty is
oblivion.
-- Mark Twain
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