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Michelle of Huntingon Station, NY, writes:
I
started a priceline.com grocery account for my father. He doesn't
own a computer, but still wanted to try out the service. I own
my own domain name, so I made up a unique email address (xx@xx.com)
just for him and the priceline account. I have the email from
xx@xx.com forwarded to my regular email address, but the header
clearly includes that the email was originally sent to 'xx'.
No
one else ever had that email address.
When
I registered at priceline, I used my father's name, Peter, obviously
because it was his acount. Priceline has a privacy policy which
states that they never reveal any personal information to other
companies. Well, they violated that policy. The 'xx@ixx.com'
address received unsolicited "spam" from JCPenney. The only
way that JCPenney could have gotten that address is from priceline.
Of
course I could not get anything close to a straight answer from
priceline regarding the problem. I have all of the emails from
their oh-so-helpful customer service representatives, which
are safely stored on my hard drive.
What
are my rights as a consumer? If a company clearly states that
they don't give out your personal information, but they DO,
what course of action can be taken against them?
It's very unethical for companies
to gather this kind of information with the promise that it
won't be sold ... and then to sell it anyway. If, in fact, Priceline
has done this it could be prosecuted under for fraud. We referred
Michelle to the Federal Trade Commission, which has gotten rather
aggressive about this kind of thing.
John
of Hillsboro, TX, writes:
I
bid on grocery items thru priceline.com.
They charged my credit card $34.43 for these items knowing that
there was no way that I could redeem these items, because they had my
mailing address, zip code, and area code, showing that I lived at least
1,500 miles from any participating store.
They
also have house dollars that can be purchased, according to them for
cash, yet they charged my credit card an additional $80 for the house
dollars, which are not legal tender and can only be redeemed on 1/2
price items at participating stores.
Their
policy says that they will credit any unused house dollars back to the
customers credit card; I called their 1 800 number and asked them to
remove the charge of $34.43-price of grocery items and $80.00-price of
house dollars, because I will not be able to receive the grocery items
or use the house dollars.
The
person that I spoke with, said he would have these charges removed from
my credit card. So far they have refused to honor my request. I have
sent several e-mail letters to them requesting credit for unredeemable
items, still no satisfaction. I am out $114.00 for services or merchandise that
I will never see.
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