WASHINGTON, D.C. –John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, announces the release of a new investigative report today, “Aggressive Sales Tactics on the Internet and Their Impact on American Consumers.”

 STATEMENT FROM CHAIRMAN ROCKEFELLER:

“After six months, this Committee has found that the companies we are investigating have figured out very clever ways to manipulate consumers’ buying habits so they can make a quick buck.  American consumers have been complaining for years about these misleading practices and asking for answers – and rightly so,” said Chairman Rockefeller. “Millions of Americans are getting hit with these mystery charges every month – we have to do all we can to protect the hard working families relying on us to look out for their wallets and well-being.”

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE INVESTIGATION:

• Three Internet companies—Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty—exploit consumers’ expectations about online shopping to trick them into joining their membership clubs.

• Consumers often do not know these companies have their credit card numbers until they start seeing charges on their bank statements.

• Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty and their e-commerce partners have earned over $1.4 billion in revenue with their misleading tactics.

• There have been more than 30 million consumer enrollments in these clubs and several million people are unknowingly enrolled in these clubs at any one time.

• More than 450 e-commerce websites and retailers have partnered with Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty to employ aggressive sales tactics against their online customers splitting the revenue about 50-50.  

• Eighty-eight companies have made more than $1 million by partnering with Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty, including Classmates.com, which made more than $70 million.

• Almost no one receives the “cash back award” that Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty offer to online consumers at the time of enrollment.

HEARING TODAY: “Aggressive Sales Tactics on the Internet and Their Impact on American Consumers”

Full Committee - Oversight & Investigations

Date:  TODAY - Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Hearing Start Time:  2:30 p.m.

Press Pre-Set Time: 1:45 p.m.

Location:  Room 253, Russell Senate Office Building 

WITNESS LIST*: 

Mr. Ray France, St. Cloud, FL 

Ms. Linda Lindquist, Sussex, WI 

Professor Florencia Marotta-Wurgler, New York University School of Law 

Professor Prentiss Cox, University of Minnesota Law School 

Professor Robert Meyer, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

*Not necessarily in the order of appearance 

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