Progress

In March of 2007 we launched this site. Lillian Vernon now states in part:

"While we had a relationship with Webloyalty for many years, as of March 2007 we are no longer affiliated with Webloyalty."

Smarthome.com has also decided to stop these types of transactions. The representative I've talked to assured me that they in no way intended to trick people into this subscription service, however they don't feel comfortable continuing their relationship with WebLoyalty in the current way.

We continue to test other sites and its nice to see that many sites are now requiring the user to enter their credit card information when signing up instead of the behind-the-scenes transfer which prompted this site.

However- in light of this positive news there are still unanswered questions. Why did Visa ignore their own rules for so long. Why does the FTC think that "In general, the Commissions position has been one in favor of self regulation by the industry." is an acceptable answer. And does Mastercard even have a credit card fraud division?

Our mission continues...

FTC Response

My next logical step was to file a complaint with the FTC. According to the Who We Are page at www.FTC.gov:

The Federal Trade Commission is the nation's consumer protection agency. The FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection works For The Consumer to prevent fraud, deception, and unfair business practices in the marketplace. The Bureau:

- Enhances consumer confidence by enforcing federal laws that protect consumers

- Empowers consumers with free information to help them exercise their rights and spot and avoid fraud and deception

- Wants to hear from consumers who want to get information or file a complaint about fraud or identity theft

However, in response to my complaint regarding WebLoyalty.com the FTC wrote in part:

"In general, the Commissions position has been one in favor of self regulation by the industry."

and

"As you can see, there are many federal laws and government agencies safeguarding consumer privacy. There are also many state laws that deal with these subjects. If you believe your privacy has been violated you should also check with your local law enforcement agencies to determine what actions you can take."

Lets just think about that for a while.