The Accidental Subscriber
Wilson's experience exemplifies the Webloyalty approach: Upon making a purchase on Allposters.com, an online poster and print store, an ad popped onto Wilson's computer screen for a site called ReservationRewards.com. The ad made a seemingly simple offer: In exchange for filling out an online form requesting basic information, including an e-mail address, Wilson would get a $10 rebate coupon for his purchase.
While he never got the rebate, he did, however, start getting a small monthly charge on his credit card account, which he did not recognize and initially shrugged off. "I noticed a $9 charge," says Wilson. "I thought it was just some little fee."
But by filling out the form for the rebate, he had become a paying member of ReservationRewards.com, which is a Webloyalty discount club offering travel bargains -- an arrangement disclosed in relatively small print on the form. When Wilson discovered who was charging him the $9 per month, he was surprised, since he had not typed his credit card number into the rebate form.
"You make the assumption that if you don't give a credit card number, there must not be a charge," he says. In fact, Webloyalty had obtained his data from Allposters.com when Wilson completed the rebate. Allposters.com is one of about 75 online retailers which has a business relationship with Webloyalty and serves Webloyalty's rebate ads.
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