Drug dealers and drug addicts. Who’s more guilty?

I’m reading this story about people getting duped into loyalty programs online.

It’s kind of ridiculous that the companies themselves are getting pinned down while their partners in crime (Orbitz, Priceline.com, Buy.com, 1-800 Flowers, Continental Airlines, Fandango, and Classmates.com) seem to be going scott free.

Why is this unfair?  Because the data that customers provide during their purchase on the partner site gets shared with 1-click (sometimes even before the purchase is made thus cannibalizing a sale on their own site).  Surely the partners knew what was happening here and could have avoided the confusion on part of the user at the tail end of a purchase – or just eliminate the offer altogether.  I’ve purchased on many of the partner sites mentioned and its nothing short of amazing what these companies are willing to do to make a quick dollar on abandoned shopping carts.  Buy.com puts the loyalty program offer before the transaction is complete and has a small gray button labeled “no thanks, please complete my offer” with the loyalty button placed more prominently.

What’s my point?  Seemingly “white hat” companies (1-800-Flowers, Continental Airlines and Buy.com) are massively involved in the circulation of these scams and should share the blame and guilt.  More importantly, if the companies themselves are attacked for having the loyalty programs, so should the distribution channels through which they thrive.

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Published:
11.17.09 / 11pm
Category:
Annoyances, Commentary