Online shopping warning

Many of us shop online and would like to think we're pretty savvy on the internet, but with so many scams out there you need to be careful where you shop.

Tracy Derring prides herself on being a person who doesn't get taken advantage of. A few months ago she came across what she thought was a great deal. A friend told her about a website called Restaurant.com.

The site advertised one hundred dollars worth of restaurant coupons for ten dollars. After visiting the site and seeing that it was secure, Tracy used her credit card, received an invoice for ten dollars, got the coupons and thought everything was finished.

One month later a charge for $14.95 showed up on her account under the name "Shopping Essentials". At first she didn't think much of it but when it showed up a second month she questioned the charge.

Tracy and her husband started doing some research on the internet and found a few websites that suggested that Restaurant.com and Shopping Essentials were running a scam.

Tracy went to the Shopping Essentials website and read about its membership. She says there was no mention of a membership fee on the Restaurant.com website and nothing was printed that stated that you had agreed to the membership or the clearly defined the terms of the membership.

WAVY.com contacted Restaurant.com about Shopping Essentials. In an e-mail officials said, “All customers have a choice to either sign and accept, or decline the shopping essentials offer. Shopping essentials complaints represent less than 1% of our total monthly transactions, which to us signals that the great majority of people understand what's presented.”

Tracy contacted Shopping Essentials and was told it would cancel her membership. But the company would keep her first month's payment because it's what she agreed to online. Tracy then canceled her credit card and called her bank. The bank told her that they didn’t have enough proof to dispute the charge because she knowingly went on the website and made the purchase.

WAVY.com checked with the local better business bureau for tips on how to keep this from happening to you. First, we're told that you should find out the company's physical address so you can check them out on www.bbb.org. Secondly the BBB reminds you that if you pay by credit card, your purchase is protected under the fair credit act. If the company doesn't offer alternate payment methods, think twice about dealing with them.