Recently I ordered flowers from ProFlowers.com – apparently a major player in the flower business. The flowers duly arrived and were as described by the vendor. Somewhere along the line I got an email from ProFlowers asking if I wanted a discount on future orders. Not seeing any cost to doing so I clicked yes. If there was a cost displayed I missed it. I got the following email in response to my not well thought out click:

Your Preferred Buyers PassSM membership is now active!:

Please print this letter for your records!

Congratulations! Your Preferred Buyers PassSM membership is now active. As a valued member, you’ll enjoy access to special saving and resources for nearly every aspect of your home and everyday life. Here is Your ProFlowers GiftCode, worth $15 towards a future ProFlowers purchase.

To use your gift code:

  1. Go to: ProFlowers.com/Rewards
  2. Enter this code at checkout: XXXXXXXX
  3. The expiration for this promotional code is 3/31/2010

Now to begin enjoying your benefits immediately just go to www.PreferredBuyersPass.com

Your Membership ID: XXXXXX

Your Password: XXXXXX

Preferred Buyers PassSM is designed to help you save time and money, while you and your family enjoy exclusive savings and access to benefits like:

  • Discounts on shopping, home decorating and home improvement
  • Cash-Back on dining, movies, music, cell phones and satellite television
  • 24-hour access to a home resource center for assistance and referrals, security, product information and more
  • Bonus Magazine offer to Redbook, Smart Money, Veranda or Esquire

Make sure to print and keep this letter for your records!

Thank you for activating your Preferred Buyers PassSM 30 day trial membership!

Sincerely,

Samantha Blake, Membership Director

customerservice@encoremarketing.com

ProFlowers Gift Code Terms and Conditions: No cash value. No cash back upon redemption or at any other time. Only valid in connection with ProFlowers.com product orders made online at www.proflowers.com or via telephone at 1-800-580-2913. Not Valid in conjunction with other offers or discounts. Proflowers is not responsible for lost or stolen gift codes. Any attempted redemption not consistent with these terms and conditions will render the gift code null and void. Void where prohibited by law.

Encore Marketing International (EMI) is the offerer and administrator of
Preferred Buyers PassSM.

The email appeared innocent and I forgot about it. At least until my credit card bill arrived. A charge for $14.95 to the credit of Encore MKTG  Preferred Buyers Pass was on it. Encore obviously got my credit card number from ProFlowers. A little digging took me to this site: complaintsboard.com

If you read a bit on this site you’ll find that people have been inadvertently signing up for a service (what service I’m not sure) they don’t want for the past two years. You’ll also find that ProFlowers is well aware of what’s going on. I’m responsible for what I click on, but I didn’t realize that I had signed on for a $14.95 monthly charge when I accepted ProFlowers offer of future discounts. I should have been more attentive to what I was doing, but as I said above I don’t recall seeing anything about a charge of any kind. My credit card company has reversed the charge and blocked future ones from Encore MKTG. You might consider all of the above before doing business with ProFlowers. Obviously, I’m going to stay away from them.

Put “ProFlowers scam” into Google and see what turns up.
Caveat emptor.

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