This company is a noted scam.  The charges hit your credit card and it can take months to detect.  In the meanwhile, they make a lot of money.
Watch your card for every item that hits.  MD Wellness is another one to watch for.

VitaCost.com is who tricked me into this program.

I purchased some vitamins from them a few months ago and now I have this charge of $14.95 each month.  The rep from vitacost says the website is misleading and was sorry I got ripped-off by vitacost.com

This is the second month in a row that Shopping Essentials has fraudulent charged my credit card.  I called them to remove the charges and when they ask for my membership number I tell them I don't have one because I did not sign up for this program.  The operator argued with me that yes I did.  I told her I did not and to remove the charges and to STOP charging my card.

I received my credit card statement from Chadwicks and called them because I had a deferred payment plan set up and nothing was due - except for $10.00 on a $19.95 charge from Shopping Essentials.  Chadwicks said they could not help me that I had to call Shopping Essentials to have them credit my card back.  I told Chadwicks that I was not happy that they allowed a third party to charge my account without my authorization.  They said they would not know whether or not I authorized the charge.  I called Shopping Essentials and told them they needed to remove their fraudulent charge from my credit card.  As DMR from 02/03/09 directed, I asked for a confirmation number for the credit back of $19.95 and I was told the credit would show up on my account within 3 - 5 business days.

I noticed this charge today -- after it overdrafted an account I stopped using. I have been charged $14.95/month since December 2008. I called and canceled and demanded my money back. I spoke with a man named Willford who was incredibly helpful. He understood completely and was easy to work with. I feel bad that in this economy, their employees might have no choice but to work for a scam of a company, since jobs are so few. Anyway, the money is being refunded in "2-3 business days" according to them. He told me I signed up in conjunction with Restaurants.com -- you know, the website that SAVES you money, not steals it from your account unknowingly. BE CAREFUL. He also told me that I could fax my overdraft evidence (statement) to them and they would refund me the overdraft.

Don't just COMPLAIN. CALL AND DO SOMETHING.

I just hung up with Ryan (ID#154097 like that matters)the supervisor and he refunded my the 2 charges of 14.95.  Both people I spoke to, never told me how they got my info, but like all of you here Restaurant.com is the commom thread.  Ryan sounded like this was all he does, all day long.  What a scam!They didn't call me but this 888# is what my bank has, i just googled this # and found all of you.

i followed the step as mention in the comlpaint of annoyed assential shopper and did call the nuber, requested more info and the representitive came on the line and told me that i purchase special program of some sort. well it turned out to be that i am a regular cigar smoker and so happen to take a advantage of this cigar bundle pack from thompson cigars but only if i register to enroll into the program of all these offers that come with the special promotion on the cigars that i bought. So, to have the perk they were taking out 14.95 every month on the 8th until i talk to martha and cancled my program with an only gonna get back a $14.95 in 2-3 businass days.

think of how many people DO NOT notice the charge. these guys are probably making millions each month and acting like it was someone else's faulty.

I just noticed that I was charged 19.95 by these people, did not sign up for anything, no survey NOTHING... The second I called these people were like the FBI they knew my name and address without me even saying one word, however the woman whom I spoke with was very kind and I let her know my situation, she said they will refund my money in 2-3 business days and I will not be charged anymore.. Hopefully it will be true... She gave me her name and a confirmation number.

Same story with me - the first agent was very polite and was done with my refund when I asked her about the amount, and she said I was getting a one time refund but confirmed that I was billed for THREE months.  At no urging she gave me a supervisor and he needed no prompting, I simply said that I had no recollection of this transaction, had received no materials as advertised and had used no services, and I wanted a full refund, to which he agreed and gave memy name and his badge number.  That told me they are inundated with callers to cancel and their shady practice should be stopped!
This is linked to restaurants.com, and if this is how they want to align themselves they will get no business from me, either.

The same thing happened to me. I called, canceled my membership, and spoke with a manager who said I will be getting refunded for all of my payments over the past few months. They were very helpful and apologetic about the whole thing. I'm not sure if this has happened yet, BUT I went to restaurant.com to figure out how I got signed up for this service.

After I placed an order for a gift certificate, it asked me to take a quick "2009 Customer Survey" with  three questions - about whether I use credit or debit to shop online, whether I give these gift certificates as gifts, etc, etc - seemingly innocuously getting information about their customer base. It says in small type that this is a free service for 30 days, which I obviously didn't notice at the time. I imagine this is how others were signed up as well. I only entered my credit card to make my resturant.com purchase, which they evidently gave to Shopping Essentials after I unknowingly authorized them to do so by taking their stupid survey. Well played, deceptive internet thieves - too bad I'm getting my money back!

I've been paying $15 a month for 4 months for a membership I never even knew I had. The tricky part is never sending you emails or regular mail about what the membership entails. I was scammed from restaurant.com, and feel sick to my stomach about it. I recommended my friends to get the same "deal" I was getting. I hope other people are better about balancing their checkbook... I'm ashamed at myself, but they did cancel the subscription without a fuss. I didn't ask for a refund, but I only thought it had happened once. Not 4 times. Guess I figured that out a little too late. Lesson learned: Balance your checkbook. It prevents being SCAMMED.

I guess I am another victim.  I did purchase a gift certificate from restaurant.com but never agreed to anything for a monthly charge. I will ahve to see on Monday.

These are awful people. Since the automated cancellation process outlined in previous comments didn't mention a refund, I kept pressing zero until a person answered. I took me many many tries to convince him that I never signed up and wanted my money back. He TOLD me that the money had been automatically refunded by the cancellation process, but that wasn't true.
He was so rude I insisted on speaking to a supervisor ("And what would that accomplish?" he wanted to know), who told me that my money wasn't refunded until I demanded it of the first person.
Bottom line: cancel, press zero, tell them to give you back your money!

Only shop online when it is a VERIFIED website.

The samething happend to me, I booked a ticket from travel.com a month ago, and  I even didn't notice that I accepted several offers from it, so I forgot to cancell the memberships,and the shoppingenssential must be a trail membership attached to one of the terms I accepted. However It is weird that I did't receive any confirmation email from that company to confirm my membership, so I even didn't notice that I was a member. I called the company this morning to cancel the membership, but I guess I can't get the money back.

When I called to have the charge removed the guy told me that I had accepted an offer from Restaurants.com for a $10 certificate.  I remember the offer and had tried to cancel it after I started and found out that there was a trial membership attached.  I am bad about remembering to cancel them in time.  I guess I passed the point of no return but there should always be a button to cancle or opt-out before you confirm.  What a racket.

Followed your advice and will receive a full refund.  they said i signed up with them from thestitchery.com.  I have NEVER been on this website, so who knows where they got my info from.  Thanks for the instructions.

Evidently this is still going on.  I noticed the $14.95 charge on my CC that was processed a few days ago.  As a result I checked for a charge last month and sure enough I found it.  I called the # and spoke to a woman named Christina who told me that I signed up for a promotion through Restaurant.com.  I let her know that I did no such thing and she said she would credit it.  Then I had to speak to a supervisor (her name was Wendy) about the previous months charge.  I had to be very firm with her before she would agree to refunding me for that one too.  Let's hope it really happens.  I am also going to file a fraudulent charge with my CC company.

I noticed the charges on my latest account. I just called 888-999-0564 and had to speak to a supervisor but they said they would refund all my money and cancel my "membership" that I do not recall signing up for.

I followed the directions above with success. I also was signed up through restaurant.com which makes me angry... What's funny is that I told the operator that i had this charge on my account and I did not know what it was for. She told me about the company (shopping essentials plus) and in the next breath said "And we'll go ahead and cancel this and refund your money for you." I didn't even have to ask. I bet they get a million calls a day about this.

Thank you so much for your information.  I followed your instructions and the operator stated that I will be refunded within 2-3 business days.

I successfullynfollowed the instructions listed above by another blogger:

1) Call 888-999-0564
2) Put in your credit card number (they already know it so nothing worse can happen)
3) Choose the option that says get more info about the charge (NOT the one about cancelling the subscription)
4) Ask them to cancel the subscription, refund your money, and give you a confirmation number- talk to a LIVE person.

The operator told me it would take 2-3 business days for the refund to appear in my account.  

He answered that the charge came through thestitchery.com

I received a 14.95 charge on my cc and I called ther no. and I was told to call another 800-531-5000 number it was for DirecTV. I had to put the charge in dispute with my CC.

I rec'd a charge of $11.95 on my credit card from 888-999-0564 and NEVER gave them my credit card number or anything.  Yet they have it and have charged me for it.  When I called they said I had signed up through destitcher.com.  When I asked what that was they said they didn't know.  I have never been on that site before.  I am beginning to wonder if it is safe to order via internet.  It is terrible that a company like this can ruin you from ordering via internet again

Had a charge on my November 2008 Credit Card for $14.95 from Shopping Essentials Plus 888-999-0564.  They claimed I signed up for a discount/coupon service back in July 2008.  I asked to have my credit card refunded and future charges cancelled, and they agreed.
I wonder how much they make scamming people who don't look closely at the cc statements?

I just got a charge of $11.95 on my credit card and I didn't sign up for anything as far as I know. From your other comments it seems like you were able to get your money back, correct? Today is Saturday so I will not be able to call for a refund yet.

I have no idea who this company is but here's how I got them to refund my money:

1) Call 888-999-0564
2) Put in your credit card number (they already know it so nothing worse can happen)
3) Choose the option that says get more info about the charge (NOT the one about cancelling the subscription)
4) Ask them to cancel the subscription, refund your money, and give you a confirmation number- talk to a LIVE person.

The lady told me it would take 2 business days and my bank (BofA) confirms that they are good about refunding them $.

I DO NOT REMEMBER SIGNING UP FOR THIS.  I CANCELLED IT ON THE PHONE BUT THEY STILL RECEIVED $11.95 FROM ME.  DOES IT PAY TO SHOP ON LINE OR OVER THE PHONE!!!!  I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE

FYI - I checked this company out on the BBB site....

Additional DBA Names

Shopping Essentials Plus
Elite Excursions
Everyday Values
PC SafetyPlus
Cendant Membership Services, Inc.


Nature Of Business

Trilegiant Incorporated offers a variety of membership programs to credit card customers. The company markets its services on a free trial basis for up to 90 days. If the customer does not cancel his/her membership by calling a toll-free number at the end of the free trial period, the company automatically renews the membership and charges an annual fee to the customer's credit card. The company continues to annually renew the membership unless canceled by the customer.


Customer Experience

Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record  BBB Definition:

unsatisfactory  record - A company has an "unsatisfactory business performance record" with the BBB is based on the experiences reflected in BBB files. This file condition results when the company has failed to resolve or respond to complaints, repeatedly failed to respond or resolve issues in a timely manner, failed to resolve the underlying issues for a pattern  BBB Definition:

pattern - More than 2 complaints involving the same allegations usually within 12 months that are significant in relation to the company's size and volume of business.
of complaints, failed to honor their commitment to mediate or arbitrate disputes or honor mediated agreements or arbitrated decisions, failed to substantiate, modify or discontinue false advertising claims  BBB Definition:

advertising  claims - The BBB reviews business advertising, (newspaper, magazine, TV, radio, internet) routinely to ensure that it is truthful and ethical. Claims in advertising are measured against basic advertising principles of the BBB Code of Advertising  BBB Definition:

BBB  Code  of  Advertising - http://www.bbb.org/membership/codeofad.asp
which was developed to guide advertisers, advertising agencies and advertising media.
that are challenged by the BBB, or failed to discontinue unauthorized use of the BBB name and logo, a Federally protected trademark.
with BBB due to unresolved  BBB Definition:

unresolved - The company failed to resolve the complaint issues.
complaints and a pattern  BBB Definition:

pattern - More than 2 complaints involving the same allegations usually within 12 months that are significant in relation to the company's size and volume of business.
of complaints concerning deceptive selling practices  BBB Definition:

selling  practices - Claims of alleged sales presentations made in person or by telephone that contain misrepresentations of the product or service, high pressure sales practices, failure to disclose key conditions of the offer, and verbal representations not consistent with written contractual terms or agreements.
, unauthorized charges to consumers' credit cards, and non-cancellation of memberships following cancellation requests.

When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.

The BBB processed a total of 2066 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total of 2066 complaints closed in 36 months, 1927 were closed in the last year.