/dev/null/kevin

VeriSign, a company who millions of people trust to encrypt their most sensitive data, recently bought a company whose only business plan seems to be to scam people.

In 2006 VeriSign acquired m-Qube, "a leading mobile channel enabler."  To put it another way: they sell ring tones.  That would be well and good, but m-Qube's tactics are deceiving at best, and certainly very questionable.  Typically, m-Qube (or some other shill) offers "free" ring tones, but in the process enrolls the user in a "club" that bills the user $10 to $20 per month.  Most people don't even notice the additional fee until it's way too late.

The number of complaints against m-Qube is growing and VeriSign's own FAQ includes several questions dealing  with m-Qube's practices.

The most questionable practice (and why I feel safe to call this a scam) is that even if the user cancels the process they are still enrolled, and still billed.  After noting a $20 increase in my cellular bill I called my provider who immediately knew what was going on.  I remembered back a few weeks being offered a free San Jose Sharks (hockey) ring tone.  The process to get the ring tone started asking for too much information, so I bailed on it.  I never received anything, but was still enrolled in this "club."  Fortunately, the customer service rep knew exactly how to unenroll me, and how to request a refund for the now TWO months of services I'd been charged for (and received nothing for).

It didn't take much to find lots of people with similar stories about m-Qube's scam.  But I didn't expect that a reputable company like VeriSign would be associated with them, let alone own them.  How can I trust a company who supports a company like m-Qube?  If they are willing to scam people $20 a month then who is to say that they won't sell the private keys to the certs they distribute?

Update [01/30/2008]: I received my latest bill and it included a credit for everything, so the process worked.  Also, as noted in the comments, m-Qube is really a billing service and it's their clients who are pulling the scams.  I don't think this completely exonerates m-Qube, or VeriSign, but it sounds like the process is improving.

McDonald's will sell you a gift card, but they won't always allow you to redeem it, which really is the most important part of the gift card (with apologies to Seinfeld). 

We received a McDonald's Arch Card for Christmas and my daughter was eager to use it.  We went to the McDonald's in the Stanford Shopping Center (more on why that's important later).  We ordered our food and my daughter wanted to pay with the card -- but she was denied!  They wouldn't take the card because they didn't have the proper equipment to read the card!  Say what?  Surely they meant the equipment was broken or the network was down.  Nope, they just didn't have it.

"You can only use these cards at participating stores."

Participating stores?  Why isn't this store participating?  Answer: the owner just hasn't bothered.  IMHO, that is just inexcusable.

I mentioned that we were in the Stanford Shopping Center.  If you are not familiar with Silicon Valley geography, Stanford Shopping Center is located in Palo Alto, California, right next to Stanford University (as you might have guessed from the name).  According to their own web page, they are "San Francisco Bay Area's premier shopping and dining experience" and they are not exaggerating.  Stanford is full of top end stores and is the mall for Palo Alto, Atherton, Woodside, and Portola Valley.  It's in these towns where you'll find the mansions of most Silicon Valley CEOs, dot-com millionaires and top sports athletes.  Basically, they are the Beverly Hills, Malibu and Hamptons of the Bay Area.

Thus, at this mall for the uber-rich, the McDonald's that charges 20% more for food can't find the time or money to install a fraking gift card reader.  That is lame.  Oh, and this card reader also seems to be the same reader that allows people to pay with credit and debit cards, too.

Technology!  You should look into it!

So remember, if you want to pay for your food at the Luddite Stanford Shopping Center McDonald's, they accept cash, gold coins, glass beads and post-dated stock options.  But no gift cards.

Here's a story that the $10 million eBay bid for John "Bo Duke" Schneider's General Lee was a hoax.

I had to chuckle at the fact that part of their revenge is to gave the winning bidder a negative rating in eBay's feedback forum.  On noes! Not that!

IM IN UR EBAY NEGATIN' UR FEEDBAKZ