GameStop's online store is one of 22 retailers being investigated by the office of New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo for deceptively redirecting customers to fee-based membership programs after advertising discounts.
Cuomo claims the retailers present customers with offers of cash back or other forms of discounts, but those customers are sent to the websites of external organizations which bury their membership terms in fine print and which earn revenue by way of small, repeated, and often-unnoticed, credit card charges.
A statement released on the
Attorney General's official site says the office has subpoenaed the 22 companies, which also include Buy.com, Barnes & Noble, and Priceline.com.
GameStop VP Chris Oliveras
told Kotaku that the company does "intend to work fully with the New York AG's office." Another company, the online ticket sales site Fandango, has already settled with the office and has paid $400,000 in consumer restitution.
Cuomo's office says it took action after receiving "numerous" complaints from New York residents who received unauthorized charges after completing online offers and were unable to receive full refunds and cancellations.
