Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden has announced an $11 million multi-state settlement with Classmates Inc., Florists’ Transworld Delivery Inc. and FTD.com Inc. over misleading marketing and billing practices, including signing Idaho customers up for goods or services unless they specifically rejected the offers. “Idaho consumers should not be forced to pay for goods or services they did not request or authorize,” Wasden said. 

The practices at issue involved third-party marketers offering discount buying clubs and travel rewards programs to people who had just made online purchases with Classmates or FTD; the two firms shared the purchasers’ personal information, including credit card account numbers, so the victims could be billed for these offers if they didn’t actively cancel. The companies agreed to reform their practices, and pay $11 million to settle the charges in 22 states. That includes a $3 million restitution fund for refunds to people who were enrolled into Classmates’ subscription service without authorization or who experienced difficulty when trying to cancel their Classmates subscriptions; there’s more info here.  

In October of 2013, a similar multistate settlement was reached with two of the firms’ marketing partners, Webloyalty Inc. and Affinion Corp.; they agreed to pay more than $19 million in restitution.