Talk:Affinion Group

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The company was previously known as Progeny Marketing Innovations, and prior to that, Benefit Consultants Inc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.236.167.75 (talk) 00:29, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

Edits re: former names and criticisms

Everyone, please begin discussing changes and reverts. This is especially important as two editors appear to have WP:COI issues.

On the most recent change/revert, I'm indifferent on if the prior names are listed in the introductory paragraph as they are already listed in the first paragraph of the hisory section. But, I would like to see comments from each point of view on why it should or should not be in the introductory paragraph. As to the criticism section; I noticed that only two entries supply references, and one of those is to a broken link (the BBB entry). I support maintaining sourced relevant criticisms; but unsourced entries lack verifiability - I encourage those who have supplied those entries to provide sources for their entries. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 23:48, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

An anon added one of the missing refs, and I found another commented out so fixed how that one was tagged. The BBB entry still has a broken link, but the other criticisms now appears appropriately sourced. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 00:40, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

I think it's important that the previous names - Trilegiant and Cendant in particular, as those seem to have been the major ones - be included in the intro because the company did so much business under those names up until not too long ago. See KFC, AT&T Mobility and the Altria Group, some other companies that have undergone name changes - those articles include previous names the companies have used in the intro to avoid confusion. Ten years down the line, the company's old names may no longer be relevant enough to belong in the intro, (like Canon, who changed their name back in the 1930's) but at the moment the link needs to be made clear. -- Vary | Talk 01:12, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

As a recent "victim" of Buyers Advantage, I would appreciate it if someone would broaden the discussion regarding the settled fraud cases and continuing allegations of fraud against this company and its subsideraries, parent companies, etc. I will be happy to help if it is needed and requested. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andromeda1960 (talk • contribs) 22:17, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Allegations of abuse and fraud by Affinion subsidiaries continues to date.

First, the settlement of 2006 with various states' attorneys general was not for $8 million as the article states. The actual amount was $8.33 million for compensation of damages plus an additional $6.2 million, which includes attorneys' fees and costs for a total of $14.5 million. But even this larger amount apparently did not teach Affinion and it's accomplice banks and credit card companies an adequate lesson because they are still continuing the same practices that led to the original lawsuits and injunctions. In 12 months, the Better Business Bureau received "nearly 1,800 complaints regarding Affinion Group. Most complainants state that they were shocked when they discovered unwanted charges on their credit card for membership services such as “Shoppers Advantage,” “Privacy Guard” or “Great Fun.” Charges ranged from $12 to as much as $59.99 every month. Some complainants had been charged by Affinion Group every month for several years, resulting in hundreds of dollars being paid for services they never took advantage of or even realized they had signed up for.".

Out of respect for Wikipedia, I'll leave out the well-deserved editorial remarks I'd like to make, but it is clear that this company has not altered its "business model". I think people who look them up in Wikipedia should be allowed to know that. I am deferring for now editing the main page until others have a chance to respond. I think the actual size of the settlement should be corrected and the sad fact that consumer complaints about Affinion practices continue unabated or even increased following the settlement and injunctions should be made clear. A simple google search reveals that several consumer-oriented web sites including consumeraffairs.com have complaints of identical nature to the originals which continue to the present time (May 2009).

THESE ARE FRAUDS! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.58.161.60 (talk) 17:22, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Maryyugo (talk) 23:18, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

Notability

This organization doesn't appear to meet Wikipedia's guidelines for notability. In particular, a company, corporation, organization, school, team, religion, group, product, or service is notable if it has been the subject of significant coverage in secondary sources. Such sources must be reliable, and independent of the subject.

There do not appear to be any links to reputable, independent secondary sources in this article. (Press releases, court documents and tax returns, for example, are not considered when determining notability.)

If this article has some import (and isn't just advertising) perhaps it should contain some evidence of notability? Djonesuk (talk) 21:27, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

• If it is actually ranked on Forbes' private company list, it may be notable. But a check of Google news only turns up bad news reports for the company. 2601:188:0:ABE6:B53D:47CE:83E6:3C5F (talk) 22:29, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

Hi. Whilst I agree, being on a Forbes' list might be an indicator that the company is notable, inclusion on a list by virtue of the company's revenue isn't, in itself, evidence of notability. Notability is evidenced by significant, independent coverage in reliable sources. High revenue companies might be more likely to attract that level of coverage and therefore gain notability, but their revenue alone is not a factor. Djonesuk (talk) 10:33, 25 July 2015 (UTC)

The company has gotten a fair amount of coverage for its dodgy activities, which is still notable even if it is negative. If the promotional editing keeps up it might be a case for Wikipedia:Conflict of interest/Noticeboard‎, I found the article by following some single-purpose accounts that are possibly engaging in paid editing. Vrac (talk) 14:34, 25 July 2015 (UTC)

If there has been substantial negative coverage I would agree that would suggest notability. But if that's the case shouldn't the article's content reflect those sources? At the moment there seems to be no reliable sources at all. I don't think its proper to use negative to press to claim notability and then not put any of the negative content in the article. Djonesuk (talk) 21:08, 25 July 2015 (UTC)

There are, actually, numerous reliable sources that cite Affinion's difficulties. I've found and added some. Would that there was more positive content to be found. 2601:188:0:ABE6:B53D:47CE:83E6:3C5F (talk) 12:48, 26 July 2015 (UTC)

Updating Company Information

Affinion Group has evolved since the Wikipedia page was last updated and it's important that the most up-to-date information is present on the page. Notably, the number of employees has grown to 3,370, of which approximately 55% are located in North America and the remaining 45% are in their international offices.

Additionally updates include: - At December 31, 2016, Affinion offered 13 core products and services with 241 unique benefits and supported almost 4,600 versions of products and services representing different combinations of pricing, benefit configurations and branding.

- As of December 31, 2016, Affinion had more than 5,500 clients in a variety of industries including financial services, ecommerce, retail, travel and telecommunications. By providing services directly to the end-customers of their clients, Affinion becomes an important part of their clients’ businesses. Many of Affinion’s clients have been working with them for over ten years.

- Based in Stamford, CT, Affinion group operates in 21 countries globally.

It is also important that the information on the page is accurate and up-to-date. That said, we recommend the following additions to the page:

PROGRAMS AND SOLUTIONS Loyalty and customer engagement programs and solutions provide incentives and benefits to major brands to support their loyalty and customer experience objectives. Businesses use loyalty and customer engagement programs and solutions to further integrate and enrich their relationships with existing customers and to engage and attract new customers.

Affinion’s clients value the company’s technology, platforms and services because they offer them tailored loyalty, customer engagement and insurance programs and solutions. Affinion identifies the needs of their clients’ customers and create customized loyalty, customer engagement and insurance solutions and differentiated programs that promote their clients’ brands and enhance their results.

Affinion’s programs and solutions include: - Loyalty solutions that help reward, motivate and retain consumers. The company creates and manages any and all aspects of its clients’ points-based loyalty programs, including design, platform, analytics, points management and fulfillment. Affinion’s loyalty solutions offer relevant, best-in-class rewards to consumers enabling clients to motivate, retain and thank their best customers.

- Customer engagement programs and solutions that address key consumer needs such as greater peace of mind and meaningful savings for everyday purchases. The company provides these solutions to leading companies in the financial institution, telecommunications, ecommerce, retail and travel sectors globally. These differentiated programs help Affinion’s clients enrich their offerings to drive deeper connections with their customers, and to encourage their customers to engage more, stay loyal and generate more revenue for the company’s clients.

- Insurance programs and solutions that help protect consumers in the event of a covered accident, injury, illness, or death. The company markets accident and life insurance programs on behalf of their financial institution partners. Affinion works with leading insurance carriers to administer coverage for over 19 million people across America. These insurance solutions provide affordable, convenient insurance to consumers resulting in proven customer loyalty and generating incremental revenue for clients. The company’s insurance solutions include accidental death and dismemberment insurance (“AD&D”), hospital accident plan, recuperative care, graded benefit whole life and simplified issue term life insurance.

HISTORY The company has over 40 years of operational history. Affinion started offering subscription and enhancement products in 1973. In 1988, the company entered the loyalty solutions business and in the early 1990s, they started offering certain program offerings internationally.

184.179.56.130 (talk) 13:28, 13 July 2017 (UTC)

Thank you for highlighting some changes. We'll incorporate those as volunteer editor time permits. -- ke4roh (talk) 13:47, 13 July 2017 (UTC)

References

The company has recently changed its name to cxLoyalty Kiwimagician64 (talk) 12:10, 24 October 2019 (UTC)