Getting magazines I didn't order
Complaint
Faye Nations
Country: United States
I have been receiving magazines that I did not order. The order was "hidden" in another site and they took information and started sending magazines. I was told I could cancel, but only after twenty months. I did not purposefully order these. Am I responsible to pay for them?
I also got a call from a Samuel Walker from the "IRS", just deleted it. Anything I owe the IRS, I am paying from invoices from them through mail, so there is no reason for them to call me. I just won't answer numbers I don't recognize.
I also got a call from a Samuel Walker from the "IRS", just deleted it. Anything I owe the IRS, I am paying from invoices from them through mail, so there is no reason for them to call me. I just won't answer numbers I don't recognize.
Comments
There are a number of scamming "magazine marketers" who fraudulently obtain "customer" information and then pretend the victim "agreed". Laundering the "contract terms" through some other website is just one of the fraudulent tactics used. That may just be a deceptive cover for the scheme, blaming any problems on "another merchant" (which they often refuse to disclose) while they continue to claim "you agreed". The "you can only cancel after 20 months" is just another deception, since without any actual agreement or valid contract, there is no "20 months", but they figure if they can catch some percentage of victims into "accepting" several months of magazines, they can make up whatever "contract" they want, often adding more "subscriptions", or offering to "cancel" for a "termination fee", typically $300 to $400.
It's basically "chicken billing". Are you too chicken to call their bluff? And if you do, and file fraud complaints, they just claim it was a "mistake", so it costs them nothing.
File fraud complaints with FTC, your state Attorney General, and the US Postal Inspector. It is a violation of postal regulations to send bills for unordered merchandise through the US Mail, so report it. Since these scams are typically third party marketers, contact the magazine publisher directly to report that the account was set up fraudulently. Follow up with notice in writing to the publisher, mailed certified.
Their next step is typically to harass you with threatening calls. Don't waste your time talking to them on the phone, or tell them you are recording the call. If you act vulnerable, you will get more abuse. If you cut off contact, and aggressively file complaints, they will flag the "account" and move on to some other sucker.