Looking for money for magazines
Complaint
TK
Country: United States
Carol Patterson? What a joke! I was ALMOST SCAMMED! She also claimed to be a lawyer from NY. She knew I filed bankruptcy (HOW?) and when I tried to speak to her she wouldn't let me get a word in edge wise. This was also for magazines w/ Allied Publishing. I called my bankruptcy lawyer and he advised me not to give her any money, But I had already given her my credit card #, had to cancel it so she wouldn't get the 450 she claimed that I owed. I didn't want to have to pay over 2500 so i decided that I would pay that amount. Thank god I was quick to cancel the card. I feel soo dumb!! She wouldn't forward any paper work to me or my attorney b/c she said it illegal. She wouldn't even speak to my attorney. She keeps calling me at work and I filed a complaint with the attorney general office. PLEASE DO NOT LET HER PUSH YOU AROUND and file a complaint ASAP!!! If you didn't get it in writing it's a scam!! She is very rude!! And you know what? She talks to herself. She pretends that another person is in the office, but she only talks to herself like she is important.
Comments
They can't even keep their fabrications straight.
Multiple consumer reports show them falsely claiming to be attorneys, threatening to sue, claiming to have, or fabricating false, "contracts" for "magazine subscriptions" never ordered, never delivered, etc.
In addition, the original "telemarketer" also seems to be directly connected to the "debt collector", regardless of changing names.
Using various threats to demand payments for some phoney fabricated "contract", never agreed to by the consumer, with no product ever even sent, should be treated as the extortion attempt that it is.
Also call the New York state Attorney General's office.
While you are at it, contact BBB to ensure their files show the company is still operating in the same manner.
Of all their "documentation" what actually matches you or your wife?
Name, address?
Was this "contract" actually signed by your wife? Or are they only claiming some verbal "contract" based on their alleged "recording" that they refuse to play?
And why cover up the alleged seller's name and address? How could they hope to prove they even have any collection rights obtained from the original "seller", if the alleged "sale agreement" doesn't even show who that is?
Assuming no signature, but only an alleged verbal agreement, this would appear to NOT be a "written contract", and therefore any SOL would likely be shorter.
What state are you in, and what is the SOL in that state?
Not much activity, but BBB has a detailed warning about magazine telemarketers in general, with a pretty thorough outline of their various scams.
Both "Allied Publishing" and "Dalore Marketing" appear to have been in Buffalo NY.
"Customer Experience
Based on BBB files, this company has a satisfactory record with the BBB. The BBB has processed no customer complaints on this company in its three-year reporting period.
To have a "Satisfactory Record" with the BBB, a company must be in business for at least 12 months, properly and promptly address matters referred to it by the BBB, and be free from an unusual volume or pattern of complaints and law enforcement action involving its marketplace conduct. In addition, the BBB must have a clear understanding of the company's business and no concerns about its industry.
Business Contact and Profile
Name: Dalore Marketing
Phone: (716) 823-8863
Address: 2042 South Park Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14220
Business Category: Magazine Sales, not defined
BBB file opened: October 23, 2000
Business started: August 1998
Business started locally: August 1998
Primary Contact: Ms. Loretta Kincaio (Owner)
Complaint Contact: Ms. Loretta Kincaio (Owner)
Customer Complaint History
The BBB has processed no customer complaints on this company in its three-year reporting period.
Government Actions
The BBB has no information regarding Government Actions at this time.
Advertising Review
The BBB has no information regarding Ad Reviews at this time.
Industry Tips
The Better Business Bureau receives thousands of complaints each year from consumers who have unknowingly purchased multiyear magazine subscriptions. Unscrupulous telemarketers sometimes trick consumers into paying hundreds of dollars for multiyear subscriptions to magazines they don't want or can't afford. Oftentimes, the presentations are so slick that the consumers aren't even aware that they have bought several magazine subscriptions until they receive the bill. When a telephone salesperson offers a package of magazines for a few dollars a week, it may sound like a real bargain. Yet the deal may include inflated prices and subscriptions stretching over several years.
IF YOU ARE CONTACTED BY A MAGAZINE TELEMARKETER:
1) Listen carefully to the initial sales presentation.
2) Don't be afraid to interrupt and ask questions.
3) If you're not interested, say good-bye and hang up.
4) If it sounds like a good deal and you're interested in buying, ask the caller for his or her name, and the name, address, and telephone number of the company.
5) Contact the Better Business Bureau for a reliability report on the company.
6) Before buying anything, ask for the total yearly cost of each magazine and of the whole package.
7) Compare costs to regular magazine subscription rates.
8) Ask to receive a written copy of the sales terms offered over the telephone.
9) Don't give your credit card number or bank account number over the phone unless you're certain you want to buy and you know that the company is a reliable one.
Beware of telephone sales pitches for "free," "prepaid," or "special" magazine subscription deals. An impulse purchase could leave you with years of monthly payments for magazines you may no longer want or could buy for less elsewhere. In some states, you are legally obligated to pay for a subscription once you verbally agree to it. Of course, thousands of consumers buy magazine subscriptions from legitimate telemarketers every year. Yet, some unscrupulous salespeople trick consumers into paying hundreds of dollars for multi-year subscriptions. Here's how to tell the legitimate offers from bogus ones.
DECEPTIVE SALES TACTICS:
*A postcard that says nothing about magazine subscriptions but asks you to call a telephone number about a contest, prize, or sweepstakes entry. If you call, you may get information about contest prizes or drawing dates-but it turns into a sales pitch for magazine subscriptions.
*Sales people who don't identify themselves as such or who may not give you the name of their company. They may lead you to believe they represent major credit card companies or magazine publishers, or that they are calling for purposes other than selling subscriptions.
*Sales people who encourage you to purchase without giving you total costs. For example, a salesperson may offer magazines for just a few dollars a week. This may sound like a bargain until you do the math. You could be paying hundreds of dollars for subscriptions that sell elsewhere for less.
*Sales people who tell you magazines are "free" or "prepaid" for you and you'll only be charged a processing fee. The fee may be more than the retail price of the magazine subscription.
*Companies that say they're "approved" or "regulated" by the federal, state or local government. No government agency approves or endorses such operations.
THE TELEMARKETING SALES RULE:
The FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule requires certain disclosures and prohibits misrepresentations. It gives you the power to stop unwanted telemarketing calls and gives state law enforcement offers the authority to prosecute fraudulent telemarketers who operate across state lines. Under the FTC's rule, you may cancel any order within three days of the receipt of the agreement.
CANCELING SUBSCRIPTIONS:
Although there is no federal law governing cancellation of telephone agreements, certain state and local laws require telemarketers to provide a cancellation period. However, many magazine subscrioption companies do not honor verbal cancellations. To make sure your cancellation notice is honored, its best to submit it in writing and within a certain time period.
If you want to cancel a subscription you'vr purchased over the phone, take the following steps: -Watch your mail for the sales agreement; it may come in a plain or "junk mail" type envelope. Look for the cancellation terms; cancellation usually is allowed within three days of your receipt of the agreement. The cancellation notice may be hard to find; often it's attached to an inside page of multiple copies of the sales agreement. -Sign the cancellation notice and return it to the proper address. That may be hard to find, because several addresses may be listed. Send the notice by certified or registered mail, so you have proof of your mailing date. If you can't send the notice by certified mail, make a photocopy of the signed and dated notice for your records. -When you send the cancellation notice, contact your bank or credit card company to stop any unauthorized payments from your account or to dispute any charges or debits to your account. -The company may tell you that your cancellation request was to late and that you must pay. Check with your state Attorney General to find out what cancellation rights you may have under state law. -If the cancellation period expired and you paid in full, the company may not be required to refund your money. If you don't make proper payments on time, you could get dunning notices and calls from collection agencies, threats of legal action, or a bad
credit rating.
WHERE TO GO FOR HELP: The BBB suggests that before you purchase a subscription, check the reliability of the firm offering the promotion. If you think you've been victimized by a magazine subscription scam, contact the Better Business Bureau to file a complaint.
You may also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
Write: Consumer Response Center, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C. 20580. Although the FTC does not intervene in individual disputes, the information you provide may indicate a pattern of possible law violations requiring action by the Commission.
In addition, you can contact the National Fraud Information Center (NFIC), a project of the National Consumer League. You can reach NFIC at 1-800-876-7060, 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. EST, Monday-Friday. "
Premiere Publishers
Categories: Magazine Dealers, Magazine & Journal Publishers
2042 South Park Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14220
Due to my own experiences, I'm just permanently pissed.
I, too, have had to deal with both incompetent companies screwing up their billing, as well as con men calling me trying to trick me out of my money.
There is just an amazing amount of fraud going on, by companies claiming to be legitimate businesses, and authorities seldom act except in the most egregious cases, after years of losses by the public. And by the time they do act, the money is long gone, and the public receives little compensation. It is what happens when the presumption of legitimacy meets limited enforcement budgets.
It is trivial to use search engines to find patterns of fraudulent behavior, from multiple consumer reports, that distinguish between the probable mistakes of incompetent but legitimate businesses, and the deliberate actions of "businesses" set up from the start with the intent to defraud.
In addition, there is the pattern that the more they engage in falsifying what they claim are "contracts" that consumers "agreed" to, the more they depend on threats to collect, indicating they know they would run a risk to actually use the courts to collect on such fabrications.
The weakest, least substantiated claims seem to end up in the hands of the companies using the most abusive or illegal collection tactics, probably because such "debts" have little value to anyone who can't or won't try to employ abuse or threats to extort money.
The extreme cases of this are with "companies" whose "business model" appears to be to fabricate outlandish trumped up "contract" claims, and actually try to collect money when no legitimate agreement was reached, and little of value was ever delivered.
Furthermore, illegal or abusive behavior tends to be "clustered", indicating it is part of the culture of particular organizations, sometimes thru training, and even when a pattern of behavior appears at another company it may indicate that either those companies were related, or that people moved from one to the other.
Note, for example, the cluster of "threats of arrest and impersonating an officer" from debt collectors in the Jacksonville FL area, currently being investigated by the FL Attorney General. There is even an alias similarity in the abuse cases in this thread ("Carol Patterson", an "attorney"), with the alias reportedly used by a Jacksonville area debt collector using similar tactics ("Kevin Peterson", an "officer"), which may indicate knowledge by one group of the other.
They appear to have a common Buffalo NY connection, common sales pitch, common tactics of demanding up-front payments of many hundreds of dollars (typically $700 or more) for supposed multiyear contracts, sporadic or non-existent magazine deliveries, and abuse and threats of legal action by either the seller, or an alleged debt collector, with claims that agreement to the "contract" was recorded on tape, which they refuse to provide. Claims to be attorneys, to be from the "city court in Buffalo", threats of "criminal charges". Allegations of "contract terms" not disclosed at time consumer allegedly agreed. Engage in debt collection under the name of "Attorney Allan P McCarty".
Sporadic magazine delivery may indicate no actual subscription with the actual publisher has been paid for. Some report never receiving any magazines. Perhaps they are just sending a few magazines until they get the consumer's money.
The "Buffalo magazine" connection web:
716 Services, 2430 Delaware Ave, Buffalo, New York, 14216, 716-875-1250
Dalore Marketing, 2042 South Park Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14220, 716-823-8863
Premiere Publishers, 2042 South Park Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14220
"Magazine Dealers, Magazine & Journal Publishers"
SEVEN-ONE-SIX SERVICES, P.O BOX #183, Kenmore, New York, 14217, 716-876-8107
Allied Publishing, 625 Delaware Ave Suite 100, Buffalo, New York, 14202, 716-882-8900
Attorney Allan P McCarty, "Rebecca Weller", "Carmen"
Allan P. McCarty, P.O. Box # 183, Kenmore, New York, 14217, 716-876-8107
Allan P McCarty, Po Box 273 Ellicott Station. Buffalo, New York, 14205, 800-654-6974
E.R.S 975 Hertel Avenue Buffalo, N.Y. 14216-2627
Eastern Regional Settlement, 975 Hertel Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14216
Miller Marketing, 975 Hertel Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14216
"magazine sales, call-center sales, collections",
Mr. Frank Miller (Owner)
716-873-5426, 800-993-2494, 716-873-2072
"Carol Patterson", 800-993-2494,
"1821 fifth ave. New York City, NY. 20119"[sic]
"Christina Johnson ", 888-651-7944, "Well, we go by a number of names"
"Burton Assoc"
"Bergman Assoc"
"Gorton Assoc"
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/257/RipOff0257656.htm
"...I wrote out a check for the amount requested waited for about a month, what do you know... no magazines.
I then attempted to call 716 services to see what the problem was and was told they would fix it and it sometimes takes a couple of months to get magazines. So I waiting another month and received 1 magazine. I then contact them again informed them I was not happy with the way things were going and I wanted to cancel my subscription. I was then told because I signed a contract I could not to that to just hold off payment till I received my first set of magazines. Well here we go again I received 2 magazines that time about a month later. ..."
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/272/RipOff0272303.htm
"...When my magazines finally came I started Paying. But the magazines came in spurts. Some months I would get all the magazines then some months I wouldnt get any. I stopped paying. Then the first time they called my place of employment everyday 3 times a day. They where also calling my 75-year old mother. So, just to get them to stop calling I paid. ...."
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/209/RipOff0209498.htm
"...I was furious when we got the bill. It was for $700+. My husband said it was okay b/c the sales rep told him he could cancel at anytime.
I called to do so and was told that I couldn't.
...
He started yelling and telling me that I need to just pay my bills and that since I was so dumb he was going to turn the account over to his legal people.
...
If we do receive any more OUT DATED magazines I am going to put them all in a box and send them straight to there office with a heeping pile of dog crap right on top.
..."
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/260/RipOff0260268.htm
"So I was able to change the titles but never actually received any magazines. I made the first few payments but still never recieved any magazines. So I quit paying and now 2 years later, my sister and myself get phone calls from a guy claiming to be with the court telling me that he was going to issue warrents for my sister, my MOTHER and myself effective immediately. So reluctantly I agreed scared that my 60 year old mother may be arrested. "
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/261/RipOff0261659.htm
"When I looked over the contract they mailed, I realized they charge a total cost of $780.00 for just shy of 2 1/2 years of subscriptions. If I were to purchase the six exact magazines through the magazine companies they have me signed up for, I would pay a total price of $115.82 for the same amount of time!
...
He screamed at me to speak to the attorney, but the attorney is just the 716 phone number.
Then a woman claiming to work for the lawyer, Allen P. McCarty ESQ. calls and leaves threatening voicemails about how they are taking me to court, where I will pay thousands of dollars, and telling me I don't even realize how far down I am going. Then says I hope you're not trying to play games with me. This phony lawyers office is as extremely rude and the 716 employees!"
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/294/RipOff0294519.htm
"I got a call from a women stating that I owed this company money alot of money and I was going to be sued that I supposley signed a contract and mad payments on a magazine sub. This was close to seven years ago I supposively ordered them when I was the manager st aconvience store were they came in to selling. I asked her to send me the things and to give me her number and address she refused to do this saying they didnt have to. ..."
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/276/RipOff0276216.htm
"...They have sent me through Allan P. McCarty, ESQ. office numerouse letters stating that they will take legal action against me. I have canceled end of story.
The last straw was that they envolved my friends with this so I went on line just to see what came up when I entered SEVEN-ONE-SIX SERVICES and that's what brought me here.
Each time someone would call my home it would be a different representative of Mr. McCarty office this last person was Carmen."
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/238/RipOff0238963.htm
"...The collection was for a scam magazine telemarketing rip off .
So far I have only received one threatening letter but fear that according to others this is just the beginning. When he was confronted before by others on this matter by being told that a grievance complaint had been filed with the Attorney Grievance Committee he denied ever making any calls or sending any letters. So he is lying or the 'Publishing Company' in my case Allied Publishing Service of Buffalo is lying and using his name. ..."
the main culprit is allied publishers service of midatlantic states, 625 Delaware Ave Suite 100 in Buffalo, NY. 716 services, miller marketing, and many other companies (along with phony lawyers such as allan p maccarty who simply lets the co. use his name on letterhead) are all avtually working for allied publishers. please do not take any threat of lawsuits to heart as they are all phony. i worked there for many years. tehy do not report to credit bureaus. they do not (im stifiling laughter here)take anyone to court. they rake in the dough from allof the foolish peole who believe these empty threats.
PLEASE visit your atty general's website, print a complaint form and send it in. your file will be marked "atty general" and you will not be called. i worked for them for many years when i was a teenager. they are convincing sometimes, other times not so much. the bottom line is your "debt" isn't real. noone was ever taken to court. there are no collection agencys. there are a gazillion phone lines that are listed under a whole bunch of phony names. the "atty's office" sat across from me when i was there. what happens is a telemarketing office sells you the subscription, allied buys the order for about $300, and if you are dumb and pay the $780 there's a nice profit margin there. please just FILE A COMPLAINT and i assure you there will be no calls!!! DO NOT get sucked in to these ludacris lies about garnishing wages and negative marks on your credit report. all lies. i promise!!!!
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-475-5187
Record their calls, since they have a record of reports of criminal activity.
Contact the New York Attorney General.
Chris
Syracuse, NY