O MAGAZINE -- Unordered subscription coming no matter what I say!
Complaint
Allie Fraley
Country: United States
I have recently received two O magazines. I NEVER ordered this magazine... Not ever! I called O magazine and they claim that this was ordered by a third party called SUBCO (phone number 800-258-3350) out of Fresno, CA. They said they cannot unsubscribe me because it is something that has to be completed with SUBCO. Unbelievable, O magazine has no address for this company that they take these third party orders from!! O magazine is claiming that they only are responsible for delivery of the magazine!! I asked about the address for this SUBCO, and they said oh we don't have the address!! I asked if there was a supervisor who knows where this SUBCO is and that it makes no sense for them not to know the address of the company that they are doing business with. Taylor (O Magazine on 2/8/2017 at 2:10 PM PST) stated that no they just don't have anyone at O magazine with this information and that I will need to contact the SUBCO organization to get this taken care of. I am afraid to call this SUBCO (with no known address for their business according to O magazine) and have to share my information. I need help with this before I go any further. I do not think this is remotely fair!!! I also think it is absolutely insane that a big magazine like O magazine would do business with companies that have no address!!! What the heck? I can guarantee you that OPRAH surely would not take this mistreatment from anyone yet she lets her company carry on with this behavior to others!! The O magazine should be the party responsible for undoing whatever they did with a third party!!! I feel violated and afraid my personal information has fallen into the wrong hands.
Comments
1) Some magazine marketer has sent you free magazines, hoping after a few that you will subscribe so they earn a commission from the publisher.
2) Some fraudulent magazine marketer has sent you magazines, planning to come along later and fraudulently demand payment for this "subscription" that you never agreed to.
If you get a bill, do NOT pay it. The sleazeballs who play this game will take any sign of weakness as an indication you are ripe for further fraud and extortion.
Instead, file fraud complaints with FTC, your state AG, and the US Postal Inspector. Forward copies of all "bills" or "collection letters" to investigative authorities to substantiate their accumulating fraud files.
Brushing off your demand and telling you that you have to contact some sleazeball marketer that they chose to do business with is just "aiding and abetting" as they stand to profit from frauduleht activity by their marketing agent.
Magazine publishers can't afford to run afoul of USPS, since it is the only way they send magazines, and at preferential rates. They may say they don't know how to contact this "Subco", but if sh*t hits the fan, they will figure out how to make your "subscription" vanish in a flash.
Check your checking and credit card accounts, even Paypal. It seems that the marketers who create these fraudulent accounts might be doing it using account information handed off by other merchants, with the "orders" funneled through Subco who then sends them to the publishers.
If you find fraudulent charges, recover your money through a fraud dispute with your bank, and block the card number or shut down the account to prevent further fraud and theft.
Note that the complaints all report receiving unwanted magazines, and list at least one company who is apparently signing people up.
The complaints are a bit too "glowing", and the writing style too similar, suggesting the possibility of common authorship.
Subco deserves the same pointed question as O Magazine: If you're getting so many complaints from "customers" who claim they never agreed to "subscriptions", why are you still doing business with the "marketer" engaged in this deception?