Collection for magazine subscription I didn't order
Complaint
smlongiotti
Country: United States
Sunrise Credit Services, Inc. sent me a collection notice for $22 for Veranda magazine, a subscription I have not even ordered and WILL NEVER order because of this notice. I sent the info to the Consumer Complaints Division of the NC Secretary of State Office to see if they could help.
Comments
http://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/business-rev ... gdale-ny-21233/
They show quite a few complaints under "billing or collections", but supposedly their complaints are all "resolved".
They may be under review, so you might contact NY BBB.
One is that involving fraudulent telemarketing as part of a racket to concoct inflated claims of "subscription contracts", often allegedly for $800 or more. These are basically extortion rackets using related debt collection companies, or even employees playing the role of debt collectors, to scam consumers. These generally employ illegal threats of arrest or suing, harassment, etc. There is a cluster operating out of the Buffalo NY area, and another operating out of Georgia. You can find complaint threads regarding them on this site.
Cases for smaller amounts, like this single subscription, probably have two sources:
One might be telemarketing fraud, since even telemarketing operations selling legitimate products to consumers through cold calls often have a record of complaints of deceptive sales tactics or other fraudulent behavior.
Fraudulent practices, including deceptive scripts, failing to disclose what they later claim are terms of a "contract", or even doctored recordings used to extort payments, have been common in the telemarketing industry for years, even though FTC tightened up the telemarketing rules a number of years ago.
Such "sales" would probably end up at a collection agency if the magazine subscription telemarketer couldn't coerce payment themselves.
The second source may be a result of a debt collector attempting to skip trace an unpaid account, and "locating" the wrong consumer. For small amounts such as this, they don't spend much trying to be right, often just mailing out a bunch of letters to anyone they find with a similar name. There are several debt collectors with complaints matching this pattern of negligent and irresponsible "debt collection" on this site.
capttk@roadrunner.com
thank you
Your complaint indicates that you never agreed to any magazine subscription from Veranda, either from the publisher, or from any magazine subscription "service".
You have filed a complaint with your state.
You should also send a letter directly to the debt collector, certified return receipt requested, indicating that you dispute the debt, you did not order any magazines, and that you are requesting that they send proof along with the name and address of the original creditor. This is to best protect your rights under FDCPA, since as long as you request validation within 30 days of receiving your first letter from a debt collector, they are prohibited from any further debt collection activity against you until they obtain and send you proof from the original creditor. If they violate this prohibition, you can sue them.
You should also file a complaint with BBB, since the lack of a rating, on a supposedly "BBB accredited" company, may indicate they are reassessing their rating.
You did not indicate who the "original creditor" is. As indicated above, in most cases of fraudulent magazine sales, the seller engaged in fraud is not the publisher, but some magazine subscription "service", often using telemarketing, which is connected with high levels of fraud.
Who did the debt collector claim "sold" the subscription?
With a name, it is possible to see if there are similar complaints against them from others.
https://subscribe.hearstmags.com/subscribe/ve ... 35&BO=URLswitch
These complaints also show up:
Hearst Publications, Veranda
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/hearst-magazines-c281274.html
Other Hearst Publications complaints:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/invoice-for-subscription-c159745.html
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/past-due-notices-c258940.html
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/quotinvoice-for-subscriptionquot-c260003.html
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/subscriptionrenewal-scam-c141047.html
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/subscription-quotbillsquot-c230797.html
Deceptive web marketing of "Good Housekeeping". Is nothing sacred?
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/subscription-fraud-c288364.html
And many more.
The common factors are that all of the magazines are Hearst publications, and that consumers are being billed for magazines they did not order, or that they chose not to renew, and threatened with sending the bill to collections (implied threat of credit damage) if they don't pay for a subscription they never agreed to.
In some cases, they had had a subscription, but chose not to renew it.
In others, consumers report receiving bills for magazine subscriptions they never ordered.
There are also some indications of some marketing operation based in Florida. South Florida is a major telemarketing center, so they may be outsourcing to some telemarketing call center located there.
There have been several similar cases of magazine publishers sending fraudulent bills for bogus subscriptions. You can find complaints on this site against Playboy that fit this pattern, but Playboy always folds when challenged. They do not, in fact, appear to send their questionable accounts to collections, they just don't send magazines.
Other complaints tie the fraudulent subscriptions directly to some part of Hearst (or at least the selling is under the Hearst name), and your case indicates that they are in fact sending these fabricated bills to a debt collector.
Send the FDCPA validation letter to the debt collector to protect your rights. Include in your letter that you have found numerous complaints of fraudulent billing against Hearst Magazines.
Notifying the debt collector that you believe the bill is fraudulent isn't a threat, it is a "courtesy" to assist them in properly handling other similar "accounts".
Contact your state Attorney General to report the billing fraud attempt. (Also file a complaint with FTC.)
They are using the U.S. Mail for both mailing fraudulent bills, and for mailing magazines after they coerce consumers to pay.
Contact the U.S. Postal Inspector to report the attemted mail fraud, using the debt collector to collect on the fraudulently fabricated "subscription".
Hearst's BBB report shows they are "BBB accredited", rated "A+", but shows their main category of complaints as "billing and collections" issues.
http://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/business-rev ... ew-york-ny-476/
It is probably also worth a BBB complaint directly against them, as they appear to respond.
Don't threaten to report them. Just do it, in writing.
"G.L. Vaulk" appears to be Hearst's equivalent to Playboy's "Charles Martin".
Those mechanisms appear to be behind Playboy's spurious "bills" but at least they have recognized that such "orders" are sometimes made as a joke or through malice for purposes of harassment, and all reports are that they politely cancel and don't actually send anything to collection.
Other than spiteful neighbors and school "friends", such malicious actions have also been reportedly used by animal rights activists also engaged in criminal vandalism against biotech company executives.
Hearst's system might be wide open to misuse for purposes of malicious harassment. If so, you still push the problem back on them, as they created the opportunity by allowing ANYONE to sign up anyone else, resulting in debt collection harassment for a fraudulent "account". They may still be negligent for enabling the harassing acts.
If these mechanisms were used to enter the order, despite assertions that "you" ordered it, there will not be any way they can confirm that you did if they have no way to confirm that you are you.
Be aware that the debt collector may have both pulled your credit report, and may even have posted this phony $22 "collection account". You would be wise to check your credit reports, dispute any errors through the credit reporting agency, and use any unauthorized credit inquiry as leverage against the debt collector.
Note that the "notices" are similar to the Playboy notices, implying an amount is owed and about to be sent to a debt collector, with no phone contact provided. They are deceptively crafted to funnel consumer response solely toward sending a check in the mail to renew, making it difficult to question, cancel, dispute, or verify the alleged "debt".
http://www.smallbizlabs.com/2007/08/lack-of-i ... 120a5a5cc52970b
"...
I have had the same problems as those above who report getting a letter from William Drake who purports to be the Credit and Collections manager, suggesting that my mother, who ordered Veranda magazine, was in arrears on her bill. This letter came in June 2009, but I could clearly see that her subscription ran until Jan/Feb 2010. Like others, I could not easily find information on how to contact the magazine since I am not a subscriber. I also could not figure out why she was receiving such a letter when it was clear her subscription was in goods order and had 6 more months to run!
What made this situation so distressing to me was that my mother died in June of 2009, and I had to assist her executor in taking care of all outstanding debts--and this was one of the ones I had to deal with.
I eventually emailed the company in December and was told that I would receive a reply within 2 weeks--and I am still waiting to hear from them over a month later. I did finally go through her stored possessions, found an old copy of the magazine, and got their 800 number (800-767-5863) and called today. I was told by a not-very-sympathetic operator that my mother's automatic renewal status had been cancelled on Dec. 22, 2009--apparently as a result of my email--but that the letter was part of a legitimate business strategy that helped customers not to receive constant letters of renewal throughout the year.
..."
In addition, send notice to Sunrise disputing the account, and demanding proof you owe it. Indicate that you did not renew your subscription.
Send both letters certified.
You can verify their receipt through the usps.gov website.
If you receive invoices or collection attempts after their receipt, file a complaint with the U.S. Postal Inspector.