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
Does anyone have a letter that I can send back to this company?
This feels fraudulent.
Sunrise straddles the fence between implying they are a collection agency (they actually are) and threatening to damage your credit, while claiming they are just "order processing" and following up on a subscription request when challenged.
Notify them by mail that you have NOT subscribed to the magazine and you dispute and request proof of the alleged debt. Send your letter certified, for proof of when you mailed it. You can obtain proof when the Post Office delivered it from the usps.com website.
This is a deceptive business practice. File complaints with FTC, your state Attorney General, and at www.ic3.gov. In addition, file a complaint with the U.S. Postal Inspector for "sending a deceptive solicitation disguised as a fraudulent invoice" through the U.S. Mail.
In addition, file complaints against Hearst and Sunrise with BBB.
Here is Sunrise's BBB report, now rated "B-".
http://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/business-rev ... gdale-ny-21233/
After several years of "No Rating", they are no longer acredited by BBB, and now show a rating of "B-", mostly for "Billing or Collection Issues", consistent with this game they play. Over half of their complaints in the last 3 years are in the last year.
Did you receiver a "renewal bill", or a bill that appeared to be from a collection agency implying that you might get damaged credit if you didn't pay it?
Since they are demanding payment for what they claim is an owed and delinquent bill, they are by definition a "debt collector" subject to FDCPA and state laws.
Send them a letter notifying them that you did not subscribe to "O Magazine", and demanding proof you owe this alleged debt. They will likely back off, as you aren't receiving magazines, and they seldom send magazines on unpaid subscriptions anyway.
Send complaints for fraudulent billing of unordered merchandise against Sunrise and O Magazine to the U.S. Postal Inspector, as this is a violation of postal service regulations.
In addition, file complaints against both with FTC, your state Attorney General, and BBB. Sunrise was once shown as "BBB accredited", although they are no longer listed as such.
That pattern of complaints indicates they are running a fraudulent marketing operation using deceptively constructed websites to collect information later used to bill consumers for unwanted subscriptions.
file complaints with FTC, your state Attorney General, the NY Attorney General, and at www.ic3.gov
In addition, report this to the U.S. Postal Inspector, since it is a violation of U.S. postal regulations to mail invoices for unordered merchandise through the U.S. Mail.