Let me clarify what my problem is. The companies I'm having trouble with
call people on the phone and offer a variety of magazines for sale. In
particular, I'm dealing with Allstate Reader Service (no connection to the
insurance company), Diversified Marketing Services, and a third one whose
name I can't remember.
Around February, these companies called me and asked if I was interested in
buying magazines. I'm not gullible, and I know about the problems
telemarketers can cause, but for some reason, I couldn't seem to say know to
them. I've always wanted to read a magazine on a regular basis, and I didn't
think it was going to be too expensive because they were only magazines.
Plus, they boasted about how great the savings I would get are. I accepted
their offers and gave them the information that they needed. Over the next
few days, they called me again several times to make sure that they have the
information right.
A few weeks later, I was going over my credit bill with my father, and he
noticed a payment that was around $65. I explained to him that it was from
one of the magazine agencies (Allstate Reader Service), and we both agreed
that it was quite costly. I looked at letters that these companies had sent
me and discovered that total amount I would have to pay Allstate Reader
Service was just under $1000, and I would have to pay the other companies a
few hundred dollars as well. As soon as I could, I contacted these companies
and tried to cancel my accounts with them.
And that's when my problem started. All of the companies claimed that since
I agreed to the deal in a recorded conversation and that I didn't cancel
within three days (in which time I didn't receive any magazines or see my
credit card bill), I could not cancel my accounts. I could change how
frequently I could make my payments and what magazines I receive, but I
couldn't stop them from coming or get a refund for the magazines from coming.
The company whose name I can't remember did stop billing me, but I can't get
the money back that they already took.
My father and I have tried to do several things to deal with this problem.
We tried telling the bank to stop honoring these companies' requests for
payment. They're still managing to take money from my account. I tried
calling the companies and explaining rationally why my account should be
cancelled. They gave me the same BS they gave me the first time I tried to
cancel. I even tried contacting the publishers of the individual magazines
that I'm subscribed to and asked them to cancel my subscriptions to their
magazines. They said that since I subscribed through an agency, I had to
call another company to cancel my subscription. I believe I have cancelled
my subscriptions with some of the magazines, but in many case, I just got
lead back to the original magazine agencies.
This is a total outrage! Even though what these agencies are doing is legal,
it is nothing more than a telemarketing scandal. I don't see why someone
should persuade you into forking over hundreds of dollars in exchange for
years of magazines that you may want to stop receiving after a while. Plus,
they're probably not that much more cheaper than the magazines in the store.
While this type of business seems legimate, it's also deceptive and
unethical. I don't have that kind of money to spend, especially on just
magazines. Unfortunately, everyone seems to think that I'm screwed and that
I should have just said no. But that doesn't solve my problem.
All I ask is that all the magazines stop coming and that I get a refund for
the magazines that I don't get. If anyone out there has any <real>, helpful
advice, or knows of any helpful sources, then I would greatly appreciate it
if you inform me. I refuse to be beaten by this scandal.
Andrew
