Has anyone else experienced this? I’d love to hear from you to compare notes and/or get some useful advice. I’m partly annoyed and partly creeped right the hell out…
I looked at my bank statement online over the weekend and noticed something a bit odd. Anyone who knows me could tell you that I’m not what you’d call a sports nut. Why, then, is there a subscription charge for “SI Magazine” in my transaction history? Looking back a couple of weeks there was another charge that escaped my notice, and that one was for “EW Magazine.” Each charge was for $24.95.
Oh, goody.
I flagged the two transactions, and received notice today from the bank that if I want to investigate them as possible fraudulent activity then they’ll have to turn off my card and issue me a new one, immediately. Well, sure, but I sort of need the card I have. There are payments due, right? My other option was to contact the party responsible for the charges to see if they’d remedy the situation. Oddly enough, the line items included an 800 number to call. (For the record: 800-586-5305.)
Sure. Let’s try that first, shall we?
I called, and right away I knew I was in for a fun time. Have you ever dealt with those voice-response automated systems? “Please respond with Yes or No.” Over the course of the next six minutes I found myself saying “No” several times to such questions as, “Would you like me to reverse the current charge and sign you up for our special deal on blah blah blah for the next so-many months?” I also discovered that both subscriptions had been ordered on the 4th of December, last year.
That’s funny. I’m sure I’d have noticed a couple months’ worth of Entertainment Weekly and Sports Illustrated strewn about the house. At no time, by the way, was any company name given so I’d know who I was actually dealing with. The word “fishy” doesn’t begin to describe it, folks.
So. Six minutes per call, two calls, and I spent the entire time speaking clearly and distinctly while thinking quickly enough (I hope) to dodge the little verbal pitfalls strewn in my path. Oh, yes, they went to great trouble in order to phrase questions in a way designed to elicit a knee-jerk “Yes” response which will actually lead to more charges to an account they had no business accessing in the first place! They really, really wanted my business money. Too bad they weren’t providing any sort of service at all, let alone one I wanted in the first place.
Let this be a lesson to you, folks. Watch those bank statements closely! Be careful where you use your credit or debit card! (No, I haven’t figured out where I messed up. I don’t do shopping online from strange websites or any of that nonsense. Argh.)
Comments
31 responses to “A Tale Of Magazine Subscription Fraud”
Wow, that’s odd…could it be something having to do with (I hate to say it) Best Buy, since they’re always trying to get you to try “8 free weeks” of various magazines at checkout? I’ve been through this racket (with the insane phone tree), but only after I actually signed up for a trial subscription & wanted to cancel it.
How did you solve this problem? I just googled the number and your blog came up. I am having the same problem. It’s some stupid thing I got roped into doing at an FYE store a couple months ago. What did you do to stop them from charging you?
I’ve always been very, very careful to tell the store clerks “no” when they ask if I want to do the “free subscription” thing. I suspect some enterprising Suncoast lackey decided to up his quota by spending my money for me. Not that I can prove anything, of course.
I didn’t really “solve” anything, I just called the number, gave the confirmation number from the transaction record (the part between the asterisks) and the date and amount to verify, and carefully answered “yes” and “no” to the sequence of questions which would get my money refunded and no more magazines being delivered to… somebody. Oh, and I’m watching my bank account even more closely than usual for the next couple of months. If anything new shows up and/or if my money doesn’t come back in a reasonable amount of time I’ll sicc the bank on ’em (and deal with having to get a new card, again, argh).
Yo! I stumbled upon your site by doing a search for the phone number you mentioned, which I also found on my bank statement.
I did pick out a few mags when checking out at Suncoast, so now I know what the charge is for. I guess I was supposed to cancel after the free trial period if I didn’t want to get charged… but, of course, I didn’t remember. Nevertheless, I actually want the subscriptions now, so it’s all good. ๐
This is not an new tale. I cannot tell you how many times I see this a week.
Received the renewal subscription notice in the mail for “MONEY” magazine. I should have paid attention to the price. It was too good to pass – imagine! $9.99 for 2 years subscription? Anyway, I fell for it and paid for it by check late November. I got my first magazine in January. Now I heard nothing from them. I don’t have any information of where I send the check. Did not keep paper track. I only have the cancelled check payable to “MONEY” I have the stub that I detached the subscription form to mail to the company but I just realize there were no information on the company. Zippo. Nada! I have never experience this sort of fraudulence before and is shock! You pay for a subscription and get only one? Well… that is a 10.00 copy magazine I didn’t really paid attention to and discarded during January. If I didn’t discard it I would have been able to find out where the magazine is coming from. Let this be a lesson! Always keep a file on where the check went, the number of the company to contact in case of fraud, etc.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was just getting ready to figure out how to deal with mysterious charges when I found this post. I called the number (twice) and answered those stupid questions each time (carefully, so I didn’t end up with more magazines).
My husband bought a CD at FYE and he said when he paid he was offered free magazines…the hook. And the way they get your charge card info.
I’m so glad I found this…
I fell for it and picked the 3 magazines. I got the first two for a while and I called and canceled before they would be charged or I would forget. Then the third came, which I had forgotten. I found this looking for the number to call back and cancel the third. I was furious after spending no more than a minute after calling the number. If I recall, the last time I was at Best Buy, they didn’t ask me if I’d like to subscribe to anything. Maybe someone finally did something about this nuisance.
I’m happy at least that they reversed the charges 2 days after I called them (and I called them in the evening). I’m not happy that this ever happened though.
Hey there I have the same charges on my account. I do remember shopping for Christmas at West Coast video and signing up for three months of free magazines cause the sales guy wouldn’t shut up and I think I was supposed to cancel them before they charged me.
Maybe you did to? Who knows. . . Sales guys are annoying when they won’t shut up. ๐
Happy Trails.
I’m always quick and firm with the “no, thank you” when the cashier starts asking if I want any extras, especially magazine subscriptions. Besides, if I had signed up… where are my magazines? Somebody got several months’ worth of Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly and Time, but it sure as heck wasn’t me…
I have the same story; I was told by the clerk at Saturday Matinee that because I spent $50.00 I qualified for a โfreeโย three month subscription to a magazine of my choice. So I picked out a magazine and thought cool. Well it was not free and my card was hit with a $24.00 charge. I found your website on Google and see I am not alone. I do plan on talking with the manager at the store, not that it will do any good. But I am also going to contact my local chamber of commerce and the FTC to lodge a complaint.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit http://www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
Wow! I’m glad I found this blog too. I just checked my bank statement and googled the phone number for some unknown charge of $15. I do remember saying I’d take a “free” magazine subscription around christmas time at FYE. I got the first magazine last week, and immediately following they charged the account. So much for “free”.. Does any one know if they’ll continue automatically billing me? Since they took the $15 I mine as well get my magazines worth. Then cancel.
I have also had this problem. It was an fye clerk that got me, and because of it I will never do business with FYE or any company that is associated with them. Their is nothing at those places that I can’t get anywhere else anyways. The worst of all of it, I have never recieved a single magazine. I am furious.
The company that goes about doing this is called Magazine Rewards Center. Their parent company is Synapse Retail Ventures. Their address is:
225 High Ridge Road
East Building, Suite 16
Stamford CT 06905
I opted for the two free months of Maxim magazine and called the hotline to cancel before a certain date. Today I received the 3rd mag in the mail and called again to make sure there would be no charge to my card. Instead of dealing with all that automated BS again, I just hit “0” to go right to an operator. On a lot of these automated systems, you can just hit 0 to bypass all the other crap if they don’t give you an option to talk to a live person. It won’t always work but more often than not, it will.
I am having the same problem with these magazine subscriptions. I went to a CD store FYI and they offered a month free of some magazines. I said sure, why not? Well, the next thing you know they’re deducting money from Spin Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Maxim, and a couple other ones! I have to call this number every couple of weeks to get my money back. By the way my account is negative right now because they took it out without my permission!
I’ve also gone through the magazine offer more than once because it’s really convenient. I asked questions when the clerk mentioned it. He answered them pretty clearly. There’s obviously a delay before you start getting your magazines, about two weeks, but the sign-up for the free trial begins the day you agree to check them out. If they get your address right, you get your magazines and before the trial period ends, you get several notices to cancel if you don’t want to continue. They’re white postcards. If the address the subscription is linked to, isn’t close to yours at all, then it is the employee, but the company doesn’t allow that. That employee would be fired if caught. If you do get charged because you didn’t know or didn’t cancel in time, the Synapse place actually refunds all of your money up to a year into the subscription, which is great.
I just recently checked my back account. I bought something at FYE & they asked me for this crap. I kinda knew not to do it, but I got suckered in. Did you manage to find a way to cancel the subscription?
Yeah the FYE clerk where I bought a CD at pulled a fast one on me too. So I called all the numbers and I found out that the clerk put me down as wanting all the magazine selections. The operator also told me that they would cancel the magazine subscriptions and now I am getting magazines. The only way to stop this shit is start a class action suit. These people have made it very difficult to cancel their magazines and the store clerks pushing these orders sometimes puts the order through even if you don’t want them. So that in mind the stores that support this messed up company should be sued too. Hit them in the pocket because they are stealing from people from all these unwanted subscriptions.
Wow this is really common. I went to FYE to get a CD was approached by the clerk for 3 free months of magazine subscriptions, and before I even got the stupid things, my account had a pre auth charge on it. I called the number immediately 800 586 5305 and they tried to tell me there would not be a charge until November and tried to convince me to keep the trial offer and I absolutely refused and told them to cancel everything immedately. We’ll see what happens.
I am currently dealing with this issue rigth now. I, too, purchased a $15 CD at an FYE store & it ended up costing me $135. I recall the clerk asking if I wanted a “free” 2 months subscription to Entertainment Weekly & I adamantly said “NO, NO, NO”. Next thing you know, I am receiving Real Simple, Sports Illustrated & Entertainment Weekly. All of the charges on my account had different 800 numbers but I called the 800-586-5305 & was told they would refund $29.95 & hey, THEY CAN THROW IN 16 FREE ISSUES OF EW! I demanded a FULL REFUND- I received $70 today & have contacted the local newpaper, my state’s Attorney General’s office & a consumer advocacy group here in GA. This practice is unethical & immoral. Not to mention scary. You pay for something iwth your debit card & then your account is accessed without your consent.
One more thing I forgot to mention. I contacted my local FYE store & spoke with an assistant manager, as the manager was not in. She told me she has received numerous calls from unhappy people & apologized. She stated that she disagrees with the practice but if they don’t push the magazines & “sell” so many issues, they will be fired. PATHETIC.
Thanks for the number, I canceled my subscriptions today but I am already past the free trial period – I didn’t get a reminder to cancel and I assume I have paid for a years worth of subscription for 3 magazines. I suppose I should have remembered that nothing is ever free…live and learn I guess…
Same thing happened to me when I renewed my Real Simple via phone. I called thinking it would be faster but it ended up being a 30 min long process and I ended up with two other magazines I did not want anyway. The person was extremely pushy and talked non-stop. It was an extremely unpleasant experience. In addition, I received I card saying I would be charged for these 2 magazines. I called the # to cancel it and they say these three issues of the 2 magazines would cost me $1 each. So now I just called to cancel the “free” ones. After getting through the stupid automated thing where they try to really screw you by tripping you up, I called the number and kept pushing 0 until I got through to an operator. He confirmed my cancellation (the phone system does no such thing). They better not charge me… Can’t believe how unethical this system is.
I just had this happen to me today. I hadn’t had any money in my account because it’d been easier for me to simply cash my checks so I hadn’t been using my debit card for about 2-3 months. So you can imagine my suprise when I got an overdraft fee statement in the mail this morning. I thought someone had got ahole of my account information and had been using it for purchases. But when I looked online I saw what they were: two magazine purchases that I’d subscribed to about 4 months ago. I’ve only recieved one magazine. They told me FREE at the check-out counter at FYE. At first I thought maybe I misheard? But no, they have a little advertisement on the counter with “free” on it and I remember thinking, “Weird they’d be giving fee subscriptions to these magazines.” Well, I’m glad my friend found this blog. I’m going to see if I can’t get this worked out without paying those stupid overdraft fees because that’s money I really need right now.
I would like to mention that FYE sends a little thing in the mail that tells you very small print that the free trial for the magazines ends at a certain date and that charges will be taken from your account, but if you would like to cancel you have to call that 800 # during a specific time period…which is a span of only three days. And they mail it over a month in advance and make it look like junk mail so you probably won’t read it, and if you then you will most likely forget about it.
thanks for this infomation.i am facd with the same problem .i did answer yes to a free magazine subscription, for three months. for only three magazines, after two months i recieved seven other magazines.I try calling to cancel. I was unable to spak to a live person.How do I STOP this magazine scam..
I can’t believe this!! I bought a Christmas gift at the local FYE store and they asked me if I would like to try 3 months free of magazines of my choice. I said yes…which I shouldn’t have…and I received 1 of the 3 mags. How do we get these cancelled??? It cancelled my EW but not the SI and I don’t even know what the third one is. HELP!!
Okay, kids: What I know is what’s in the post and in this comment thread. I’m not qualified to fix every variant of this scam that comes along; all I’m trying to do is get the word out that they should watch out for such things. If you need help, I’m the wrong guy to ask.
I’m going to close comments on this entry, much though it pains me to do so to my biggest source of Google hits…
[…] reeling from racketeering charges when they were caught in bed with Microsoft, other retailers like FYE were seeking a piece of the magazine pie and this is the worst time any business could afford to […]