I need some help...

Mari Koegelenberg

Mari Koegelenberg

New member
When we arrived in the states (4 years ago already!) we i.e. my husband poor man he can never say NO, got bambuzzled into a very unwanted magazine subscription from American Readers Services. Well firstly we paid them almost $500 for a 5 year 3 magazines a month subscription. We decided to pay in advance because we wanted to cancel the whole thing but was told that we could not unless we pay the full amount. Now 4 years later they are threatening to report my husband because he still owes them 2 months payment (which is false we paid them the full amount).

They are rude, threatening and calling every 5 minutes...harassing us. We have no formal contract nothing signed and they keep giving us BS that they use the recordings of conversations as contracts. We want to cancel and they tell us no we cannot cancel, we want absolutely nothing to do with them. I am going nuts here they make me so sick. Is there anyone we can contact? Is this something you can report to the police or should we get a lawyer?

Another scary thing is that they have my hubbies credit card on file, he canceled his card today but everytime hubby talks to them to sort it out he gets handed over to a manager or supervisor who wants to renew the the payment and get $40 each month for another 24 months. This is just such a scam and when we searched online for the company we get reports like this: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1996/10/amer-mul.shtm

I am just sick and tired of this...we had to cancel our home phone because these guys would call any time day or night, they are a nuisance and they keep threatening us. They contact DH on his phone day and night and unfortunately its a work phone so he cannot even replace or get a new number. Surely there should be something we can do? Or someone that knows where we can get assistance? Thank you sooo much!
 
I rememeber years ago getting a phone call from a company telling me that I had "won" magazine subscriptions and I just had to pay a small fee for shipping but I could get 3 magazines and could change anytime I wanted. The cost they wanted for shipping was more then just buying a ubscription to just one of the magazines. I cancelled it before receiving any magazines thankfully because I would have been on the hook for like 20 dollars a month for five years I think? Not much of a prize if you ask me LOL. Well maybe for the company giving them away I guess. At any rate I feel for you. There are very strict laws on bill collecting and how they can behave, when they can call, where they can call etc. Contact an attorney and at the very least they can probably get the harassmant to stop. At the most though you may have a lawsuit against this company. Good luck!!
 
Wow Mari that sucks! I know I had someone recently try to scam my elderly mother, but when she started telling me about it, she needed $800 to claim her big check, I told her I would be dealing with the calls from now on. When the next call came in I told them that I was speaking for my mother and that she was not interested in claiming any kind of prize or giving them money. The man insisted that I allow him to talk to my mom and when I refused he asked me who I thought I was. Really, this is how someone who is giving away money talks. I told him I was the b--ch who was going to take down his number, call the cops and reports his a$$ if he called my house one more time. He has not called since.

Since you have paid the bill and want to drop the service and do not have a written contract with the company, you can charge them with harassment for calling your house and if they are threatening you or trying to intimidate you can press charges against them for that. Jessica is right, you should get a lawyer. You may also want to report them to the better business bureau and see if they already have a case file against them. There is strength in numbers. Good luck.
 
Do they have a physical address? Send them a cease and desist letter and demand they stop all contact with you immediately. That would be my first course of action.

I seem to remember something very similar happening to us years ago and my husband got on the phone, yelled at them a while and told them flat out he had paid everything he was going to pay. He told them that if they called again he would contact his attorney. He was pretty nasty with them and that was the end of it. He is much better at dealing with people like that than I am.

I had a similar type issue with Stamps.com (of all places, I really thought they were reputable!). I had a trial subscription, got to the end of it and cancelled. They billed me for a few more months before I caught on, called and cancelled again. Then I cleaned out my PayPal account completely because they had my PP debit on file. After they stopped billing me I assumed they had, finally, cancelled my service and I started using my PayPal account again a few months later. Well, three years down the road I get a phone call from PayPal saying Stamps.com just tried to charge my account $700+. They asked if I had authorized it and cancelled my card, sending me out a new one, when I told them no. My husband called and they denied me having ever cancelled my account. They couldn't explain why they had stopped trying to charge me if I had not closed the account and they couldn't explain why they would wait 3 years and not try to collect in some other manner if they felt it was owed to them. DH threatened to call BBB and they gave some lame excuse and said they would do us the courtesy of writing off our debt. LOL
 
This is a total scam and I'm so sorry that it has gone on this long. Slobs like this prey on good people who try treat the situation like a civilized person should -- with politeness, composure and professionalism. If you are acting this way, they will NEVER leave you alone. Lorie is absolutely right. I know it's hard, but you have to be very forceful & aggressive and go against everything you were ever taught in terms of the proper way to treat people. You have to make them believe that you mean every word that you are saying and that you are not putting up with anymore of this sh@#! (Yes, foul language is very appropriate in this situation). Hopefully, this will get them to stop. If not, you can contact the BBB, FCC and an attorney. These people are breaking so many laws pertaining to collections & telemarketing it's sickening.

Does your local television station have a "crime watch" or "on your side" team. That's another option although you might not want the publicity.

Good luck. I swear I feel so angry about this. I'm so sorry.
 
Oh no! I feel so bad for you that you have to deal with people like this!!

We had a problem with Good Housekeeping magazine - it is one of the oldest, most respected magazine, so one wouldn't think they would be a problem. I never requested the magazine and one day, I got it in the mail... I didn't ask for it and I didn't want it... so didn't send in the "yes, I want this card"... they kept sending it to me and I kept ignoring it... then they started to send nasty letters, threatening that if I don't pay up, they are going to go to sue me and take down my credit rating. How about not sending the magazine if no one pays! :mad:

My husband finally got them off our back by sending a cease and desist letter (like Sherri mentioned)... and we had it sent, registered, to the head of Hearst... never heard from them again on that subject.
 
You could also tell them that you are going to report them to the Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Consumer Protection. Honestly, the FTC probably won't do much to actually help you, since they don't try to resolve individual complaints, but it sounds impressive. And I've found that it puts the fear of God into telemarketers. https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

Each state also has its own Consumer Protection Agency you could reach out to:
http://www.usa.gov/directory/stateconsumer/index.shtml

Finally, here is some info from the FTC about magazine scams and how to handle them.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/telemarketing/tel03.shtm
They actually recommend that you contact your "local consumer protection office" and/or Attorney General's office.
 
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I have no more advice to offer than what has already been stated... but jeepers, it irks me to no end that this company has the nerve to call itself the AMERICAN Readers Service. And what a way to be welcomed to the US... with a nice fat scam? :p

Sorry this is happening to you Mari! :( I hope this advice will help you put it to an end!!
 
YepBrook said:
I have no more advice to offer than what has already been stated... but jeepers, it irks me to no end that this company has the nerve to call itself the AMERICAN Readers Service. And what a way to be welcomed to the US... with a nice fat scam? :p

Sorry this is happening to you Mari! :( I hope this advice will help you put it to an end!!
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Aah thanks guys! Well its not so much me dealing with them since they cannot contact us on the home phone anymore but its poor hubs that is getting the brunt of their attention, I just told him I am gonna ask you ladies cause I knew for a fact you guys would have the best advice! Thanks so much! We filed a complaint online last night with BBB but will be getting a cease and desist letter (is that through an attorney or something? no matter will google! lol) and reporting to the FTC. You guys are great thank you sooo much for taking the time to help me!!! and Brook no worries thats not how I envision 'Americans' cause what you guys did just now is how I know most Americans really are...I wont let scum like that color my view!
 
I was going to suggest calling the Attorney General's office in your state too. Sorry you are being harrassed like this. :(
 
Try contacting your cell provider and having their number blocked. So sorry you're delaing with this mess...it's frustrating, and as an American, I'm embarrassed that you have to put up with this dishonesty.
 
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