As reported by many, I have apparently have been duped by a sales scam. A familiar situation as I have found by previous postings. A "Charlene Lewis" came to my door attempting to sell magazines in order to cover the cost of a high school trip to Portugal.
The sales routine was well rehearsed and the fault of not asking the proper questions was mine. I did not ask what school she attended, not did I try to verify the existence of FTN.
What initially alerted me to this being a possible fraud situation was while traveling to Englewood, Colorado. I checked into my Hotel where I have stayed many times, and noticed a large number of young people were loitering around the hotel. I inquired with the front desk and was told that they were involved with a company which recruits young people to travel around the county selling magazine subscriptions.
As many as 50 or more teens where involved. They would travel around the country, spending a week or so in different cities. Each morning, small groups of them would be dropped in different neighborhoods around the city and outlying suburbs to sell magazines.
I could not conclude this was was the same company. But would caution anyone to purchase products from sales people with similar approaches and would not accept payment by Credit Card. 160 days to receive a purchase exceeds what is "customary and reasonable". I have yet to determine the legitimacy of these companies but their contract is fraudulent.
A similarity in these companies, if they are not the same, has been that the contact numbers are fraudulent, and there is no legitimate form of contact between the buyer and seller after the sale. Their contract states: "You, the Buyer, may cancel this transaction at any time prior to midnight of the third business day after the date of this transaction when the order is $25.00 or more." Their is no means to contact the seller to cancel the orders because the number they provide is bogus!
This in itself is grounds for action against FTN. Problem is, most victims have been scammed out of less than $75. Until enough complaints are registered against FTN most likely no action will be taken so it is all of our interest to continue to report FTN if you feel that you have been scammed. If any action is taken, victims would most likely never recover their loss, but most importantly, FTN could be held accountable.
I placed my order 2/28/07, according to the card that I signed, FTN has until 7/07 to fulfill my order. I will update this report accordingly when their time expires.
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