I was at home working around the house on May 3rd when this young girl came to my door and I knew she was selling something. I right away shook my head that I knew it was magazines and that I wasn't interested. She persisted and seemed friendly and very "bubbly" and wanted to just show me what she had to offer and asked if she could come in a use a "corner of my table" to show me. I reluctantly let her in and she proceeded to tell me she was trying to win a trip to Cancun for some school she was attending... I detected a southern accent and asked where she was from and she told me Texas. She was nice enough but I seemed to notice that she was not real clean. I kept telling her I wasn't interested nor did I need any magazines but she persisted. I told her I never should have let her in my house.
My husband was going to be upset if I bought anything. We really didn't have the money either. She showed me her magazines with each having points by them that she would earn toward her trip if I purchased them. I asked about a couple but they were 2 year subscriptions and finally decided on Good Housekeeping for 1 year for $24. I felt like that wasn't too terribly bad but then she told me that I would get another magazine free also entitled "Jane" just for buying one. Then she told me to write the check out for $34!! She said the $10 was a processing fee. I told her she failed to mention that and she told me that she forgot. I knew I should have just tore up my check then and there and told her to get out of my house but she was like some kind of leech I could not get rid of. She told me to ease my mind a bit, that they would hold the check for 2 weeks and in the meantime someone from the company would contact me by phone and make sure it was ok to cash the check before they cashed it. I could cancel my order then and they wouldn't cash my check and she would still get half of her points. So I decided that was probably what I was going to do... But I didn't have a good feeling about it at all. UGH! I was so right!
She gave me a yellow slip of paper that said "bug off" on it so that no one else from the same company would come to my door. I didn't use the sticker... And no one came anyway. Then she asked to use my bathroom and was gone quite a long time and I started to wonder what she was doing up there! I asked her when she came down if she fell in and she said she had a lot of layers of shirts on that she had to tuck in her pants... Whatever! She left and I had a sick feeling and I noticed that on Friday the 13th... Imagine that! That the check cleared my bank with no advanced warning or phone call that I was promised. I called the company... Palmetto Marketing, Inc. And the ladies there proceeded to tell me that this person who came to my door was in independent contractor and did not work for them. (although my check was made out to PMI) and that they did not make phone calls or contact customers about anything nor did they issue refunds. I read on the internet the hundreds of consumer complaintss from this company and how some people never received their magazine subscriptions. She guaranteed me that I would receive my magazines within 90-120 business days. I asked her what if I didn't? She said to call back and they would take care of it. I don't care about the magazines. I got scammed! I told her that I was filing a Police Report and contacting the Better Business Bureau and they just said that one the receipt it states that I could obtain a refund within 3 business days of the order.
But there is no phone number on the receipt... Had to look up the company online. This magazine deal is a scam! The same people &2 girls came to my daugter's door and made their way in and made themselves at home and asked nosey questions! Don't believe anything that they say! They are scammers and we need to put companies like these in the slammer... The slammer for the scammer!
I am just really upset because $34 is money we could really use right now and it is going to some stupid company that cares nothing about it's employees or it's customers! Then I read about how a woman was murdered by an employee of this same company... Or should I say¬ this company because these people do not work for "them". I am furious and just want to save anyone else out there the trouble of getting ripped off by this door-to-door scam!
Thanks!
Renee
Williamsburg, Virginia
U.S.A.
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