Viking Magazine Service kept calling my 20-yr old daughter at college to subscribe to their magazine service. They offered her something free to entice her. They got her to subscribe to 5 magazines for 5 years (who in their right mind would do that?) and they charge full cover price, not even a discount as you would get if ordering directly to the magazine.
3 different people called her, the 3rd person recorded her call and responses as a "verbal contract" so that she couldn't get out of it later.
These people are very slick. They very quickly glossed over the details and got her to give up her debit card number and all kinds of personal info about herself. They got her to verbally commit to paying $59.60/month for 15 months (total $897). I was able to listen to the recording by calling up and pretending to be her (they wouldn't talk to me at all). It sickened me to hear how they talked to her and got all this info out of her. It was obvious to me that she didn't realize what she was committing to, nor for how long. This is her first experience with any kind of contract situation. She had no idea what was really happening. I doubt she will still want to read Teen People when she is 25!
They told her she had 14 days to change her mind but of course I didn't know about it as she is away at college. She forgot about it until the magazines started arriving and her account was being debited (which caused her to overdraw twice for another $54 in bank charges). As far as I am aware there was nothing in writing as far as a contract that had to be returned, it was all done by phone.
She can't afford this, she is a student paying for tuition and books. I tried to get her out of it to no avail. I considered changing accounts and closing this one but I have heard from other parties on the web that they will turn her over for collections & it will ruin her credit.
I see on the web that many people have been victimized by this company, mostly young and naive or older people. These are the ones who typically fall for this kind of scam because they don't know any better. And they are the ones who can afford least to pay these outrageous charges.
I do NOT understand why a magazine subscription can't be cancelled, since the product has not been delivered.in fact, in the 4 payments made so far, she has paid considerably more than they have delivered. If dealing with any magazine directly I'm sure you could cancel a subscription. It would seem that legally she is stuck because they have her on tape accepting this. However ethically and morally it is reprehensible. I would love to see some sort of class action suit against this company for deceptive business practices, or whatever we can get them for. I would also like to know if there is any way to get her out of this without her getting turned over for collection. If anyone has successfully done this please contact me.
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