My husband and I were visited tonight by two young men, one black, one white, with a third unidentified man waiting in a car down the block. They claimed to be selling magazine subscriptions for a number of reasons among them being a) overseas donations, b) practicing public speaking skills, and c) collecting points/money for college.
After the into speech, they asked what it would take for me to "help them out", and I told them that since I used to be a door-to-door vacuum salesperson, and knew all the door-opening lines and contest catches and such, all I asked for was the truth. I said I respected pounding the pavement to make some money, just give it to me straight. The most charismatic of the young men went through some of the subscriptions, and since there were actually a few magazines I wanted on the list, I told him to discuss the prices with my husband while I went to get my checkbook.
They did try to get into my house, but I said no. I returned with my check, and my husband was signing his name and our address to a receipt for $199! I said absolutely not, and they changed the three subscriptions to 1 year each for a total of $72, and like I said, I understand that direct sales can be more expensive that company subscriptions, so I didn't mind.
Then they wanted the "from field" on the check left blank, and we were told to make the check out to their boss "Stephen Zerby", promising we would get a call from him this evening to confirm the order and such. And again, there was repeated emphasis on the "cancel at any time", which I know from my sales experience is just a bunch of crap to get the customer to feel more at ease. It's legally true for 3 days, but no one wants you to cancel... Duh.
When they left, they tried to take the receipt with them, insisting they had given it to us. They made it look like a mix-up during the conversation, as if they had accidentally kept it, and they showed it to us finally. Then they tried walking off again with it!
Needless to say, I did a simple google search for Family Subscriptions, read very unsavory things, in addition to not being called by "Stephen Zerby" and the receipt containing very evasive language.
I just put in a stop payment request with my bank online. Thank goodness for the internet. I don't even mind if I have to pay the fee, as long as I not only save some money out of this, but also keep it out of their hands.
Like I said, I respect the door-to-door line of work and the honest people that do it, but this is a clear scam.
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