On February 27 I had placed an online order for a magazine called "Decorating Spaces" through www.MagazineCity.com. I paid my $13.00 for a year’s subscription by credit card.
The payment on my detailed credit card statement shows it was deducted February 28th.
MagazineCity told me in an automated email response saying that it would take 6-10 weeks to arrive. I believe I received the first issue (June issue) in late June, early August. Out of my full years subscription I only received 4 of the 12 issues. I received June, July, August & September issues.
I emailed MagCity on Tues, January 9 to let them know that I only received 4 of the 12 issues. I still have not heard anything back from that email & it is 7 PM EST on Jan. 23. I only received the same auto-email response that I got when I first placed my order telling me how long until I receive my 1st issue. (I never received an actual reply to my inquiry.)
I then called MagazineCity on 1/16/07 to ask why they stopped. I was told by a rep that was extremely rude & not "customer service" oriented at all that she was unable to assist me & that I had to "call back tomorrow." She failed to tell me their business hours or the time I needed to call back by so I had to ask.
I did as the rep said & called back 1/17/06 within the specified time-frame she gave. The first time I called it beeped like it does when you get a wrong # & said "all circuits are busy" & hung up on me. So I called back & got through. It then put me on hold for like five minutes & after waiting a message came on stating that I need to either hang up & call back later or leave a message. I left a message & did not receive a call back within 20 mins or so, so I called them back again & got a rep.
On the 17th I spoke with "Sondi" or "Sondie" (sawn-dee).
The call started with Sondi asking me, & this is all she said "The Shipper?" In a very rude, very short tone (as were all the other reps.) I asked, "The shipper? ” She said, "Yes! The name of the shipper?!" I was still confused & had no idea what she was asking. Turns out all she wanted was MY name... Why could she not have said, "What is your name please?"
Anyway... Sondi told me very matter-of-factly that, "Oh, you're not getting your magazine anymore because that publisher has gone out of business." I asked her why MagazineCity did not contact me & she told me that it's not MagazineCity's fault I'm not getting it any longer & it's not their responsibility to contact me, that the publisher can "IF THEY CHOOSE TO". I then said oh, so basically you're just taking my money & who cares if I get what I paid for or not. I said I placed the order through MagCity so they should have contacted me. She just repeatedly told me it’s not their fault or problem; it’s the publisher’s.
Well then she tries to offer me an $8 credit, she failed to explain what the credit was until I said, "So I'll be refunded $8?" She said no (in a very condescending/snotty tone), it’s a credit to MagCity... As if with this completely terrible customer service I will ever purchase anything from them again.
Then I asked to speak with a supervisor, after Sondi ignoring my 3 or 4 requests for a supervisor & just talking over me telling me how it's not MagazineCity's fault, of course I was losing my temper by this time. I told her I just want a complete refund if they refuse to send me an $8.00 refund.
(I know this is not a lot of money, but it's the principle here that I'm concerned with along with the total lack of respect & horrible customer service. They might as well not answer their phones at all.
It's the fact that no one even bothered to try to contact me & that they were just going to take my money had I not contacted them. This is absolutely horrible service & I just wonder how many other people have been taken advantage of like this, probably regarding more money than the $13.00 I spent.
So then when Sondi finally put me on hold, (which was a click & then total silence, like they'd just hung up on me, after their rudeness, it would not have surprised me one bit)... They don’t even let you know they’re putting you on hold. Then you get a click & total silence, so you wait & wait wondering if anyone will ever pick up the phone.
I finally get through to a woman who called herself a supervisor & her name was Nicki. She refused to give me even just an $8 refund, she couldn't have cared less about the poor attitude & customer service I received from Sondi, or the fact I was not contacted about my magazine subscription being cancelled even though they were sure to take my full payment.
She didn't care about anything I had to say. So then of course I lost my temper with her, there was no cussing with her, she told me to be quiet & let her speak & she said that I was rude & should NOT have "so rudely interrupted her!" (This is when she was repeating what Sondi said about it not being their fault & all they would do is send the $8 refund, so I told her I already knew that b/c that is what Sondi just told me REPEATEDLY." So I said" Fine Speak".
Then she told me to have a nice day & SHE HUNG UP ON ME. After all that time waiting on hold & all the horrible customer service reps that I dealt with. The ONLY reason she hung up on me is because I told her “Fine, speak” I work in customer service too and I know for a fact that you DO NOT treat customers that way, especially when it’s YOUR business that is in the wrong.
Once again I called back (much to my disappointment)... This time I get Chiquita... They all sounded like the same person pretty much, they're all rude & don't sound friendly at all. When she answered the phone I said right off the bat that I'd like to speak with a supervisor, she said "what?" like she didn't understand me, I said again, I'd like to speak with a supervisor, whomever is above Nicki, she said, what? You’d like to speak with abud what?
She was totally rude & probably knew I had already talked to the other reps. I finally spelled out a-b-o-v-e for her since she couldn't seem to understand me so then I asked once again for a supervisor.
I get put on hold again (once again, CLICK & TOTAL SILENCE) & then some other lady gets on... I wrote Kia down so I guess maybe that was her name. She alleged that she was the main customer service manager & that there was no one above her. I said, fine, can I have the corporate phone number then, & she said I was talking to corporate.
Then I said, “okay could I have the address then” & she told me to go look at their website & that the address was on there if I wanted to write. Once again she refused to help me. I asked her again for the address since I was on the phone already & she then said she'd give it to me & that I'd better send it fast because they're changing buildings very soon. I said "of course you are". Yet funny enough, she didn’t offer a new address….
So basically, I would just like this taken care of, as you can see by this extremely lengthy email their unbelievably horrible customer service & their lack of concern for me not being contacted & then how they're just taking my money & putting sole blame on the publisher, has really bothered me.
If the Publisher went out of business as MagazineCity alleges, then why as of 7pm EST January 23rd is it still advertised on their website, yet they quit sending me my subscription back in September???
I would like to be refunded my full $13 (they should be forced to pay more as compensation for the HORRIBLE act they call “customer service”. What I hope to get out of this the most though is to be assured & have proof that this lying, thieving business is being looked into. They should not be allowed to do this to people.
I do not want their pathetic offer of an $8 credit to their thieving company because that would mean that I would have to buy something else from them as nothing they have, in the amount of $8, is comparable to what I should have received in the first place. This means I would be paying them MORE money, to add on to the $8, when I already paid what I was required to in order to receive what was supposed to be TWELVE magazines, not FOUR!
How is this legal??? IS it even legal???
If their poor offer of an $8 credit is legal, it is probably the bare minimum that they have to do in order to not get sued. Either way, they cover their butts & make money off of unfortunate customers that thought they were purchasing something from an honest business. They win both ways…. Either they get to keep the rest of my money, the rest of my subscription & their sad little $8 credit; or they get me to spend more money on their company by purchasing another subscription that takes four months to even begin & then cut it off after who knows how many & then lie & say the publisher went out of business & that it’s not their fault.
Can anything be done about this? I’ve come to expect absolutely nothing from their company because I’ve talked to the “individuals” there & then even saw online how only EIGHT people are employed in what they consider their “customer service department”. I’ve warned everyone I know not to purchase anything from their company & I’m also going to post it everywhere I possibly can on the internet. I’m going to send emails to people to forward on as well. I’m also working on finding other VA state organizations to file a complaint with & other websites as well.
Had I been spoken to in a friendly tone as customer service reps should use in the first place & had they at least tried to assist me I would not have lost my temper in the other calls. I'm simply asking for a $13 refund & for someone to really look into their company ethics/standards, because it is a terrible business. I'd really like to see more specific information on the other complaints placed for this business as well, because I am 100% certain there are others out there like me.
This is not about the money the $13. This is about decent, honest business
& trying to keep them from stealing other customers money as well. It is easy to place the blame on the “publishers”. I’d also like the name of the publisher so that I can contact them directly.
My guess is, a lot of people would have just forgotten about they were even getting a magazine in the first place since they only come once a month. Many people probably have not even taken this to the BBB b/c it probably was over a fairly insignificant amount like mine. However, if you look at the big picture and MagCity does this to hundreds of people, they can make a lot of money!
Oh yeah, and I just got an email Jan. 24th 2007 about renewing my subscription to this magazine that they are still offering on their website. Are they just going to have people order it and steal their money as well? Why else would it still be on their site if it's not available as they allege???
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