I received a call on my home phone from Mailbox Magazines on 7/23/07 telling me I had won a mens diamond watch, and 3 free magazine subscriptions, and would be entered into the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes. The woman continued with her pitch, and then told me all I needed to do was subscribe to one of their partner magazines. I was assured I was getting the lowest available rate for the magazine, and that I would be locked in at this rate and even if the publisher raised the price, I would be protected from that. I choose US News and World Report for my Husband and the computer chose 3 random other magazines.
After I talked to the original seller, she put her 'supervisor' on the phone. She verified my name address and card number.
Later in the morning I was called back by another representative on a restricted number, and all my information was verified again. I asked the girl if she could call back later as I was walking out the door with my 4 children. She assured me that she just had a couple of questions about my order and that it would only take a minute. She had me listen to some recorded messages explaining my magazine order. The volume of the message was much lower than the actual person on the phone.
At one point I questioned the payment schedule from the recording, as I was told initially that I would make 4 payments of $59.80 for a two year subscription. The real person on the phone reassured me that the recording did say that I would make only four payments of $59.80 and told me to say yes at the beep.
After discussing the order with my husband we decided that we should cancel the order as we just purchased a new home. I emailed Publishers Clearing House who responded that they didnt have an order for me as they no longer sell subscriptions. I then checked my credit card statement and called the number of the magazine merchant to cancel and was told to call back that the office was closed.
I then called again a few days later and was told that my order was not cancelable only changeable. I said that if they refused to cancel my order I would dispute the charge with my credit card company. The representative told me that they had me being recorded agreeing to the order and that I could not cancel under any circumstances.
I received a letter from them Monday 7/30/07 outlining my purchase and saw that the total I was being charged was $59.80 a month for 15 months, which works out to $897 for a 5 year subscription. Also included on the invoice were three magazines that I never ordered or discussed with the sales person.
Immediately I called them to cancel my order and was told again that I could not. I was also told they had a recording of me agreeing not to cancel the subscriptions and agreeing to the payments. I didn't remember ever making that statement, so I asked to hear it. Chastity told me I would have to wait 3 business days because they didn't have the recordings there. I immediately called my bank to dispute the charges.
My husband then researched Mailbox Magazines on the internet and immediately found an article on usacomplaints.com. On that site he found an article posted from another consumer in the State of Washington who had been similarly ripped off by Mailbox Magazines and their misleading sales tactics. He also found that some states have laws that protect consumers from these types of purchases, giving them a grace period in which to cancel orders, contrary to what I was being told by Mailbox Magazines.
He then called back Mailbox Magazines again and talked to Chastity. He told her we were disputing any charges they would make with my credit card, and again demanded she cancel my purchase. He notified her that by law we were entitled to cancel our order within a certain amount of time, after which Chastity informed him that she had been working in the industry for some time, and that Mailbox Magazines was working within full compliance of all laws. She continued to refuse and would not let us cancel. He then asked Chastity if he could speak to her supervisor. She stated that she was the supervisor, and there there was nobody else that I could speak to. He insisted that he speak with whoever was her boss, and she stated several times that she was the only one there that dealt with consumer complaints. After repeated requests to cancel the order, and to speak with someone else, Chastity asked if there was anything else she could do for him, and when my husband requested to have the order cancelled again, Chastity told him that the conversation was over, and hung up. My husband called again, talked with Chastity again for a shorter amount of time. He told her that we would be disputing the charge, and that the credit card company would not pay for the charges. She told my husband that it would then impact our credit rating.
After my husband talked to Chastity, he did some additional research and found that in the state of California, law states that individuals have 30 days to cancel orders made over the telephone (B&P 17538 (a), 16 CFR Part 435). Mailbox Magazines does not include a cancellation policy, or consumer rights in its paperwork, nor do they give information over the phone regarding a consumers rights to cancel their order. The truth is the opposite, they attempt to confuse the consumer enough that they give up, and pay up.
We have now written a letter and are sending it certified mail with return receipt in the hopes that they will follow state law, and allow us to cancel our order, and not have it impact our credit rating.
My card has already been charged but I am disputing the charges with my bank.in looking online at the cost of US News and World Report, it is $15 per year through their website, which for 5 years is $822 less then this 'company' is charging me. Even the cover rate of $205.40 a year is less.
We are still waiting to see if this so called tape recorded conversation has turned up. I am also going to inform them of the letters I have sent, that is if I can ever get in touch with anyone willing to help me.
Mailbox Magazines deceptive practices have, no doubt, duped plenty of people into thinking that they are getting a deal, and paying great prices for their magazines. I dont know whether it is against the law to not only not offer the cancellation clause of the contract, or purposefully mislead people to think that they cant cancel their subscription, but it ought to be.
As a side-note, with the paperwork they sent, an advertisement for the Dream of a Lifetime Sweepstakes was included in the package.in the official rules it eludes to prizes of cash, cars, trips, electronic equipment, but never once mentions how one would enter into the sweepstakes that is definitely not administered by Publishers Clearing House.
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