In April 09, I was approached at my door by a very nice-looking, well-dressed man who explained that he was selling magazine subscriptions and that this was helping him work toward a nice trip and earn money to get through school. He was from Utah, and I have family there, so we had a common interest. I allowed him into my home, we visited for a while, and I eventually bought a subscription. It was very expensive. However, I had just graduated with my Master's after 7 years of school, and I knew what it was like to work your way through school, so that was another common interest. I wrote two checks, postdated, and he said, "Oh sure, no problem." I said OK, but told him not to cash them before then because it would overdraw my account. After I talked with my mom about this, we looked it up on the internet the next day and found this site, among several others.
Long story short, I called the number on the back of the receipt and could not get a live person at all to cancel. So I called my bank and stopped payment on those checks. They were dated for May 2. Yes, they tried sending them through, and I explained it to my banker, who was very kind and understood. I did the proper procedure, and after days and days of calling in April I finally got a live person, and they sent me the cancellation form. I mailed everything in with a letter stating my purpose, so I thought it was all done.
Then yesterday, 12-3-09, I went to withdraw money and was short, so I called my bank, and lo and behold, there was a Face To Face Tech. draft coming through. It made my account negative before a deposit was posted. I visited with my banker, and she said yes, it happens all the time: they have a 6-month waiting period and can try to send it in again. I did not have any receipts or anything from 7 months ago, so she gave me a number for them and I called.
After finally getting off hold, I spoke with a lady named Erica. She could not even find my name and was spelling it wrong. When she found it, she said, "Oh yeah, it's been sent to collections." I asked why, since I cancelled this over 6 months ago. She said, "Really? I don't show anything on here at all." I told her I know what I did and that I cancelled my subscription, and that I would not let them get money for something I did not want or receive. She said, "Give me your address and I'll mail you the magazines." I said I did not want the magazines and asked for a supervisor or the steps to cancel. She said, "As I told you, the process to cancel is on the back of your receipt." I said that was 7 months ago and I thought this was over. She said, "Well, maybe you should have kept your receipt." I said, "Oh yeah. Well, I moved 4 hours away and had a son 3 months early, and I have lived in the NICU for 3 months. This is the last thing I wanted to deal with, with a newborn son who almost died!"
Again I asked for the contact info to get hold of Face To Face and said I wanted a supervisor. She said there is no supervisor and that she could not give that information out. I repeatedly asked for the contact information and phone number for FTF and for a supervisor. She said, "I am a supervisor," and I said, "Well then, do your job!" I told her this is a fraud and a ripoff. She said it is not, and that if I would give her my address she would start sending the magazines. I said no, I just wanted a phone number for FTF, and she said she could not give that out and asked if there was anything else. I said yes, I will tell you right now that I will fight this, and she said I would not get my money refunded because it had gone to collections. I said that I certainly would get it back, that they are a fraud, and that I am reporting them.
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