In January my wife received a renewal notice to her Threads magazine. I wrote a check to PBA-Threads, as instructed, and mailed it. The check cleared my bank, and the cancelled check indicates it was deposited in Reno NV by Orbital Publishing Group.
Two months later I received a notice from the magazine saying it was time to renew. I sent the notice back saying I had a cancelled check for the renewal. They contacted me and said they had no record of it.
Taunton Press, the totally reputable publisher of Threads, told me by phone that Orbital Publishing Group is not an authorized agent, that other subscribers had complained too, and that their legal department was looking into it.
If I had paid for this by credit card, I could do a chargeback transaction. But I don't think Orbital gave me that option on their fake invoice. They must know about chargebacks, too.
The money I paid them is gone, and I will learn to be more careful in the future. If I cannot renew by credit card, I'll take an extra step to verify with the publisher before I make a payment to anybody.
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