Periodicals victims, do not despair. Over two years ago I received a call, just like you, to buy a magazine subscription or that I won a sweepstakes or something similar. At the time, I was in school for visual communications and I wanted to work at a magazine so I thought it would be a great idea to have a few magazines to study in terms of layout, look and feel, fonts, picture/text placement, etc., you get my drift. So I signed up for 3 subscriptions - OK! Cosmopolitan, and I think Self.
I started receiving the magazines, but after awhile I also started receiving House and Garden, Better Homes and Gardens, and some other house and garden type magazine. Number 1, I live in a condo, number 2, I don't cook, number 3 I'm a slob and I don't care about having a better home or garden, number 4 they're boring, and there are many other reasons why I would not order or read those types of magazines.
They were charging me 49.95 a month for 3 subscriptions that I ordered and 3 that I did not.
Anyway, I hadn't been paying attention to my credit card statement because I wasn't using the credit card at all - except for this purpose. I was paying off the card thats why I wasn't paying attention to the statements. At about month 4 I happened to look at my statement and saw how much they were charging me. I tried to cancel just like everyone else and they told me it was passed my 3 day cancellation period and couldn't cancel. So, I just decided to cancel my credit card so they couldn't charge me anymore.
So, for the past 2 years Periodicals has been harassing me and using guerilla (sp?) tactics (to which most people fall prey because they're afraid of being sent to a collection agency) to get me to pay and I haven't caved.
My point is this. If they were going to report me to a collection agency or a credit bureau, they would have done it a very long time ago. I still have great credit - 732 - so I know they haven't reported me to anybody. They are doing something illegal so thats why they're not trying to collect through legal channels. They still keep calling me but I basically keep telling them to f off.
SO DON'T CAVE IN!!! Don't pay them any more money... Cancel your credit card if you have to. The best way to do that is to tell your bank or credit card company that it was lost or stolen because they immediately cancel the existing card and create a brand new account to which Periodicals doesn't have access. Beware, if you just CANCEL your card with your bank or your credit card company it has a negative effect on your credit so telling them that it was lost or stolen is your best option.
I will monitor this posting so if anyone has any comments or questions, please comment and question:) I can help give you the strength not to cave in.
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