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Date Posted: 14:11:56 08/01/03 Fri
Author: Spock
Author Host/IP: user-vc8fm1s.biz.mindspring.com / 216.135.216.60
Subject: Magazine subscription scam

I think I may have discovered a new variety of mail-order subscription scam, as a result of lightning striking twice in the same place, so to speak.

At work, when I go through the mail, there are often lots of mailings offering various magazine subscriptions. Normally I throw these in the trash, or if it looks really interesting, I'll pass it on to the office magazine subscriber person for them to decide.

Twice now, in the past month or so, the respective magazine publisher has gone ahead and started a subscription anyway, without my having ordered it, and then started sending invoices, each with increasing urgency and terseness, approaching collection-letter tone.

With the first letter or two of the first subscription, I threw those away too. I hadn't ordered it, figured it was their fluke, and they'd stop sending it when they realized they weren't getting payment -- subscriptions will often cancel themselves that way. And it was a matter of principle that I shouldn't have to pay postage to tell them their error. When collection-letter language set in, however, I went ahead and wrote "cancel" on the invoice, and added "we never ordered this subscription" for good measure. And I haven't heard anything since, thankfully.

But today, I just got my introductory issue of ANOTHER magazine that I didn't order, complete with invoice -- I remember very distinctly the offer coming in, which I passed on to the subscriptions person who gave a resounding NO, and in the trash it went.

My take is that this new scam is very clever psychologically -- they're operating on the premise that most people are too busy to remember all they've done, particularly all the things they may have signed up for or ordered. They see a bill and pay it regardless. (Have you ever noticed how if you even enter a sweepstakes, the drawing usually doesn't occur until a date far in the future, by which time you'll probably have forgotten all about it, and entered several more in the mean time, thereby spreading around your mailing list potential.)

Granted, in the grand scheme, no harm done, I guess -- I haven't yet been held liable for these subscriptions. But I don't appreciate the harrassment, nor the time it wastes. My opinion of salespeople has never been high -- and I worked as a production manager in a sales office for 2 1/2 years and learned to confirm that opinion, and inform it a little too. Bottom line, I don't trust them. I never take sales calls, and screen them whenever possible. I signed up for the PA and the national "do not call" in a jiffy. Have you heard about how telemarketers are crying now, and suing the federal government over this? My husband describes them as essentially breaking and entering and harrassing -- we wouldn't let them do it in person, so why on the phone either? Add to that now, via the mail!

Has anybody else had anything like my subscription scam happen yet?

Should I be reporting this to one of those news shows that are always looking for new scoops, especially scams? It would seem to qualify, since I've heard stories done on how catalog companies will mail out different versions of the same catalog that have different prices for the same items, mailed by demographic determinations.

Respectfully submitted,

Spock

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Replies:

[> It is like "slamming" with phone providers. Contact each magazine and tell them in a letter, that you did not enter any subscription and do not intend to pay and please stop delivery. tell them you suspect that some third party has been entering these without permission and if so, you wanted them to be aware before they paid anyone any commission. In other words, make your letter to the magazine(s) helpful. If it is what you expect, a few of them may even reward you in some token manner (like a free subscription). Be sure to include a copy of the mailing label. Thanks for the report. -- SurveyGuy, 17:08:23 08/01/03 Fri (pcp03884941pcs.lndsd201.pa.comcast.net/68.32.204.89)

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[> Spock, Please give me the address so that I can send subscriptions to my magazine, "Intelligence for our Difficult Times" and "Spelleeng four week Spellurs: A Consise Gide four Impruveeng your Spelleeng Sckillz". -- William, 03:20:39 08/02/03 Sat (cache-mtc-ah04.proxy.aol.com/64.12.96.169)

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