Young Writers Society

A couple weeks ago I got a call from a company trying to send me incredibly cheap magazines for a year, so I said sure. Guess what? I just got a bill in the mail that says my incredibly cheap magazines are suddenly $998.

I'M GOING TO KILL THAT $#@!^& COMPANY!!!

College student = no money = inability to pay = I'm screwed.

I'm going hunt them down and kill them. Seriously.

Isn't there a way you can cancel the subscription? maybe a phone number you can call?


Good luck!


---Jon---

There is a phone number, but I've looked it up and people have said that it's a fake number. As soon as I can I'm going to give it a shot though.

Right now I'm just impossibly angry.

Holy crap, seriously????!. That's awful... I know that doesn't help but I felt the need to say something.

That is horrible! You should of recorded that call and then you could of sewed them!

Just don't pay. They can't make you. If you gave them your debit/credit card number, contact your bank and ask them not to honour any charges from the company.

Sureal: I thought about that, but I'm afraid it won't work. I guess it's worth a shot though.

Sounds like a scam, a classic example of identity theft. If you have any type of evidance, I'd go straight to the police. And if not, I'd still go to the police and further cancel that credit/debit card account. Check your bank records and make sure there isn't any other unauthorized purchases since they now have your complete credit card number and will probably have access to your account.

Did this "company" request your social security number as well???

Aye, that was stupid of you

Based on your IP address, I'm assuming you are from the US, so the below information should be helpful.

Anyhow, the number one thing you cannot do is ignore the problem. As Sureal said, if you have given them your credit card, you need to contact your bank and ask them to not accept any charges from the company.

However, DO NOT DO NOTHING. If you do nothing, then you will be hounded by creditors and eventually forced to pay.

Here's information from the FTC on magazine scams:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consume ... tel03.shtm

Check out the section specifically about cancellation.

Additionally, you should file a complaint with the FTC:
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/F ... px?Lang=en

They don't investigate everything, but they look for patterns.

Unfortunately, by agreeing initially, you are indebted for the full amount unless you cancel asap. If it is too late to cancel, call the FTC. You can contact them here: http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/contact.shtm

Some other steps I suggest:
- Change your phone number
- If you have given them your credit card number, cancel the card and get a new one

It's going to be a hassle sorting it all out, and you may even need to end up contacting the credit report agencies (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax) to notify them of the fraudulent transaction. Otherwise, this is going to impact your credit report for at least seven years (thereby making any student loans you have more expensive).

An additional resource is your Congressional Representative. If you don't know who your Representative is, go to http://www.house.gov. You'll need your zip code plus the four last digits (to get the four last digits, go to http://www.usps.com then "Find a Zip Code").

Once you find your Representative (or you already know who it is), Google them to find their official page (usually http://last_name.house.gov). Look for "Contact" then call the District Office closest to where you live.

Also, remember your Congressional Representative is where you are registered to vote. If you are not registered to vote, use your permanent address (not your college address). Additionally, contacting your Senators is going to be a waste of time.

When you get in touch with the District Office, tell them what happened. They'll probably just tell you what I said above, but they may be able to provide additional guidance.

It's a lame-duck Congress right now, so if your Representative is retiring or lost, you're probably out of luck.

Samuel Garrison: Yeah, they did ask for my SSN, and I said heck no. For which I am very grateful.

Nate: Lol. "Just say no" is my theme from now on. And thank you so much for all those websites. I'm sure they'll be helpful.

Good news! I called the company who sent me the bill and essentially chewed them out; they got a little flustered and said that if I couldn't pay for the bill they could lower the cost. I told them that if they could lower the cost and change my magazines for me, they should be able to cancel my subscription. I told them that this sounded very illegal and I was going to find a way to deal with it. Then I hung up.

They called back ten minutes later and told me my subscription was canceled.

Don't let it pass--you might as well inform the appropriate authority about the scam.

But great for you!

Woot, way to be standoffish! Props.

Yeah, i agree with Blink. Warn whatever authority you use in America about their fraudulence, because chances are they're doing this to somebody else.

Also, i suggest getting a private number. I have one (home number i mean) and it helps a tonne because we NEVER get calls unless from people who know us/authorized companies not telemarketers badgering on.