Watch out for door-to-door magazine sales
Filed under: Extracurriculars, Ripoffs and Scams, Fraud
I received an email last week from Christina, who had her money taken by a door-to-door salesman, pitching magazines at inflated prices. The salesperson pretended to be a recently-returned Iraq veteran trying to get make a living, which was enough to disarm Christina. It is now many weeks later and the company has their money, but they have no magazine and the door-to-door sales company won't respond to any inquires about the status of the order. If you happen to get caught up in a door-to-door sales pitch like Christina did and like my wife and I did a year ago, there are a few steps you can take to try and get your money back. But time is of the essence.
In Ohio where both Christina and I live, there is a three-day cooling off period where you can cancel the order. These sales companies don't make it easy, so keep track of all of your records and follow the directions completely. I took the added step of putting a stop payment on the check despite the company's threat of using a collection agency to come after anyone who dared take this action.
If it is too late to stop your check payment, there are a few more things you can try, but frankly your chances of recouping your cash are slim. You can try to use the Better Business Bureau to get your money back from the company (track down the BBB closest to the company's headquarters.) Another step would be to find a fax or direct line for the headquarters and send in your request for cancellation and a refund. Finally if you want to feel particularly vindicated, you can sue in Small Claims court to recover the money that was taken. In Ohio you can sue for up to three times the amount of the original damages, and since the company must have a lawyer represent it, you'll likely get a quick settlement out of court.
I hope you can learn from our mistakes, buying magazines from door to door salespeople is a bad idea. You're better off going to the publisher's website to get the best deal or support a family member's kid selling them through school. Door to door magazine sales are rife with high prices, scams and long delays in receiving magazines, save your money and avoid these traveling liars!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-02-2008 @ 10:32PM
Ginger said...
AT&T has been trying to get me to use them for my phone, cable and high speed internet. Yesterday, a couple of their salesmen came to the door to let me know they were changing out the old telephone copper wire for micro-filliment. They tried again to get me to use them for all services. Asked me if I was aware that Time Warner had me and my neighbors on a looped system for my internet and that when ever I logged in, my neighbors could see everything I see????? Details of my on-line banking, credit card accounts, what ever - EVERYTHING???
Has anyone else heard this and is it not a complete frabrication?
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8-02-2008 @ 10:33PM
Josh Smith said...
The AT&T salesmen where full of crap. I'd put money on the fact that they are a third party getting commissions rather than AT&T employees.
8-04-2008 @ 7:31AM
Lisa said...
AT&T is the biggest rip-off artist there is! I used to have my phone and internet through them--BIG mistake. Before I knew it, I had a $500 phone bill within 3 months, but I never called long-distance, nor did I do anything to warrant this kind of charge. The customer service people just threw charges and terms at me from all directions, so I never really understood where all my money was supposed to go. Needless to say, I couldn't come up with that kind of money, had my phone and internet cut off, and ended up with my credit score lowered b/c they sicced a collector on me. I will NEVER go with those blood-suckers again!
8-02-2008 @ 11:37PM
Vicki said...
First of all, if I read through something that mentioned not to try cancelling a cheque, I just would send that salesman or whomever on their way. Secondly, AT&T is the devil incarnate. We thought we got rid of them in the 70's but like the beast in Revelations they were revived in the Bush era. LOL! Trust me, you don't want their Dish Network package or anything else they offer. They are famous for non-disclosure that are part of agreements with the other companies that are involved with the packages such as Dish Network
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8-03-2008 @ 1:01PM
Susan said...
The first thing I do to a person trying to sell me anything at my door is ask for sales permit and company ID, most that are in a racket have a tell like a poker player. They leave and on there way I tell them I will be calling all the home owners and tell them to be aware they are coming. And a marked police unit will be by to ask them questions.
Most times if I do not know the car or do not see one I don't even answer the front door, people that know me know to use the back patio door.
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8-04-2008 @ 8:09AM
j shalit said...
Sometimes these "seller" come in use the bathroom and case your house. They ask questions to get a feel of who is at home. Do yourself a favor and don't answer the door. I called the police after looking up the company on the internet and finding out that they were using ex-cons and had been convicted of crimes. They were associated with burgular rings!
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8-04-2008 @ 10:30AM
Judy said...
A woman in our state was killed by a traveling magazine salesman. Once one came to our door, a young man in the cold of winter with no coat on! I asked my husband to get one of his heavy sweatshirts with a hood to give to the young man. I felt bad for him, we didn't buy anything from him though. Here is a link of all the things traveling salepeople have done. http://www.travelingsalescrews.info/article_archives.html
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8-04-2008 @ 6:02PM
bicycletvlog said...
Want to pay wholesale on a magazine subscription?
Go on to eBay and do a search for your favorite magazine. Prices are so cheap they have to sell two year subscriptions. Not every seller has low prices on every magazine. Do a new search for each magazine.
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8-07-2008 @ 2:45PM
Gringo said...
Most door to door magazine salesmen are members of "mag crews".
Excellent and disturbing exposé in New York Times Magazine last year...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/us/21magcrew.html
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