NSS Magazines Credit Card Fraud & Disceptive Trade Practices
On August 29, 2001 I received my Visa statement which showed a charge of $105.00 I did not authorize. NSS Magazines was not authorized by me to charge my account for magazines. I did not sign up for magazines to be automatically charged to my credit card or authorize NSS Magazines to automatically charge my credit card. An offer was made for a free trial however nothing was said about an automatic charge after a trial period. I would never sign up for an automatic charge subscription. After the trial period I was told that I could make a decision at that time whether or not to continue the subscriptions. I was never given an opportunity to make that decision.
I called the phone number on my charge statement and found it to be a computer generated automated voice recognition system. I attempted to cancel all three magazines (Time, Newsweek, & Consumer Reports). The instructions were very ambiguous and it appears that I could only cancel two magazines and not Consumer Reports. I tried to cancel Consumer Reports ten minutes later but it would not give me the option to cancel. No other information was provided on how to proceed beyond this computer voice. No phone numbers were given and no address for correspondence. No option was given to talk to a live person. It appears that only future subscriptions were cancelled not the current charges.
Other then the phone number on the credit card bill 800-205-9198 I had no other information on how to contact NSS Magazines. I searched the web and found three other complaints about NSS at www.badbusinessbureau.com, which provided a mailing address. I will mail a letter asking for reimbursement however I am sure that this avenue is a waste of time. I also tried the phone number 800-927-9578 which was listed at the above website however it was the same computer voice system with no other option or contact method given.
According to my credit card statment they may be located in Connecticut
This whole scheme is obviously a fraud and deceptive trade practice. I will try to have Visa refund the money and a complaint was filed with the Federal Trade Commission at
http://www.ftc.gov
2 Updates & Rebuttals
a number to call where people answer the phone and you can cancel the order.
#30
Wed, November 21, 2001
I recently was charged $63.00 for magazines that I did not order. I found that many people had experienced the same thing and reported it to you. Well, I did a little research and found a number to call where people answer the phone and you can cancel the order. The number is:
800-382-5210 - ask for customer service.
Richard Gedzelman
Technical Specialist
Sony Product Operational Support Center
1 Sony Drive MD#3D4
Park Ridge, N.J 07656
Refund received
#30
Fri, October 19, 2001
I did receive a refund on my Visa Card for two of the magazines on September 7th, 2001. I filed a complaint with Visa. On September 17th, I received the last refund on my credit card statement. It must have been a result of the dispute I filed with Visa. The FTC won't do anything unless they receive hundreds of complaints about the same company. But it was easy to file a complaint online.
Mvr211(no-spam)@(nospam) hotmail.com