Synapse Connect Unapproved Credit Card Charges Magazine Subscription Salt Lake City Utah
This company somehow has obtained my credit card information and threatens to charge your card for magazine subscriptions unless you call them, in total violation of credit card privacy and California State(as well as most other state's) law regarding credit card charges.
The company, SYNAPSE CONNECT post card indicates a UTAH address, however a search of the UTAH Corporation Database does not provide any indication such a corporation exists(current or past).
What is particularly troubling is most of my magazine subscriptions have come through PTA magazine drives. Now, I will no longer purchase magazine through the drive for fear of getting ripped off on my credit card. I am contacting all PTA's at the state level regarding this practice.
Joe
La Palma, California
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
John
Lewiston,Maine,
U.S.A.
Synapse has no way to obtain CC information without authorization
#2UPDATE Employee
Sun, October 30, 2005
Hi. I work for Synapse, and while a it is a job that has its ups and downs, 99% of the time it is the customers fault that they have been charged. The only times it is not their fault is when their card has been stolen.
I deal with many phone calls in a day. In fact, alot of them are good phone calls, from people who forgot about the charge or to send in the card, admit their mistake, and end up cancelling and getting their money back within 4 minutes. We let them know about deals yes, but if you say no we move on. It is that simple.
Then there are others. These are people who accept offers via informercials, inside their credit card statement at stores or online who fail to read. In the day and age of technology and fraud, it is amazing how people just sign up for something, put in cc information then seemed shocked when they get charged. they think "risk free" is free (it is not), and they throw postcards out before reading them. you'd also be amazed how many people fill out orders for magazines inside their credit cards, where it specifically tells you on the order form you are agreeing to have your account charged, yet call and cry when it happens.
I myself have had magazines through Synapse for two years now. I always get my postcards, have no problem going through the automated system and like the fact I get renewed without having to worry about missing an issue of my favorite magazine.
To answer your question, there is NO way synapse could have gotten your information without your consent, unless it was stolen. Now if a company did not let you know the terms and conditions, then blame the company who gave you the offer as they are required to either tell you or give you information when you sign up for something.
If you call Synapse, they will gladly let you know how the mag was ordered, and how they obtained information to charge you. They will also go above and beyond if you don't remember or wanna cancel will give you your money back. The automated system handles 90% of customers, but if you would rather talk to a human, hit 0 when it asks you for information, then hit 0 again if it asks if you wanna continue through the austomed service.
In the future, be careful who you give your CC# out to, and please read everything, including fine print. It is amazing how I get calls from people who claim nothing was stated about continuous service or being charged, yet when I go on-line to the same exact site, or read the same exact paper recieved in the mail. It is right there is good size print.
Oh and to others who read this, Synapse does not do outbound sales, so you do not get a call asking to buy magazines, and we do not do door to door sales.