Us Readers Service told we could cancel Tampa Florida
My wife was contacted by a lady from us readers service who told her about this magazine subscription. A monthly payment would give us a few magazines. My wife did'nt want another monthly payment. So she asked if she would be able to cancel. The lady was hesitent and said you can but we don't like you to because we prepay the companys.
So my wife agreed to the deal. About a year later we were having trouble paying for the bill. My wife called and told them she would like to cancel the subscription. She was told you can not cancel. When she brought up the lady that told her she could cancel. They told her oh no no one would have told you that. This happend two more times before we gave up and stopped paying the bill. We are still getting bills and we just ignore them. Help!!
Freddyh
lakeside, Montana
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Exemployee
Lakewood,Ohio,
U.S.A.
A couple things....
#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Fri, August 29, 2008
Let me first start by saying, US Readers Service, a.k.a. Publishers Service of Tampa Bay was the worst job I've ever had Technically, you cannot consider them a "Scam," as you DO receive the product you purchase...you just pay a ridiculous amount for the magazines. Frequently, housewives will place these orders, and then leave out information when the husbands find out about the order.
Now, because I worked there, I know how things work. I have a feeling that your wife wasn't completely paying attention. Now, it is true that the company pays the publications in advance, and no, they do NOT let you cancel. There is a series of steps that are taken before the order is officially placed to the publishers. Let me give you a step by step description of what happened:
1) A sales person in Tampa Bay, Florida gave your wife a sales pitch that sounded GREAT. This pitch was mostly true, but NOT 100% accurate--the sales people just want to make the sale, and will have NO contact with the customer EVER again. They don't care if they lie. If you can find a way to *PROVE* that this person lied to you, then stop reading now, you've already made your case. Good luck finding proof.
2) The office in Fairview Park, OH sent out an Order Agreement letter. This letter states all the magazines that were ordered, the price of the package - $23.90 over a course of 30 months. That's over $700 (I believe somewhere around $717). The price alone should tip a person off that they're being ripped off. Now, I worked there a couple years ago, and some of the details may have changed since then. I suggest you find this agreement. At the bottom of this letter is a "voucher" that claims your first payment is "free." Now, this "voucher" also has the words, "By signing this voucher, you agree to the terms of this agreement." Many times people swear up and down that they never signed anything, but I can garuntee that NO order goes through without a signature. If she told you she didn't sign anything, she either forgot, or is lying.
3) A person in the Verification department called and spoke with your wife in an AUDIOTAPED conversation. During this call, the rep went over EVERYTHING on the agreement, including the fact that YOU CANNOT CANCEL. I feel this is another place that your wife wasn't paying attention. Because people want to get off the phone so badly, they just say "uh-huh" to everything to end the conversation.
Now, you may have told them you want to cancel, but believe me, that means nothing to them. You can't hold it against them; it's their job. You will receive collection calls all the time, and there's nothing you can do about it....because they don't care.
I suggest calling customer service, and have them send a copy of the order agreement, and tell them you want to hear the verification tape. I will warn you now, you will not be able to hear the tape that day--they will need to locate the tape in their files, and find her recording on the tape (multiple customers are on these tapes). You will need to call back the next day to hear the conversation. Listen to this tape *VERY* carefully. If the woman on the tape does not say that you can't cancel, you're gold (They are supposed to follow a script, but after doing it so many times, they think they have it memorized--sometimes they accidently skip a part; I've heard this happen more than a few times). If everything on the tape is good, and you receive your OA (order agreement), the only step left is to contact a lawyer (a legitimate lawyer--they will check, and you have no idea how many fake lawyers they get--it's almost amusing) and have them send a certified letter. Once lawyers get involved, they'll be happy to release you from the agreement--no one likes a lawyer. Unless you are a lawyer. In which case, start typing this letter now.
The collections will always try to "threaten" a "Possible Legal Matter." Which technically, they could sure for breach of contract. But they won't. It would cost the company too much money, and believe me, they don't have it. Which is also why they charge so much.
I wish you luck in this matter, because as much as it seems I may have been sticking up for them, I hate that place. I quit for two reasons: I felt like we were robbing people blind, and the Customer Service manager is an IDIOT who has NO idea what's going on, EVER (there's only 2 people in the department, if you were wondering why you always seemed to speak to the same person).
Make sure you read everything very carefully before you or your wife signs ANYTHING.