Complaint Review: DialAmerica - Nationwide

I'm not saying this story is not true. 

I mean there is always room for error in an company. But coming from someone who works at Dial and has been in almost every program available there, I know what's what. Getting a bill 4 days later seems very unlikely. I have worked in magazine renewals so I know what needs to be done. Like someone else stated before, you have to have a RECORDED conformation with the customer verifying their current address and order. Now if there was no recording it would have gotten held up. Hence why I said it was very unlikely that you would have gotten a bill so soon. Also we have to even have you permission to record you other wise we can't send the sale. It is our supervisors job to then try and re contact the customer and get a RECORDED conformation for legal purposes. Also so people can't claim that they never ordered something when in reality they did. If we are unable to reach the customer the sale will never go threw. Also please keep in mind that as a company we have customers (yourself) and clients (the big dogs) you know like the company who hires dial America to sell and renew their products.. They have requirements that we have to follow. If our clients ask us to start calling to renew your magazine so early, we have to. Our clients are also the ones who give us our contacts (you people to call) and tell us to call!! They also have requirements on rebuttals (even tho you say no we have to keep trying) As an agent who has called you I understand the struggle. We are people, if you have questions why don't you ask us? If our clients aren't satisfied we will loose business. Plain and simple.

Now as far as the DNC list goes... Legally we have a right to call you. And I will tell you why. The DNC list does NOT apply to companies who have previous or exciting business relationships with their customers.. Basically you ordered it once so we can call you agin for it. But with that being said LEGALLY if you ask us to put you on our DNC list we have to. There is also verbiage we have to tell you, regarding to DNC and how it works. So next time try listening to the agent instead of hanging up in their face. Now pay attention here.. We have a couple different call lists. If you asked to be taken off the "list" we will take you off the client (people's product your buying) list. If you asked to be taken off ALL the lists you will also be taken off dial Americas internal list. You can also asked to not be mailed. It's a process folks, the list is updated monthly. So cut us some slack if we call back. Technically we are calling you blind, we didn't have any idea you asked to be off the list a few days ago. Just asked to be put on again and the agent should politely read you the dnc and let you go. Now believe it or not, there are people out there who actually like that we call for these things. They actually renew or buy people!! What? I know, crazy. And like I said there is room for error. Things happen people mess up. But there is always a solution. We've been around as a company for some 50 odd years or something. If we weren't a legit company and followed the rules we wouldn't still be around.

I know that selling SiriusXM, if a customer requests a DNC, we read it to them and we take them off the call list.  One of the things that I found out in most cases, is that the agent does not remove them from the call list properly, hence they still get calls.  In Rochester NY, we had to abide by that DNC or the next time we get a really irate customer who now wants to escalate it to a higher authority or some type of authority.  Not every agent is ethical either. I can't stand Dial America! The people that do well are making sales, but some don't realize how close they came to being fired.  

Other factors are involved like tardiness, no call no show, absences, you know the usual. Just because you make sales don't mean jack. I think a lot of agents think they are invincible because they make sales.  Each state has laws that a telemarketing company must abide by, including the DNC.  Also, if a customer doesn't close an accout (by calling/being transferred to customer service) that account will always be open.  And, if a customer only says Stop Calling Me!!, that's all Dial America will do is stop calling, but they'll continue to send you emails and promotional letters.  You have to tell them to stop it all. 

Thank you for your information. Unfortunately not all may be as ethical as you. When I called they immediately canceled the order (In my opinion a way to stay off the FTC radar) As for the DNCL that contact now makes it OK for Dial to contact for the next year. Unfortunately when it comes to the DNCL I have found out that there are approximately 200,000 complaints a month about unwanted calls so you might as well not complain.   Thanks anyway.

As a dial employee that does magazines, i can say that should not have happened. We have to confirm it with you. if we dont have a recorded confirmation, we cannot bill you.

As for the DNC, we are allowed to call. The NDNC provides exemptions for 1 year prior business, charitable fundraising as well as political calls.

Contact the closest call center to you and explain to a supervisor.

Hoss I want to say that what you have stated (at least part of it is not true or not accurate)

1st Dial America DOES send out bills for different amounts than what you say: (DialAmerica only bills for $49.99 (5 payments of $9.99) , $39.99 (4 pmts of $9.99), $29.99 (4 pmts of $7.49), or $19.99 (4 pmts of $4.99).) I know this because I am holding a bill in my hand for 43.90 (4 payments of $10.98).
2nd They do not always send out a Thank you letter from MADD as with Rahkinro2002 the bill I have is for a Renewal and they DID NOT send a Thank You  letter from MADD with the bill.
They did cancel the bill, and when I asked them why they were renewing my 87 year old mother's subscription to Readers Digest Large Print a YEAR AND A HALF EARLY they had no explanation. I could not understand this. Her subscription ends Mar 2014 and the renewed her subscription in October 2012 for 22 months, That would make it expire in 2016.

My feeling is that they renew as many of this subscriptions as they can and have their 100% guarantee to stop complaints to the Federal Trade Commission. The complaint never gets to the FTC because they have the 100% guarantee. The problem with this is that the practice continues and those that may not be as aware and conscious of these scams do not complain and those subscriptions are just gravy to Dial America and their commission based employees (I heard an employee of Dial America state that "You can't have any morals if you want to work there") The elderly and others not aware are paying the bills like good people with out realizing that they are paying twice or their subscription has been extended for the next 4 years because some Dial America employee wants a commission.
I have talked about Dial America but I am sure there other companies that do the same thing.

    First of all, the DNC list does not apply to certain charitable organizations such as Special Olympics and MADD. The employee who contacted you did not mistreat you, he was polite enough to not even try to talk you into something you could not afford.
    Also the bill you received could not have been from DialAmerica for several reasons: 1. DialAmerica turns in their orders once a week, so it would have taken a minimum of 7 business days to receive a bill. 2. With the exception of People magazine, DialAmerica only bills for $49.99 (5 payments of $9.99) , $39.99 (4 pmts of $9.99), $29.99 (4 pmts of $7.49), or $19.99 (4 pmts of $4.99). The bill would have been broken down into those payments. 3. DialAmerica would have sent the bill along with a thank-you letter from either MADD or Special Olympics. 4. DialAmerica gives a 100% satisfaction guarantee, meaning they would have listed an 800 number on your bill which you could call to cancel your order. 5. DialAmerica employees do not have access to the publisher's records, so they would have had no way of knowing you were even getting the magazine, let alone that it was running out. 6. (and lastly) Every sale has a tape recorded confirmation that must be passed by the manager before your order is sent out.
    It sounds to me like PC Gamer sent you a renewal notice, and you are assuming that it was from DialAmerica because it came shortly after their call.