Complaint Review: Finish Line - Broomfield Colorado

I visited the Finish Line store in Broomfield, CO on 05/04/2013 and purchased a pair of shoes for my son. The sales associate was attempting to persuade me into signing up for a rewards card.  I asked the cost and she said nothing, but if I spend $200 I will get a certificate for $20 off my next purchase.  I agreed, as I have rewards cards at various other stores.  After signing up, she informed me that I will be automatically signed up to begin receiving Sports Illustrated magazine in the mail.  I advised her that in that case, I was not interested and would pass if that were a condition of the rewards card.  I advised we do not read magazines in our home, everything we do is online and my Husband and kids have no interest in Sports Illustrated.  She advised that after 3 months I would be able to call and cancel.  I once again told her I was not interested, we are very busy and run several companies and I don't want the magazine at all or the responsibility of having to remember to call and cancel a magazine subscription, if that were the terms of the card I would not be interested under any circumstances.  

After she argued with me for several minutes stating that "its free, why wouldn't I just take advantage of receiving a free magazine," I once again advised her that they will get thrown in the trash because we don't read that (or any for that matter) magazine and I was not interested.  She then told me I can still sign up for the card, and she can take the Sports Illustrated off so I didn't receive it.  I said, if she was able to do it that way, that would be fine, but I stressed to her several times that if she was unable to process the rewards card without the subscription to the magazine, not to do it. I was still feeling uneasy about the transaction and once again asked her, and she assured me that we would not get the magazine.  

We have been traveling throughout the Summer and not home much, last night we came home from a long trip to find the mailbox full of Sports Illustrated magazines.  Since it has been over 2 months since I had this conversation in the store, it did not immediately come to mind why we were getting this magazine.  I proceeded to call Sports Illustrated last night to determine why we are receiving their magazine, and was told that not only was the subscription processed through Finish Line, but also that our credit card that I used to purchase my son's shoes had been getting charged for the subscription.  Immediately I went into a panic, and asked how they had our credit card information and was told that once I swiped my card for my purchase at Finish Line for shoes, the credit card information is then sent to Sports Illustrated and kept on file there to charge for future magazine subscriptions.  I was in complete shock as to how I can go into a store at a mall and buy a pair of shoes as my ONLY authorized purchase, and all the sudden a person saying he is from India is on the phone with my credit card number and unauthorized charges were placed on the card for a magazine I adamantly had expressed in the store I did not want.  This specific credit card is linked to one of our businesses accounts, and we have spent the last two days scrambling to find out what charges were made and how this happened and ultimately we will have to go through the stress of cancelling out that specific card linked to that account to ensure our privacy and protection.  I am in complete disbelief that Finish Line is pulling a scam such as this and invading peoples privacy, and that their employees are fraudulently sending over credit card numbers for unauthorized purchases, when I simply walked into a store to purchase my son some shoes.  Its invasive, unprofessional, dishonest, and nothing I would expect from a well known company such as Finish Line.  After researching online, there are thousands of complaints just like mine from other customers whos privacy has been invaded and also received unauthorized charges on their card and this needs to come to a stop.  It is very scary that any employee working behind the counter is authorized to send over peoples private credit card information at a click of a button and have unauthorized charges applied to a persons card.  I am very disappointed in the store practices of Finish Line.