On 09/29/06 I was charged $33.90 for a two year subscription to the New Yorker magazine. I ordered the subscription online through magsforless/my1mag (same company). The website indicated that the magazine would arrive in 4-6 weeks.
On 11/10/06 I sent an email to "Andrew Melville" requesting information on why the order had not been filled. Later I received a form letter saying the problem was fixed, and was offered a 10% discount on future orders. I attempted to gain additional information (such as expected delivery time) from "Andrew Melville" through "
[email protected]"but my emails went unanswered. I attempted to call their "customer service" number (888-720-6298)but their voice mail was "full" and indicated customers should call back. I called 5-8 additional times as the weeks passed, but the voice mail was always "full." Therefore I decided to wait the 4-6 weeks for delivery.
On 12/05/06 I sent additional emails to company and filled out online complaint/order status ticket. "Meagen Richards" emailed me on 12/06/06 from the online ticket, saying "I do apologize for the inconvenience. I located the order you are referring to and was able to identify the problem with getting your subscription processed. The issue has now been corrected. I went ahead and personally resubmitted your order to the publisher and put a rush on it. You should receive your magazine within the next 4-12 weeks. Thank you for your patience and cooperation on this matter. I'm glad we could get this resolved and look forward to assisting you with your future magazine subscription needs. Best Regards, Meagen Richards, MagsForLess Customer Support."
On 12/06/06 I also received an email from "Kim Scott," whose email address I found from other angry customers in a threaded discussion forum at "slickdeals.net." This email from "Kim Scott" says "Hi, I found your order. It is still processing. It seems to be processing correctly, not sure what is taking so long. Would you like to continue to wait for it. [sic] Which could possibly be 4-6 more weeks or I can refund your credit card for the full amount. I am sorry for the frustration this has caused you. I look forward to your reply. Thanks, Kim Scott"
On 12/06/06 I responded to Kim that, "I'd really like you to process the order" and receive the magazines, rather than the refund. On 12/06/06 she confirmed my message by writing "Hi, ok thats [sic] great. Thanks for letting me know."
By 01/20/07 the magazine had not yet arrived. I sent an email to both "Kim Scott" and "Meagen Richards" asking them to contact me via my cellular phone (supplying them with the number)--the only response I received was from "Kim Scott"--she wrote (on or around 01/21/07) "Thanks for contacting me. I would be happy to refund you via PayPal if that is acceptable to you. I do not have access to your credit card information at this time. Also, if you wish I can also resubmit your order normal delivery time for resubmissions is 4-8 weeks. Please, email me your current PayPal email address and I will take care of your refund immediately if you wish..[sic] I look forward to your reply."
On 01/22/07 I called all five numbers listed under the BBB website for the company; none but the fax number was connected. I left a message on the voice mail of the number listed as the fax (212.217.0028) but am not sure if this is still the number for magsforless.
At this point, being frustrated, I called the New Yorker magazine subscription department to see if they had any record of Magsforless trying to fulfill my subscription. "Nicky," who works for the New Yorker subscription service department, stated that Magsforless was barred from selling subscriptions of the New Yorker--they do not have the authority to sell the magazine!
After checking the Magsforless website (on 01/22/07) they still claim to sell subscriptions to the public.
(01/23/07) I was told: I submitted your request for a check to be mailed to you. Please, allow 7-10 business days for delivery. Please, let me know when you receive your check. The check has not arrived and I have attempted to tell this company this on the following dates via email: 02/03/07 & 02/07/07 & 02/11/07 & 02/12/07 & 02/15/07 Big surpriseno response!
I have started the process of disputing the charges with Visa today (02/15/07)
Latest update: (02/19/07) I had the following response from the company, Dear Mike, I do apologize for the inconvenience. I was able to locate your order in our system and confirm that indeed there was a problem processing your order. I canceled your order and personally initiated a refund to your account. You should see the refund posted to your Paypal account.This is very unusual as the company does not have my paypal information on file (I paid via Visa credit card). I responded on the same day via email, asking How do you have my paypal account information on file? This information was never provided to your company! then asked for a check to be mailed (as we had previously agreed). As of 03/01/07 I have not heard back from the company...
Mike
Providence, Rhode Island
U.S.A.