- Report: #28642
Complaint Review: Palmetto Marketing Inc. AKA Patriot Team - Coral Springs Florida
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Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Palmetto Marketing Inc. AKA Patriot Team
7522 Wiles RD., Ste112 Coral Springs, 33067 Florida, U.S.A.
Phone:
316-321-4431
Web:
N/A
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Business Rating:
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Palmetto marketing Inc AKA Patriot team ripoff victimized many consumers dishonest lied to us Coral Springs Florida
A young man from Palmetto marketing, Inc. came to my door today (08/31/02 2:30PM) and said that he was a neighbor of ours. I listened to what he had to say and he was trying to earn "points" to win a trip to Mexico. He said that he needed to step in so I let him.
He came in and sat on my couch and asked for a drink of water. I got him a drink and he was telling me how expesive the magazines are. He talked me into "helping out" and subscribing to a few magazines after the cost of both magazines had been discussed.
He asked me to get the checkbook and write him a seperate check for each magazine that I was ordering. I thought that I was doing the right thing by helping out a neighbor even though I knew that I could get it much cheaper by sending in an insert directly from each of the magazines. I ordered Cosmo and Stuff for my girlfriend and I. Then the prices began to change as I wrote out the check...
There was "hidden charges" that he had not mentioned...taxes, as he put it, and "processing fees". He wanted ten dollars per subscription MORE to put the orders in and that was to "protect" us from telemarketers and junk mail. The ten dollars (twenty total) was to keep our names from getting to "scammers" and the processing of our orders. When I called him on that charge, he dropped it in half. After another minute, he said that he could take that off entirely since it had "confused" me. That's when I stopped and began to question the guy about his company and what would happen if I wanted to cancel the orders.
"You get 15 days to change your mind and cancel the order before the check is even cashed", he told us. After that, you can still cancel and the money would be refunded. He practically begged me to order a few more magazines and just cancel them in 15 days so that he would already have his points and by then, hopefully he would have already won the trip. "Just write the check now and cancel it to get your money back..." The receipt shows that I paid $10 more than I did. It also says that I paid cash. I did not pay cash.
He told me that the website was going to be on my receipt and also a phone number to call to cancel the orders in 15 days. Both things were a lie. No website... No Phone Number! He did write a phone number on the receipt but it just rings and rings with no answer and no recording of any kind. His name on the receipt cannot be read.
Was I scammed? Did I do the wrong thing?
Taken?
Springfield, Illinois
He came in and sat on my couch and asked for a drink of water. I got him a drink and he was telling me how expesive the magazines are. He talked me into "helping out" and subscribing to a few magazines after the cost of both magazines had been discussed.
He asked me to get the checkbook and write him a seperate check for each magazine that I was ordering. I thought that I was doing the right thing by helping out a neighbor even though I knew that I could get it much cheaper by sending in an insert directly from each of the magazines. I ordered Cosmo and Stuff for my girlfriend and I. Then the prices began to change as I wrote out the check...
There was "hidden charges" that he had not mentioned...taxes, as he put it, and "processing fees". He wanted ten dollars per subscription MORE to put the orders in and that was to "protect" us from telemarketers and junk mail. The ten dollars (twenty total) was to keep our names from getting to "scammers" and the processing of our orders. When I called him on that charge, he dropped it in half. After another minute, he said that he could take that off entirely since it had "confused" me. That's when I stopped and began to question the guy about his company and what would happen if I wanted to cancel the orders.
"You get 15 days to change your mind and cancel the order before the check is even cashed", he told us. After that, you can still cancel and the money would be refunded. He practically begged me to order a few more magazines and just cancel them in 15 days so that he would already have his points and by then, hopefully he would have already won the trip. "Just write the check now and cancel it to get your money back..." The receipt shows that I paid $10 more than I did. It also says that I paid cash. I did not pay cash.
He told me that the website was going to be on my receipt and also a phone number to call to cancel the orders in 15 days. Both things were a lie. No website... No Phone Number! He did write a phone number on the receipt but it just rings and rings with no answer and no recording of any kind. His name on the receipt cannot be read.
Was I scammed? Did I do the wrong thing?
Taken?
Springfield, Illinois
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Ethics,
Arkansas,
Arkansas,
A common flim-flam
#2Consumer Suggestion
Sun, September 01, 2002
Hey, Springfield! You are just 20 minutes away from where the Fraud Chick was raised--Dawson, Illinois. Ah, I can still smell the sweet corn growing knee high in July--but those were my chicklet days. Now on to your scam--yep, the scam. There are many unscrupulous magazine sales companies that pack a dozen or so teenagers into vans that travel the country in search of suckers. The aim of the kids is to sell overpriced subscriptions to the softhearted. The scheme is usually the samea youthful individual shows up at the door claiming to be a local resident. The "kid" will claim to be a student of the local high school trying to win a contest. The ones who have come to my door all used the same rusea high school class trip to Washington DC The local high school competing with the other towns school. Most of the sales people are in their twenties, just strung out and skinny enough to look younger. But there are usually a few teenage runaways in the group. The companies dont treat the kids or sales people right. The company gets your money, not the kidhe only got a commission. Heres what you docancel your checksall of them. The reason he had you write so many checks is two fold. First, he believes you will be less likely to put a stop payment on multiple checks because there is usually a $10 charge per check. So if you write four checks it would cost you $40 to stop the scam. The second reason is sort of sinister and I hope this isnt true for your young visitorbut the more checks you write, the more checks they have to "wash." Washing is a trick used by cons to remove the ink used to write out the amount and replace it with a larger amount. So a $25 check can be changed to a $300 check. Dont think that you will actually get a magazine. Most of the time no magazine is received. Sometimes the scam is to walk away with your money. Other times its because the paperwork is so poorly managed that the fraudsters dont get the order right. Soplace a stop payment on all of your checks and write the money off as a lesson in fraud. Better the bank get your $10 stop payment fee than a fraudster laughing all the way to the bank and then making fun of you to the rest of his gang. Not to mention the fact that you have probably been placed on a "sucker" or "sweetheart" list as an easy mark. Good Luck
Ethics,
Arkansas,
Arkansas,
A common flim-flam
#3Consumer Suggestion
Sun, September 01, 2002
Hey, Springfield! You are just 20 minutes away from where the Fraud Chick was raised--Dawson, Illinois. Ah, I can still smell the sweet corn growing knee high in July--but those were my chicklet days. Now on to your scam--yep, the scam. There are many unscrupulous magazine sales companies that pack a dozen or so teenagers into vans that travel the country in search of suckers. The aim of the kids is to sell overpriced subscriptions to the softhearted. The scheme is usually the samea youthful individual shows up at the door claiming to be a local resident. The "kid" will claim to be a student of the local high school trying to win a contest. The ones who have come to my door all used the same rusea high school class trip to Washington DC The local high school competing with the other towns school. Most of the sales people are in their twenties, just strung out and skinny enough to look younger. But there are usually a few teenage runaways in the group. The companies dont treat the kids or sales people right. The company gets your money, not the kidhe only got a commission. Heres what you docancel your checksall of them. The reason he had you write so many checks is two fold. First, he believes you will be less likely to put a stop payment on multiple checks because there is usually a $10 charge per check. So if you write four checks it would cost you $40 to stop the scam. The second reason is sort of sinister and I hope this isnt true for your young visitorbut the more checks you write, the more checks they have to "wash." Washing is a trick used by cons to remove the ink used to write out the amount and replace it with a larger amount. So a $25 check can be changed to a $300 check. Dont think that you will actually get a magazine. Most of the time no magazine is received. Sometimes the scam is to walk away with your money. Other times its because the paperwork is so poorly managed that the fraudsters dont get the order right. Soplace a stop payment on all of your checks and write the money off as a lesson in fraud. Better the bank get your $10 stop payment fee than a fraudster laughing all the way to the bank and then making fun of you to the rest of his gang. Not to mention the fact that you have probably been placed on a "sucker" or "sweetheart" list as an easy mark. Good Luck
Ethics,
Arkansas,
Arkansas,
A common flim-flam
#4Consumer Suggestion
Sun, September 01, 2002
Hey, Springfield! You are just 20 minutes away from where the Fraud Chick was raised--Dawson, Illinois. Ah, I can still smell the sweet corn growing knee high in July--but those were my chicklet days. Now on to your scam--yep, the scam. There are many unscrupulous magazine sales companies that pack a dozen or so teenagers into vans that travel the country in search of suckers. The aim of the kids is to sell overpriced subscriptions to the softhearted. The scheme is usually the samea youthful individual shows up at the door claiming to be a local resident. The "kid" will claim to be a student of the local high school trying to win a contest. The ones who have come to my door all used the same rusea high school class trip to Washington DC The local high school competing with the other towns school. Most of the sales people are in their twenties, just strung out and skinny enough to look younger. But there are usually a few teenage runaways in the group. The companies dont treat the kids or sales people right. The company gets your money, not the kidhe only got a commission. Heres what you docancel your checksall of them. The reason he had you write so many checks is two fold. First, he believes you will be less likely to put a stop payment on multiple checks because there is usually a $10 charge per check. So if you write four checks it would cost you $40 to stop the scam. The second reason is sort of sinister and I hope this isnt true for your young visitorbut the more checks you write, the more checks they have to "wash." Washing is a trick used by cons to remove the ink used to write out the amount and replace it with a larger amount. So a $25 check can be changed to a $300 check. Dont think that you will actually get a magazine. Most of the time no magazine is received. Sometimes the scam is to walk away with your money. Other times its because the paperwork is so poorly managed that the fraudsters dont get the order right. Soplace a stop payment on all of your checks and write the money off as a lesson in fraud. Better the bank get your $10 stop payment fee than a fraudster laughing all the way to the bank and then making fun of you to the rest of his gang. Not to mention the fact that you have probably been placed on a "sucker" or "sweetheart" list as an easy mark. Good Luck
Ethics,
Arkansas,
Arkansas,
A common flim-flam
#5Consumer Suggestion
Sun, September 01, 2002
Hey, Springfield! You are just 20 minutes away from where the Fraud Chick was raised--Dawson, Illinois. Ah, I can still smell the sweet corn growing knee high in July--but those were my chicklet days. Now on to your scam--yep, the scam. There are many unscrupulous magazine sales companies that pack a dozen or so teenagers into vans that travel the country in search of suckers. The aim of the kids is to sell overpriced subscriptions to the softhearted. The scheme is usually the samea youthful individual shows up at the door claiming to be a local resident. The "kid" will claim to be a student of the local high school trying to win a contest. The ones who have come to my door all used the same rusea high school class trip to Washington DC The local high school competing with the other towns school. Most of the sales people are in their twenties, just strung out and skinny enough to look younger. But there are usually a few teenage runaways in the group. The companies dont treat the kids or sales people right. The company gets your money, not the kidhe only got a commission. Heres what you docancel your checksall of them. The reason he had you write so many checks is two fold. First, he believes you will be less likely to put a stop payment on multiple checks because there is usually a $10 charge per check. So if you write four checks it would cost you $40 to stop the scam. The second reason is sort of sinister and I hope this isnt true for your young visitorbut the more checks you write, the more checks they have to "wash." Washing is a trick used by cons to remove the ink used to write out the amount and replace it with a larger amount. So a $25 check can be changed to a $300 check. Dont think that you will actually get a magazine. Most of the time no magazine is received. Sometimes the scam is to walk away with your money. Other times its because the paperwork is so poorly managed that the fraudsters dont get the order right. Soplace a stop payment on all of your checks and write the money off as a lesson in fraud. Better the bank get your $10 stop payment fee than a fraudster laughing all the way to the bank and then making fun of you to the rest of his gang. Not to mention the fact that you have probably been placed on a "sucker" or "sweetheart" list as an easy mark. Good Luck
