Knock, Knock. Who’s There? says Carol

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Knock, Knock. Who’s There? says Carol Posted Wednesday, September 08, 2010 in Retail Stores/Products by Carol Odell Know who’s knocking at your door. If it’s a magazine sales person, be careful. There are magazine subscription scams. Many times the company will use kids to come to your door saying they trying to win a prize or earn money for school. The kids aren’t the scammers. They have been promised good money which usually doesn’t come to fruition. According to TWiki.edumacation.com some of the techniques that are used in the scam are: “charging full publisher’s price for the subscription (sometimes more), when the publisher has multi-year or promotional discounts… quoting prices per week even though some of the magazines they offer you may only be published monthly failing to quote the total cost of the subscription order” Generally the scam involves leveraging a sale through a child or a “needy person” or misrepresentation of savings and/or receiving a special gift. However, non-delivery of the magazine(s) is a common complaint. Unfortunately, the industry has 90 days after purchase as its standard before a complaint can be processed. Lrumar Publications LLC, a company located in the Colorado Springs area, is a magazine subscription business that has an F rating with the BBB. They have a pattern of complaints alleging delays in delivery well beyond the 180 day time frame. Consumers allege their magazine orders take weeks to receive. By the time they contact the company inquiring about their order or request a refund, the three-day right to rescind has expired. Lrumar Publications LLC responds to the complaints by checking on the status of the order and in most cases informs the consumer they will be sending a delivery verification showing the order has been processed by the company. Your BBB has processed a total of 111 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Eighty-four of the 111 complaints were closed in the last year. The best way to prevent the loss of money and/or frustration is to check out the company through the BBB before doing business. What type of companies have been knocking on your door these days? Tagged under \| bbb BBB_Blog_Log Better_Business_Bureau magazine magazines

Knock, Knock. Who’s There? says Carol

Posted Wednesday, September 08, 2010 in Retail Stores/Products

by Carol Odell

Know who’s knocking at your door. If it’s a magazine sales person, be careful. There are magazine subscription scams.

Many times the company will use kids to come to your door saying they trying to win a prize or earn money for school. The kids aren’t the scammers. They have been promised good money which usually doesn’t come to fruition.

According to TWiki.edumacation.com some of the techniques that are used in the scam are:

“charging full publisher’s price for the subscription (sometimes more), when the publisher has multi-year or promotional discounts…
quoting prices per week even though some of the magazines they offer you may only be published monthly
failing to quote the total cost of the subscription order”

Generally the scam involves leveraging a sale through a child or a “needy person” or misrepresentation of savings and/or receiving a special gift. However, non-delivery of the magazine(s) is a common complaint. Unfortunately, the industry has 90 days after purchase as its standard before a complaint can be processed.

Lrumar Publications LLC, a company located in the Colorado Springs area, is a magazine subscription business that has an F rating with the BBB. They have a pattern of complaints alleging delays in delivery well beyond the 180 day time frame.

Consumers allege their magazine orders take weeks to receive. By the time they contact the company inquiring about their order or request a refund, the three-day right to rescind has expired.

Lrumar Publications LLC responds to the complaints by checking on the status of the order and in most cases informs the consumer they will be sending a delivery verification showing the order has been processed by the company.

Your BBB has processed a total of 111 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Eighty-four of the 111 complaints were closed in the last year.

The best way to prevent the loss of money and/or frustration is to check out the company through the BBB before doing business.

What type of companies have been knocking on your door these days?

Comments

I too have been sucked into the scam while at our vacation home in Lake Okeechobee Florida, 19 Sep 10. I was returning from the grocery store, and noticed a young man walking down the street. As I passed him, he stopped and watched me pull into my driveway. As I got out of my car, he turned around and came back to my house. He asked if he could talk to me for a minute, and I agreed. He said, "Oh, I see you're from Ohio. I was born in Columbus, Ohio." We talked a little about Ohio, and then he started with his sales pitch. I was sceptical at first, but he seemed to be a nice young man so I continured to listen. He told me his name was Leon Barnes. He was from Ft. Lauderdale selling magazines to win a trip for school. When I asked him why he was in Okeechobee, he said his grandparents lived in the area. He said his grandfather was dying of cancer. He said, oh by the way, did I tell you it is my birthday today. I recently joined Weight Watcher’s and wanting to buy the magazine for additional tips. I ordered 18 issues of Weight Watcher’s for $51.00, receipt number 345650. Leon told me that I would receive a phone call in three weeks to confirm my order. When I talked to my husband about this later, he told me that Leon said all of the prim things that scam artists use to reel you in and make you feel connected with them (born in Ohio), sorry for them (grandfather dying of cancer), or happy for them (His birthday). Leon used all three on me to get the emotional response he was looking for that caused me to do something nice and order the magazines. As of this date, I have not received the phone call or receive any magazines. I was sucked in hook, line, and sinker. After Leon left, I became very nervous and wished I had not ordered the magizines.

Comment By At 11/13/2010 6:15 PM

We have a similar issue here in Lancaster, CA...only instead of the magazine sales being scams (some are to be sure), the majority of the non-legitimate magazine sales are those individuals looking to see who is home so they can burglarize the home if no one's there. We encourage everyone to NOT open the door to anyone they don't know, but also NOT to ignore the doorbell or knock and instead call out "Who's there?" or "We're not interested" or some other phrase to let the person know that there IS someone home.

Comment By M.K. At 9/10/2010 12:30 PM

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