For the past couple of months I have received calls every few days from some company calling themselves “Readers Services.” They claim they represent the magazines I subscribe. Nope. I subscribe to one wood working magazine. I call this publisher and they say this company is a scam to sign up people for magazine subscriptions. Indeed the callers try to say I must complete some sort of question and answers and provide billing details in order not to be charged $1200.00.
Every time I say not to call me anymore they say okay. Then they call again. On the call last night at 9:30 PM (that woke my 2 year old) I tried to obtain their real company name and address. When I demanded the address the caller hung up. Amazing as for every other call no matter what I said they would not hang up.
This morning I ran some searchers. They indeed seem to be some scam soliciting for magazines. They go under the name of Readers Services, National Magazine Exchange, Special Data Processing Corp, Agora Marketing Solutions and other names. They appear to be out of Clearwater Florida.
They seem to get your contact information from the wealth of online giveaways and sweepstakes. Darn – I never should have asked for that Eucerin coupon or something similar.
Seems like the next step is to write letters to a whole bunch of folks such as the FTC, MA and Fl state attorney generals and others.
And here is the site for the scammers – http://www.unitedreaders.com/ or http://www.nrscontest.com/. Seems from most references to be the first of these two sites. Yet, they seem to be interconnected when reading the various complaints.
Here are some links to various folks with the same issue:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/magazine-readers-service-c131550.htmlhttp://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/215/RipOff0215710.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/searchresults.asp?submit22=Search+All+The+Latest+Rip-Off+Reports+Now%21&q1=ALL&q2=&q3=&q4=&q5=national+magazine+exchange&q6=&q7=&searchtype=0
http://www.travelingsalescrews.info/magazine%20scams%20and%20rip%20offs.html
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/national-magazine-exchange-c113621.html
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/national-magazine-exchange-c8287.html
http://enemiesblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/magazine-slamming.html
http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=12788
http://ago.mo.gov/newsreleases/2007/020107.htm
http://jlassen.livejournal.com/203934.html
http://www.dmnews.com/Missouri-AG-files-27-more-legal-actions-from-Senior-Sting/article/94331/
http://thefishingguy.blogspot.com/2008/04/strike-it-rich-vi-sweepstakes.html
http://lifeisjfk.blogspot.com/2008/03/nme-prize-disbursement-21-m-dollars.html
http://subtleparticle.com/Word/?p=481
#1 by CJ on December 21, 2011 - 9:41 pm
i just got the same call saying i subscribed, so i call Suntrust to cancel my card. Lucky for me, I didn’t even have money in my card yet and messed up on the expiration date lol. Problem solved
#2 by Diane Bauer on December 27, 2011 - 4:03 pm
Yeh, they got me. They call saying that there has been some problems with deliveries in my area. Because I do get some magazines, I unfortunately fell for it, to the point of even “verifying” my credit card information (i.e. giving it to them).
Had to change my debit card number.
I’m trying to find an address for them so that I can officially write to them and tell them to cancel and that I feel I was coerced, etc.
#3 by Juanita Anderson on March 22, 2012 - 3:02 pm
I GOT SCAMED GOOD I PAID OVER $1400.00 FOR MAGAZINES AFTER I PAID OUT THE MONEY IT’S BEEN ALMOST A YEAR GUESS WHAT THEY ARE CALLING ME AGAIN TRYING TO TELL ME THE COMPANIES WENT UP ON THEIR PRICES SO THEY HAVE TO CHARGE ME TO ACCOMODATE FOR THE INCREASE. THEY CAN WAIT FOR THE COWS TO COME HOME I’M NOT SENDING THEM A DIME. BURN ME ONCE SHAME ON YOU BURN ME TWICE SHAME ON ME HA I DON’T THINK SO
#4 by Roger Frossard on December 30, 2011 - 2:45 pm
This people identiffying themselves as READERS SERVICE keeping calling me from different numbers everytime asking how they are doing with the magazine delivery services. I keep telling them that they are a fraud and they don’t care. Someone has to get this people. I have already reported them many times to DO NOT CALL LIST.
i have wrtitten to many of the magazines subscribed and they claim they can not do anything because the subscription comes from another company. Can any one help me on letting me know how we can stop this people stopping from continue with fraud?
Sincerely,
R, Frossard
#5 by DRD on March 7, 2012 - 12:27 pm
Try to find out where they are calling from, and then contact the BBB for that area. Or submit a general complaint to the BBB. I also had some success with the state’s attorney general office. FBI also has some helpful links for scams.
#6 by Linda Sardilli on January 2, 2012 - 9:52 pm
I have been receiving these magazines that I did NOT order for the last 6 months. There is no phone # or address on the magazines so that I can send them back or notify the company that this is happening. When they call me, I tell them I didn’t order them and they say they have my voice on tape. I say no you don’t because I never ordered them. I asked them for there name and address and all they sais was Readers Service but would not give me their address. They just hung up! This kind of fraud is very frustrating and infuriating. I don’t know who to turn to in this matter.
#7 by amber on January 5, 2012 - 1:15 pm
i have been getting calls from them for the past week. i have asked to be taken off the call list and they say that they will, and the same night i will recieve not one, but two more calls at least. and they call late!! just a few minutes ago, Matt, from ‘readers services’ called me. when i said, very poliet..that i have asked to be removed from your call list, he cursed at me and hung the phone up. wow. that is what caused me to look this info up. we really need to get this so called company to stop.
#8 by cheryl kaucher on January 15, 2012 - 1:08 pm
well it looks like ive been sucked into this scam for a while i call to have it deactivated or stop being sent to me and they still want me to pay an outrageous amount of money to cancel my membership… what to do!
#9 by DRD on March 7, 2012 - 12:28 pm
Try to find out where they are calling from, and then contact the BBB for that area. Or submit a general complaint to the BBB. I also had some success with the state’s attorney general office. FBI has some helpful links for scams too.
#10 by Acorn74 on January 23, 2012 - 4:57 pm
I also had a bad experience with these people very recently (16 Jan 2012). I won’t post the full story here – it is similar to others posted above. If you want to know the particulars of my story, just Google my name and Readers Services. Anyway, I am not sure that my saga has yet ended but FYI, I filed complaints with FTC/Do Not Call, BBB, Attorney General for that state (FL in my case), and I think also the FBI. I got a call back from the a woman with this company indicating that they received a complaint and they wanted to speak with me to resolve it. The voicemail message she left went silent for the space of 2 digits when she left her phone number. So I couldn’t return their call and therefore don’t know what their story would have been. I did however find that the charge had been removed from my credit card.
So, people, file complaints. Apparently sometimes it works.
#11 by Acorn74 on January 23, 2012 - 5:01 pm
For those of you asking “What To Do” –
File a complaint with the FTC and/or Do Not Call.
http://www.ftc.gov
http://www.donotcall.gov
File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau
http://www.bbb.org
If you know which state they’re calling you from, file a complaint with that state’s Attorney General.
http://www.naag.org/current-attorneys-general.php
Also check out the FBI’s page on frauds and scams. File a complaint there, if appropriate.
http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud
Submitting complaints to all these places might take 30-60 minutes. Some of the websites are easier to use than others.
Note your case number for each complaint so you can follow it up.
#12 by Acorn74 on January 23, 2012 - 5:02 pm
I meant, 30-60 minutes total to submit a report to all of these sites … not 30-60 minutes per complaint filed.
#13 by BoilingPoint on February 28, 2012 - 4:36 pm
I have been receiving weird magazines that I did not sign up for that have been shipping to my moms address. I recently received a call from Readers Services saying they wanted to reduce my payments to 20 payments of $60 a month. When I advised I did not order, did not want and was not going to pay for this service, I was told that collections would call me. I asked to speak to a supervisor or boss or for a phone number I could call to their accounting dept and they told me to have a nice day and hung up. He also advised I had 7 days to cancel and did not so now they are going to start billing me.
#14 by Hello! on March 8, 2012 - 12:09 am
Hey everyone, just wanted to share my experience with this scam. I was woken up by a call in the morning one day, in which a very friendly lady on the phone was telling me about these great deals on magazines, so I thought why not sign up. Although I was half asleep, I did realize at the end of the phone call when the person wanted me to say “yes” to pre-recorded agreements, that there was something wrong. I looked it up online after the call ended and found a ton of information on this magazine scam. So from then on I started receiving bill notices in the mail, countless magazines, and phone calls at random times of day. This continued for around a month, and at first I was just ignoring their calls because I didn’t know how to deal with it. I picked up the phone a few times though, saying “I wanted to cancel but every time I’m on the phone with you people, you won’t listen to my requests”. Then they’d proceed to tell me about the discounts that they would be able to give me if I decide to pay for the subscriptions. I would say, “I don’t want your magazines, where can I send them back?” but they would never give me and address. I would usually hang up when they said they would transfer the call to someone else (which they needed to do all the time for some reason). But one day, I was surprised to find that for the first time, one of them actually left me a voice mail. They said that they were going to forward my account to the collections department. So I called them. I asked for my account to be cancelled once and for all, and that I didn’t want their magazines. Once again, the girl on the phone started to talk about discounts and whatnot, and after 5 minutes of me being defiant, she managed to give me around 5 different discounts, all of which were cheaper than the previous ones. At this point, I was already exhausted and flabbergasted at how ridiculous this was getting, so I simply said “Isn’t it a little strange that you can give me so many discounts? I wanted to cancel this subscription but your terms and conditions made it so that it would be impossible for me to accomplish this by the deadline you gave. I am definitely unhappy with your service, I have NO intention of paying ANY money to your company, and I demand that my account be cancelled. I will be reporting this company to the Better Bureau Agency, my attorney, and etc etc etc.” After a moment of silence, the girl just said “Thank you very much, your account will be cancelled. Have a good day.” and hung up! I have not received any calls, bills or notifications since then. Only free magazines
#15 by Tina on March 14, 2012 - 12:50 pm
I just go a call from “Readers Services.” They called on my unlisted cellphone & knew my first name. The person claimed I had won some lottery based on my association with – & then he named a bunch of credit card companies and asked me which one i had. He claimed that he was operating from a computer & that’s why he did not have a phone number. When I asked for an address he said he didn’t know it, but that they were in Montana.
#16 by michelle on April 19, 2012 - 3:53 pm
i just found out they got me to they say i owe like 1400 and if i dont pay it i go into collections i dont think so i never have agreed to something like that they say it 33 for 5 years somebody needs to ge3t them now i need to cancel my credit card
#17 by Elizabeth on May 15, 2012 - 5:24 pm
I am on round two with these people. I knew when the magazines I didn’t order started arriving they’d be calling again. They’ve gotten a little smarter, their calls are private caller and I can’t tell the state or phone number anymore. The first round stopped after the State Attorney’s office got involved. I will need to do that again, I guess. If you ask them for any info on their phone number they hang up. If you try to cancel the magazines on the home site of the publisher they can’t because it was ordered by subco. I don’t understand how these companies can do this, but understand many people are pressured into paying them something. Last time they would call 6-12 times a day and I was recovering from major surgery. They should be in jail for white collar crime.
#18 by Samantha on May 18, 2012 - 11:26 am
I was an idiot and signed up for magazines 2 years ago. I finally got someone to cancel my magazines and the calls stopped for a while. I told them I was pregnant with twins and couldnt pay anymore. It was 2 months later people started calling me harrassing me saying I owed money. I cursed them out and they hung up on me. They kept calling after that 4-5 times a night. Then I canceled my house phone number. A week ago I got called by Readers Services and they asked about my twins. It scared me! Then they proceded to tell me that I owed 1,798.00 and that they were going to send it to collections. I told them I wasnt going to pay a dime and told them I was going to call my local police department because then I knew it was a scam. They called again lastnight. I dont know how they got my cell phone number, how they know about my babies. Im afraid to even have a phone around because of the calls. Guess its time to change my phone number!