Warning...CL subscription scam

[bk]

:mad: :mad: :mad: In June of this year I received a notice of renewal for CL. It was supposed to be a savings of 30% on a two year subscription. I sent $54.00 to a place called CENTRAL PUBLISHERS SERVICES, INC. in Winchester, VA. Well...CL never received the money and claims no knowledge of said company.
CPS, Inc. claims that the check was sent to CL and I am out of luck!! Since that time I have renewed my subscription with CL directly and at a lower rate than the first (from CPS,Inc). The moral of the story I guess is when renewing do so only with the magazine and beware of businesses claiming to represent the magazine. It matters not that I have cancelled check in hand.
During my sluthing re: this matter I just happened to discover that CL is owned by...ta da...everyones good friend Oxmore!!
BEWARE, BE COOL, AND DON'T BE A FOOL.
Barbara

[Leanne]

You ought to report this to some sort of authority who handles this kind of situation - or maybe even a newstation in Winchester, VA. Also - whom is the check cancelled by? CL or CPS. If it's not CL, then you have a strong case against CPS. If it is CL, then I would notify CL.
Anyway - I'd be mad too & would want to get to the bottom of it. I'm surprised CL didn't want to.

[Peeps]

You should file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org) - they can be a big help. (Or at least it will make you feel like you did something about it!)

[beejayw1]

If you have the cancelled check in hand, see who endorsed it on the back. And then take it from there.

Meanwhile, thanks for the warning!

[Wendy w]

I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you. Maybe Beth, aggie94 or any of the other attorneys who post here may be able to advise you.

[Peggy]

Barbara,

How crummy! Diana made a good suggestion about looking at your canceled check. I think that's where I would start. Good luck in getting this straightened out.

Peggy

[d_ferrero]

If you received the bogus renewal notice in the mail, contact your post office... that's mail fraud.

[bk]

The endorsement is badly smeared but looks as if it was not endorsed by CL
Thanks for the feed back, I'll try the BBB.

[Jacque O]

Your state's Attorney General also investigates and can take action about activities that defraud residents of your state. Besides the Postal Service, the other federal agency that prosecutes consumer fraud/deceptive advertising (particularly on a multi-state level) is the Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Protection Division. While this may not be a big enough sum for you to want to take on the world, sending copies of whatever information you provide to your Better Business Bureau to both of the other two agencies can't hurt (and might help other consumers).

[heatherfeather]

I have some info for you that may help. I used to work at a credit union and my job was to handle the people who wrote bad checks, clearing of checks etc.

First of all, since the check was cashed by someone, and you never received the item purchased, then the person(s) who cashed the chek have committed mail fraud. If they do not refund your money, then you can sue them - or you can report them to the state and the state can prosecute them.

Also, in the meantime, you can notify your bank and ask them to reclaim the funds. Even though the check has already cleared your account, your bank can still attempt to reclaim the funds by cancelling the check. If there is still money in the account of the person who cashed your check, then the money can be reclaimed. Be aware that you will probably have to pay a fee - usually whatever they charge for cancelling a lost or stolen check. But a $15 fee is better than $54 in the hands of a criminal. Also be aware that bank will not necessarily refund your 'cancel check" fee if they are unsuccessful in drawing the money back out of the criminal's account. Check with your bank and see what they can do for you.

[Dewey]

As a small addition to Heatherfeather's advice (which was great) keep in mind that even if the cancellation on the back of the check is smeared, the bank can still figure out who it was that cashed the check, and where the money went.