Magazine Mayhem

It all started about a month ago when I got the mail and discovered a Forbes magazine in our mail slot.  We may both be accountants, but I'll be honest here, we're not Forbes kind of people. I thought that was odd and made a point to ask Dennis about it.  He didn't know where it came from so I wondered what we had signed up for.  I ended up recycling it and forgetting about it until a few weeks later when my mailslot surprised me with two inappropriate magazines addressed to my husband. At this point I was in the hunt for answers.  I scoured the credit card and bank statements and found no related charges.  Our mail revealed no bills or offers or even phone numbers relating to these magazines and neither Dennis nor I had any idea where they were coming from.

Fast forward to last night, we received a phone call from a person making sure we hadn't ordered any of the same magazines from other companies because "there was a lot of fraud going on." :

::fraud red flags waving wildly::

Dennis attempts to get information from the representative on the magazines arriving at our house, but he quickly gets off the phone and assures us we'd receive a call from his supervisor.

*right*

Much to our surprise, a few minutes later we received a call from the aforementioned supervisor and she proceeds to tell us that we are going to be charged $49.98 per month, but if we would give her our credit card number and security code, she would "knock it down" to $13.33 per month.  Oh yeah, and that's for two YEARS! Dennis asks if we can get information or documentation on how we signed up for the magazines and she said she cannot give out that information unless he gives her our credit card number so she can "make sure it's really him."  Dennis argues that he can't be sure she is who she says either because her own rep said there's a lot of fraud going on and that's ridiculous.  They go back and forth with her becoming more aggressive to get our credit card number and Dennis refusing. Then she gets off of the phone to "get more information."

She calls back and said we signed up for the magazines via a "verbal contract" and there's nothing she can do, we're going to be charged.  I overheard that and I laughed out loud. Really?  A verbal contract is going to hold up in court when they can produce NO documentation (unless a credit card is given, remember) showing we actually signed up for magazine subscriptions and we are asking to cancel because we don't read that garbage anyway?  She and Dennis go back and forth again and end with Dennis telling her we will notify our credit card company the minute we see a charge and that is how we will proceed.  Then she needs to get off the phone to talk to her supervisor and will call back in 20-30 minutes.

*uh huh*

Surprising us a second time, she calls back within the alloted time and tells us that all charges have been abated and all subscriptions have been cancelled.

*Thank you God!*

So the moral of the story, dear readers, is this: there are people out there who are looking for your credit card numbers and will be aggressive to get it.  It doesn't just happen to people on TV, it happened to someone you know - us.  The gal on the phone didn't realize she was talking to people who know business and consumer law and saw through her threats.  Make sure the young and elderly people in your life know there are people out there who want access to their bank information and to never give it out over the phone. It's incredibly violating and I want all of you to be careful!!