Menu
CB Movies Columbia House / Edge Line Ventures Was tricked into a Columbia House membership, which still haunts me four years late
Columbia House / Edge Line Ventures

Columbia House / Edge Line Ventures review: Was tricked into a Columbia House membership, which still haunts me four years late 87

S
Author of the review
8:23 am EDT
Featured review
This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback.

I, like many others, was tricked into a Columbia House membership, which still haunts me four years later. After I learned I had to decline their "director's choice" DVDs every three weeks, under penalty of being billed for something I wanted nothing to do with, I began looking for ways to cancel my membership. Needless to say, the company's customer service is a gauntlet designed to keep angry "customers" (a company like this has victims, not customers) at bay. With sites like consumeraffairs and compaintsboard alone you could fill a bookshelf with complaints of false advertising, extortion, harassment, and so on. Thus I gave up on trying to cancel my membership, and dutifully declined my DVDs every three weeks until the cutoff date, the point at which I would be billed for any unfulfilled membership buying requirements. This was when I began getting harassing, sometimes multi-daily, calls from NRA (National Recovery Agency) and more recently the Takhar Group. I have chosen to not dignify these immoral attack-dogs by answering their calls. This was all well and good, but in the meantime this could be damaging my credit and is certainly a nuisance at the very least. Worst of all, I have to experience this slow-motion implosion from the inside, and watch as others get trapped in the web of Direct Brands Inc and BookSpan, and all they encompass. When I think about it, it is clear that the crooks who started these parent companies had no intention fo being in business for the long run. It is perhaps the farthest thing from a "sustainable business model" I've ever had the horror of knowing. The intentionality is clear: They wanted to make a little money off their DVD, book, CD, etc. sales and an exponential fortune off late fees and whatever their collection henchmen could squeeze. To prey on the ignorant, unwilling, and stupid; how sad a company of people that would think to unleash this and call it "business." I hope this is a learning experience for those caught in the wake of this corruption, and a hearty push towards more consumer-centric legal precedents - such that we may prevent future reincarnations of this beast.

87 comments
M
M
margaret scroggins
,
May 14, 2007 12:00 am EDT

I got a bill stating that I own them $43.88. I never sign up for their service. I wrote them a letter and mailed dvd back. Their is know one that can talk with me on or bye phone. All they say is I must write letter and I did, they are still saying I owe them money. I NEVER SIGN UP WITH THIS COMPANY!

C
C
Cinco
, US
Jul 19, 2012 6:05 am EDT

Unauthorized transactions on my debit card. They would not let me cancel my account with out purchasing two movies. I can't even put money on my card without worrying about them charging me and sending me a movie I did not ask for.

B
B
Billy McCain
Arlington,, US
Feb 23, 2009 3:00 pm EST

I also have tried to cancel my account .all i get is automation info and no phone number to cancel this account! Is there any one out there who knows a phone number to talk to a real person?Thanks

R
R
ruedabetty
Bethlehem, US
Jan 30, 2009 8:06 am EST

does anyone have a email address or a contact # to speak to these people. this is to much. I cannot afford 5 kids and a 133.00 bill for something i dont order.

Please help someone

L
L
LESLEY LAWRENCE
,
Nov 17, 2008 7:33 pm EST

I ORDERED 3 DVD'S FOR $22.00 AND YOU SEND ME A BILL FOR $51.30.WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?I SEND THE PAPER IN SAYING I DON'T WANT THE DIRECTOR'S SELECTION AND YOU SEND IT ANY WAY.IF YOU ARE GOING TO SAY IT IS THAT PRICE, THEN CHARGE THAT PRICE.

C
C
Catherine Noll
,
Nov 14, 2008 5:26 pm EST

I asked for my membership to be cancelled several weeks ago.

I'm still receiving material to be answered. PLEASE, PLEASE, take me off your list. I'm not interested in any of the DVD's being offered as membership selections.

T
T
Tyler
,
Nov 11, 2008 9:28 pm EST

I just got a bill in the mail admiting columbia house never sent me anything. Claiming I signed up. 124.70 for what? It's crazy I don't remember ever signing up in the first place.

M
M
Mike Nicholson
,
Oct 29, 2008 12:19 am EDT

I just received the movie Iron Man which I did not order. Then I went on line to see my account and it says I owe them 128.00 which I have canceled check for everything I have bought from this company. If my account is on hold, how did I get the movie IRON MAN.? Now you can put my account on cancel as I usually do not get what I ordered. I will give this movie to someone, its not my type of movie. I will not pay for it either! I look at it as if they sent me a bad gift as I did not order it. Pissed in Wisconsin

R
R
Richard Hogue
,
Oct 27, 2008 6:01 pm EDT

I am very upset that i am being told i sign up for a DVD club and i can't talk with anyone to help me my bill is 135.70 for not ordering movies i never signed up for this

R
R
Richard Lee Staples
,
Oct 25, 2008 4:27 pm EDT

I already sent you your late bill for WONDERLAND & I've got the recipt right in front of my noise. I told you I was laid off for 3 months & went back to the FATHERLAND, if you don't like it I'll send you damn movies back tonight

Rick Staples

R
R
Richard Lee Staples
,
Oct 25, 2008 4:21 pm EDT

I was in Germany for 3 months & when I got back your trying to charge me for everything that I haven't even bought yet. I sent my payment for WONDERLAND which you even tried to over charge me on that also. I paid you your late charge of $7.96.

Serial # [protected]
on 10/04/2008
Paid to the PAYMENT PROCSSING CENTER
Indianapolis, In. [protected]

Thank you, Rick Staples...DOESN'T ANYBODY HAVE THE RIGHT TO GO BACK TO THERE
HOMELAND. "GERMANY" ...And I'm not paying that whole bill without ordering movies...

E
E
ed shackelford
,
Oct 20, 2008 11:01 am EDT

dear sir:

i am a member #[protected], and i would like to discontinue my membership. please stop my membership immediately

thanks

ed shackelford

M
M
michele marshall
,
Oct 02, 2008 7:40 pm EDT

You are chargeing me for The bucket List, i sent it back a long time ago, and you are charging me twice for Nims Island, and i only order one of them..plus i made a payment as of 69.45 to u, which you did'nt credit me for..and that was last month..I'm not paying you any more money on the bill which you just sent me..60.45 I've done paid for every movie that you have sent me..except What happens in vegas..You should deduct it from the 69.00 dollars i have sent you..I'm a good customer, but you are abuseing my service..M Marshall

J
J
jonesfrancine
,
Sep 28, 2008 11:56 pm EDT

I WAS PARTICIPATING IN A SURVEY AND GAVE COLOMBIA HOUSE AN ORDER THAT I CHOOSE TO CANCEL NOW. PLEASE UNSUBCRIBE ME AND REIMBURSE MY MASTER CARD. THANK YOU

C
C
cecilia jandreau
,
Sep 11, 2008 2:17 am EDT

I have someone ordering movies on my account and have been for several months . I wrote you about and still you keep sending order forms to an address that I havent lived at for over a year. I would appreciate no further mail be delivered to the address of 2905 Spencer St. Omaha Ne. I told you about it and sent you a copy of my drivers license with my address on it. I will not pay for these movies.

G
G
George R. Smith
,
Sep 09, 2008 11:43 am EDT

Today, I received a bill stating that I owe for past purchases that were paid for 2 months ago. I have bank statements to prove it. I have been trying to get in touch with them and get this mess straightened out. As of today, I am no longer a customer.

C
C
chris nunnelee
,
Sep 02, 2008 7:10 pm EDT

I received a movie in the mail from Columbia House that I did not request. I received an urgent message collection alert letter September 2, 2008 that stated that I owe $132.70. I have never been under contract with your company and have never solicited the movie Ghost Rider or ANY other movie from your company, nor have I received any other movies. I want this resolved and my credit protected and I need a response immediately. You have my email and I demand a response at earliest.

J
J
John Evans
,
Aug 30, 2008 11:54 am EDT

I need a phone number or someone to talk to. I have not received anything from these people nor I have i had any corsponce with them in years. And the letter I received stated that they hea already notified a collection agency

D
D
dylan spisak
,
Aug 26, 2008 2:23 pm EDT

I NEVER SIGHED UP FOR YALL AND I KEEP GETTING MOVEIS TO MY HOUSE!I WANT TO DROP MY MEMBERSHIP NOW# [protected] STOP SENDING MOVIES TOMY HOUSE

J
J
Jimmy
,
Aug 14, 2008 5:36 pm EDT

They called me here in Los Angeles saying if I would like to join there club and I said no. Like about 2 weeks later I got something in the mail and when I open it was a movie. I did not even order it and they sent it to me. I did pay for it by mail also I put in a letter saying I would like to cancel my account. Then they say since I have pay for all my movie that I should pay it all at once for $99.76 HELL NO.

G
G
G britt
,
Aug 13, 2008 8:34 am EDT

Please cancel my husband membership he no long want this, this is the third time we have request this . Do it now !
Gale Britt
2345 wilder st.
Philadelphia Pa. 19146

Acct: # [protected]

J
J
John Miller
,
Aug 08, 2008 2:05 pm EDT

I believe I ordered Bucket List was charged for it, , , BUT I never recieved the dvd.Please send me the dvd or let me know what the problem is .Thank You John

A
A
Aida Alvarado
,
Aug 04, 2008 1:00 pm EDT

Hello:

I just want to speak to someone, but it's very hard and I don't know
why. I'm having a little problem here. I just received another
statement and which was sent to another address. I never asked
any body to send movies to a different address. I been trying to
get in touch to someone to cancel my account and I can't, why?
I don't want any body billing anything else to my husband's
account. Please find out what happened to that movie call :Vantage Point" and which I never received. I been getting
movies once a month and I don't want that to happened again.
PLEASE CANCEL MY ACCOUNT. My husband don't want me to
buy any more movies. I'm not working, I'm very sick.
This is my cell# [protected] or [protected].

So Please no matter what cancel my account. #[protected].

Sincerely;

Aida Alvarado

W
W
Wincener J. David
,
Aug 01, 2008 11:36 pm EDT

Hi,

I just wanted to inform Customer Services that mailing to my address takes a long time. I live in Micronesia and mail is often comes in late. I was informed that my membership is currently on suspension becase I haven't my bill. Well, I was complaining to my post office that I have recieved notifications that my shipment of DVDs have arrived which was not so and while we were trying to solve this problem, the Package came. Could someone help me out to that this would not happen again? or whom do I talk to about such issues?

A
A
Anahi Nunez
,
Jul 28, 2008 8:58 pm EDT

Hi my name is Anahi Nunez,

I got a bill stating that I own them $43.88. I never sign up for their service. Their is know one that can talk with me on or bye phone. All they say is I must write letter and I did, they are still saying I owe them money. I NEVER SIGN UP WITH THIS COMPANY! I did not know about this because I moved out of the address where you sent me this movie a long time ago. And recently i got in contact with the people who live there and they tell me about this bill! I still have the dvd and would be more then glad to return it! Thank You for your time.

L
L
Lenora Maya
,
Jul 28, 2008 11:07 am EDT

I recieved a bill statemnet for $ 5.45 for payment for dvds that I ordered online so I can recieved them free for joining the club, and it has been 2-3 weeks I had on delivery of it, and no response and I moved and also did a change of address on the form where it was asked to put the new address at. I did my payment by money order and I have the receipt ...I also will submit my new address here for your files..

Lenora Maya
7316 Schuller Rd
Houston, TX 77093

THANK YOU

Mrs Lenora Maya

G
G
George Lopez
,
Jul 19, 2008 7:56 pm EDT

My account number is [protected]. I had ended this account about several months back. Columbia House has claimed that they sent me a dvd movie, enwhich I have nevered recieved. But I am presently being charged as if I did. I refused to pay for something I have not asked for or never recieved. I want someone to look into this matter and straighten this out once and for all. I no enterest in reopening my account or have any form of dealing with Columbia House I find this very unproffession especially since you cannot deal with someone with pulse.

L
L
lauragouge
,
Jul 15, 2008 10:05 am EDT

when you order from these people you never get them paid off. i will never order anything else from them they are a ripoff.

J
J
judy harris
,
Jul 10, 2008 6:12 pm EDT

I do no longer what to received movies from columbia house.
So please do not charge me again. and do not sent any more movies to my address.
Judy

A
A
Antoinette Wallace
,
Jul 10, 2008 2:55 pm EDT

Dear Sir,

Unfortunately, I was not able to reach anyone by telephone nor email as you suggested, so I am writing my compliant to you.
I received a statement in the mail saying that I owe you $68.89 for DVD's I did not order nor purchased. I apologize for the mixed up but unfortunately you may have sent the DVD's to someone else because I never received them. If I would have received them I would have returned them to you because I can get DVD's much cheaper than you charge.

Thank you,
Antoinette

J
J
joseph trumbull
,
Jul 03, 2008 1:23 pm EDT

what is wrong with this company. i paid over $200 dollars for three movies i did not order! closed my account.haft to deal with automated service. i am in the proses of buying a house and don't need anything on my credit report. Would you know they sent me another movie for $27.74.

P
P
Pegi Meyer
,
Jun 20, 2008 6:53 am EDT

I received a call from a collection agency (couldn't tell you which one because the caller was from the mideast and could barely understand him) saying that I owe over $100.00 for something I supposedly ordered fro Columbia House back in 2001! He would not tell me what it was that I ordered. I don't remember ever ordering from them and I have not received a bill from them in all these years. Also, I never order anything using my nickname, always my given name of Margaret. He insisted that it was for Pegi. I kept telling him that I needed a copy of the bill giving me the information of what I ordered, the date and the amount of the bill. He kept saying that he was not calling to convince me that I had made the order, he was calling to collect the money. I told him again that if I received that information and did in fact owe the money that I would pay immediately. he wouldn't listen. I will NEVER order anything from them in the future and if I can get more information I will take it to my attorney.

C
C
CARLOS BABOUN
, US
Jun 18, 2008 5:15 am EDT

I received an urgent letter stated that I must pay $132.70, but I must tell you I never place an order nor receive anything from COLUMBIA HOUSE. Therefore I can't pay for something that I never received or seen.

THANK YOU.

B
B
bonnie obrien
,
Jun 15, 2008 10:49 pm EDT

In december I paid off money owed. I explained that i did not want any more movies and cl0se my account. You send a bee movie and it said it was owed to me. now you want money. I want to know were to send this movie back! It hjas not been open. Plese have a customer service person call me. ASAP [protected].

P
P
parnell baldwin
,
Jun 08, 2008 1:41 pm EDT

I do not want to receive anymore of the movies you send me.
If I am paying, i decide where I want my money to be spent.
Also your untimely deductions from my bank account have resulted in several overdraft fees, thus costing me over double the costof your movies you sending me without me knowing. To make matters worst, you charged me twice for my initiation fee, as my records reflect.

C
C
Carl Boyle
,
Jun 08, 2008 8:29 am EDT

Acct # [protected]
Please be advised that I have fulfilled my purchase requirement as stated on your invoice 5/19/08 with the purchase of
Brave one, Night at the museum and Charlie wilson warand i have a credit of $4.99
Why.on the current order card for Bucket List do you state that I still have 1 unit to fulfill I only had three units for my origional contract. Please advise me.
Also I do not want this months selection. Thank you

E
E
eileen mcfee
,
Jun 02, 2008 9:03 am EDT

I RECEIVED A DVD CALLLED UNTRACEABLE THAT WILL NOT PLAY IN MY DVD PLAYER CAUSE ITS FOR BLUE-RAY DISK I DONT HAVE ONE OF THOSE.. I WILL NOT PAY FOR IT THEY NEED TO REPLACE IT WITH REG DVD, , I WILL RETUNE IT WHEN THEY SEND THE REPLACEMENT. SINCERLY EILEEN MCFEE

M
M
mary lemire
,
May 28, 2008 1:14 pm EDT

I am 72 yr old and do not have an instrument to play your music on. I did not sign up for any music. My neighbor tried to get some information on my computor and somehow got into your co. I haave paid for what you sent and will not send another dime and will send it back to you as it has never been opened.

J
J
j. dunaway
,
May 21, 2008 9:17 am EDT

Does anyone know the address to Columbia House?

Their collection agency is calling me for something I did not order. I've never done business with this company and see on the internet where they have numerous complaints.

They use bogus threats to defraud consumers. Why hasn't one of our government agencies shut these ### down?

I did just speak with the FTC but they advise that "I" must write to Columbia House and request to see the documentation of my alleged order. One would think the FTC could have solved this crap for all of us having to deal with it.

E
E
Edwin Keyes
,
May 17, 2008 11:35 am EDT

I have notified columbia house many times I do not want to continue service with them. They automatically keep charging me
monthly on my charge card without me giving them permission. I am over and above the amount to purchase so I have met
my responsibilities. I am unhappy they are doing this without permission and I will notify my lawyer if this does not stop.
I have telephoned the organization many times and I seem to get nowhere with them. I received another CD in the mail
today which is a children's CD and which I would never order. They seem to have the freedom to charge my account no
matter what the CD might be. This is not right. This will have to stop soon or else.
Thank you.
Barbara and Ed Keyes
Customer service just is not there for complaints. They do not want to listem to me! I am not happy with this organization
whatsoever.

Learn how the rating is calculated

Write a review File a complaint

Columbia House / Edge Line Ventures contacts

Phone number
Website
www.columbiahouse.com
Category