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CB Magazines and Newspapers Review of GQ Magazine
GQ Magazine

GQ Magazine review: Subscription scam via sweepstakes

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1:16 pm EDT
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Entered sweepstakes in reply to Conde Nast promotion for Nordstrom golf sweepstakes $10, 000 prize. Was subscribed to GQ automatically despite making sure no subscription boxes were checked. There is no mention of subscription in the email ad or on the sweepstakes entry page other than a box at the bottom asking if you want to sign up at $12/year. The ballot box is unchecked, implying that checking it is optional. But this is a scam since you are subscribed when you click the sweepstakes "Enter Now" button, at $15/year in fact! Notice it doesn't read "Subscribe Now" or "Submit Order Now", it reads "Enter Now" to continue the scam that you are only entering the sweepstakes. The confirmation window afterward announces boldy "Thank you for your order!" indicating for the first time this was a subscription scam. The tiny print at the bottom implies you can cancel anytime, but when you click on the link you are sent to Details Fulfillment Center website and asked to enter your magazine account number off the magazine label, which you don't have because you haven't received any magazines yet. Therefore you can't cancel immediately. They've got it all worked out, forcing you into the subscription under pretense of a FREE Nordstrom sweepstakes offer. Whether this is Conde Nast's despicable strategy or a separate unethical fulfillment group, doesn't really matter. Conde Nast is at fault for allowing it to happen to increase circulation. It's the reader and consumer who has to deal with the slimy collection dept for months afterward. I have four subscriptions to Conde Nast publications I am going to cancel, surely why I received the scam sweepstakes to begin with. The scam aspect overrides any journalistic or entertainment value these days. The same content is mostly free online, so they're just shooting themselves in the foot as the print market dies a slow death.

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