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CB Magazines and Newspapers Review of Magazine SVC
Magazine SVC

Magazine SVC review: Magazine Subscription Rip-off 17

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8:01 am EDT
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I am being charged $49.90 monthly for magazine services I didn't order. The only information I have on this company is the phone number [protected]) which appears next to the charge on my debit card statement. I already have a subscription with "Viking Magazine" and is paying $62.50 monthly for 5 magazine subscriptions.. I suspect that "Magazine SVC" got my contact information from them. I do recall getting a call from a magazine service rep in DEC-2010 from - what I was tricked into believing - Viking magazine, but apparently it wasn't.. these people are so slick. The caller was calling to re-new some of my magazine subscriptions and explained that I still had 30 payments left before the account was paid in full.. and this is where I exploded in anger and was escalated to a "Tier 5" customer service rep.; during this call, I kept referring to the issues I had with them (which include receiving magazines, including Maxim, that I never would subscribe to and not being able to afford another 2-3 year of paying on magazines).. at no point in time did the service rep. tell me, that I wasn't subscribing to this magazine with them, nor that I wasn't paying $62.50 a month to them already.. Remember; I am still thinking that I am talking to Viking Magazine. Well, after almost an hour of yelling, I was mentally tired and caved to the smooth talker on the line. I was promised a "reduced rate" of $49.90 per month.. still thinking it was my Viking payment that was going to be reduced.. but no; I now have 2 magazine charges on my debit card totaling $112.40 per month, and this has been going on for the past 4 months. Needless to say; my bank account is being closed tomorrow, before I go bankrupt.. And I will never ever make dealings with anybody over the phone again. From now on, I will require something in writing (sent to me in the mail that I will have to sign), before I let ANYBODY automatically take payments out of my bank account. Feel free to share any similar experiences you've had (or have) with me [protected]@hotmail.com . Thank You!

Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

17 comments
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LisaR21
, US
Apr 18, 2019 12:51 pm EDT

I was duped by this company as well. They told me it was $19.00 a month. The woman I spoke to kept saying $29.00 when we were being recorded and I kept interrupting her by saying you told me $19. Then she would stop recording again. This is a big scam. I paid for months and then finally had AMEX stop paying them. I just got a collection notice, but it's a different magazine company. Probably sold off to that company if the collection notice isn't a scam. I asked them why I'm still getting magazines if I owe them money. Of course they have an answer for everything. I thought it was a one year thing, this has been going on for at least 4 years. WTH

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Chelebelle
, US
Feb 27, 2019 10:33 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I to was duped by this company. I have tried to cancel my “subscription “ several times when they have called with there so called deals. When I ask how many more months I have to pay I always hear the same thing. I have tried switching cards on this account and somehow they get the new card number. I am at my wits end and don’t know what else to do. I have tried stopping payment and somehow they use a different routing to get in. This company is worse than a hacker. The phone number I have is [protected] so even the number is different that they use to call people on. Something has to be done to stop them.

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Christine holloway
, US
Jan 06, 2019 3:45 am EST

I was charged $29.90 for magazines I never ordered please refund my money back to my credit card .And please don't take any money off my card that I didn't authorize

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Casey Huckaba
, US
Dec 28, 2018 8:12 am EST

I haven't received a single magazine since I subscribed

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John q nguyen
, US
Nov 12, 2018 10:52 am EST

I got a call from these people and got tricked into subcribing, they told me I only had 30 payments and when I cancelled my renewal they then told me that I had another 30 payment to pay so that is 60 payment in total saying that if I canceled the whole service I still owed over $1200 for all the magazine, saying I cant cancel subscription they already have the magazine ready to be sent out, I want to just cancel my card or block that company from being a
Charge but I dont know if I they will get a collection agent against me

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louie769
, US
Apr 30, 2017 8:26 am EDT

I AM IN THE SAME SITUATION. TRIED TO CHANGE CARDS BUT SOME HOW THEY GOT PAYMENT INFO AGAIN AND TOOK MORE MONEY OUT OF MY ACCOUNT. I WILL BE CLOSING THIS ACCOUNT ASAP AND CHANGING TO ANOTHER ACCOUNT. THIS CAUSES A LOT OF PROBLEMS BECAUSE I HAVE PAYMENTS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF THIS ACCOUNT. ALSO DIRECT DEPOSIT FROM MY WIFE WORK. THESE PEOPLE HAVE TRICKED MY WIFE INTO BUYING MAGAZINES . WE DID NOT ORDER THESE . I WOULD NEVER ORDER COSMO OR MENS HEALTH ( WHICH IS NOW COMING IN MY STEP SONS NAME) HE HAS NEVER ORDERED THESE. HE DOES NOT HAVE ACCESS TO MY BANK ACCOUNT . WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO CANCEL FOR MONTHS BUT CANNOT FIND A GOOD NUMBER TO CALL. LAST RESORT THIS WEEK.

! WARING DO NOT EVER BUY FROM THESE PEOPLE. !

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Rick Phan
, US
Aug 05, 2016 5:02 pm EDT

I have the similar problem last year and i have to pay 400 dollars in order to cancel my account for receiving magazines because i dont even want them in the first place. now i have the similar problem again because they first called me asking about magazines and that my account is still active... like wth? these people are are a bunch of slick liars because they told me, "okay in order to deactivate your account and stop receiving magazines, we need your card number to confirm the cancellation." receiving so many calls about this and talking about for more than around 10 or 20 minutes, i gave it to them, which its a mistake. because I have a 40 dollar payment in my bill and I called them, they said that i made the agreement of receiving magazines monthly for 39.92. like are you deaf? what part of i dont want any magazines dont you understand? now they told me to in order to cancel the account again, i have to pay another 400 dollars. like this is ridiculous. This magazine SVC is full of lies, schemes, and a bunch of smarta** because they say they have a recording of me agreeing to their agreement, which i honestly thought it means that my account is permanently deactivated and I would stop receiving payments for these magazines that I dont want to pay for and they did the opposite. The recording of me unintentionally agreeing is a dead end for me because with that, its almost impossible to fight this. Honestly, I dont know what to do, like i dont wanna pay 400 dollars again for cancellation and I tried getting new credit cards and new bank accounts and they still found me. I dont know how to get away with it so please, does anyone have any ideas. Im not rich and I dont want magazines nor wanting to pay for something that i dont intentionally agree on and dont want.

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camperchelle63
, US
Feb 08, 2016 10:31 am EST

Baby all you had to do is call your bank and tell them the sitch and tell them to stop any future payments to either of thos co. and that you want to file a fraud claim against them and it would have been all over. you should still go into your bank all sweet and victim like and plead your case. show them the reviews from this link so they can see that this company's are skanky butt nuggets and they need to be stopped! You should also contact consumer affairs and file a claim. you can even go online and do that. Good luck! I hope you take my advice cuz it should work. if you have bank of America it will for sure!
Rochelle

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Zhenxin.Li
, CN
Jul 04, 2015 10:10 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I am being charged $39.90 monthly for magazine services I didn't order. The only information I have on this company is the phone number ([protected]), and I didn't know how to cancel it. I try to call them but I am failed, and I don't know its email for my cancelation, because now I am back to China. How can cancel this order? Help!

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David A B
Hendersonville, US
Jan 08, 2015 9:08 am EST

I was duped by the same company. I've even been recieving Playboy which, I have no idea where that came from. I keep getting magazines that I never ordered. I tried canceling and they told me that they had me on recording saying that I agreed to the contract. I had never signed anything. Even if they had a recording. How would they know if that was me. I think my brother did this as a joke.

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MarcusAdams
Holbrook, US
Oct 08, 2014 7:45 am EDT

Same here, at first I thought they were part of the PCH, they explained if I pay it would improve my chance to win, so I did it, I asked the woman several times if it can candle when ever I needed to, she said no problem. Started getting magazines I don't read and slowly started losing money. Had to change my card do to a system leak, so they started calling me for money. Told them I couldn't afford it, and they said too bad you owe us $1100! The woman was very VERY RUDE. Ended up giving them my new card because of legal fears, and was assured if only be charged $19.95 a month in January for 2 years... Was just charged 3 times this morning! I'm going to my bank to make a complaint and get a new card if need be.

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KimberlySM
Chandler, US
Jun 23, 2014 1:31 pm EDT

i am also being charged for this same thing. I am looking for an address to send a letter to cancel all dealings in writing, I can't find one. Each time I tell them on the phone to take me off their call list and to please cancel, they hang up on me.

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Very Pissed Off Lady!!!
Lincoln, US
Feb 19, 2013 2:19 pm EST

I'm In The Same Boat With This Company, I To Was Charged For Magazines And So I Called My Bank And Canceled My Card, Because I Just Know They'll Be Changing My Card And That Is Not Going To Happen Any More...

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IS are woorse than loan sharks
Sunnyvale, US
Sep 13, 2012 4:39 pm EDT

I also I was charge 40 bucks and I have 4 or 5 magazines. I never ever ordered. I don't have any magazines subscriptions.
This company is bad news. every time I call them they are iam sorrry we are not available.
Also like above the only information I have to contact them is my back statment.

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IS are woorse than loan sharks
Sunnyvale, US
Sep 13, 2012 4:37 pm EDT

I also Just from no where they are charging me 49.00 and I have 4 magazines I never order . I have not order any magazines period.
Where did they get my bank information! They just pulled it out. I diod not know anything about it.

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MaisieJolynne
Edwardsville, US
Dec 10, 2011 3:35 pm EST

CANCEL YOUR CARD! Call your bank/credit card service and explain it to them! Put a hold/block on your card and receive your new one. Trust me, pretty soon the magazine company will be trying to get ahold of you...then you can cancel. Whatever money you still owe, only pay in check or cash. Do not give them your card number!

I think I made a similar mistake with the same people. I on the other hand was duped on my own stupidity. I didn't have any magazine subscriptions and I didn't want any! But...the salesman was so sweet and we talked a lot about school and his family and crap like that (he was an elderly man, so it wasn't creepy flirting). But we held the same spiritual beliefs, he was an old vetran, etc. He was a sweet guy and I felt really bad denying him after he spent so much time talking to me. I shouldn't have talked to him! He was a nice guy, but I wouldn't have known that if I would just have said, "Sorry, not interested." and hung up. Problem solved. But, I didn't. I made an order. Then using the number he gave me (I have since lost said number), I called back 20 minutes later and canceled. The person on the phone said the cancellation had been made, but I have already paid for the first magazines. I should have argued with her...but I am young and stupid.

The next month I received some magazines. Okay, awesome. Then I got some more. And the next month I got even more! I freaked out! I am a college student, living paycheck to paycheck! But...stupid me decided I enjoyed the magazines...so I just kept receiving and reading. Money was getting even tighter, and then I got a phone call from the company saying that I could pay the total due upfront and save a lot of money: $400-500 (somewhere in there). Well, I didn't even have that much in my account at the time, so I immediately broke in to tears telling him I couldn't do it! I demanded they cancel it like they were supposed to and I was so angry! He then asked if I wanted to switch magazines. I stopped crying and got angry. He explained to me I didn't owe $400 but I would end up paying that much by the end of my subscription. I canceled completely. He explained I would get the last magazines that I paid for. Okay.

I continued to get several magazines. I think they say things like, "You'll receive the ones you've already paid for" so that when they come in the mail, it takes us awhile to realize they're still charging! So sneaky! So I called and canceled my card. They can call me back at their own risk because I will chew them out.

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Tracy Barrera
San Antonio, US
Sep 15, 2011 6:57 pm EDT

I am being charged $145.00 for these magazines and no longer can afford it, however when I call the customer service department, i get an answering service then no agents available after being put on hold for 10 minutes. What can be done to stop these transactions? Thanks

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