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Midwest Clearing, Inc. Complaints - Fraud business practices!

Review all Midwest Clearing, Inc. complaints

Midwest Clearing, Inc.

Posted: 2007-01-12 by Jack B. [send email]
Fraud business practices!
Complaint Rating:  96 % with 23 votes
On November 7th, a woman came to my door selling magazines for Midwest Clearing Inc. I told her I had too many magazines already and didn't need anymore. She told me that I could buy 3 magazines for a special deal and send them to the tent cities in New Orleans and make someones Christmas. I listened to her - that was a big mistake. So in December, I started receiving 3 magazines, magazines I have no interest in but magazines that I believed the people of New Orleans would have an interest in. One is on Computer games (I hate computer games), second is raising children (I don't have any) and the third is family life. (I don't have one)

I called them, informed them of their mistake, asked them to right it, they haven't called me back and I have just now recieved another magazine from them today. I just filed fraud with the BBB in Chicago Illinois, and I am now writing this. I plan on documenting this on the web as many places as possible. And because of this fraud, I have posted a NO Soliciting sign on my door, I am tired of this kind of crap, it is plain and simple FRAUD. And Fraud not just for me who has lost $140.00 but also the people I was trying to help in New Orleans.

I want my money back, period. I do not believe that they will at this point make it right and send it where it needs to go. I even questioned the gal multiple times at the door and told her "are you sure you can do this" and she just kept saying oh yeah (Under the address of where to send the magazines, she wrote something about the tent city in New Orleans etc..- I am sure this company has taught their contractors to lie to get the sale. She even told me it is tax deductible, which was untrue. This type of behavior gives magazine sales people the same type of reputations as used car saleman and frankly they have now wrecked it for further people.

January 11th, update, called Family Fun - one of the magazines to tell them about the fraud. Plan on doing that with all three of them. Was told that they said that the magazine subscription came from National Publisher Exchange in Florida - and gave me a phone number. She says they sell these things all the time. So I call the number - it is disconnected. I look it up on the web, it has been shut down. I do a google search and there are several complaints about this company. Frustration continues.
Comments United States Magazines & Newspapers
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362 days ago by Donna [send email]
Same thing happened to me. But my story was that I was helping the young man that was selling me the magazines. I was paying more for 2 years worth of magazines than getting it directly from the magazine company. The extra was for this young man to have a place to live and get education. I paid $210.00 for 3 magazines for 2 years. First I had to call them when I never received a magazine until 3 or 4 months. They refunded me for one magazine and said that the People magazine no longer was with their program. I started to receive the other 2 magazines then they stopped after about 6 months. I called Midwest Clearing again and they gave me the same story that the magazines are no longer with their program. I spoke every time with Dave , he would never give me his last name. I have reported them to the BBB in I ll also and they told the BBB that I was getting a check refund. But I have not received it still. I too have a No Soliciting sign now and tell everyone that attempts to sell me something to leave. When you think you are helping someone it turns out you are not. Very Sad.
361 days ago by Bill [send email]
I never thought this would happen to me, but last night it did. He claimed that this was for earning college credits and/or tuition to a school through a program to assist underprivileged minorities. Looking back on it, I knew I should have been suspicious when he conveniently started to stutter while mentioning his speech impediment, but for whatever reason I inexplicably fell for it. After 20 minutes of talking to the guy I found myself writing him a check for $382. After he left I immediately started asking myself "what did I just do?" I looked at the back of the Midwest Clearing Inc. receipt he gave me, where it stated that their sales people would never represent themselves as doing this for college credit or a government program. I immediately filled out the cancellation form on the back of one of the receipt's carbon copies and drove to the post office and mailed it. For good measure I also called my bank and stopped payment on the check. Normally I'd balk at any bank service that carries a $30 fee, but that sounded a hell of a lot better to me than spending $382 for magazines, and if there's a lesson to be learned from this, I'm more than willing to spend those $30 to learn it.
359 days ago by George Brown [send email]
Tonight I had one of these people come to my door. I had heard horror stories about how these people end up getting paid less than minimum wage, they're hundreds of miles from home, and they have no way out. And I told him all about that, and he swore up and down that they had treated him well and helped him earn his GED before he got sent out.

I still didn't believe him, so I checked with BBB. I went to http://chicago.bbb.org/ (which is the Better Business Bureau's Chicago office) and did a search for Midwest Clearing. They've been a BBB member since 2004, and they're maintaining their accredited status. This means, basically, that if you have a complaint with them, that you can call BBB and get it resolved. And the BBB report says there have indeed been complaints, but that they've been resolved, at least enough to the BBB's satisfaction. The company is similarly concerned about customers; it's not enough for them to get their subscriptions; they expressly call you back to make sure you were treated fairly, to ask if you want a refund, etc.

I must have grilled the guy for 45 minutes about whether or not he actually sees any of the money, how he gets paid, whether he gets treated well, and I gave him every out including just telling him I'd give him money, but he was adamant about not taking donations, getting a fresh start on his life, and on and on.

In the end I gave him some money to buy subscriptions and send them an MLK center in Chicago where he was from. He thanked me profusely, said no one else that he talked to cared so much to be sure he was doing well, hugged me and left.

Look, if you want a good deal on magazines, this is not the company to go with; they cost 2-3 times as much as you could get if you ordered direct. Seriously; it's a really bad deal.

If you want to help someone get a fresh start on their life, then order some mags.

And if you have issues, contact the BBB and get'em resolved.
262 days ago by Natalie [send email]
Two salespersons from Midwest just left my front door. I wrote a check for $178.00 for magazine subscriptions but was suspicious after they left. I tried to look up the website that's listed on the receipt and it's down. So I just cancelled my check with the bank. It's a scam. Watch out!
211 days ago by Cb [send email]
This nice teenager tried to sell me magazines from Midwest Clearing Inc. He couldnt accept a check from me becasue I had written "Magazine Donation" in the memo section of the check. I told him that was the only way for me to prove that I was donating the magazines. I took the check back and ripped it up. This young man was very honest and polite.

The young man was hungry so I fed him lunch and wished him goodl luck. These teenagers have no idea how much they are being taken advantage of from these companies that pay them pennies for walking around all day and night.
209 days ago by Donna [send email]
Today a middle aged black man with a young female Katrina
victim whom he was training came to my door and i swear to you that every word I've read here tonite was exactly the same pitch I heard, right down to I just received my GED. I wrote them a check for 102.00 and gave them some drinks as they were exhausted from walking all day. I became suspicious after the male thanked me profusely but the female just lit up a smoke and tossed the empty can on the floor. I googled the company and found all of you. I too placeda stop on the check and it will be worth every penny of the 32.00. But I still dont feel too comfortable. What if the come back and are not so pleasant? Thanks all, we are the good ones ... Tdacc
97 days ago by Samuel Chell [send email]
Pretty much the same story. Perhaps the "twist" was that the salesperson (who had 2 young "trainees" with him--for whom I sensed he was performing as much as for me) actually discouraged me from buying the magazines for myself. He said that by not doing so, I would qualify for a tax deduction as well as help him in his quest for point totals.

Problem: the fine print on the receipt he gave completely contradicts his line about a tax write-off, saying the organization accepts no donations and that salespersons are prohibited from representing Midwest Clearing as a charitable or non-profit organization.

The experience is disturbing at many levels. All 3 young men struck me as being victims of, or scabs in, a profit-making scam, and they are no doubt congratulating themselves on getting money out of me in exchange for their imagined rhetorical slickness. As much as I'd like to contribute to their self-esteem, they struck me as more in need of honest work and a good meal.

One part of me says kiss the 75 bucks goodbye and forget about it (be happy it wasn't more--he started out mentioning figures in the thousands); another part says that if these guys (and their "employers") aren't held accountable in some way, we all lose--the biggest losers ultimately being the 3 young men. This is the ugly side of capitalism and the "American Dream" (the boys were clearly impressed by my Lincoln LS, which I purchased used for less than the cheapest Honda Civic).
41 days ago by Albert [send email]
Samething happened to me tonight!!! The young gentlemen told me he was from Detroit trying to earn his GED, and that he did not want to end up like the rest of his friends. I felt bad considering the fact that I myself came out of the Bronx. I almost bought $500.00 worth of magazines from him for my business. Fortunatly, I did not have any business checks on me. I turned around and bought a personal subscription for 26 months for a total of $93.o0. As I wrote the check, something did not sit right in my stomach about the whole deal. I became more worried when he brought up the fact that if I were to cancel the check that it would come out of his pocket. I also asked him where his ID was and he had explained that he had accidently left it in the car which was to far away. After he left, I decided to do a search on the company and was extremly disturbed at not only this site, but police records on individuals consulting for this company. I have not only canceled the check right away, but have also contacted the police for them to look after the neighborhood for these individuals. It's getting harder and harder to trust people now a days!!!

PS- On the receipt has a website written "www.urbans.com" guess what, , , , doesn't work!!!

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