MagsForLess.com review: Buyers beware! 131

My complaint is pretty much the same as everyone else's. They wait long enough that you cannot do anything about getting your money back on your charge card as the expiration time has WAY past the time of it's limits. It is sooooo sad that so many have been ripped off. I have wondered if there really was a Meagan Richards and then I got a NEWER updated list that said they were trying to correct everything with a new web site and would refund my money. Ha!
I am amongst all the rest and will never, ever do this again. I wished I had Googled'd this first!
Nivla Boyd
Houston, Texas

This is Joel and I am the owner of MagsForLess. Please email me directly at owner@magsforless.com if you have any open issues. I will make sure that your issue is resolved within one day.

Regards,
Joel

I'm just another person who has been ripped off by half price mags. I hope they get caught up with and have to pay for what they are doing to their customers. s. maddy.

Joel Simkhai is a criminal and should be locked behind bars. I emailed owner@magsforless.com two weeks ago and surprise surprise no response. Is this another trick to buy time?!? How this company is still taking orders is beyond me.

If anyone working for MagsForLess is reading my message, I hope you can sleep well at night knowing you work for a company in the business of cheating innocent people out of their hard earned money.

May you all rot in hell!

I too ordered a subscription from this company (www.magsforless.com) and now over 7 months later, have still not received the magazine I ordered. Based upon my findings on the web about this company, Mr. Simkhai should be in prison.

I totally agree with every complaint that I have read here. I ordered with them back in early 2005, and got my magazines, everything seemed great. I ordered again in August of 2006 and never got my magazines. I inquired in February of 2007 and got the same email everyone else got. After my 12 weeks, plus a few, I emailed again in May. I got a new response referring me to their website to file a trouble ticket. I did, along with 4 more since then, with no response. I did get one email from them; it was another copy of the one I got back in February. I also have the problem of the website not remembering my login credentials to view my past tickets. I personally could care less about the $20 at the moment; I'd really like my magazines.

I have used this company for three years & never had any problems... they have always given me all my subscriptions UNTIL NOW! I decided to get my father for father's day 2 subscriptions - one for Popular Science & one for Popular Mechanics... well, he still hasn't received either! I had no idea anyone else had been having problems with this mag site & now I am quickly telling all my friends to make sure & never buy from here b/c it isn't reliable! I can't believe this has happened! I have contacted their customer support several weeks ago and haven't heard anything back from them. I just finished emailing the owner... maybe he will resolve my problem. If he does I will come back & update this entry.

I had a nearly-identical experience to yours -- same timeline, same replies, same failure to refund my money even after Meagan assigned my "ticket to the Refunds Manager." Apparently, that is their standard line. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau of New York today, and I will be looking for other opportunities to punish the company and its owner (s)' treachery.

This is Joel Simkhai the owner of MagsForLess.

Please email me directly at owner@magsforless.com if you have any open issues. I will make sure that your issue is resolved to your satisfaction.

Regards,
Joel

I've had EXACTLY the same experience, and I've been trying to get somewhere with these thieves since August 06. I bought New Yorker subscriptions for family and friends, and then bought their bait-and-switch gimmick and reordered again (I really thought I would get a refund for the lower, "obsolete" price.)

I purchased through PayPal, so thought I was covered... but PayPal doesn't take action after 60 days, which came before I learned that the gift subscriptions never arrived.

I've referred this to Kim Youmans with the Consumer Protection Division of the Idaho Attorney General's Office, and she has written letters to the New York Attorney General as well as MagsforLess, but I'm not very hopeful.

Good scam. Pretty smart people.

I ordered a subscription for my son in January 07 and never received the magazine. It is now mid July and still no magazine. I guess a bargain really isn't a bargain if you never receive the product. I wish I had read the complaints before I ordered. I'll know better next time.

I ordered and paid for 2 magazine subscriptions in December 2006 and never received them. The company promised a refund. Seven months later no refund!

Magsforless.com is totally a scam! Just wasted time & money. Magazines never came. Hard to get the customer support & website is bad especially for following up orders. Filed for refund but I doubt I will get it back. Very very poor customer service. I have not been able to talk to somebody over the phone. They won't call or email you back. Hmm, I am wondering if they do really exist or just wants to rip people off! Horrible, terrible, dishonest, thieves, liar... they suck!

Same story here. I ordered and paid for a renewal through this company in February. It is now July. I have resubmitted and read via the confirmation I would receive my magazine in 30 days. It's all a crock. I submitted a ticket through the support area. Nothing. When I login to track the ticket it just simply says "open ticket". Wow, I believe I am the victim of an internet crime. I think they bank on time. You can only dispute a charge for 60 days with a credit card. They ensure that 60 days pass by constantly reassuring via email confirmation that your order will be processed immediately. Steen clear of this company. I plan to file a complaint with the BBB and the internet crime center.

I suppose I should have known better than to try to save a few bucks in ordering my magazine w/ Mags for Less on 2/24/07 Order ID# 264317. You guessed it, just like the other people whom have posted complaints against this company on your website, I too, have never received my order. Nor, have I received responses to the 3 support tickets I have logged on their support website.

Please post this on your website so everyone will know not to business with this awful company!

I sent in several magazine orders in February and have not received any of them. I sent a complaint to their customer service website and they sent a response that I should receive them in a month... still no magazines. What a scam!

I have found another number to call him and complain. However, he has picked the phone up, asked who it is, and then hung up. Try calling this number at all hours of the night. [protected]. The phone number on the BBB sight is incorrect.

I have been trying to get Discover and Cruise Travel from these shysters. I ordered 4 mags in total and received 2. The Cruise Travel they said was an error in Processing-- Still no copies. This is going on since September 2006. Other mag is Discover, since January 2007. Repeated inquiries on both have gone unanswered. Their website Customer Support will not give you access to any info on your complaints. It always says you need to LOGON but try as you may you can't get in.
I hope anyone who reads this spreads the word and boycotts these SCAM artists.

My order_id is : 259001 and I have three years subscription for Popular Sciences Magazine since Jan. 3, 2007. However, I have not received the magazine yet.

Shawn

Add my name as well but there may be some hope. I actually spoke to each publisher (5) and they told me to fax in any documentation regarding the purchase. I faxed in e-mails, credit card statement, etc. So far (3) out of the (5) will honor the subscriptions. The other two are up in the air. The ones that did were Golf Digest, GQ and Men's Fitness. Hope this helps. Don't give up, just try every avenue possible.

I mean i agree but the number in incorrect.

This merchant is the Worst. I ordered 3 magazines on Dec31, 2006 and I have never received the magazines as of today (June 5, 2007). I had made repeated attempts to get a refund and have been very unsuccessful.

Never order from this place.

I experienced exactly the same as the above, and at approx the same time of year. Luckily, my order was for less than 10 dollars and my credit card company refunded me the $$, even after 6 months.

The con artists name is Joel Simkhai. Look him up on myspace.com He is 30 and gay and rips people off through magsforless.com

Wow... I sure do wish I would had known this. I ordered a subscription on January 22 and have still not received the first magazine! I did send them an email on March 4 and actually got a reply... heres what the reply said:

Dear Jaclyn,

I do apologize for the inconvenience. I located the orders you are referring to and was able to identify the problem with getting your subscriptions processed. The issue has been corrected.

I can go ahead and personally resubmit your orders to the publisher and put a rush on it. You would receive your magazine within the next 4-12 weeks. If you do not want to wait any longer I can issue a refund to your account. Please let me know which you would prefer to do.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation on this matter.

Sincerely,
Charles Mcallister
Customer Service
Mags411
questions@mags411.com

I chose to not get a refund because I really thought since he took the time to write me back that I would receive my magazines... it's May 16th and still no magazines!

Do NOT purchase any magazines from this fraudulent company... YOU will NOT get your magazines, they will take your money and give you the run around. I also found them promoting there crap on Myspace...

I read on another website http://timharrisportfolio.com/wordpress/?p=174 that the NY Attorney General is currently investigating Simkhai.

If this is true, and you have not already, please consider sharing your story with the NY AG at: www.oag.state.ny.us

It only takes about 10 minutes, but your complaint can really make a difference. You will need the following information when making the complaint:

Joel Simkhai
41 W 72nd Street, 10G
New York, NY 10023
[protected]

I was scammed too. Report it to the Attorney Generals Office of New York, so they know how much this company does this. Follow the link below:

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/online_forms/complaint_alert.jsp

Update: Finally, after waiting for over a month for a reply to my messages, MagsForLess sent me 8 emails in the span of one hour; 11 emails in three days. BUT, they did not even try to explain why I haven't received the magazines I ordered in JULY 2006. Instead, EACH email contained the following "message":

"Follow-up by Joel Simkhai May 9, 2007 00:45 EST
Requesting full refund

Follow-up by Joel Simkhai May 8, 2007 16:40 EST
Requesting full refund

Follow-up by Joel Simkhai May 8, 2007 12:47 EST
Asking that you expedite this order

Follow-up by Joel Simkhai May 8, 2007 12:45 EST
Requesting full refund

Follow-up by Joel Simkhai May 8, 2007 12:38 EST
Requesting full refund

Follow-up by Joel Simkhai May 8, 2007 12:36 EST
Requesting full refund

Follow-up by Joel Simkhai May 8, 2007 12:36 EST
Requesting full refund

Follow-up by Joel Simkhai May 8, 2007 12:36 EST
Asking that you expedite this order

Follow-up by Joel Simkhai May 8, 2007 12:36 EST
Asking that you expedite this order

Follow-up by Joel Simkhai May 8, 2007 12:35 EST
Asking that you expedite this order

Follow-up by Joel Simkhai May 8, 2007 12:33 EST
Asking that you expedite this order

Follow-up by Joel Simkhai May 8, 2007 11:31 EST
Asking that you expedite this order

Follow-up by Joel Simkhai May 8, 2007 11:31 EST
Requesting full refund

Follow-up by Joel Simkhai May 4, 2007 19:41 EST
Requesting full refund

Follow-up by Joel Simkhai May 4, 2007 19:41 EST
Asking that you expedite this order"

I don't know what is going on with the MagsForLess "customer service" dep't and computer system, but I'm not even getting one of the canned answers from "Meagan Richards" or "Holly Goldstein" anymore.

Does anyone else suspect that "Holly" and "Meagan" are figments of Joel Simkhai's imagination?

Same story as everybody else's, will get back to you , our system being upgraded, there is never a refund, they just take your money and laugh at you.

Hi, I've been ripped off as well. I ordered a magazine in December 06 for Christmas and have never received shipment. I've contacted Magsforless several times and only gotten one response which said they were looking for it and I would have an answer in two days. Needless to say, its been 10 with no reply. My suggestion to everyone involved is to fight the charges with their credit card company. If the card company get to many complaints about the same company they will not allow Magsforless to continue processing their cards. This would severely hurt the company's ability to do business. Hope everything works out for you... I'm going to call my credit card company right now!

I ordered magazines for friends for christmas on December 9th, and they have yet to have rec'd any of them... so now i am out 3 subscriptions... I have emailed complaints, only to get no response, and have hunted high and low for a working phone number to no avail... RIDICULOUS and very frustrating!

Scam, Scam, Scam. There is no customer service, just empty replies via email at best. Every phone number is busy or disconnected. No magazines were ever received after contacting them and waiting almost 4 months.

All -

I've been in contact with someone else (whom I met through one of these complaint forums) and we're set on getting a class-action lawsuit together against MagsForLess/Joel Simkhai.

I've created a website for folks that have been scammed so we can get some contact information in order to pass to a judge/lawyer. If we're able to go through with the class-action, we'll be contacting you if we need anything further or just to give you some general information.

http://rippedoff.drewgiefly.com

Please keep in mind that any information submitted on that site is private and confidential, and will be used exclusively to try and get this class action rolling.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email Keith (the person I'm working with) at rookie139@yahoo.com.

The more of you that submit your information, the better chance we have at taking down this ###

Thanks!

I have had the same issue. I ordered magazines for my bridesmaids as a gift. It's been more than 6 months since I ordered and none of my girls have received their subscriptions.

I went to sites of the actual publications to make the replacement orders. I'm out more money, but have saved face with my friends. No thanks to Magsforless. The reply I received is that they are updating their computer system and will reply to my email shortly. I am thinking that will never happen.

Be warned. This is a scam.

I too have been a sucker. I order things off the internet often and so felt no ambivalence about ordering from magsforless; I guess I should have done some research before I gave them my money. I placed my order in July 2006 and am still waiting for it to be filled in May 2007. Wow. I guess they figure I will forget about my 35.00, but I can't. I am in the military and take it personally that someone would treat a veteran this way. I am even more bothered, however, that they don't seem to care about customer service at all...that is just flat out unamerican! I don't subscribe to the theory that the customer is always right, but not even attempting to provide service is outrageous to me. I was also temporarily appeased by Meagan's sweet email, but NO MORE! I want my refund.

Ed Magedson, Founder of Rip-Off.com has some great suggestions on how to get your money back from Simkhai and MagsForLess:

Go to your bank within 60 days of the charge, or as soon as you know about the charge, don't delay, and tell them that there has been fraudulent activity within your account. Explain that you wish to file a dispute, and demand that they assist you in accordance with Federal Regulation E.

According to the majority of victims interviewed by Rip-off, those who immediately called their banks to dispute the charges did not get very far. Many victims got the following responses from their banks: �we could not do anything for you� or �you waited too long; it has been more than 60 days�.

If the bank is says that you have waited too long, explain to them how you called their 800 number as soon as the charges were found, and were told by the bank that nothing could be done. Remind the bank that they failed to assist you properly at the 800 #, and instead, provided you with an inadequate explanation of your right to dispute. Tell the bank that it's their fault time has expired, and since they gave you the wrong info to begin with, they will just have to deal with it, take the loss and reverse the charges.

Tell them the truth; this was unauthorized and your account was NOT to be charged! Keep emphasizing how you never authorized anything! Direct them to the hundreds of victims reports that were filed on Rip-off.com. And if you're at the bank, walk them over to their computer and make them go to this site! If you are on the phone with them, tell them you will wait while they access this site! Either way, be persistent!

DO NOT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER!

Let them know nicely, that you were advised to Report them (the Bank) and this situation to the Banking Commission in your state. Since each state has a different name for the agency/controller over banks, find that name before you call or get to the bank so you can throw it in their face. The more knowledgeable you appear to be, the further you will get.

And just continue to demand the Federal Regulation E form! The bank CAN, MUST and WILL reverse the charge! But, you must be persistent; ask to speak to the supervisor or the area manager for all the branches in the state.

Let the bank personnel know you are meeting with the media later in the day, that you would much rather they do the right thing (as most other banks have) by looking at the complaints and immediately reversing the charge(s) to your account; no matter how long ago it was. Be sure to call the Media if necessary so you are telling the truth.

If you have to, be loud (but nice) in front of other customers. If you are just calling by phone, the above tactics should still work. The bank can easily fax or mail to you the Federal Regulation E dispute form.

CHARGES TO YOUR CREDIT CARD

If the charge was to your credit card (not debit card, check card, or checking account), contact the credit card company as soon as possible to request a dispute form. Consumers usually have a little longer to dispute fraudulent credit card charges (up to 6 months), but it is better to act right away. In this type of situation, credit card disputes are usually successful since fraudulent companies often won't contest the disputed charge. In rare cases, credit card companies will review disputes, but refuse to reverse the charges. If this occurs, complain to a manager and let them know you will be filing a report here.

Remember� Don't let them get you! Make sure they make the Rip-off .. The more Reports filed on a Company or individual, the more likely it is that the authorities, media and attorneys will want to take action.

And good luck� Let us know how you do!

Please consider contacting the following to file complaints against Joel Simkhai and MagsForLess:

New York Attorney General - www.oag.state.ny.us
Federal Trade Commission - www.ftc.gov
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center -www.ic3.gov
National Fraud Information Center/Internet Fraud Watch - www.fraud.org
Dateline NBC, Lea Thompson, NBC's Chief Consumer Correspondent - datelineconsumer@hotmail.com
Better Business Bureau - www.newyork.bbb.org

Info:
Joel Simkhai
41 W 72nd Street, 10G
New York, NY 10023
[protected]

If we bring enough attention to Simkhai's criminal operations, we might be able to get him shut down. Every complaint counts, no matter how seemingly nominal the amount may be.

Add me to the list of people ripped off by MagsForLess.com...

I placed my order in September 2006. 7 months and a dozen emails later, nothing. Anyone (including me) who does business with Magsforless.com is a fool.