Gulf Coast Readers review: Received magazines I never ordered! 64

The people- if you want to call them that- at Gulf Coast Readers, have been pursuing me for a "debt" that actually adds up to nothing and it apparently came about for NO reason. These people have been absurdly keen on chasing after me since approximately 2001. It's 2008 now, After SEVEN years, you'd think they'd get the hint when I say, "No. I'm NOT paying you."

I NEVER got any magazines- let alone the ones they say I ordered. (Seriously- Bird Fancy? Are you kidding me?!) I NEVER agreed to pay them. (I'd remember if I promised someone almost $900 for a bunch of shiny trees.) I NEVER wanted to even have a damn thing to do with these jackals, however they've become the reason I've had almost 20 phones numbers over the last 8 years.

Obviously, I am not going to pay them for ANYTHING; let alone magazines I didn't order, never received or even wanted. I mean- if I want a magazine I'll go to the book store and BUY it. Free and clear. No obligations.

I don't want someone to accuse me of sealing a deal that I never had anything to do with. However, that's been the deal since April of 2001. It is honestly and absolutely ridiculous how rabid these people are. Even after all these years.

GCR has been calling my cell phone all week. I finally told them it was a private cell and to leave us alone. They just hung up. This evening they called my son's cell and he fell for their pitch. I immediately told him he should have asked me about the call. And his cell is a completely different number from mine, just the same cell account. I have sent an email to the bank telling them we need to close this account. My son only had .74 cents in his account. Surely these frauds can't get money that isn't there. Our son does not have overdraft protection, so I don't think they could get anything, but just to be on the safe side, I am going to the bank in the morning to close his account.

I wish someone would shut these people down!

I must say I agree with most of these complaints. I received a phone call one day while I was working from a lady at GCR she was very polite and very pursuasive. Yeah I fell for it to. After being charged for 3months and not receiving any magazines I called GCR and spoke to a CSR and told them I wanted to cancel my subscription. She informed me that I couldn't cancel because they had already paid for the magazine and you only have 7 days to cancel, which is ridiculous how do you know after 7days whether or not you want to do business with someone. It's a trap don't fall for their tricks. I am a single mother of 2 small children, their father is encarcerated so I don't receive child support and I don't qualify for state funded assistance. To say the least I am having a hard enough time getting by without having to pay $50 a month plus whatever fees I have to pay the bank for overdraft fees for magazines I don't even want. So when I called back the second time to try to tell these people my situation and hopefully cancel the subscription all they could say is they would set me up on a less expensive payment plan. NO STOP SENDING ME MAGAZINES AND LEAVE MY MONEY ALONE. Well that didn't happen they still kept taking the same amount. So I went to my bank and changed my account info. Any one set up on a DIRECT WITHDRAWAL ACCOUNT I would recommend doing the same. Since I did that though they have not stopped calling my cell phone. Yesterday I was at work (keep in mind I am a CSR I have to answer my phone) when I received a call from GCR I explained to this man why I changed my account info. and he just wouldn't take no for an answer. He kept trying to get me to give him my account info saying that all I would have to pay is $80 and the payments will stop. I just have a feeling he's lying. I've already had to change my account info one time so you would stop taking money, why would I put myself through that again. I won't, but what I will do is file a harrasment suit if they don't stop harassing me at my job. Which is illegal in case you guys at GCR didn't get that memo.

I've also had problems with Gulf Coast Readers. I did subsribe to the magazines, however I called within the cancellation dates and canceled my subscriptions. I suppose they decided not to cancel it though, and now I'm receiving magazines that I don't want, and they're calling demanding they're payments. I refuse to pay for something that I canceled! They are by far one of the worst companies that I've ever dealt with.

i was conned into a subscription for four yrs. iam not paying. iam reporting to FTC to make a complaint.i wholly agree with the above comments.

I just got off of the phone with the Gulf-Coast-Reader's account's supervisor. I asked for a 'hard copy' of the original contract. They declined and said the original contract dated would be replaced with today's date (then the customer/subscriber would be able to cancel within the 7-day period).
I asked him "what good is the contract that has no contract date on it?" He said "that's why they don't send contracts back."

My name is Claire L. Rayl and I do not want any more magazines. Unauthorized bills from you, your company or any of your subsidies, including any unauthorized money charged/or taken out of my bank account, will bring charges of fraud about your company to the Federal Trade Commission and the General Postmaster and the Better Business Bureau for FRAUD!

I agree with all of you. I spoke with a rep a few months ago, who explained ot me that I had been " chosen" to receive this special offer of 2 payments of 59.80 for 15 months of mags. i do not read mags, but thought it was a good offer. I noticed that they have been debiting form my account for 3 months now. I called the [protected] to cancel and receive a refund ( I have not received any mags). I left a message in the Vm and reeived a call the next day. The rep was very rude and she sucked hard. She basically called me a liar and told me that she was not a mind reader. When she said that I asked who she was and she told me that she was a CSR I immediately asked for a sup. She stated that he would be in at 1pm and he will call me then. I recieved no call, so I called the next day. I was told by that rep that the sup did not come in and would not be in and he was on vacation until next week. I flipped, I asked was there another sup available she said no she was the only one there. In my office we have 5 sups, there is no way that this is a legit company with 1 employee a day and no sup r that the sup can take off for a week and not tell anybody. I reported them to my bank and when I get in touch with these MFs I will put a loud a clear buzz in their ear. Gerry g and I am real you can let them know that.

I agree with all your statements about Gulf Coast Readers, my husband unfortunately was conned in to 2 magazine subscriptions (Gulf Coast Readers & Your Best Option), more than 10 years ago and they are still withdrawling money from our bank account. I hardly think anyone would sign a subscription for 10 years. I would like for them to send my husband a contract stating this. Everytime my husband calls they tell him that they will do this and that and then the subscription will be over, but it's been a year since they have said that!

They won't let anyone other than my husband talk to them. A very rude representative stated that very clearly to me one time.

I'm sick of spending $100/month on magazines we don't even want. Whenever they don't have the ones we had specified they send doubles of others and others that I wouldn't ever read. We continue to get renewal letters for certain magazines.

I will have my husband call [protected] right away and hopefully stop this subscription good and for all! My husband was single at the time, probably didn't know what he was getting in to, I have a feeling since we have direct deposit it's going to be harder than we think to get rid of this company!

Gulf Coast Readers is a scam operation. It is beyond me how people can report to a "job" like this every day. To all of you folks who have been swindled... check out this information from the FTC... http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/tmarkg/magzn.shtm ... and then PLEASE FILE COMPLAINTS with the following agencies:

THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION...
you can file complaints online with them at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
and then file at
http://www.ftc.gov/sentinel/
where they keep a running tally and work with other offices (like the BBB, etc)

THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU...
https://odr.bbb.org/odrweb/public/GetStarted.aspx

AND, last, but NOT LEAST - YOUR STATES ATTORNEY'S GENERAL OFFICE (just do a google search by your state and attorney general). Almost all states allow you to file the complaints online.

ALSO - I would recommend sending a "cease and desist" letter to Gulf Coast Readers - making it crystal clear that you are also notifying all of these other agencies, your state's AG. Make sure you send the letter Certified AND Return Receipt Requested. (this will cost about $15. - but it will hold up in court)

MOST OF ALL - do NOT let them bully you. If you have the means, I would pick up a recording device, and if they call again - make a POINT of saying "Hold on, I need to record this conversation"... take as many moments/minutes as necessary to get the recording going.

Don't let them get you.

OH P.S. I forgot to check the "thumbs Down" box in my previous statement so it does give the illusion despite my commentas that I agree with this company, but I do not.

I recently received 2 calls from this company as well. I immediately recognized it was some sort of telemarketing ploy. I attempted to tell the representative that I was not interested but before I could request that I be taken off of their calling list and out of their data base, the rep hung up in my face. I was curious to know how they obtained my information. The next day I received another telemarketing attempt by a different representative. The phone call played out exactly as the first call did the day before, the rep hung up in my face when I expressed I was not interested and when I attempted to request that they remove me from their calling list she hung up in my face before I could finish my sentence. I immediately googled the company which led me to this website. I obtained the [protected] number from a previous complaint by Marie. (BY THE WAY THANK YOU MARIE FOR POSTING THE NUMBER IT IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR KUDOS TO MARIE ) So I contacted them and immediately and politely requested to please speak with a supervisor. I was told by Rhonda after being placed on hold for a few minutes none was available. I then proceeded to tell Rhonda to please remove me from their data base and to cease from calling my telephone. She then identified herself as the office manger ( was I in the twilight zone Rhonda ? I just asked for a manger and you said none was available) she then told me after I asked how they obtained my personal information that they purchase names and addresses and telephone numbers of individuals from other companies. I did recently apply and was approved for a new credit card (my one and only credit card, I am stating this because I am careful of what info I put out there and have a horrible time refraining from shopping so I deny myself credit cards to keep my finances in order but I then realized this is where the information probably came from--the credit card company). Anyhoo I stressed to Rhonda, who kept interrupting me and talking over me to please remove me from their system and to not contact me again. The reps are very rude and seem evasive. I feel if the company is on the up and up they would not have to use the tactics this company is utilizing to try to lure individuals to purchase their product. I did forget to mention during the first call the rep did go through the script they use to try to get me to offer my visa or mastercard number in order to enter some sort of sweepstakes. Of course I refused to do so. Something is shady about their dealings.

I would have to agree with most of the complaints, They blind side you like a deer caught in the headlights. I got 2 random calls from this company, First time they hung up on me before i could get who they were, But oddly enough, It was the same girl that called me the last time, So i sat here kindly, Writing down pretty much everything they said, And i caught something funny in what she was telling me... She said that my "Visa Credit Card Company" entered me into some kind of contest? Uhhh... No they didn't, Nor would they. So tomorrow, I will be calling this 1800 number to cancel this "agreement" of 59.80 bucks a month for 15 months, for 60 months worth of mags of which i won't read anyhow... But i like their spin of the "You been entered to win a million dollars" thing, Bravo on their part of adding that in to get people to go with it... Almost impressed with that.

well i DID work for this company and im not defending them nor condoning their methods of sales. but one thing stays a fact this company IS LIGIT. They are real people making a living in florida, the computers pull up names of people who are LISTED OBVIOUSLY FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER! we dont scan the phone book to pick you out for fun. Also in order for one rep to "close" a sale YOU MUST give them the OKAY to transfer the call and you MUST give them the info... THEY are not phycic, all we see is John doe and where he lives... you give us the rest of the info...IN ADDITION to what wa said about our service... maybe they dont have the top of line speed but they always treat you kindly! i know this for a FACT.

I agree 100% to what most of you guess have to say about this company, the way they go about things, and get in contact with someone there. The only person I don't agree with is the one stating that they had any good experiance with this company. Just like Kenneth Blanton I have also sent a complaintto the BBB and Gulf Coast Readers do have multiple complaints and most of them are about the same issue. You can contact Gulf Coast Readers by call [protected] and that just once of there #'s . But belive me when I say when you get done with them you might want to be contacting the BBB yourself.

Gulf Coast Readers is without a doubt the worst organization I have ever dealt with. My son returned from Iraq in late December. It is unclear how they gleaned his account information, but they are sending him Seventeen, Good Housekeeping, etc. that he is not only uninterested in, but he also did not approve the purchase. I have spent the last two months trying to help him resolve the problem by calling Gulf Coast Readers at their toll free number only to be left on hold for 30 minutes at the time. I have never been able to contact a supervisor; however, about once a week one of their representatives calls me demanding payment.

I finally called my local Better Business Bureau who researched Gulf Coast Readers and discovered that they have numerous complaints. I have since turned them over to the North Carolina Secretary of States office for resolution. We have begun returning the magazines to the publishers with a copy of the correspondence for their review.

Beware of Gulf Coast Readers they are not a legitimate company.

I had someone come selling magazines door to door. He cashed my check but that was 2 months ago. I was supposed to get a subscription but never did. I talked to my bank and I'm going to get that person. I called for the magazines and they never heard of me.

Funny how Jerry G. knows so much about the business; don't you think? Of course Jerry G. Brook works there. It's not the person's real name; they do this all the time.

Jerry - You seem to know a lot about this company and put a lot of effort into defending them, are you sure you don't happen to work there? ;-)

Just kidding. Seriously though, I guess I don't see how your positive experience makes me any less wronged. It doesn't sound like we had similar experiences at all.

I had a similar experience. I had a charge show up from this company on my credit card statement. Then several magazines started showing up that I don't remember ordering. I plan to check into canceling my credit card and send back these magazines...

I had a similar problem, or so it seemed . I had ordered PC Magazine and some other cooking magazines for my wife. I started receiving these magazines and I thought I had ordered PC Gamer magazine. I called customer service and was quite short and angry with them. They, on the other hand, were very polite even though I wanted to argue with them and close my account. The customer service manager asked me to locate the letter they sent to me to confirm the order and sure enough the magazines I 'am receiving were the ones on the letter. I then realized I should have paid more attention to detail when I was ordering the magazines. The manager then offered to change my subscription at no extra cost and I then started getting PC Gamer Magazine instead of PC Magazine.

The service I have received at Gulf Coast Readers Inc. was not only the highest quality, it was also the most pleasant I have ever received from any service of this nature. If you placed an order, then went back on it and canceled that subscription, then you might be getting some promotional magazines . I too started to get magazines I didn't order. I contacted customer service and they explained that they were promotional magazines and if I chose not to receive them they would be happy to cancel them. This could be what has happened in your case.

If your going to try and slam a company, do it to one that has really wronged you.

A Very Satisfied Customer!