Reader voices: subscription scams

Magazine subscriptions have always been something of a racket, but they seem to getting worse both in scope and in the depth of their sheer fraudulent nastiness. But does the blame for this sorry state of affairs belong to the magazine publishers themselves, or does it perhaps lie elsewhere?

The magazine publisher we’ve heard the most about here — the Eli Journals/New Hill tech publishing outfit with its threatening invoices to people who often never subscribed in the first place — is still generating lots of gripes from readers. “Some time ago, I got an e-mail inviting me to subscribe to the ‘Inside Adobe InDesign’ publication from Eli Journals for tips and tricks,” one reader wrote recently. “The offer was for a trial issue, after which I could pay for the full subscription or cancel. I accepted, and before too long an invoice appeared in my mailbox for $147, but no trial issue. I let it ride, thinking that the invoice was just faster than their trial issue. I did finally get the publication, and decided not to continue, writing unsubscribe/cancel on the invoice and sending it back. Since then I have gotten two more invoices from New Hill Services, telling me I am seriously past due. Today I tried calling the number they have listed on their invoice, was given a variety of numbers to press, but none of which got me anywhere. Even the number to leave a message, just routed me back to the main cue. After fifteen minutes of holding on the line, the call was cut off.”

The reader has continued to get invoices, some for $147, some for $47, some for other various “discounted” amounts. As with others who’ve received the Eli/New Hill invoices, she’s worried the company will report this false debt to the credit agencies. (I can say that, in spite of all these gripes, I have yet to hear from anyone who has actually discovered a New Hill claim in their credit report — if you have, please let me know about it.) “I wonder if every time I send back the invoice with “Cancel/Unsubscribe” it generates another demand for payment letter?” the reader wrote again after receiving yet another invoice. “Since there is no way to communicate with them to stop, I guess I’ll just ignore their correspondence from here on.”

Of course, Eli Journals is hardly the only culprit. “This has been going on for years,” wrote another reader. “I’ve gotten third-party invoices for car mags, science fiction mags, etc. Now I don’t even open them, but just trash them. If it’s not from the publisher, just throw them out. You can’t be sure any of the money will get to the real publisher, and even if it does, you’ve encouraged the third-party leeches.”

The third-party subscription sellers may or may not be under the control of the magazine publisher. “It goes beyond tech magazines,” wrote another reader. “The monthly magazine Harper’s has a subscriber alert warning in every issue and on their web site that states: ‘It has come to our attention that several of our subscribers have received renewal notifications from an independent magazine clearinghouse doing business under the names Magazine Billing Services, Publishers Processing Services Inc., and American Consumer Publish Assoc. These companies have not been authorized to sell subscriptions on behalf of Harper’s Magazine. We are making efforts to locate each of these companies, but unfortunately they are difficult to find.'”

Then again, maybe it’s all Google’s fault. As we’ve discussed, publications of all kinds are hurting for revenues in part because Google and others who don’t produce the content themselves now get such a big cut of the ad revenue pie. As one reader who is getting really frustrated with the click-here-or-wait-15-seconds pop-up ads noted, this is obstructing the Internet for everyone. “I realize the newspapers and magazines have to make money somehow, but can’t they and Google work out some kind of deal?” he wondered. “It’s in nobody’s interest if we all quit using the Internet because we can’t get through to any real content.”

But some readers think the problem has another source. “We are receiving many bills or invoices for magazines we have never received or read,” wrote one. “We are told to pay this invoice by a date soon approaching. Some of the subscriptions are over $l00 for magazines such as People magazine. We know we have never ordered or signed up for even free issues, but now you not only worry about receiving calls and magazines not solicited but being reported to your credit agency and paying for the rest of your life for this type of fraud. It is shame credit bureaus have become so powerful, but when you try to prove something and are successful, it comes back three months later like it was never resolved. We have been through this before and it doesn’t seem to matter if you were a victim of a scam or a company made an error. What do consumers do? It would be nice if consumer protective agencies would address this issue with credit bureaus who have way too much power.”

So credit report agencies, Google, third-party leeches, or the magazines themselves — who do you think is to blame for all these magazine subscription scams? Post your comments below or write me at Foster@gripe2ed.com.