Yes, I’ll admit it. I was duped into ordering a magazine subscription by a door-to-door salesman yesterday. Man, I hate rereading that sentence, but it’s true. Here’s what happened.
The Oh-So-Friendly Knock
I was getting ready to go meet some friends for dinner last night when I heard a knock on the door. I assumed one of my friends decided to meet at my place first and I opened the door to an unfamiliar face. Before I could even get a word out Mr. Salesman had already begun his pitch.
Immediately, he started explaining his life story to me and how he wanted to go back to school to become a sports announcer and magazine sales were helping him achieve his dream. I told him that I wished him luck, but I wasn’t interested in any magazine subscriptions. Frustration swept over his face and he went off on how he was a top-seller and was only a few hundred points from winning a trip to the Bahamas. I again told him good luck and no thanks, but that wasn’t about to deter him.
He asked if he could write down my name and address so his boss knew that he was out trying to get subscriptions. I was in a hurry to get him out of here and started telling him my name when he cut me short. He needed something to write on. I turned around to grab a notebook off of my kitchen counter. I grabbed it and turned around to see him sitting on my couch. He said he could just use the table here to write as it would be much easier.
Okay, now I’m a bit creeped out. This stranger is in my apartment and isn’t very good at accepting no.
He wrote down my name and address and started his pitch again. This time he handed me a list of magazines that were available and told me to look through it. I again told him that I didn’t need a magazine but instead of acknowledging what I had said he asked me what type of music I listened to. I was a bit thrown off and regrettably replied “Rock.” And thus the final attempt at his pitch began.
“The Rolling Stone would be perfect for you,” he told me as he started rattling off prices. Initially he wanted me to sign up for 4-years for $125, but since “he liked me” he offered me the two year price at $52.00, which is still a ridiculously inflated rate.
It was about this time that I had found the cancellation instructions on the back of one of the papers he had handed me. Armed with these, I decided to play his game to just get him the hell out of my apartment. He was ecstatic to hear me agree and informed me that “you’ll be saving over $50 on the cover price when you order through us!”
He then informed me of a $15.00 “processing fee” as he handed me a $67.00 bill. I wrote out a check payable to the company listed on the order form and sent him on his way.
It had been a very uncomfortable fifteen minutes.
Immediately after he left, I started to Google as much information about the company as possible. I stumbled upon hundreds of complaints at Rip-off Report with claims of being charged and never receiving any magazines. The two companies in charge of handling magazine subscriptions are the Pacific Coast Clearing Services Inc. and Unlimited Sale, Inc. (253)851-8414 located at 5775 Soundview Dr., Suite 103C Gig Harbor, WA 98335. I quickly called Unlimited Sale Inc. to let them know that I had changed my mind about the order. They told me to mail away a copy of my receipt and assured me that the check would not be cashed.
A word of advice, if a kid comes to your door trying to sell magazines to win a trip or further his or her education, cut the conversation short and get them on their way as quickly as possible.
So, here I sit anxiously checking my bank account every 15 minutes to make sure that the $67.00 I sent away doesn’t leave my bank account. I don’t have much hope at this point. I’ll let you know of any further updates.
Leave a comment below if you’ve had an experience with these people or if you know how I can definitely get my money back.