Most of your message is not even worth replying to because it wouldn't be for your edification....in other words, I'm not looking to start an argument with you.
I am looking to inform you that it isn't an absolute that Americans are dumb. I may be gullible, and I may want to believe that people who call me and tell me that they are checking to see if my magazines are coming in (and that they are essentially the exact same company that I am already subscribed with) that they are telling the truth.
Fraudulent business practices that people fall into don't necessarily reveal those peoples' intelligence levels to be low. I am a recent college graduate majoring in Cross-Cultural Studies and minoring in Philosophy, Youth Ministry, and TESOL. I'm not an idiot, plain and simple. Not saying I'm a genius either...but my point is, fraudulent business practices reveal the hearts of those working in a company and the heart of the company itself, not the intelligence of (or lack thereof) of its victims.
Additionally, your voice verification means nothing to me for a number of reasons. 1: The voice recording information could be changed--I mean, a person answers yes to virtually every question, it wouldn't be difficult to make it sound as though they were saying yes to something completely different; 2: In my case, I wasn't allowed to NOT confirm after it had been recorded and I didn't want to go through with it (and they already had my information after recording the first time); 3: If you don't understand the terms they still refuse to explain them with any degree of clarity that would even begin to benefit any human on this planet; 4: they lied about the terms in the first place by claiming to be something they weren't, nullifying the agreement and the purpose of the agreement.
I was duped because they LIED to me, not because I'm stupid for believing them when they pulled up my card information, address, and "my" magazine information.
As for the letter, I received mine AFTER this cancellation period you mentioned. But you know what's odd about that? It wouldn't have mattered if I had actually received it on time anyway, because everyone that I spoke to claimed that it wasn't possible to cancel the order---ever---regardless of whether or not it fell within a specific time frame.
Also, MC's website claims: "We will cancel your order and refund your account per your request." So what's the problem? I spoke with probably 3 different people who apparently haven't gotten the memo.
What's more, albeit on a completely different vein, your company doesn't know the meaning of customer service. When a supervisor refuses to give me information about their boss and refuses to give me a website, phone number, time to call (whether a day or a range)....and then hangs up on me, there's a problem. When someone tells me that they actually will send out information about a company and doesn't, there's a problem. When 166+ people have virtually the same complaint about a company, it's probably legitimate.
Even if all Americans WERE stupid (hypothetically), it still seems suspicious that they all seem to have the same problem under just about the same circumstances. And...that hypothetical is ridiculous. More plausible--ignorance about the ways that magazine companies like yours deceive, threaten, harass, and exploit their potential customers. Also plausible: some people weren't the sharpest tools in the shed. But 166? Thousands? Percentage of likelihood is dropping quickly.
Look at how i handled the situation. It will help you. I was in the same situation. I'm a college student barely getting by. Hope everything works for you.
I currently work for this company as a customer service supervisor. I have to say first off if you are willing to verify or even give your information to a telemarketer, your dumb.. We verify all our orders with a voice file that clearly states the terms and conditions of the contract, and you have to agree in order for there to be an account set up. So people, come on let's be smart and either hang up on them or realize what is being said to you... We also send a letter out allowing a full week for customers to cancel free of charge... You know how many customers just throw the letter away??? And lastly if for some reason the person is disabled or has a cognitive disorder we cancel the account with no questions asked. I think honestly the general public needs to pay attention to where their money is going and they need to be smarter about who they verify information with... And please don't use the excuse "they made me do it" or "they wouldn't let me get off the phone" your in charge of your own choices, findncial decisions, and please no one is holding a gun to your head you could ask questions or better yet just hang up the phone.. Honestly the only reason why there are still telemarketing companies is because the majority of Americans are DUMB... If you would like to further discuss this matter feel free to contact me on our customer service line...
Same deal as pretty much everyone else on this board, even into 2012! Terrible that this is still going on. Magazine Connection basically mislead me into believing that they were the magazine company that I currently have a subscription with (subscriber services)....and then they proceeded to ask usual questions like if I was receiving the magazines, etc. Sadly, I was tricked into the recording and a different card number than the one subscriber services has. I tried to ask them why they needed it and to explain the terms better to figure out what was going on, but they refused to answer directly....just kind of implied that I should know and that everything was as it was supposed to be.
I receive harassing calls occasionally, but the thing that is odd is that although they claim that they are charging my card 56 or something exorbitant like that a month, the charge never shows up on my account. They also claim that they cannot cancel it, despite the fact that their website states: "We will cancel your order and refund your account per your request."
Also, everyone that I have ever spoken to from MC has been extremely rude. One supervisor refused to give me information about the company (mainly the name and contact information of a supervisor above her), and hung up on me. This was ironic to me because if anyone should be frustrated and hanging up on anyone, it should be me! ^_^'
I filed a complaint on their website and I am also about to file a complaint with the BBB as suggested. Thanks for the support and help; I'm not the only one and I am not crazy!!