Consumer

Magazine Subscription Service May Not Deliver

PENN HILLS (KDKA) ― They come around every summer - vans full of young people selling magazines - but do they deliver?

There's a group working Penn Hills right now, but at any given time, there are hundreds of sales crews traveling the country, often in beat up vans full of young people.

Danyel Campalong of Penn Hills has a no solicitations sign on her front door but that didn't keep the sales kids away from her home.

Although Danyel says she usually doesn't talk to salespeople at her door, "She was a young girl, very cute, clean cut, very chatty and very friendly - it is hard to say no to someone like that."

Danyel says the girl told her she was from Texas, working for a Colorado-based company called, "Face to Face Technologies." She claimed to be earning money, in part, for the American Diabetes Association and in part for a special trip.

Because Danyel has a three-year-old daughter, she ordered a subscription to Highlights.

Danyel wrote a check for $57 - $42 for a two-year subscription to the magazine and $15 for a processing fee - but after the deal was done she had some doubt.

"I didn't feel right about it," said Danyel. "She didn't show me any identification. Normally people have a tag around their neck with a photo ID."

Danyel sat down at her computer and looked up a consumer complaint website called the Ripoff Report. She found scores of angry consumers all over the country claiming they never got their magazines and accusing the company of misrepresentation. Danyel immediately canceled her subscription and her check.

"I called to make sure they received my cancelation," said Danyel.  "The woman who answered said it was a good thing I canceled because it wasn't even a magazine they sold anymore."

On a scale of A to F, the Better Business Bureau gives the company a D-minus because of multiple complaints of billing, collection and delivery problems.

There's another problem. These young people have no business coming to your door, at least not in Penn Hills, where door-to-door sales are prohibited unless you have a door-to-door solicitation permit which "Face to Face Technologies" failed to get.

Danyel spent $32 canceling her check. She is going to cancel her checking account and open a new one because she doesn't want this company having access to the money in her account.

"I really did think I was helping someone and they were just scamming me," said Danyel.

Some people get their magazines, some people don't. We did confirm that none of Danyel's money would have gone to the American Diabetes Association. Bottomline: Be skeptical. These sales crews are not all what they seem.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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