I bought a book which was supposed to come with 4 DVDs of America's Test Kitchen TV shows. The book arrived but not the DVDs.
Numerous Emails to their customer service dept were sometimes answered, but mostly not. Still, two months after the original order, no DVDs and no answer from them as to when or if they'll arrive.

I have gotten a friend a subscription to Cook's Illustrated for several years. This year, I got an email offering a $22.95 renewal of the subscription and any additional subscriptions for $19.95.

No, we are not talking a lot of money here. But, When I went through the online subscription renewal, it asked me for my information as the billee, but never even gave me the option of selecting a subscription for myself. The system certainly tried to get me to add other subscriptions for $19.95, but since I was not interested in getting any others, the only subscription I authorized was for my friend.

When I got to the confirmation page, I was informed that my credit card had been charged for a subscription for my friend and one for myself.

No where in the email, or online did it state that the $22.95 deal was contingent upon me getting a subscription for myself. And no where did I have the option of selecting or unselecting a subscription for myself. The customer service link on the confirmation page is dead. You will sit on hold for at least 20 minutes on the 800 "customer care" line. When I finally got someone on the line who told me that all managers and supervisors were "busy, " she informed me that she could see the renewal for my friend in the system, but could not see the subscription for me. Therefore, she could not get rid of the subscription for me.

This is definitely a scam. If I did not review the confirmation page (since I had been carefully reviewing the information I was entering) and see the $42.90 as the total instead of $22.95, I may not have noticed until a couple months from now when I got my first magazine.

I accepted an offer for a free issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine, but I did not order a subscription. I have received 4 invoices demanding payment for a subscription. I am annoyed that Cook's Illustrated does not supply a phone number for me to phone in a complaint. I am also annoyed that the Web site that is listed on the invoices (www.cooksillustrated.com) does not provide an opportunity to contact a customer service representative.