Let me tell you a story about a bunch of crooks. Here goes ...

Memo dated December 15, 2009

On July 22 of this year, Readers’ Choice, a Magazine Subscription Service based in San Luis Obispo, California, wrote me a letter welcoming me to their Readers’ Exchange Program. This was in response to my accepting an enticing offer made a few days earlier by a very professional sounding young lady to service my magazine needs for the next five years. I was informed that if I were to totally pay for this service immediately at the time of my order, I would also get a 4-day/3 night Royal Caribbean Cruise at any one of 25 resort destinations; a 7-Night Resort Getaway at any one of 500 resort destinations; $1, 000 worth of brand-name grocery coupons; $1, 000 in savings at some of my favorite well-known restaurants; a Two for One Cruise Certificate, and a Free Companion Airfare Certificate – all under my Certificate Validation Code: 1512. I would also receive, as an added bonus, a Lifetime Membership in Hotels, lnc., a large Discount Travel Club, which was easily worth the $129.00 that I would be charged; a Certificate redeemable for a Premier Golf Membership giving discounts at more than 1, 500 golf courses throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, and the British Isles, and a Free $100 Redeemable Gasoline Certificate (I got one worth $200 instead). All of this along with my subscriptions to the first four magazines of my choice, and I gave these to the young lady salesperson during our initial phone call. They were: Maximum PC, World of Puzzles, Cookbook Digest, and Readers Digest. Next, I was given an Order Number: 0321631, and I received my Hotel, Inc., Membership Card, Number 789919 by regular mail very soon thereafter. I was told in that letter that should I need to contact Readers’ Choice for any reason, my Customer ID and my Password would be: 1047631. The costs for this service seemed reasonable (even if the discounts turned-out to be not much to speak of). At the end of my initial telephone conversation, I agreed to pay the first two of three monthly installments of $199, 00 each immediately if Readers’ Choice would pay the final payment. I was eventually charged for the two $199.00 payments on my American Express statements on 7/21/2009 and then on 8/13/2006. This meant that Readers’ Choice would pick-up the third and final payment . My American Express card was also billed $35.00 on my July statement for each of the two Vacation Getaway packages (one was called a Cruise package) on 8/24/2009, and I was also charged $129.00 on 7/21/2009 for my lifetime membership in Hotel Etc. which also included my annual access to www.ChoiceTravelPass.com at no additional cost. This was all explained to me by letter from Readers’ Choice dated 07/22/2009, and I approved of this charge as it was explained to me earlier by phone. All of the Readers’ Choice special programs and benefits were paid through my American Express card, and they have all been delivered exactly as I was told they would be. The actual delivery of their claims, however, turned out to be very disappointing; however, I bought into their program on my own free will; therefore, any blame for the lack of delivery of any expected service which I had assumed would be provided is mine, not theirs.

An invoice dated July 17, 2009, was received by me from a National Magazine Exchange’s “Reader’s Club” to confirm my magazine subscription order. It indicated that I would be receiving the following magazines: Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Forbes, Working Mother, Popular Science, Interview and Essence. It also said that I would be billed on my American Express card for 4 month payments of $67.08 each beginning on July 17, 2009. As I thought this was from “Readers’ Choice”, I called them and said that my invoice was all wrong and that my list of magazines was not anywhere near to what I had ordered. I was assured that I had the right place, and that they would correct my subscriptions to conform with my order. In the meantime, the National Magazine Exchange, dba NME MAGAZINEORDER 86LARGO, charged $67.08 to my American Express card on 7/17/2009. I noticed, however, that their invoice had a Clearwater, Florida, address for all correspondence, and an Atlanta, Georgia, address for all payments. Their Customer Service Department was shown to be in Clearwater, Florida, at (800) 316-6247. As my magazine service was located in San Obispo, California, I began to wonder if this was the same company. Sure enough, it wasn’t..

On August 18, 2009, I was sent an eMail by Readers’ Choice confirming my order and detailing once again all of wonderful things that I would be getting with my membership in their program, and in that eMail, they said they had served America for over 20 years, and that they had teamed up with the Hearst Corporation in order to give extraordinary benefits to their customers which were not found with normal magazine subscriptions. I signed the form that they sent me to confirm my order, and then promptly mailed it back to them so that I could quickly get the Certificate for my Cruise and the other for my Getaway Vacation. I paid $35 for each Certificate to Readers’ Choice through my American Express card in order to get them pronto as they had suggested, and I still have the one for the Cruise. I determined after sending back the one for the Vacation Getaway, that the Certificates weren’t worth the time it took to fill them out. As an example, I requested accommodations at the Dover House in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for my 7-day/8-night Vacation Getaway, only to find that it would cost me over $70 per night after adding up the various service fees. Heck, I could get a room at a Motel 6 or some other inexpensive motel for less than that, so where was the big deal I was going to get? I just forgot about the Vacation and the Cruise, too. Just give me my magazines I said to myself.

Next, I received a letter from Hartland, Inc., dated September 9, 2009, thanking me for selecting them to service and manage my subscriptions. They stated that the charge for their service was $59.85 over 18 months, for a total order value of $ 1197.00 . The magazines they showed that they were sending me included: ESPN, Better Homes & Gardens, Maximum PC, Mens Health, and Inc. Magazine. Then, on September 15, Heartland charges $119.70 to my American Express Card (the same card I used to pay Readers’ Choice). Without knowing this as I didn’t get my statement until the end of September, I sent an eMail on September 16, 2009, to Readers’ Choice once again saying that I was not getting the magazines that I ordered, but that I was still getting ESPN and Sports Illustrated. I also added that I was still getting the “warning” calls supposedly

from them, informing me that other magazine services may be trying to get me to subscribe to magazines through their service and that I should not do so. During all of this confusion, I talked with a “Kyle” over the phone (Direct line 800-917-5574). He said that he would have his boss, “Jeff”, call me back about these problems. I called Heartland at (866) 292-4882 the minute I got my American Express statement to see what kind of scam they were trying to pull on me. The lady who answered the phone got rather “huffy” with me and played back a taped recording of a conversation that I supposedly had with their representative when placing my order. It was my voice alright; however, it was the recording of the conversation that I made when I placed my initial order with Readers’ Choice back in July. I challenged the lady by asking her when I supposedly placed this order with Heartland, and she said her records showed that it was made in September. That was utter Bull%#+*! Heartland had to have gotten a copy of the conversation that I had in July with Readers’ Choice’s sales lady in order to be able to play it back to me. My guess is that you will probably find that “Ken” is no longer with Readers’ Choice (or something along those lines). More than likely, he is now with Heartland along with the tapes he made while selling or otherwise working for Readers’ Choice. At this point, I called American Express to challenge Heartland, Inc.’s charge on my Account, and they confirmed by letter that they were looking into the matter.

On September 15, 2009, I eMailed Readers’ Choice to let them know that I had been getting dozens of calls from their Company (at least that is what I was led to believe) warning me not to take any subscriptions from anyone other than them. Each caller asked me to confirm my age, address and marital status. They may have even asked for other things, but I don’t recall as there were so many calls, and each caller went out of his or her way to make me think they were calling on behalf of Readers’ Choice. What a “ruse”! I see now how this scam works. Also, in this email to Readers’ Choice, I complained again about receiving only Sports Illustrated and ESPN, and nothing else so far.

I again eMailed Reader’s Choice on September 20, 2009, as a follow-up to a phone call that I had made a week earlier to let them know that there was possibly some fraudulent activities going on. I provided my Password (#1047631) as I was told to do. I then advised Readers’ Choice that I had received an eMail that was supposedly from them on August 8, 2009, which stated that I would soon be receiving: Sports Illustrated, ESPN, World of Puzzles, Cookbook Digest, and Travel 50 & Beyond. I let them know that I had received the first two magazines on this list, plus I had also received copies of: Essence (a magazine for Black people), Working Woman (and I am neither working nor a woman), and Readers Digest (which I wouldn’t mind getting anyway) – all of which I would never have selected as they don’t fit my interests by any means. I also asked if my American Express account was in any danger of being used by any other organization and I inquired as to how Heartland Inc., gained the information about my earlier magazine subscriptions in July.

On September 24, 2009, I called Kyle at Readers’ Choice at (800) 917-5574, and also Faxed him at (805) 547-8612 at 8:25 P.M. with a letter expressing my displeasure in the package that they sold to me in July. I also forwarded Readers’ Choice the Welcoming letter that I had received from Heartland, Inc., which was dated September 9, 2009, to see if they could find out who these people were and how they got my credit card information.

On October 14, 2009, American Express notified me by letter that Heartland, Inc.’s, September 15, 2009, charge of $119.70 had been suspended.

The next thing I know, Heartland, Inc., has again charged my American Express Card, this time for $59.85 on October 20, 2006, which suddenly appeared on my November statement, Again,
I called American Express to protest this charge, and they notified me by letter on November 10, 2009, that this charge had also been suspended.

In the meantime, I received a letter dated November 8, 2009, from American Express stating that the dispute with Heartland, Inc., in the amount of $119.70 had been resolved in my favor.

Then, I get a letter dated November 24, 2009, from American Express relative to the suspension of Heartland’s $59.85 charge. Hartland furnished them with transaction details and a letter of explanation. As I indicated earlier, Heartland told American Express in their reply that my, “phone transaction was recorded to a wav file and archived with a sale date of 09/09/09 for the purchase of magazines.” As I also told you earlier, this is pure Bull%#*#! This order and the recording was made in July when I placed it with Readers’ Choice. Also, the copy of the Confirmation and Guarantee letter that was sent to American Express had no Signature in the place where it was to have been signed. Of course, Heartland said, “As our customers place their orders exclusively by phone, we do not obtain a signature.” Tell that to the Judge when he asks why you didn’t get the buyer’s signature on a sales contract for the purchase of a car, even a used one! Then, they were “nice enough” to tell American Express that they would cease the automatic monthly billing to my American Express Card, and change it to a direct monthly billing to my regular mailing address.

I have also received recent eMails from a Treasures Coast Readers organization inquiring
about my magazine subscription contract, and by a “Readers Service” organization in Colorado saying my 6-months subscriptions were about to run out, and that I needed to renew them.
I was also contacted by a company called Publishers’ Magazine Service a few weeks back, and would you believe it – I even got a call from a “Home Office Magazines” TODAY. When I asked who they were, the lady said, “We are the ones who are sending out your magazines.” I was so shocked, as I had been writing on this memo for several days, that I blurted out, “Oh god, not another one!” The line immediately went dead! Where are all of these magazine subscription services coming from? And, how the H--- do you stop them?

Back to the problem: within the past few weeks, I have received two calls from Heartland, Inc., inquiring about my monthly installments which supposedly are in arrears. In fact, I just received the “first” monthly paper invoice from Heartland Inc, P.O. Box 3586, in Des Moines, Iowa 50323, Telephone (866) 292-4882 in the amount of $59, 85. The invoice came in my regular mail. On the invoice, it stated “A PAYMENT OF 1137.15 WILL PAY YOUR ACCOUNT IN FULL.” Well, la-te-damn-da! I guess it would pay them in full if I owed them that amount, but I don’t, and I won’t!!!

I am tired of all of this hassle!! Here is how I propose to put a big HALT to all of the confusion and harassment:

First off, I did place an order for magazine subscriptions with Readers’ Choice, and I did sign a confirmation form with them to this effect. I have totally paid-off this obligation and intend to honor our agreement. I only hope Readers’ Choice will do the same. Now, to that end, I am enclosing their Magazine Switch List in with their copy of this memo. It shows the magazines that I want, and expect to receive, within 8 to 16 weeks. I would like to request that “Jeff” lets me know that he has received this memo, and that my new list of magazines will soon be on their way.

Secondly, I have never knowingly placed an order for magazine subscription services, or anything else for that matter, with Heartland, Inc., nor do I ever plan to order anything through this organization in the future. I have never put my signature on any document of theirs that would confirm my authorization to be billed for any amount of money, much less the $1, 137.15 that Heartland says I owe them. So, I would advise Heartland to get off my a-- or I will look into legal means to get them off. Next, I would advise Heartland, Inc., National Magazine Exchange, Home Office Magazines, Treasure Coast Readers, and all the rest of these fly-by-night organizations who are preying on the unsuspecting public, to never call me again as it will be a cold day in H--- before they ever get another dime out of me. I could have sworn that I had subscribed to a “No Call” telephone service, but the “herd” is running over me at this time. I will check with this service to see if I am on it, plus I will send a copy of this memo to the Better Business Bureau, to RipOff.com, Snopes, and any other agency or organization who might be of interest. I have already found that most of the magazine service companies mentioned in this memo are listed as “rip-offs” on the Ripoff.com website, including my own service provider, Readers’ Choice. We shall see!

Thirdly, I will inform American Express to cancel my current Credit card account and reissue a new Credit Card with a new account number to assure this problem will no longer continue or ever arise again from some new “scam” artist.

Cordially,

Charles L. Gafford

Address:
250 E. Alameda Street, Apt. 642
Santa Fe, NM 87501-6205
Res.: (505) 989-1254
Cell: (940) 867-6399 or (940) 867-6389