United Reader Service violated the Do Not Call law by calling me in the first place. I was scammed by phone into ordering magazines that I have no interest in reading. They prompted me to answer Yes when I should have answered No and taped the conversation. An outright scam.

I initially listened because they said I won a woman’s watch in a drawing. When I explained that I was on the DNC they said they could call me because I had won a prize. An outright fabrication and not true. When I first called and complained about this perversion, United Reader Service offered to play back the taped message used for authorization, which they did. The prompter was not recorded. When I explained that I did not understand the nature of the order, their response was that it was not their problem and that I was getting a great deal. They indicated that I signed up for a two year service and cannot cancel. I have nothing in writing to that effect.

When I threatened to turn them in for a DNC violation, which promises a $10, 000 fine for each violation, they responded that I was not on the DNC because I had not re-registered each year for the DNC. That is an outright lie. Once on the DNC always on the DNC, but frankly United Reader Service didn’t care. They know that the DNC has no real teeth; that no one is enforcing the DNC and they take advantage of that.

I am 61 and have no interest in Maxim, Car and Driver or Fitness or several of the other magazines for which they are charging me. All I wanted was TV guide, which I am not receiving on a regular basis. This was fraud to begin with and continues to be fraud. Unfortunately, I was remiss in not sufficiently scouring my credit card statement each month and was frankly not aware that they were charging my card monthly.

United Reader Service was authorized to charge the card one time only for the original purchase price of the first two month's service and has been fraudulently charging my card ever since. They have no written proof that I authorized a charge and my credit card company is allowing the charges because I have complained by phone and have nothing in writing that says I have cancelled the service. The credit card company is charging me over limit fees even though the overlimit is being caused by the unauthorized charges, but that is a nother matter. Allowing them to charge with no written authority but disallowing me to stop the payment because I have not provided written proof, is neither ethical nor reasonable.

I have spoken to United Reader Service several times on the phone to no avail and have written instructions to cancel as soon as possible. When mailing manual payments, we have included written instructions to immediately cancel the subscription and not charge our card. They have ignored all such requests. This has cost me over a thousand dollars which I cannot afford due to the economic downturn.

United Reader Service is an unethical company without regard for anyone other than themselves. Whether or not border-line legal, they should not be allowed to continue stealing from the elderly and violating the DNC.

I hope this helps someone else avoid this scam.