American Reading Club review: Such a scam! 77

I am experiencing major problems with them as well. I signed up for Forbes and Rollingstone, I get Maxim and Stuff, 1/2 nude women obn every cover, when I called I was told 'that some men enjoy getting those publications" which is fine...I am a woman, with a little boy in the house. They refuse to cancel and said they will continue to bill me, and if I don't pay the will send it to collections.

I have been paying this stupid club for about three months and have not received anything yet. I was wondering how to cancel but it sounds like other people are having trouble canceling.

i am also having trouble with american reading club i told them on the phone i could not afford the bill at this time and i was told they would not take it off my card and what did they do they took it off my card so now i am pissed need to fiqure out how to shut them down for good

I told ARC that i could not afford them at the rate they gave me and told them to call me back on next week they told me that they had already swiped my card and i told them to cancel it. they said they would but i wonder if i am being scam because my accunt is not pending but they have taken my money out of my account after i told them not to.

I use to work for this company, keyword "used to", If you want to get these guys off your backs, ask to speak to Chris Clement, he may seem like a ### but he will try to help you.

i too god scamed by these people. they called me, and at first I liked what I was hearing, until they asked my for my social and the amount of money i made. I told them its none of their business, and tried to cancel right then and their, but they still kept going like i was agreeing with everyting. They first told me it would be 19 dollars a month, than told me that they clump payments, so that it would be 50 dollars a month with my "student discount". I then looked at my account and saw they charged me 79 dollars. After i got off the phone with them, i felt so uncomftorable I looked online to try to see if they were legitimate, instead i found all these complaints. I immediatly called my bank and canceled by debit card. I also got the bank to withdraw the charge they already billed me, and the bank filed a fraud affidavid, and posted a investigation against ARC. after calling their direct number several times to try to cancel my membership, all i got was a stupid answering machine. I tried the 800 number and finally got ahold of them. If you deal with these people, take action as soon as possible. Threated legal action, and tell them that you have been in contact with a lawyer. Also join KEY Bank. They were very helpful; they reimbersed me the eighty dollars I was charged, and they are now starting an investigation against them with the help of better business bureu.

They are doing the exact same thing to me. But now I'm getting calls every 2 hours all day long every single day. THey told me that I was going to pay $18 a month for 5 magazines and now its $74 a month. They maxed out my credit card and now they keep hounding me about the payments.

I have been paying them for 2 months and they said I have 1 payment to go. They maxed out my credit card and I do not get alot of money. I have not received anything.

WOW! I thought it was just me. But not only will they not let you cancel, but they are rude. The Credit Department Manager was very rude to me. Would not let me speak, and used a I don't care attitude. The best thing to do as far as your credit card is to close it and ask your card/bank to issue you another one, so then that way they can't take the money further. But I am still looking for a way to get out of this situation...

I used to work for this company and I can offer you an explanation as to why you are charged on your credit card when you weren't even solicited.

First off, they buy lists of people's names, address, telephone number, and also they obtain their credit card information! This is completely illegal if they keep the credit card information on site instead of having it secured at a third party location. They may tell people that they have access to only the last 4 digits of the card number for "verification purposes" when in reality they are staring at the WHOLE CARD NUMBER! WHOA! Big trouble! And what if the peron looking at the card is a thief and wants to order something offline? Whoa! More trouble! The whole company is totally crooked and they seriously need to be in major investigation by the FBI. If there is any attorney generals or people who want to get together to file a class action lawsuit contact me at ratsnaggle@yahoo.com and I will testify in court!

The SAME thing happened to me with "Reading Club of America" from FL (sound familiar?). The stupid phone call was VERY misleading. NEVER AGREE to it if it even remotely sounds fishy. The first time I called to cancel it, I was hung up on. The second time I called, they gave me the same b.s. explanation why we can't cancel it (while yawning between almost every word). After that call I researched it and I found this site, which sounds very familiar to what was happening to me. So then I took action. I called for a third time and of course they gave me the same explanation, but I kept on pressing for them to cancel it while saying that I just CANNOT pay for it. Luckily for me, I was talking to a person with a heart (that person felt sorry for me). So that person canceled my account, gave me a number and everything. Of course I recorded the entire conversation just in case. I hope that person quits for everyone's sake. By the way, the letter they first send to you isn't a binding contract, so you DO have a right to cancel it. Just keep pressing them. I hope you all the best.

ALSO, DON'T LET THEM TAKE A PAYMENT FIRST!

What is this company's 800 number?

They keep hounding me even though i ask to be on the do not call list. I immediately went online because i suspected identity theft. i found this site and others like it, all bad news.

I also immediately called my bank, got a new card and a new account and transferred all my funds. I'm making sure these ### cant get me.

When I called they said that I made a commitment to pay this company for the next several months. Is it true that it's not a binding contract, and that you actually can cancel your account? I really have no idea what to do if anyone has any advice please help me out

I was a victim of the same scam from Reading Club of America in Florida. I found the best way to get out of the agreement is to ask a hear a recording of your oral agreement. It seems that when they hear that they are immediately instructed to cancel everything with no future charges or delinquent account status. I know I DID NOT agree to some of the things they said I did. Ask to hear the recording of yourself and they know they're caught.

I'm somewhat relieved to know I'm not the only person in this boat. After several missed calls, I decided to answer the call. Bad thing for me... now I have to dispute the charge they made to my account, which they said I wanted (not!) and get a new debit card. How disgusting. Hopefuly I can get my $85 dollars back. What a rip off. I don't read magazines.

So, i just got done working with this people. It all sounded okay...something sketchy...but other wise okay. Anyway, after I got off the phone with them I called my mom to tell her about it. She told me to hurry and call my bank and cancel the card number I gave them..does anyone think that will work? Did I maybe get them in time? Also...I have my entire conversation with them recorded on my phone..and there is a point where I tell them that I have them recorded. You guys want to know something funny...they wont answer my phone calls after I told them that.

well all I did was keep calling and asking them to please cancel my account. Tell them you are not under a binding contract and that you were not given information about how to cancel it. If you didn't pay them yet, they shouldn't have a case against you. Just keep asking to please cancel the account; how can I get rid of this; things like that. For my experience I think I was a bit lucky because the person I talked to seemed to feel sorry for me and canceled my account. I hope this helps and don't let this happen to you again by just saying no from the get-go. Good luck!

Question: When I spoke to one of the people on the phone I asked what would happen if I cancelled my credit card that they were billing. The guy mentioned something about reporting me to collections and that I will be charged a fine. Can they really do that or are they just trying to scare me?

My Answer: They can only do that if you signed a contract with them. They probably sent you some kind of letter stating what you "ordered". It should also say that it's NOT a contract. So it's not like you're bound to anything. But if you already made a payment to them, I think that's pretty much like you agreeing to the terms. Even though they say that they recorded you on the phone and whatever, that's not a contract. Just make sure you cancel early on and don't wait until a payment is made or anything like that. Just remember to ask them questions like well I don't want this anymore so how can I cancel this or get rid of it and they'll tell you that they have you confirming it on phone and whatnot, but just say that the phone recording is not a contract so please just cancel my account. They will always mention the phone recording thing, but just keep saying that's not a contract so please cancel my account. I hope this helps you! Good Luck!

Its a ripoff i when i told them it sounded like a scam they transferred me to a supervisor and she agreed with everything i said i still had no idea the what the name of the company is so i asked she said reading america so she wanted my credit card info so i said sure give me a second and looked them up online, I found nothing but bad things so i just hung up.PLEASE REMEBER IF SOMEONE ASKED FOR YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER THEY ARE WRONG. Asked them to send you a bill then go forward from there never give your info out over the phone it will always be a scam.

So I'm starting to think that they might have cancelled my account as I requested, because they rarely call me anymore and I haven't been billed in the past 2 months. But whats weird is that every few weeks I receive magazines. Just today I received 2 issues of Maxim, which I never even signed up for. Does anyone have any clue what might be going on? I'm thinking that maybe the magazines that I got were shipped out before the reading club cancelled my subsciption (if they even did) If anyone has any clue please help me out. Thanks.

I just recently subscribed and didnt know what i was getting into and now that i looked at some things and read others complaints we need to find a way to get our money back they told me not worry about money for the first three months and they took 69 dollars from me and now my card is declined witch is ### ARC blows balls and i hope they get ###ED over

I am so relieved to find this complaint site. Reading Club of America out of Pensacola FL got me a couple of weeks ago. It was my fault for ordering, but when I felt that I was frauded, I called them. and told them that I could not afford it, and and asked them to cancel, they basically told me that I had a verbal contract with them, and it was too late to do anything. This smug lady told me her name and told me she was a supervisor, and when I felt like I could settle down and talk, to call her back. Thanks for the info on changing my credit card number. I was also thinking that if they send me any magazines I am going to "return to sender" every magazine I get. Over the phone they said it was 5 magazine, when they sent me the order confirmation letter, they had 8 magazines listed, none of which I wanted. I'm very glad I did not return this form to them to receive the "Free" diamond watch.

Oh my god! I just got off the phone with them and won! It was so easy. This was the 4th time calling them, getting my payments lowered each time, and then feeling defeated each time. Then I went on line and read all of these complaints and took some advise from Amy. Thanks Amy, whomever you are, because it worked. Just be firm and tell them you contacted a lawyer and reported the to the Better Business Bureau. Don't let them get a word in. Remember to ask to speak to the manager not the supervisor. THE VOICE RECORDING IS NOT A CONTRACT!

They did the same thing to me it was in may of 08 and its Sep and they still bill me after i moved twice! i had to change banks and credit cards and even change my phone number because they called everyday like 10 times a day! no joke! it sounded very fishy from the beginning but thought hey 18 dollars for 2 magazines wasnt bad but then my bill they send me came out to 1000's of dollars which is ridiculous tried to cancel it but they are very unprofessional and rude we should take this to court there is plenty of proff that this is ilegal some way and just a scam

So i got a call from ARC and it sounded okay at first saying that it would only be 74 dollars for 2 months and then i'd have no payments. Well now they keep sending me random magazines...i never signed a contract with them and they continue to send me stuff. I keep getting mail from them saying that i need to pay my delinquent amount and if i do not then they will send it to other avenues and i will be in debt. How is this fair to me when i have a part time job and i am getting money with only partial unemployment? and i pay 345 dollars in rent each month not including bills! What should I do? i changed my bank card and my phone number! Will they really send it to a different avenue and put me in debt? i'm worried...

yea I'm having problems with these guys now too. They called me early on in the morning and said I'd won some kind of online shopping spree. Still groggy at the time, i didn't even think twice about the situation especially cause they said something about already knowing my card number or some ###. So the first rep i talked to gave me the little sales pitch, i then followed by asking if i could cancel at any point in time. He told me yes. So i went ahead with it. He "transferred" me to another rep who claimed to be some floor supervisor, who then collected my info (which i should have thought was strange cause if they already had my info, why get it again). I then asked her the same question, can i cancel whenever i want to. She told me, "As the floor manager, i can't say you can cancel, i can only ask that you continue the service." She then told me to answer a series of questions which would be recorded. However, i don't understand why they would only record the part of the conversation they had control over. They said I would be receiving all the information and the prize confirmation back in a week. Whatever, the call was over and I hung up the phone feeling really uneasy.

Later on, I received the letters and confirmation information etc. turns out i had to cancel like 3 days after the call, but i didn't get the cancellation information until well over 2 weeks. I never received any magazines. and at this point i was really uneasy so i called the company to cancel. Some women picked up and told me i would be charged a nearly 900 fine to cancel. Needless to say, i argued with her and demanded to talk to her supervisor. She then said she would transfer the line, but then a few moments later, i hear her come back on the line and say they are willing to reduce the fine down to 600 dollars. I still would not budge and argued that there should not be a fine, i was promised i could get cancellation without fees. She then "transferred" me to her manager finally, and it sounded seriously just like a hand off of the phone. The manager talked to me and said they are willing to reduce the price down to 300 dollars. I pretty much said ###, i was willing to forget about the first 30 dollar payment, in exchange, i wanted to have my account canceled and no more charges. She threatened to send collections on me, whatever the hell that was. I continued to argue until finally she agreed to close my account. No more charges, no magazines, no prize shopping spree, or anything of that matter. I thought the issue was done with.

About a month later, i see another charge on my freaking card! What the hell is wrong with this company?! Any help in how i can once and for all be finished with these damned scamming group of frauds would be greatly appreciated. Everyone who has suffered worse then i have, you ahve my condolences. We need to band together and bring this "company" down!

the same thing that happened to david happened to me... i supposedly won a prize, was told i could cancel anytime after 3 days of the phone call, and recieved the letter. I was suspicious at first but the letter confirmed everything. It appeared to have been written on word by a high school kid, it asked for my credit card number... again, and my account number(bank account number im not sure) and then to sign. I was charged once for 24.95 and tried to call the company. I was repeatedly transfered from one lady to another who all had the same voice ironically. To make a long story short I simply told them I could freeze my account and there wasnt ### they could do about it. Try and get your money now. They know that they are a scam. I couldnt even find them on the better business bureau which i was actually surprised about. They wont take you to court, take other avenues to collect, or any other ###. If you dont play to their games they cant do anything. Im guessing you could go to their place of business, rob them of everything and they still wouldnt report it to any authority. Why? because that would be exposing themselves and that is the last thing they want to do. THOUSANDS of dollars of illegitimate money that is guaranteed not to be reported to the irs. If you fall into this trap just cancel your debit or credit card and get a new one. Simple as that. Disregard any other ### they send you and hell, keep the magazines if you want. Has anybody ever thought about going to their place of business that lives in the Atlanta area? Might be an interesting visit.

It is amazing that I was dumb enough to give these people my, debit card #. The same thing has happened to me, but only I won a trip, ..lol. Probably to RIP-OFF lane! Any way they did send me an invoice and it was what I had stated they ordered but I am very uneasy about this co. especially since the 800# on the invoice is disconnected, ..really strange, huh. I did find the number that does connect to their office it is [protected]. I am going to just cancel my debit card so they cannot get their money, since I did not sign anything. I work in a call center for a major bank, and trust me there is nothing they can do, and I am going to call and play games with them, and threaten them as many times a day as I can, ..I have unlimited min. lol. Maybe they will just cancel to get rid of me. But I do agree that we should all ban together and have them shut down before they do this to any other people, especially in these hard times.

The BBB does have them listed and I have made a complaint with them, I feel that anyone that has a problem with this co. should file a complaint with the BBB. Here is the link for the local BBB in Ga. http://www.atlanta.bbb.org
ARC is right at the top if you search for them!

okay so after i found that new charge on my card, i called the company and asked them why my account was still being charged. you know what they said? they said they have no records of me calling them! They said there were no notes of me ever closing the account and that there would be no way someone would just waive my cancellation fee! what the bullcrap is that?! So i got pissed and started argueing with them again. Finally, I got a "floor manager" on the phone. She told me what there were no records of me calling and that if i wanted to close the account, the fee would be 79 bucks. Which sounded more reasonable then 900 dollars. Who the hell charges 900 dollars for a cancellation fee? I said no bullcrap, you guys already tok another 40 dollar payment from me, i'll pay you 50 bucks to close my account and I never want to hear from you people again. At this point i started recording HER on my phone. I wasn't about to let them screw me again. So i had her repeat everything she said and got her name. When she found out i was recording, she started laughing. wtf! doesn't matter, i got her words recorded on my phone. So the sales rep Carlos, supposedly took care of the rest, charged me 50 bucks and closed my account.

Two days later, I got a call from the company again! This time it was a number from Illinois, which i thought was strange. This lady tells me the call was just a courtesy call to make sure i wanna go ahead with the charge for closing my account. She didn't tell me how much the charge was so i became suspicious. When I asked her if the amount was the previously agreed upon amount of 50 bucks, she sounded all surprised and said it was like 800 bucks! I said ###, im not paying. The amount was 50. You can charge 50 but if you charge me more then that im filing a lawsuit. She then said that "oh go ahead, you can file a lawsuit, we always come up on top. the voice recording is a binding contract in our company." After what everyone else said about this "binding" voice recording, i simply called BS again. Told her forget it, I'm not talking to you guys anymore. She threatened to have someone else call me the next day to talk about collections and I said yea watever and hung up.

Okay guys, this is the part that you really have to pay attention to. I called up my credit card company and had them file disputes on all the previous charges. They also said that if they charge me again, just add those disputes onto the record. I made sure amex knew everything about my situation, sent in the verbal recording, wrote a detailed account of the situation and faxed it into their dispute department. I then wrote a complaint on the BBB pages for the company. I then tried calling the company itself at least 4 or 5 times a day. they usually don't pick up. shady. Now a few days ago, i looked at my credit card bill and boom! all the previous charges were credited back to me. I wasn't sure about this so i called and asked the credit card company about it. I thought amex had gave me back my money for the time being while the investigation was going on. Turns out, the merchant, in this case, RAC or ARC or watever they're calling themselves now credited the money back! All of it! Now im hoping this means that its finally over and that they're not gonna try something big later on. Guess they decided that the amount they were trying to get from me wasn't worth the trouble. So for all those out there who are having problems with them, just be firm! Don't back down. Let them know that you're willing to take this to any lengths. Get people involved, credit card companies, complaint sites, whatever. Make them realize that you're not just going to bend over and take it. John's right, this company is a scam and so they can't really take legal action without exposing themselves. Good Luck everyone!

I have called this company for 5 days straight with no answer or return calls. Today I found out who the VP is her name is JANNA G MARESCO and her extension is 1020, there is another Maresco in the office by the name of Rich Maresco, not for sure if he is the president or not. Guess what; I turned them into the BBB and left a message on Mr. Maresco's voice-mail stating that I had put his name into the report as well as Janna Maresco, and Chris Clement and that they should be investigated for scamming and fraud. Within 5 min. she called me and was very concerned and said that she would get a rep. to call me by 2pm. Guess what next, ..lol within 5 more min. I got a call from a rep, and when I asked her to refund my two payments and cancel my order she did not hesitate, said that it would take 7-10 days to refund(whether it happens, we will have to wait and see) She said she was sorry I wasn't happy with my order and she had canceled it, and I would not see any other charges on my account. There was no mention of a cancellation fee at all, it was a done deal in less than two min. The direct number to their headquarters is [protected]. I wish everyone luck, and suggest that they follow the same path, and DO REPORT THEM to the BBB before speaking to them. Mention the Attorney general of N.C as well I think they have a lawsuit against them?

FOLKS< FOLKS>FOLKS
Rich Maresco is indeed the president of this company.
Chris Clement is the lowest of the low. I too worked for this company and I have never seen so much dishonesty and scam artists. They do buy list that have peoples names and numbers and they have to have the list scrubbed to eliminate people names that are on the do not call list. First and foremost, make sure you put your number on the DO NOT CALL list - www.donotcall.org. Anyway, this is iligal as hell and I do not know how this can even be allowed to happen. But any phone calls you make to complain to this company are recording right from the start. If anyone has quesitons, feel free to email. I personally would love to see Chris Clement go to prison.

i called this company today to cancel my 'subscription'. as was assured that at any time i can just call in to cancel. i talked to a certain Stephanie (supervisor) who was really very rude! She told me i cannot cancel but they are willing to revise the supposed contract by charging me a one time fee of $287.38. and the reason im asking for the cancellation is to cut my costs! i intend to write them but reading all the comments here, maybe it would be useless.

any suggestion?

Don't pay them. They can't do anything to you. call your credit card company and set up disputes for any and all charges. Argue with them, be firm, don't let them push you around. Like John said, they're obtaining their money by means of a scam, so they can't take you to the law without exposing themselves. Whenever they try to call and ask for money, just refuse to pay them anything, don't agree to anything and demand that your account be closed without a fee. Tell them you'll report them to the BBB, threaten a lawyer, don't let them overwhelm you. When you talk to them, be assertive borderline aggressive. They can't take your money and as much as they'll try. The credit card companies won't let them have it if you file a charge dispute. They'll probably try to avoid a investigation so if you tell them that your cc company is going to investigate them, they'll back down.

I was entered into a "sweepstakes" by Visa. I was excited when they started telling me of all the prizes that I could win, including a Mustang. Then they lured me into a magazine promotion. I specifically kept trying to tell them that I did not want to purchase any magazines. Then they started telling me that it was only a 30-day trial period, and that I can cancel afterwards. Then they asked for my address and my debit card number. When they asked for my social security number, I hung up on them. They then tried calling about 15 times, consecutively. I finally just answered the next day. The guy on the other end then asked me to repeat after him on the phone. What is this company? I wonder if it was really Visa that called me or if this Reading Club of America business was just impersonating Visa. I called the 800-number and tried to cancel my account. But they told me that it was verbally-binding and I can't cancel, even though their letter specifically states that "it is not a contract". They also said that they do no have a website, and can't email me the agreement because they "don't have email capabilities". Is there a lawsuit against this company? Can anyone explain what is happening?

Here is a question for everyone. Does this company go by more than one name... specifically Reading America instead of America Reading. Or are they two seperate companies?

I too have been scammed. I was promised a 1000.00$ gift certificate if I just paid 24.99 a month for 18 months. I even asked what online certificate it was for and was told it Was for Walmart or Target. I even filled out the paper work and sent it in. I did not hear from them so I called to find out where my certificate was. I was told it was in the mail. 10min later she calls me back and asks me if they can charge my account today instead of that weekend. I was out and busy and stupidly agreed to their request. That night I thought that was kind of fishy. 2 days later I found out why. The online certificate is for selectyourgiftonline.com. The first deceptive thing I realized is this site has nothing of value to sell, still selling 35mm cameras. Second that I half to pay separate shipping charges on my debit card. Third, there was a 5$ purchase fee for each purchase. So you put it all together and it comes out to"It is going to cost me more money to use this gift certificate. I called to cancel. I called [protected], They said they had nothing to do with it that they would transfer me to customer service. She was very understanding and stated that she is a victim in this scam too cause they are only a referral and they have no way of contacting these people. She then says she will talk to her supervisor and call me back in 10min. Of course there is no call back. I again called them. She firsts acts like this is the first time I talked to them. She then states the recorded phone call and says she hears no mention of Walmart certificate. They will cancel only for a 99.00$ fee. That there was nothing else they could do because it was not them that I talked to. I did not have the money so wrote down all the info. Got off the phone and checked my cell phone, You see the first time they called me they asked me for more money per month after I got home I called them back and told them I changed my mind, She then convinced me that she really wanted to help me and I agreed to a lower payment. Come to find out that the phone# I called was the same one I was calling now. [protected].
I have canceled my debit card now but I don't know if that will stop the payments. I don't know If I should wait or just pay the 99.00$ cancellation fee.

I too fell into the trap of RCA! When they called it seemed like a very good deal, however i did not know i would be paying $70 every month. The funny part is that i didn't even CONFIRM the order, i lost the call and the lady still kept the order. A month later i find out my account is overdraw. So now i get an ANGY?!?! call from the billing department. I should be the one upset, they overdrew MY account. So I called the customer service and explained to a lady about my situation. She is canceling my acount and refunding my money (we will see i guess) and at the end advised me to never pick up the phone for a telemarketer again. I think I will take this advice to heart. Thanks.

Try [protected], I did not get through but at least it was not a CANCELED NUMBER like the one on the "welcome packet" they send out. I too am being scammed. I am going to my credit union tomorrow to see what they can do to stop payments and keep them from ruining my credit.

I have tried for the last 2 months to call them, there numbers did not work the ones they gave me to call them. I was told i had 30 days to cancel if i could not afford or did not think i wanted it. So a few days after and talking to my husband we decided that we did not want three magazines. so i tried to call them and i recieved a message saying this number was dissconnected and out of service. Now i call them 2 months later and there number is working. The lady i talked to casey advised me that i made a contract with them and i have to go by it and pay for my fees. I told her that i did try to contact them and cancel the order but she said there phone has been working( basically she argued with me but calmly ) I told her i was reporting her to the better business bureau. Now i need there address to report them. Glad i found this website If everyone that has had problems with them reports them they will ber run out of business so please report Thank you