Cooking Club of America / Scout.com review: cooking club of america is a scam! 165

they rip me off took my money for dues and promised free gifts havent heard from them again

I also paid dues & never recieved anything, not even the magazine. I can't get into the site on the internet. I asked for my name & password, which they say has been sent but I never recieved it, thats funny because I get everything else on the same address.

Thanks to ALL the commentators here. I recieved CCA's introductory packet in the mail today and thought WOW sounds interesting. I'm grateful for the internet and the ability I have as a consumer to research things more thoroughly.
I wont be joining, I will enjoy the magnet, it will be a good tool for my girls in their learning to cook.
For those who enjoy their membership, good for you keep on keepin on. For those who don't and who feel duped, sorry and good luck!

I have received two letters from COOKING CLUB OF AMERICA about Dues rebate certificate. I have told them that I was not interested in the offer. But they have sent me another letter for the same thing again and I still am not interested in the offer. Why don't they take any ones word for what they want and do not want.

i havent recieved anyhting yet. boy i hope i dont get screwed over.

I called over a yr ago to have my subscription cancelled and also returned to them two books un-opened. Now a yr later, I'm receiving notices from a collection agency (Retreival-Masters Creditors Bureau [protected]). I am so angry at this sorry ### company. Please tell all your friends do not sign up for this club. All they want is your money and don't care how they get it!

Thank you everyone for posting. I just called [protected] and spoke to Penny Jasper. She was very nice and let me know that she canceled my order and that if I receive any more bills from them, that I should ignore them . Wish me luck.

I got an invoice for a membership I did not join or ask for

me toooo and im only 16...now im starting out with bad credit b4 i can even build it...because im not paying 34 dollars for nothing. just like you i signed up for nothing...what should we do?

I too was about to mail it out. God is so good because He told me to research it before I sent the card. Thank you God for less headache that I sure do not need in my life

I found their number through Google and called them to cancel my membership [protected].

Entered their contest..recieve a bill..logged on to their site, there was no link available to cancel my membership..so I sent them a message via their contact us..do hope they dont' attempt to contact me further..beware intering these contests..they automatically sign you up for "membership.

Just received an "overdue" notice in the mail from this company..I have never heard of it so I "bing"ed it as well. Glad I ran across this site! I just got off the phone with them asking them to cancel my account...of course they tried to sell to me, but the interesting thing was that the guy couldn't even tell me the magazine, book, or product description. Only through this site and the bill do I know it has something to do with cooking.He kept asking for my credit card information to verify my account...of course I did not give it to them! I asked them to cancel my account and discard the bill. I am in the process of preparing my credit for my first home purchase and stated this and that I wanted to make sure I would not be sent to collections. I asked for the man's name and contact information directly and I was hung up on! I have already contacted my bank to warn them of this, but unfortunately they can't do anything until it is reported to collections. Still working this, but wanted to send out a fresh warning since most of these are older!

judekazooty: [protected] option 6 to cancel your account. If you don't have your account # you may have to speak to rep. Beware they may ask for your credit card information in order to "verify" your account. DO NOT GIVE IT TO THEM!

I had my acceptance in the envelope ready to mail and thought "maybe I should check them out first". Glad I did. Envelope is being shredded! I don't want there to be any chance of it being found and mailed by someone else. I don't need something like this haunting me forever.

I've been a "member" twice. Once about a decade ago and then I rejoined for a year's subscription and bought one book about a year ago. I cancelled the books and they stopped coming.

When the renewal notice recently came I did not renew. Over the last three months they've sent me four unrequested books and even sent me a "reminder bill" for the first one weeks after they had to have gotten it back. I remember receiving unwanted books the first time I was a member too. None of the books are pre-announced like a book club, so there is no way to choose ahead of time if you want a particular title shipped to you. There is nothing on the box to indicate what the title is. If you open the box, you have to pay to have it shipped back. So, they are obviously betting the odds that most people will be curious, open the box, then choose to keep and pay for the book.

Thank God for the internet. I received their mailing yesterday, 03/01/2010. When I got to the part where they would bill me for their low membership fee, that immediately raised a red flag. I had never heard of this company, so I typed in complaints against cooking club of america. It did not surprise me that there were so many complaints. I am returning everything back to this company.

I scanned everything I received from them onto my computer. I told this company if I received anything else from them I would be contacting our state attorney general's office about having them barred from doing business in our state (WV).

BEST ADVISE I COULD GIVE ANYONE, ALWAYS DO A CHECK WHEN YOU RECEIVE ANY UNSOLICITED MAILINGS. DON'T JUST AUTOMATICALLY THINK THIS IS A GOOD DEAL, CHECKING FIRST CAN SAVE YOU A LOT OF PROBLEMS IN THE FUTURE.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU, AND THANKS FOR YOUR POSTINGS.
SARAH IN WV

Can i contact them online to stop billing me?

Well I am not sure, but I do know that I joined and so far I am excited. But after reading all this I'm thinking I might have a mistake. I joined for 24.00 dollars. I hope I'm not wrong about these people. Anyway, yall keep me posted.

WOW I wish I had done a little research on this club. They send me bills for all kinds of things. I cancelled my membership MONTHS ago and still receive bills for products I never recieved. They are the biggest rip off EVER.

Thank you all for your comments. I'm throwing away my introductory invitation as we speak. My boyfriend is a Chef and I thought this would be a neat thing for him. Thank heavens I looked into it first.

After reading the first page of comments I have come to realize that the positive comments must be posted by employees or stockholders of the Cooking Club. I was all set to join since $12 a year would be a good investment but after reading all the negative comments there is no chance. The measurement conversion chart will come in handy if I ever start using something other than my hand for measuring but I already have bowl scrapers and 3 X 5 cards.

WOW! Man, O, Man am I glad I didn't send the free trial in. THANK YOU ALL :)

I joined and was sent some cheap "gifts" that aren't really usable for anything (including a plastic cheese grater that falls apart when you use it.) I was sent a book to "review" with a due date of 4 days after I received it. I called customer service and they extended my review period for one month. I sent the book back via their prepaid postage box.
three weeks later I receive a bill for the book. I called and told them I sent it back. The customer service person noted that they had not received it but would postpone my due date another month. They still claim they have not received it. I'm currently trying to find the tracking number for the package. Otherwise I'm out $29 *sigh*
They keep calling about lifetime membership. I have told them I'm not interested.

THANK YOU ALL!...this 73 yr old lady just loves to cook and kitchen gadgets and really was interested in joining, , but after checking with you people...thought again...NOPE...THANK YOU, AGAIN !

I received the "Lifetime" letter today. Thought let me see if there are any complaints before I sign up for this. Thanks much for all of your comments. I will not join will just let the current 1 year end. I will send all books back unopened. I did get a book the other day and it was not worth the paper it was written I did return it. Hopefully I will not get any bills. Again thanks for your comments.

You should all be aware that any of these "clubs" exist as a marketing tool only, and the main product they want to move is their books. There was a huge stink about all of this many years ago, because such organizations in essence force their members to try to "opt out" of receiving books. In other words, you don't pick and request certain books, then receive them; you are sent books without asking for them, and they try to force you to pay for them. My suggestion is to contact your state Attorney General's office, the Better Business Bureau (the company is, or was, local to Minnetonka, Minnesota), and The Direct Marketing Association of America, which sets rules and guidelines for conducting business through the mail. It also wouldn't hurt to contact your post office as well, as such business conduct may very well constitute fraud via interstate mail. A long time ago, the original owners of the parent company were reputable; I know because I used to work them. Since selling out in the '90s and "expanding" into a million marketing clubs, it would seem that things have changed.

I also joined for a year and was sent a product to test. Next thing I know I get all kinds of brochures, etc talking about me being a lifetime member. Don't know wha they are talking about. Then today I get a bill saying I owe 325 dollars. No way. The products they sent were cheesy to say the least and I did not ask to be a lifetime member. Don't waste your time with this scam.

I joined back in Feb. of 08. I cancelled a couple of months later. They kept sending me books and DVD's that I didn't want. I kept calling to cancel and returned all the things that they were charging me for. Today, I received a collection notice in the mail for the remaining amount "owed" to become a life member. I called the collection agency and informed me that they weren't allowed to give me the Cooking Club's number. What do I do? This is going to mess up my credit, but I WILL NOT pay for something that I cancelled. How can I fix this?

I recently received a membership packet. I was very sceptical when reading and noticing the dues. I love to cook and read lots of cooking mags and books. I was also looking forward to trying new things. After reading all these complaints I will not join and if I get anything else in the mail it will go straight to the shredder. And to think they tell you you only have 10 days to respond.
Thaks to all that commented. dunphyj

Thank you all for posting. I just got home and a letter was in my mail box telling me to please pay my club dues by 3/28/11. I thought for $1 you could not beat it, but now I see that they are asking me to purchase magazines that I don't want. Because of you all, I was able to stop myself from making a grave mistake. I am sorry to all of you who were lied to and decieved by this company. I will no longer correspond with them.

I have been a member since January 2010, and have never had a problem with this company. Yes, the books are expensive but I use them all the time! I have enjoyed the cheese grater, veggie peeler, travel knife, silicon baking mat, and steel soap they have sent to me. I also enjoy the cutting board that came with my lifetime membership. When I lost my job in November, I talked to customer service about postponing my cookbooks. They were perfectly gracious about it so, instead of getting three books a month as I had been, I now get one book every three months. I'm sorry to anyone else who has had a problem with CCA, but I haven't. Just wanted to put out a good comment, to counter-balance the negative ones...

I became a Life Member of this club and was supposed to recieve a full set of cookware from the club. I began recieving additional mailings of promotional products to purchase. I would send them back and requested not to recieve any other such mailings. I not only was sent more stuff but recieve threatening letters that the other items had not been returned and they demanded payment. In all this time I still had not recieved the cookware that was supposed to arrive at my home. I contacted the Club, and they in turn said that the cookware had been delivered. I argued it had not. They told me to research it through the U.S. Postal service. It took another 6 months for them to finally admit their error and send the cookware. In the meantime I am still recieving other promotional items, and as per their request and instructions, sending it back with their supplied mailing labels. Now I am getting letters again saying either pay up or send the items back...
I am sick of dealing with this completely incompetent group of people.

I've been a member for years and have not had any problems. I enjoy the magazine, and have tested a few food items. They used to send me numerous offers to become a "lifetime member", but I did not respond, thinking it was too much money. It sure sounds like a lot of people are having very bad experiences, though. Unfortunate, to say the least.

I have the same complaint.I sent a cooking book back that i wood not be using to much.and got the same reply from them!they did not recive the book.I will go ahead and pay for it!but it will be the last thing i will accept from them.(I AM A LIFE MEMBER)Becuse i wory that they will send me something as a free gift and thin send me a bill for it.VERY DISCUSTED MEMBER.Phyllis sund-203 west 3ed av. PO box 145 Quimby IOWA 51049

I just received the introductory "nomination" crap. My first thought was "O.K. who nominated me?" I knew who. I subscribe to a number of cooking mags. I read the material inside and out. Had my husband read it. He owns a media company and knows scam when he sees it. We agreed I'd get the introductory welcome kit and then cancel. But, I thought I'd check out the net before mailing it back. Took me 30 seconds on this site to realize the hook. Thanks! This site was very helpful.

OMG... you guys have saved me so much time and aggravation. I too thought, hey this sounds fabulous. I filled out my subscription card and stuck it in the envelope. Thank GOD it is still on my kitchen table. I even told my sister to join~ luckily she researched it and alerted me to the MANY sites with negative feedback. I think I may send the postage paid (by them)envelope back with a note inside telling them to go suck an egg. Hey it will keep the post office in business, right?

I ordered a couple of cutting knives from them, all i got was an e-mail with an order number on it.

Apparently I'm now a member, but they won't give me my member number, in spite of repeated e-mails. However, they lost no time taking my VISA money.

You have to have a member number to get through their switchboard to cancel membership. Catch 22

My name is Delores Campbell I have been a member for possibly a month. I was promised merchandise to test and afterwards I would be able to keep the merchandise after submitting a comment . In stead I recieved a box that said " You have an item to test and an item you can purchase at membership fees ". I did not open the box I am going to send it back to the company. I have never known of a company that does not have a phone number to call. I have asked for my refund and a cancelation of my account.

I joined back in April and so far have had no major problems. When I didn't receive the 'free joining' gifts, I sent them an email and within 2 weeks I had them. When I didn't receive the 2nd magazine issue, I contacted them. Sounds to me like they are VERY unorganized. I have the 2 year membership- we'll see how it goes. Also, I've signed up for product testing and so far have received nothing. It's only been a few months. Time will tell! tigger337