Hearst Communications
Reviews and Complaints

It only takes 2 injured parties to establish a class - I'm sure many others would jump on if suit was filed. Auto renewing subscriptions to which they have no signature and then sending threatening collection letters is a sleazy business practice. If any attorney wishes to take them on, you can contact me through this forum!

I received an email notice telling me that I would receive a renewal notice in the mail for Oprah Magazine. It simply said if I did not want to renew to write "decline" across it and return it. Today I received a BILL for my renewal THANKING ME for agreeing to renew. I am so angry about this kind of SCAM and the fact that it was issued by Hearst Corp. I suppose this is one way that Oprah is collecting all of her millions! No wonder she can afford to give away cars. I Will Never Ever subscribe to anything ever again. I think this is one of the dirtiest ways of duping people. They are preying upon people who are not paying attention and that think they have no way of fighting it. I will see these people in hell before I fork over any money to Hearst or Oprah. I will never touch anything that has Oprah's name on it and I am going to take all the back issues I have and DUMP them in a recycle bin. DO YOU HEAR ME OPRAH? YOU and your company of SCAM ARTISTS are horrible and you hide behind all that stuff you say you do out of the goodness of your heart...you are such a phony! AND one other thing...all that "FAVORITE" stuff you list every month is way too expensive for the average person. You and your extravagant lifestyle ...bought by people like me who were stupid enough to listen to you. AND by the way...your friend Gayle KIng is another phony. There is no way that woman would have ever gotten her own radio show if she didn't have you as a friend. I have vented enough. NOW... stop taking advantage of people!

Received: Threat to My Credit Letter for books that I never ordered, something alomst like this happened with my last subscription to Mens Health, I spoke to a sales rep about weather or not their was a 2010 calender included with a renewed subscription; I was told no, so I did not renew my subscription.
Sometime later I received a new copy of mens health, I thought it was a gift copy so I did not think any more about it.
A month or more later I get a "reminder letter that my account to past due, I paid the fee for 2010, but this will not happen again, nor will I be intimidated into sending these people $43.29 for some books that I never ordered, or read for that matter.
I have enjoyed Mens Health, but I will not be renewing for 2011, and I definitly will not call to ask any questions.

I received the 2010 Mens Health Total Fitness Guide a while back. Since then i have received numerous invoices demanding that i pay for the book (which i never requested) or be turned over to collections. I have emailed my states Attorney General and am waiting to hear back from them. BUT, i did call Rodale's customer service and specifically asked for a prepaid envelope be sent to me so that i can return the book. The girl on the other end of the line said they would have one shipped there in two weeks and didn't try to heckel me or anything for the money. I've had this book for a good 3-4 months too...

Just thought i'd give everyone else a heads up. Maybe this method will work for more people. I cancelled my Men's Health subscription about 2 months back as well.

I received a book in 2008 that I did not order. I had tried contacting the company to return it, they told me I had to pay for the shipping, I refused because I never placed an order with them or agreed to purchase anything. I was a minor at this time. I was only 16 when this all started. I am sure this was because of my subscription to prevention magazine. I was harassed by constant collection letters. Now that I am 18 they had a collection agency called takhar collections start calling my house daily telling me I will never be able to buy a house or a car, they will call my family, they will call me everyday until I pay & charge me late fees. They were horrible & rude & didnt care that I never ordered the book & was a minor at the time. I also contacted rodale book and the said they couldnt do nothing about it. This company is a scam that harassed a minor.. I paid the $54.94, because they wouldn't leave me alone. I just wanted to let others know what # rodale books & takhar collections both are.

I received an early warning notice from rodale credit dept indicating that I had not paid my men's health subscription. It said that I had to pay the bill before it goes any further. It was signed by a collections manager. The phone number on the bill was not active from a land line and when I tried to call the number from my cell it sent me a text message telling me that I had to pay $9.95 to access the number. I googled men's health and found the customer service for rodale. I told the customer service rep that I received a bill for I subscription that I did not agree to. At first the customer service rep could not locate my account info and when I told her I think there is scam going on she was then able to find my account info and close the bill!

I will no longer subscribe to any magazine through rodale and will be sending a compliant to men's health of the shady business that they are associate with. Be careful and don't pay... It's a scam

Just received book in the mail that I did not order. Invoice for $39.94 to pay by 3/18/10. Called customer service and said did not order. Was told that I checked off postcard to examine book which I never did as I know that that would be a tactic to get you to pay for the book even if you didn't want it.
Customer Service told me to go to rodalereturn.com and print out label to return.
So I am, hopefully, fine on the fact that I don't owe them money but this is taking time on my part to send the book back and, as money is so tight for me right now, it is emotionally upsetting.

I was checking out new contests and sweepstakes one day and when i had clicked on one to register for, i did not know i was
automatically signed up for a subcription to redbook magazine and have received a bill in the mail along with the magazine. I have unsubscribed to this today, and i have received another notification that i have subscribed to the seventeen magazine.. this is not appropriate.

The Good Housekeeping Magazine web site posts several sweepstakes offers (contests). To enter, you type your name, postal address, & email address onto a form. Presto! You're just subscribed to Good Housekeeping. Even if you select an Unsubscribe link, invoices start coming. This is fraud. I no longer trust Good Housekeeping - & they pretend to be consumer advocates. Ha! Not true.

I told them in that 30 day's? I didn't want it. But they said o? Just give it a try! You might like the mazgines. If you don't want them in that 30 day? You can have it stopped. I let them know in that 30 day's? They don't stopped it at all. And they are billing me the $ 51.40. All I wanted them in the being of the 30 days? Is to stop it. I left them know in the 30? I'm not going to pay for the mazgines that I don't want.

I ordered a book from Rodale a couple months ago, being informed I could cancel at any time...what they don't tell you is that they never send along any contact info or instructions on how to cancel your auto ship! No phone number, no email address, no website! So now, I'm chasing this company around, trying to cancel an auto ship I don't want to be stuck with anymore!

I received a letter from Hearst Magazines basically threatening my perfect credit rating by accusing me of not paying for a magazine subscription to Veranda Magazine. I know that I did NOT subscribe to this; I have had a subscription to it in the past, but I always pay for magazine subscriptions on the front end. I know that I did not order this and ask them to bill it to me. According to their complaint, the subscription begins on March 2010.
I cannot find a phone number or website or email address anywhere. I am furious. I will never purchase another product by Hearst.
Thank you!
Whitney Sitzler
[protected]@aol.com

Keep receiving an invoice for a subscription to Good Housekeeping that I DID NOT order. No phone number. No website, except one on which to pay my "BILL" on line. I wrote them and told them I did not order the magazine (I entered a sweepstakes), I did not want the magazine and that I was NOT going to pay for it. I keep getting the dun. They can keep wasting time and paper, it will continue to be the same. I'm NOT paying.

I decided I no longer wanted prevention magazine, so I did not renew and pay my new bill. They sent me a letter that because I did not pay they would cancel my subscription. Should be end of story...but no.

They sent my account to a collection agency to force me to pay! apparently with this company you cannot opt out of a subscription. They will extort the money out of you.

My wife just got her first "O" magazine delivered with a bill for $19.95. Of course, she like most all of you I imagine thought she was just getting a free magazine. I did a google search and came up with the Des Moines, Iowa company that handles (allegedly) screwing people into subscriptions they don't want! LOL! Just call this Iowa number (sorry, it's not toll free, so your screwed again! : ) Just call [protected] ask to speak to Connie in customer service, or any customer service person for that matter. I explained that my wife thought she was getting a free magazine and did NOT want a subscription. The lady was very nice and asked for my zip and last name. She then told me my wifes name and our address. She said to just keep the one magazine, and she would send me out a confirmation by mail of the cancellation. She further said to just disregard the bill. Sounds like maybe enough people complained where they are at least following up with people that are lucky enough to find their number! Keep on complaining. It's the squeaky wheel that get's the oil!

Like many others I have been getting billed for multiple magazines that I did not order and can not contact Hearst Corporation because they leave no phone number on the billing statement. I never ordered these magazines and consider this a case of ID theft and mail fraud. The Hearst corp. should stop support or practicing in these techniques and allow victims to cancel subscriptions by providing a phone number for call in compliances and cancellations

I got a letter from Hearst Magainzes entitled "Important Notice"

Saying:

"We extended you the privilege of paying later for your subscription. By entering into this agreement, we anticipated that you would remit a payment when billed. The balance outstanding is now several months past due.

We have sent you numerous bills. We must now insist that you send us your payment immediately. This will be your final opportunity to resume service on your subscription and restore your good standing."

Yours Truly,
GL Malek
Subscription Manager

This is fraud, intimidation and misrepresentation.
I never renewed or extended this subscription at all. I ordered and paid for a subscription that ended in August 2009. However I did not renew it for budgetary reasons and because I never had time to read it much anyway.

FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD OPRAH SHOULD BE ASHAMED

I just read another complaint that is exactly the same as mine - The extent that this company would go to in order to shame me into sending money for a subscription that I did not order is disgusting. The notice states, "We extended you the privilege of paying later for your subscription. By entering into this agreement we anticipated that you would remit a payment when billed. ... We must now insist that you send us your payment immediately." Of course there is no phone number to call. The invoice lists my account number as [protected]. I want these notices stopped immediately.

Recieved a letter from Hearst Magazines today stating that I did not send in payment when I indicated on a subscription card that they could "bill me later". This was in Oct of 2008 and it is 9/23/09. After spending a good hour on line attempting to find a phone number for Hearst--I called the folks at Food Network Magazine and was told by the agent there that Hearst owns them and that she could help me with my Good Housekeeping issue. I told her that I sent in payment Oct 22 2008 and that I have proof that the check cleared my bank. She told me that the letter was for an automatic renewal--i never agreed to that-- and that she would cancel the renewal--we'll see--This letter in no way states that it is for a renewal and of course does not include a phone number to call them. I will no longer deal with this company as it is poor business practice to send a letter to someone with the intent of accusing them of failure to pay and not include a phone number for the customer to call. Furthermore, to automatically renew a person's subscription without their authorization is fraudulant! Now I can see why my mother who is afflicted with Alzheimer's has 3 magazine subscriptions renewed until 2015! This is a consumer scam, Hearst knows it and yet no one has taken them to task about it. I think everyone that has experienced this needs to contact their state's attorney general's office and file a complaint. Maybe then this will stop. Thinking also that the phone call I made today will not take care of this matter--will wait and see!

I ordered a couple of books but by the time they were shipped, I had already purchased elsewhere. So, I refused the delivery and left books with postal carrier. Months later I am still being billed. Rodale refuses to research issue or update my acct. I am now receiving collection agency bills for this. I wish I would have googled the lawsuits that Rodale has faced for similar issues...