Magazine Services Of America reviews and complaints

Learn how to fight them back ### the UCC statute is on your side.
All of this, they claim, is justified by a 'verbal contract' that you supposedly entered into when you agreed for the subscriptions.

However.

Uniform Commercial Code Article 2 -§2-201 states that in business-contracts dealing with goods valued at $500 or more, a physical contract with written consent from at least the accused party (that's us) is required for the contract to be recognized as legally binding.

So tell them they are violating the UCC and you are also recording your conversations as well as documenting correspondence with them.
Plus you would copy the BBB and your state attorney general as well as write to rip off and other complaints board to alert the general public of their scams.
You might not get a refund for the previous charges but trust me your subscription would be canceled Asap!

Hope this helps!

Fight back!

Wow Agnes Immis. i had something very simular happen to me.
Mike Martin

I have dealt with a magazine company in Florida for many years, and when I received the call from Magazine Services of America, I was under the impression that it was the same company I had been dealing with for many years. I asked the question if they were representing this company and was led to believe that they were one in the same. However, the young lady led me to believe, as with others who have complained, that she was new and she read off the names of the magazines that I was taking and a couple that I did not subscribe to. I corrected her on that matter and she acted as though she had made the mistake and was very apologetic. She asked me if I would talk with her supervisor and asked if I was satisfied with her presentation and if I would "put in a good word for her" with her supervisor. She then switched me to her supervisor who advised me that the call was being recorded and first asked me if I was treated well by the young lady and if I was understanding of the procedure. Again he went through all the terms and told me my payment would be $19.16 per month and if I wished to continue to pay the same way as I had been paying. He asked me to verify my address and my account number to assure their records were correct . I admit, I was dumb and this should have caused the lights to come on, but I didn't realize what had happened until the first payment was deducted from my account, as was the original payment of the other magazine company. This was in 2005 or 2006, I believe. In 2008, I receveid another call from MSA, and I was led to believe that they were reducing my payment "because of my good standing with the company" and I would be paying only $17.11 per month. Well this sounded okay to me, and I was asked to speak with the supervisor and give a good report for the young lady that called, and again I was being recorded. This was about five months after my husband had passed away, and I will admit, I was not thinking straight at all, and I should never have taken the call in the first place. So now, I was still paying $29.90 to one company, $19.16 to Magazine Serivces and another $17.11. After I had come to my senses about the scam, I tried on several occasions to reach the customer service which put me on hold for as long as 20 min. and then dead air and then a busy signal. A few months later, I received a call regarding the payment of $19.16 being past due. I asked how that could be since the payment was coming out of my checking account every month. They said that the payment did not clear at one time and therefore I was past due. In checking my account, I found that there had been one month missed, but there was money in the bank that would have covered it. This has been an ongoing problem now for the last 7 or 8 months. Finally, I received a call from a number registered as a Colorado call and I was informed once again that my payment was past due. I told the girl that it was impossible because once again they had taken a double payment out, and once again I had tried to reach customer service to get the matter straightened out, and again put on hold -- then dead air -- then busy signal. She asked if I would like to pay the contract in full, which would be $114.96, and I said yes if it would get them off my back. Well, not only did they take the $32.48 past due a second time, but they also took the $114.96 out a second time. I called the 800 number and believe it or not, I actually got through and I read the riot act and I told them I had reported them to the Federal Trade Commission (and I acually have) and that I wanted my money back. The lady (whose name was Cheryl) gave me her number and extension number and asked me to call the office the next day because she found where they had charged me twice and she would report it to her supervisor. She asked me to call the next day as she would only be in the office between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM EST. Well, I called the next day and got an answering machine and I have yet to hear back. The money has not been refunded to my account as of yet. When I spoke with Cheryl, she played the recording back to me; however, it was only the recording with the supervisor and not with the first person I spoke with, so what was said at the very beginning of the original call is just my word against theirs. There is no doubt in my mind that it was my voice on the other end -- but there was nothing indicated as to the date and time of the actual recording so it could have easily been the recording from the very first time I was contacted in 2005/2006.

I have learned my lesson quite well -- finally! I am not one to be rude on the phone and I just can't seem to say NO soon enough. But there has to be something done to make these people more responsible with their techniques. They are very deceptive, fraudulant, and dishonest in many ways. They have a gimmick and you can be trapped before you actually are aware of it. The older you are, the easier you are trapped.

Agnes Innis
Peoria, IL

They are a rip offf! I totally agree, they call and say all this bull in your ears and then they say after (You can't get out).I just cursed out a guy this morning! Worse part about it is that they send magazines that you don't even need or request for!Rip OFF!

I agree. Debbie Panico (Karate mom) is a homewrecker. Low life ### on the bottom of my trash can. Totally disgusting.

a surveyer called and i told them i wasnt interested and the next thing i know im getting billed . I talk to some one i think named Shirley a couple of times and said i didnt want this and i have not ever recieved a magazine and now almost a year later i get a bill for over a thousand dollars and its from collection agancy i cant get threw to them on the phone and they give me other numbers to try and they dont go threw. im very upset and want it to stop! if it isnt im goin to get intouch with the better bussiness burue. thank you jennifer hill

I was trying to get in touch with this group and find they have a new "international" phone system. I also checked and found out that their Margate Florida address is a parking lot. Obviously writing to them won't do any good.

Same old story happened to me. At the end of the call I realized they were ###ed and told them I wanted to cancel, they said i could cancel when i got the customer service number in the mail, they would not give me the number. They said I wouldn't be charged until the 15th of aug. This was july 24th. By the 27th I had been charged twice amounting in a total of almost $160! One of the charges on my card had the number [protected]. I called the number and talked to a really nice woman named Joan. She said because it was a misunderstanding and I caught it so quickly she would reimberse me. Hope this number works for you as well. From now on I will simply hang up.

VMA I doubt they do, get in touch with your card provider and see what they can do for you, maybe cancel the card and make new account, i did that with my visa card and have new one now, if you think they have got at you get in touch with Broward County Complaints dept. I had my subscription cancelled and refund made, btw, they dont start sending anything out for at least a month, by then they say its too late to cancel, dont let them get away with it.

Do they take debit cards? because thats all i have? please help i fell into the trap.

As someone who used to work for them in high school I find these posts amusing. While the initial contact MAY be a bit shady in how MSA is ambiguous with their true identity the simple fact is:

1. The comply with the DNC list.
2. The closer you get transferred to after the survey actually records you and TELLS you, that you're being offered the magazine subscription for a year.
3. All you have to do is NOT give your information.

I may have been a high schooler who was happy to make my 13-16 dollars an hour, but I'm not too much of a fan of their practices. Yet, you ALWAYS shop at your own risk.

BTW, for the record. I now own my own company and we use telemarketing to reach other businesses so I MAY be a bit biased.

Hi redsweetgapeach09, I had a bad experience with them too, they give you 3 days to cancel and nothing turns up for well over a month then a flood of mags come in, even ones you didn't ask for. I contacted Broward County Attorny General in Florida, Larry Kaplan. You can get their address online and put in a complaint.I had my subscription cancelled and a full refund, dont back off they'll try anything to deny you getting out of the contract they con you into. Keep any copy of letters sent from them for your complaint.
Best of luck and hope this helps.

I know. They just suckered me a few weeks ago. I was going to get some money out of my bank to put some money down for college when they told me I was overdrawn by almost $300 dollars! I can barely pay that much for my books so now I have to find someway to pay the bank back before it messes up my credit. They fooled me by saying I was a finalist in a sweepstakes and that I would get a free watch but I would have to subscribe to the magazines. They told me it was 19.16 payments for 16 months. Yea rite! I thought I would be able to get money For school but now I have to worry about how I can pay for school and repay the bank. I cancelled my card but I dont think it's enough. If someone has any advice for cancelling this subscription please let me know

They called me too but I called them back to cancel and they said they cancelled my subscription and i pretended not to understand english and the lady asked me to give the phone to anyone else who speaks english so I gave it (secretly) to my roommate pretending it's me and she repeated my subscription was cancelled. But the second date I noticed there was a pending payment on my account. I called them again (thru a phone conference) and asked about this pending deduction and she confirmed that the transaction was cancelled and gave my the cancellation number. Accordingly, my bank agent removed this payment from my account but today I found it again. I ask you, Cheri and the others, if you request a certain magazine and they sent you something different, would it be a preach of contract by them.
A second thing, if they don't answer phones and their website is (under maintainece) and their mailling address is a parking lot, could you cancel your subscription thru any publication such as a legal notice from an attonery on a newspaper?

Chabha, contact the attorny general in florida, broward county consumer protection can send you papers to complain about them and their tactics, if you want more info my email is ronniejw@yahoo.com, I can send you the phone no. and contact address for Broward