Best Buy Magazine Scam

RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By AMANDA. (Guest Post) (11/27/2008) I work at best buy, and we do tell the customers that you have 8 weeks to cancel, or 6 months if you forget to cancel, to get your money refunded. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Angryin NJ (Guest Post) (09/22/2008) I recently went through the same deceptive magazine sale at BestBuy in Paramus, NJ. My Husband agreed to the 8 free issues of people magazine only after asking "no strings attached" and the register person said "no strings attached". I found a charge posted on my bank statement on line (which I check daily). 56 dollars and some cents. I called the bank immed. they stated, they have seen this many times. Even though I saw the charge on my account before it actually cleared, the bank was unable to do anything about it until it went through. I tried calling People magazine, a subsidiary of Time by the way, to get my money back and to cancel this bogus subscription. It took me 2 days to get through as the taped voice message on the other end stated the lines were being repaired and hoped to be back in service within the next 24 Hrs. I proceeded to reach out to the customer service person at BestBuy,I called three times and the second time after explaining my problem at length was told I would be given to a live person right away, HA! I waited 10 MINUTES!! and was disconnected, I was very upset, and frustrated and had really just about lost my patients. I waited 15 minutes by the third call, and finally spoke with a live person. I tried to lodge a complaint and asked for the customer service number for Time, figuring they would have a phone number which might be more direct, forget it! I later found out the the number was disconnected. The customer service rep. was rude, and stated that every register person is trained to inform the consumer that they(the consumer) are allowing the purchase of magazines to occur once your free issues are completed. I told him this did not occur by any means, and of the deceptive nature of the sale as a whole. He said all people are told of the magazine purchase attached, and most people like them. I am sorry if your register person did not handle the sale correctly. He must have been reading from a script as he repeated this several times. I finally got a hold of a customer service person at Time and cancelled my subscription. Talk about pouring salt on a wound, it might take 30 days to see this money returned to my account, it certainly did not take them that long to extort that money from us! I am disgusted with BestBuy, what a low life organization! BestBuy has to make a buck no matter how it affects the little guy. It's not enough that we purchased an item from the store, they have to tack on a bunch of magazines. How much does BestBuy make in profits from those magazine sales? They wouldn't do it unless it was profitable. Tell everyone you know about this, and report it anywhere and everywhere you can. We are all susceptible to these terrible business practices. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Bob (Guest Post) (07/13/2008) First of all, not one of these magazines are FREE, they are RISK-FREE. That means that it is a trial offer and is not a scam by all means. Another thing, this has nothing to do with the Best Buy cashier. They could tell you that they are sliding your card to pay for the items or donating money to charity, it doesn't matter. Regardless of what your told, how could you not read the fine print; it requires a signature for a reason, it says you'll be charged on the receipt, and they send you a post card with every issue asking you if you wish to continue. Plus, it takes no more then five minutes of your time to cancel. There are no financial rewards given to the employees based on how many mags they give out, so they have no reason to lie. So do your research before talking smack about Best Buy or any other retail store. I rest my case! (And no I am not an employee at Best Buy, I'm just one of the few that actually did research before expressing my opinions on this topic). Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By (Guest Post) (07/08/2008) The same happen to us, somebody should stop best buy for this abuses. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Seth (Guest Post) (06/11/2008) I had the same thing happen to me in Nevada. It was the Bestbuy in Henderson at Marks street. I bought 3 dvds and was offered the same "free" magazines. I had a charge from Time Magazine shortly after. I called Best Buy and got the run around that I had authorized this purchase so I called Time Magazine and got my money refunded. It was such a hassle and should never have happened. I will not do business with Best Buy again, I'd rather drive further and do business with a company that's not in cahoots with someone else to scam me. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By C. McStay (Guest Post) (06/11/2008) 6.11.08 I was scammed and the $24.95 hit my account today. I called the number on the charge and Time magazine agreed to credit my account for $24.95 in 5-7 days. I'm mad. I filed a complaint with the Oklahoma Attorney General. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By SunshineRose (Guest Post) (05/30/2008) I think that there are ways to get this to stop. there are police, better business and others who stop it at the top. Each of you are dealing with one part of the pie. Unless Best Buy gets hit where it hurts they will be continuing these practices. I agree with the person who said stop shopping there. I had heard they were where I should by my next computer but I won't. My theory is if they are scamming in magazines what else are they not truthful about. Read the fine print when you deal with them. They aren't going to tell you what they should on anything if they will stoop this low. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By jen (Guest Post) (01/23/2008) I am a worker at best buy and I half way agree that the magazine issue is a cheap shot at making money. Although, we are told to present to the customer that you have an 8 week trial offer and after the 8 weeks you will automatically be subscribed to 6 months. We give directions on how to cancel before your credit/debit card is billed. Your cashier must've been taught the incorrect approach. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Elsie (Guest Post) (01/22/2008) I was livid when I saw the charge on my credit card this morning for People magazine! When I had originally accepted the offer for a "free" magazine subscription the clerk assured me that my last free issue would come with the option to cancel. I had received no warning that my free issues were up. I called the number 1-866-228-1183 and the operator quickly canceled my subscriptions. *phew* I laughed that she probably received a lot of cancellation calls. She answered, "from Best Buy customers, yes." Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Kim (Guest Post) (01/04/2008) I don't mind the "scheme" necessarily BUT I do mind them lying about it. I, too, am aware that there is no "free lunch" but my cashier was VERY INSISTENT that it was for 8 FREE ISSUES with no STRINGS ATTACHED. That's a LIE and that's where I draw the line. I probably would have still done it but would have appreciated them saying 8 Free Trial Issues, etc. Shame on BB ! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Praveen (Guest Post) (12/29/2007) I was also caught by surprise when I saw my bank statement. Glad to find the number 866-228-1183 on this forum. You will need the account number above your name on the adress tag in front of your magazine. They gave me a refund. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Monica (Guest Post) (11/16/2007) It happened exactly the same to me. It was supposed to be a 8 magazine trial completely for FREE. This is a scam! I just canceled my subscription online and checked my BesBuy ticket and yes! I read that I authorized Best Buy to give to Time Magazine my credit card info! I didn't do that! That is such a Scam! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By shades (Guest Post) (10/16/2007) I had the same thing happen only it was at the airport and the gentleman represented himself as an employee of American Airlines. Told me I was getting a free subscription to Time and a $99.00 companion airfare ticket just for signing up for American Airlines sky miles. My first issue of Time had an attachment and explained that I had to cancel or be charged 29.95 for six months, and gave me two weeks to do it. Shame on them. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Amber (Guest Post) (09/18/2007) I had the same thing happen to me! The clerk said nothing of the sort that I needed to cancel it or that Best Buy had the right to give the magazine company my credit card number. That is what upset me the most. After looking at my receipt from my purchase at Best Buy there was absolutely nothing about the magazine. Nor did it say by agreeing to the free magazine, that gave Best Buy the right to give another company authorization to charge my credit card without my knowing! I am very upset and feel very deceived! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Judy (Guest Post) (09/04/2007) Well, I've had a similiar experience, except that I wasn't at the store. Best Buy called me and said they wanted to give me a free subscription because I was such a good customer (I bought a PC there earlier this year). I asked what the catch was, and was told none, this was a gift. Two months later, I've discovered a charge on my debit card from Time Warner for the magazine. Has anyone else been approached by phone by Best Buy? Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Brett (Guest Post) (08/28/2007) The phone number to cancel this weekly magazine is 866-228-1183 Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Robyn (Guest Post) (07/26/2007) Happened to me, and I didn't realized until yesterday that I had been paying for TIME magazine for a year and a half. My bank sent me a confirmation of a 39.95 charge -From Best Buy/TIME I AM SO MAD- it is a scam. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Tony (Guest Post) (07/21/2007) My favorite part is "It appears that after the eight weeks of free magazines, we had entered into a six month subscription to Time Magazine (at newsstand prices!) and the subscription was self renewing until cancelled!" - as if it is some big surprise or something. Your husband signed his name directly below the words "DISCLAIMER: I AUTHORIZE Best Buy to charge my credit card $xx.xx", complete with the all-caps words. The disclaimer then went on to explain that a subscription would follow after the 8 free issues very clearly. If he seriously signed an agreement without reading any of it at all, that is not Best Buy's fault. Maybe next time he should pay attention to what he's doing. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By liang lu (Guest Post) (05/09/2007) This happens to me too. I was told by the person working at Best Buy register that I could receive free magazines. They did not tell me if I do not cancel within certain time, I would be charged. I got charged $24.95, $29.95, and now 39.95. I called the magazine (Sports Illustrated). They said they can only refund me the last one. The Bank of America said they may not be able to refund me the rest because it is more than 60 days. Everyone here should get together to sue Best Buy because they are taking advantage of our vulnerability when we sign credit/debit card (We did not expect there is a contract we are signing!) Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Frustrated (Guest Post) (04/30/2007) Anyone know a number to call to cancel my subscription? Thanks Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Lacey (Guest Post) (03/08/2007) Yeah same thing happen to me. Luckily the girl at the cash register told me to call and cancel the subscription or else they would charge me. I did call and cancel on one magazine and they didn't charge me. The second magazine US Weekly unfortunately did charge me and I called them. They said they would debit the money back in a couple months but they STILL HAVENT!!!! Its really not worth the few free issues because you spend hours on the phone trying to get your money back. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Paul (Guest Post) (02/15/2007) I just noticed the charge on my debit card from US weekly after getting scammed from Best Buy. I called the number on my online statement and told them that i would like to cancel and get my money back. There was no problem and they said they would refund the money by next month. I wouldn't bother with best buy and go straight to the source. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By John (Guest Post) (11/07/2006) Yes, This same incident happened with me at my local Best Buy store. I have been on the phone with the company a total of 6 hours trying to get this money refunded back to my account. This is one of the most unethical business practices I have seen in awhile. If you need help reporting this to the FTC, I would be glad to assist you. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By stephanie (Guest Post) (10/22/2006) reunion.com tricked me to. i paid for a year and they wont let me back into the site after having it for a few monthes. when i contacted them there was no reply, the several times i tried!! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By joyann@psnw.com (Guest Post) (10/11/2006) The Best Buy Corp are cheats and liars!! I feel sorry for the workers who are forced to do Best Buy's dirty work. I am boycotting Best Buy!! Every one should do the same. Together we can force the company to change or go out of business. Report Spam or Abuse Caveat Emptor Post By Mark (Guest Post) (10/08/2006) Ever heard of the phrase 'Caveat Emptor'? If you haven't, it's Latin for "Let the buyer beware". One would wonder how the author of this post, living in this day and age, would actually take someone at the word of 'no strings attached', and apply a signature to a document without first reading it. Amazing. The only deceptive part of this whole story would be the information provided by a clearly ignorant cashier; likely a $7/hr employee, that wasn't completely familiar with the promotion. Other retailers have done this TIME magazine promotion at least 3-4 seperate times in the last few years. The last time I have seen it was about 1 year ago, in a different retail store. It is not a scam, and works the same way any other promotional offer works, i.e. AOL, credit monitoring services, website subscriptions; all have a free limited time offer up front, after which normal subscription rates apply. The retail store earns a residual income for each of the subscriptions it sells, and the owness is on the buyer to decide to continue or cancel the subscription. As long as the cancellation process is concisely outlined in the documentation, the company promoting the 'free' deal is not violating any advertising practices. Let this be a lesson to you. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By RA (Guest Post) (09/26/2006) It happened to me too and tons of others. Search the net and DO report them. I am. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Lea (Guest Post) (09/05/2006) My son used to work at Best Buy as a cashier. All of the cashiers are told that they must try to sell the magazines. Most of them are honest and will tell you to cancel it before the 3 or 6 months are up! My son hated trying to get customers to get the magazines and told the management that it was bad business. They wouldn't listen and told him that he had to get his quota or he would be out of a job. They are only doing their job and they aren't happy about doing it. Just wanted to give a former cashier's side of the story Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Mary (Guest Post) (08/22/2006) I did sign up for the same thing 2-years ago at a Best Buy in Akron, OH...however the check-out clerk was honest about the deal, that we had to cancel the subscription by a certain date or we would be charged. I did cancel by that date and was not charged. Sounds like your husband didn't get an honest clerk. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By ShellyE from Las Vegas (Guest Post) (08/22/2006) Thanks for all your similar experiences. For those of you who asked, the Time Magazine subscription was apparently cancelled in time, so we weren't financially hurt. I don't have a phone number but I do have an address: Mr. Brian Dunn Chief Operating Officer BEST BUY CO., INC. 7075 Flying Cloud Drive Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55344-3438 Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post by ILuvDobes (317) | (08/22/2006) Profile | Contact This is off topic, but in response - I have AOL and have never seen "pop-up" ads. Maybe your controls are not set? Jennifer Northern Virginia Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By the Oracle (Guest Post) (08/21/2006) The way you all say "NO," you should all be pregnant by now. hahahahaha Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Sarah (Guest Post) (08/21/2006) AOL is just as bad. Those pop up offers through their site where you don't have to put any credit card information is a lie. AOL sells them your info! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By pam2casts (Guest Post) (08/21/2006) It's not Best Buy that tricked me (not one near me) but I'd like people to know that reunion.com and classmates.com tricked me. I registered and signed up for 1 yr at each. The year was up last month. When I got my credit card bill I was charged by both for another year. When I want to the websites I eventually found out that when you sign up it's not just for 1 year. It automatically renews every year unless you happen to notice this in the fine print. I cancelled my accounts, of course. But I can't contest the charges on my card because neither charge was over $50. And another warning - I signed up for a service from Yahoo that I never got at all. Trying to reach them was uselsss. When I tried to explain all they did was cancel the service I never got in the first place! And surprise- the charge was $49.95. Five cents under the amount I can contest. This past month was the first time anything like this has happened to me. And it will be the last! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post by meoowmom (1464) | (08/21/2006) Profile | Contact Best Buy has dropped customer service quality. We used to shop there but the custormer service was so poor. It seems like I had alot of problems getting computer worked on after having it 2 weeks....I was complaining LOUDLY about the wait times to get computer back and software salesman was there and gave me several free great programs. He was not a BEST BUY employee and he told me he did not like the way they talked to me. We will not shop there again due to numerous errors in the way some items have posted on our credit cards... I thought it was just us had a bit of bad luck with them. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post By Anna (Guest Post) (08/21/2006) The last time I purchased an item at Best Buy, my credit card info was used to purchase a $1,200 computer two days later. It was a good thing that my credit card company was alert, and called me to confirm the purchase first (I seldom have such large purchases). The charge was denied, and we cancelled the card immediately. but I can't help but think someone at Best Buy copy my card no., and I wonder if Best Buy may want to consider doing better background check before hiring their employees? Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post by ILuvDobes (317) | (08/21/2006) Profile | Contact For many reasons too numerous to mention here, I will never shop at Best Buy again. They MUST work on commission with their so called warranties as that is why they push them so hard. I have purchased pcs, printers, TIVO dvd, etc. and always was talked into the warranty. My last encounter with Best Buy was purchasing a Panasonic cordless phone system (paid for with my debit card) which stopped working a short time after it was purchased. With my warranty from Best Buy, I was charged $10.00 to return them and then they would only give me a store credit. Luckily we needed a toner cartridge for one of our laser printers at work so I just about used up the credit and was reimbursed in cash by my office. I think I have finally learned. Never again will I step foot in their stores. Sign me fed up. Nothing they do will surprise me. Good luck fighting the magazine scam, let us know the outcome. Jennifer Northern Virginia Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post by PICO (354) | (08/21/2006) Contact My experience with Best Buy was with a computer that we purchased. The sales man asked if we were interested in the extended warranty. We said no. He explained that it only cost $ 169.00 for three years. That was less than $60.00 a year and if we had to take the computer to be fixed after the manufactures warranty ran out, it would cost @ $60.00 an hour to fix it. I made sure that there would be no further charges like labor or parts and we were told no extra charges. After much persuasion we agreed to buy the extended warranty. Well a month after the manufactures warranty ran out the fan on our computer stopped working. We called Best Buy, explained the problem and they said no problem and to bring in the computer. The problen was that we lived 2 hours away from the store. Which the salesman knew when he sold us the computer and the warranty. I explained that we were were 2 hours away and asked to have the computer serviced in our town. (Most big stores like The Brick or Sears will arranged to have someone do the repairs in your town) Not Best Buy. They would only fix it if we brought it in. We recluctantly drove to the store and took the computer in. I explained the problem, being the fan. They explained that it would take 48 hours to do a diagnostics on it. that meant another trip back to the store!! A month later we were havig trouble with the computer again and this time I decided to call their Geek Squad. I explained that we had an extended warranty and the problem. The checked to make sure about the warranty, came back on the phone and explained that our"walk in warranty" does not cover telephone assistance! This was our first and last purchase at Best Buy. If you do have any luck getting hold of a CEO please publish the number in a Thrifty Fun newsletter, I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to have it. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post by Lily May (49) | (08/21/2006) Profile | Contact Thanks, I will immediately warn my husband and son about "Best Buy" stores. I am again reminded , when it comes to big business-- nothing is ever free without some hidden strings attached. I had a similar experience with my creditcard company . For month I had been paying for a security feature I never signed up for. They said they send me a notice and since I did not cancel it was automatically put on my card. Needless to say I never saw the notice. Good for you for disputing the charge ,I did too. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post by lewis_admin (1342) | (08/21/2006) Profile | Blog! | Contact They do that at Best Buy here as well. I think the checkers get a bonus if they sell subscriptions so sometimes they are really annoying about it. They'll flatly ask, which free magazine subscription would you like? Never telling you that you are subscribing long term. It's definately something they should stop, it makes me not want to shop there. Otherwise, I like their stores quite a bit. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post by aardvark (106) | (08/21/2006) Contact I hope you disputed the charge and had it removed from your credit card. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Best Buy Magazine Scam Post by sandy63 (472) | (08/21/2006) Profile | Blog! | Contact wow i am sorry that happened but very glad you caught it on your bill. companies seem to do everything in their power to do us in. Report Spam or Abuse