Scam: Magazine Sales

This one really kills me.
Around dinner time, a kid comes to your door. Often the sun is setting and in the background, you see a white van drive away. The kids are always neatly turned out: haircut, nice shirt, clean pants. They tell you they're competing for a scholarship, trying to get off the streets, trying to straighten out their lives. All you have to do to help them is buy a magazine subscription.

The cost? They won't tell you until after you've looked at their book. But you'll learn that if you don't buy, they won't meet their quota or that they're so close to making their bonus. They reassure you that it's a money-back guarantee if you cancel it within 3 days. But, they tell you, that if you cancel they'll lose that commission. And then they might say, "you don't want to see me back on the streets, do you?" Oh, and by the way, it's $60.00 for a two year subscription. But they want you to buy two magazines. So the grand total for opening your door to a hardluck magazine pedaler that day might be $130.00.

Trinity Publications LLC is a for-profit company from Charlotte N.C. Their website says they help kids by giving them counseling and leadership skills. The kids are put on a Greyhound bus, sent out here (or anywhere in the US) and put up at a hotel for 2 weeks. They can get a cash advance for their food or future expenses. One wonders how much these kids really end up taking home. There are no testimonials about how many kids have been helped, no indication of any 'success stories.' Also, non-profit watchdog groups, which rank charitable organizations, do not show Trinity Public Relations on any of their lists.

I'm disturbed by this on so many levels. These are nice kids. What's sad is that they really believe the hype being tossed at them from Trinity and the Reps. Because they are far from home, they have little choice but to walk the streets hoping that someone will buy an overpriced subscription from them. For all their walking, any one of these kids could have walked in somewhere closer to home, applied for a job and gotten one. They're articulate, they've been taught how to pitch. In fact, any one of these could and should be out there at a regular 9 - 5.

I found this Press Release from September 2006:

Roy Cooper
North Carolina Attorney General
NC Department of Justice 9001 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-9001 (919) 716-6400
For immediate release
Contact: Noelle Talley
Date: September 27, 2006
Phone: 919/716-6413
AG Cooper gets Charlotte magazine seller to pay refunds, change ways
Consumers encouraged to contact AG’s office to get their money back Raleigh: A Charlotte-based company that sells magazine door-to-door nationwide will pay refunds to dissatisfied consumers and change the way it does business under an agreement announced today by Attorney General Roy Cooper. “This company used sob stories to pitch subscriptions, but the magazines people paid for never arrived in their mailboxes,” said Cooper. “Now we’re delivering refunds and making the company treat future customers fairly.”

Under terms of the settlement agreement, Trinity Public Relations of Charlotte and formerly of Tampa,
Florida, must pay refunds to all consumers who have complained to Cooper’s office or the Better Business Bureau. Eligible consumers who file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office, the BBB or Trinity within the next 90 days is also entitled to a full refund from the company.

Consumers who purchased subscriptions from Trinity did not receive their magazines within 120 days as promised are encouraged to contact Cooper’s Consumer Protection Division at 1-877-5-NO-SCAM toll-free within North Carolina. Consumers can also visit www.ncdoj.com to download a complaint form.

Today’s agreement also requires Trinity to provide consumers with receipts that spell out details about their subscription, including how long it will take for consumers to get their magazines, Trinity’s refund policy and how to contact sales agents and their supervisors.

In addition, Trinity sales agents are barred from playing on consumers’ sympathies to sell magazines by claiming to be ill, disabled or in financial need. Trinity may not claim that its sales benefits charity, or that its agents are competing for college scholarships. Terms of the agreement apply to Trinity Public Relations, LLC, Trinity Public Relations, Inc., and the company’s officers, James A. Davis and Lourdes J.Davis. Cooper began looking into Trinity in December of 2005 following complaints from consumers who purchased subscriptions from the company’s agents but never got their magazines. Trinity previously gave consumers receipts that told them to call the company if they their magazines didn’t arrive within 120 days. Consumers who tried to contact the company reported that Trinity wasn’t accessible to handle refund requests and made excuses and false promises. Some consumers also complained that Trinity agents claimed that proceeds on their sales would go to charity or help them overcome personal hardships.

A total of 43 consumers complained to the Attorney General’s Office. Another 97 complained to the BBB in Charlotte, which helped Cooper’s office with the case. Trinity’s offices are located at 4525 Plaza Road, Unit G-4 in Charlotte. Page 2 “Be wary of door-to-door sellers who try to pressure you,” Cooper cautioned consumers. “Check out the company with my office before you spend your hard-earned money.”
###