The Better Business Bureau has recently warned about a door-to-door magazine sales scam affecting many areas of the country.

What You’ll See

The report indicates that the scam includes these elements:

• High-school and college-age individuals traveling around neighborhoods offering subscriptions to various magazines.
• High pressure or misleading sales pitches, which may include the assertion that the seller is trying to raise money for a school trip, a charity or for troops in Iraq.
• Failure to deliver any magazines after the transaction is completed.

The BBB has reportedly received 1,100 complaints about such scams and has identified the companies Trinity Public Relations, Seedtime and Prestige Sales, LLC as involved with similar scams.

What to Do

If a door-to-door magazine salesperson entices you to purchase a subscription, act with caution.

Luckily, the BBB has several consumer protections in place to make sure you aren’t bilked out of hundreds of dollars:

• Before writing a check or completing a magazine subscription form, you can check out the business in question for free at the BBB's Web site.
• Thanks to the Fair Trade Commission’s three-day cooling-off rule, you can cancel purchases over $25 that you made at your home or a place other than the seller’s permanent business location within three days. Your receipt should come with a cancellation form, which you can fill out and return to the vendor. You should get a refund within 10 days of the company’s receipt of your cancellation notice.
• If you think you’ve been victimized and you’re past the cooling-off period, consider filling out a complaint at the BBB’s Web site, which could prompt an investigation.
• Know that some door-to-door companies already have “F” grades from the BBB. These include Omni Horizons Inc., Greater Image, Inc., True Visions Inc. and Fresh Start Opportunities.

And don’t think that your complaint won’t matter – the BBB takes such matters seriously.

It has found, too, that besides engaging in deceptive selling practices, some of the companies were mistreating their student workers by withholding wages, forcing them to work long hours and causing substandard living conditions.

--Has a scam resulted in you going broke? Consider the bankruptcy option.

Tags: BBB, Better Business Bureau