I guess I’m looking for the factual answer, moreso than the personal opinion on this, because I suppose anyone could suspect I was being ripped off. Hell, even I think it could be true…
Anyway- a nice young man came to my door saying he was here from Bosnia trying to get through school so he could get a degree and a work permit to stay in the US. He was selling magazine subscriptions- you know- you buy a subscrip, he gets points, the points add up, and when he gets to a certain number, he gets money. I asked him if the money goes directly into his hands, he said not one penny- that it all goes into a school fund for tuition and books.
I felt that I asked him enough questions: what brought him here, where he was going to school, what he was studying, and where the money was going, what it was being used for, how this “job” was helping him to achieve that. It all sounded entirely plausible. And of course, I caved and bought a subscription. OF COURSE it was more expensive than it would have been had I filled out the card in the magazine. Whatever- I don’t care about that. What I care about was the feasibility of his story. If he’s not legitimately getting money for school through a dedicated education program, which he claims that magazine service provides for him, then I will cancel in a heartbeat. (I’m also contacting the company to inquire about the program)
I’ve had similar sales people on my doorstep. My scam detector rang off the hook. They all got angry when I tried to delve too deeply into their employer, or into how they got to my neighborhood.
I say you were scammed. I would strongly advise you watch out for this kind of thing in the future. I would not be surprised if you are now on some list somewhere that says “hey, this person is an easy mark”.
Why don’t you call the better business bureau and enquire about the company. See if they actually do what he said they do.
It’s a scam, and one that’s been around for a long time. Sometimes the kids at your door are lying, almost always the companies behind them are exploitative and use fraudulent practices. Google on “magazine subscriptions” door-to-door for lots of info and examples. Here are a couple:
Nice people don’t come to your door.
You mean ‘a charming crook’.
I’ve had a convincing-sounding chap with photo ID appear at my door and offer me a massive discount on roof insulation, under a Government scheme to make houses more energy efficient. He explained that only certain companies were licensed to do the work, gave me a card with the company website addressed and commented that he was not a crook “even though a lot of door-to-door callers are”.
After he left, I called the local council.
Yes, there was a Government scheme to subsidise energy efficiency.
Yes, only certain companies were licensed to do the work.
No, this wasn’t one of them.
The only decision left was which of us called the police, since people like this prey on elderly people in particular.
‘BURGLARS and bogus traders are targeting pensioners in a growing regional trend of doorstep crimes.’
Well, I e-mailed the customer service department of this company. They DO exist, and thanks to some of the links you provided, I was able to look them up and find that they have gotten a satisfactory business rating from the BBB as recently as 2002.
However, the cust service rep told me that they do not offer a college tuition program, only cash prizes and travel, so I cancelled my order forthwith. Of course, they make it difficult for you to cancel: you can only do it by mail and it has to be postmarked within 3 business days of purchase. I recognize that tactic and have gotten it all taken care of with haste. Now, I just wait for that refund. I know I can’t cancel my check, because A) I’ll have to pay my bank to do that, and B) this company tells me there’s a fee on returned checks, which I think a cancelled check could qualify as. I have documentation on all, including the e-mails, so I guess I just wait and hope they’ll send me my refund.
My beef is that this kid wasn’t honest with me about how he was getting his money. And even IF he was honestly, truly going to use the money for college, the amount of work he’d have to do to get the unbelievable amount of points he’d have to rack up in order to get a measly $5000 for college- he wouldn’t get to college until he was 30!!! (of course none of this was apparent to me during the 20 minutes he was at my door, and only after I did MY research did it become all too clear)
Continually fighting my own ignorance with your gracious help,
Anne
A guy came to my door recently, and I was willing to do a good deed until he claimed that all purchases had to be made in cash, up front, either as bills or checks.
:rolleyes:
I politely (but firmly) told him no after that.
(Even if this wasn’t a fraud I wasn’t about to hand money or an uncashed check to somebody I don’t know!)
Ah, yes. The famous “I need X more points to get a trip to Y contest” scam. I first saw it maybe 25 years ago. They like to pull this one on college campuses too. It had been years since I had seen it until one of those dickheads showed up at my door a couple weeks ago.
The scam is that you get a magazine subscription at a very inflated price or you may not get the subscription at all.
I saw this one about 15 years ago in California. The lady started out by saying that she wasn’t going to try to sell me anything. She went through a rapid-fire sales pitch for some cleaning solution that’s so environmentally safe, it’s edible! (she then squirted some into her mouth and I lost a few moments of her presentation because suddently all I could hear was “It’s a floor wax! It’s a dessert topping!”) But, no, she wasn’t trying to sell me the cleaning stuff. She had a stack of magazines that I could buy subscriptions to so she could earn points and go to Disneyland
Her: So, how many magazines would you like to sign up for?
Me: Well, I can’t.
Her: Why not?
Me: You said you aren’t going to sell me anything, so you’re not selling magazine subsciptions, right?
Her: Wah! I’m never going to make it to Disneyland!
There was a particular apartment complex I used to live in that for some reason attracted these people. Amazingly, each one needed to sell only one more subscription to pay their tuition.
Nice adults, I would say…she said, “nice young man.” I get a lot of children here selling cookies, and they’re ok. But I usually don’t answer the door if I don’t know who it is, so I agree with the general principle.
I say scammed. But it’s not like you could conduct an investigation standing at the door. I wouldn’t worry unless you gave him a credit card #, in which case you might consider changing it.
You’re kind to give others the benefit of the doubt when it comes to your own generosity. I say we all have the God-given right to just not open the door or answer the phone for people we don’t know.
I agree with you, but I’m afraid I like to be pedantic :eek: :
Here in the UK we see far less kids at doors. No ‘cookie’ scheme and little (Halloween trick / treat) either.
It’s not just me involved. These people love to prey on the elderly. (See my links above. This makes the scammers bstrds who should be reported to the police.)
I don’t beleive in God, but you certainly have the right to ignore strangers in your own home.
It’s the students that are getting scammed. They are often left out in the cold with no money, no place to stay and no way to get back to where they came from.
Well hell, even in the US, the Girl Scouts aren’t doing as much door-to-door selling anymore. Mostly they sell to family friends, relatives, or set up a little stand at the mall or a shopping center somewhere. (Which is great for those who don’t have connections).
As most posters have relayed, you have been scammed. However, the elderly (I don’t know how old you are) aren’t the only ones that get nailed by this.
Let me introduce you to my wife. Heart as big as gold, but her skeptical radar is usually off. She bought 2 subscriptions from “a fine young man” who then had the balls to ask for a glass of iced tea because it was hot.
I only knew what happened after she started walking out of the house with the glass. I talked to the guy, and figured that it wasn’t worth the hassle to tear up the check and then have him key my car or some other nonsense. I don’t know if he would have done anything, but I figured, why chance it?
The magazines were purchased for her neices, and they did get them (and they never thanked us, the little creatins!). So the company, even though they DID triple charge for the subscriptions, did fulfill their part of the bargain.
My wife and I had a big argument about this crap until I showed her the info about the company on the web. Fortunately, we didn’t have any identity theft or residual nonsense after this incident. Remember, though, you are giving a perfect stranger a check with your signature, address, and account number. Never a good idea.
NEVER fall for the magazine scam! Or stereo speakers being sold out of a van, but that’s a subject for another thread.
Has any figured out what these kids selling the magazine subscriptions door-to-door get paid on an hourly basis even if they get the scholarship? I suspect it’s very low, and they could do better with even a minimum wage fast-food job while staying at home.
I participated in a lot of activities as a kid that involved fundraising - softball, band, swim club, Girl Scouts, etc. Whenever we’d have stuff to sell or reading drives or whatnot, the notices given out said the school/club did NOT want any child going door-to-door or setting up a stand out front of a store. Hell, we stopped doing bottle drives because of the perceived “risk”. It seems very rare here to see any kids doing any door-to-door type stuff anymore, but whether it’s more dangerous now I couldn’t say.