DVD came in mail, do I have to pay for this????
 

Grrrrrr!!! About a month ago, I received an UNORDERED quilting DVD from Fons and Porter. I did open it, and briefly looked at it, and really thought it some kind of promotional offer.

And so yesterday, I received a billing in the mail for something like $13!!!! Yikes, am I obligated to pay for something I DID NOT order???? And the bad thing is, I'm not really sure just where it's at :(

i have always been under the assumption that you do NOT have to pay for items sent to you, that you did NOT order!!!

does anyone know if this is true or not???

jody

Call them and talk to a person. Tell them you did not order it and ask them why they sent it. There should be a toll free number to call. Tell them that you are upset.

If you did not order the item, you are under no obligation to pay for it or even return it. I got one of those a way back .. and its one of the reasons I stopped my subscription to Fons and Porter.. its just an unethical business practice.

I don't believe you are required to pay for anything you didn't order. Are you sure the "bill" didn't include a subscription for something? And the DVD was the "Free" part? I frequently get subscription renewal enticements but my daughter always renews for me as part of my Mother's Day gift. I just toss them.

I would call too and tell them you will not pay for or send it back...as you did NOt ask for it. I really don't believe you are required to pay for it!

If they can not produce anything thing showing you ordered it, it's their loss. So many magazines seem to do this semi-shady stuff.

Thanks all!!!

I do have ONE quilting magazine subscription, and it probably is one by F&P, but that was ordered and paid for last spring. I think I will just mail the envelope back to them, telling them I did NOT order this DVD, and therefore are under no obligation to pay for OR return it.

Jody

I got one of those. Got several billings for it as well. Never ordered it, lost the DVD (until I found it last week) never sent it back and I ignore the billing. If they send it to me without my approval, it's their loss. I have not looked at it, probably never will. They did send out at least 3 bills for it.

nope. don't pay. you can say you sent it back or did not get it. they started doing that and it really turned me off.

As a retired postal worker I can officially say that the law says if it is unsolicited merchandise you can do any number of things with it. Do Not Pay for it!

You may keep it, throw it away, return to sender, etc. If you will go to the Postal Service's pages and look for "Unsolicited Merchandise." Print the page, put it in their envelope, and mail it to the company.

BTW, it is illegal for them to send a bill to you.

I have given this advice to dozens of people. I just followed it myself last week.:thumbup:

I received that DVD quite a while back, also several notices asking for payment. I tossed them. If you read the fine print, they acknowledge that you are in no way required to either pay or send back the DVD. I also quit subscribing to F&P because of this business practice. I wonder if they know how many quilters they have offended and how much business they have lost. Well, maybe they figure they are making more by "selling" their DVD. How sad. I won't even buy their other products now. (And I definitely don't plan to watch their DVD.)

I received a bill but not a DVD. Contacted the company and they sent apologies and took my information out of their files. Thought it was handled very well.
You do not have to pay for anything you did not order.
You do not have to return anything you did not order.
https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/i...itedFraud.aspx

Learner 747 and NanaCsews .... thanks so much for that info. I will print out that page and return it to them. I thought I had heard *somewhere* that if you get something you did not order, you are under no obligation to pay for it OR return it. The kicker is, IF you pay for it, you get one sent either every month (or every other), so they want it to be like a DVD subscription of sorts.

Uh, thanks, but NO thanks!!

And thanks again for the great info :)

jody

Learner 747 is absolutely correct. This is from the USPS frequently asked questions page: http://faq.usps.com/eCustomer/iq/usp...Q&view%28%29=c[c_usps11609]&varset%28source%29=sourceType:embedded

• 
  Enjoy it!!
  
  Jan in VA

I concur. I had the same thing happen a year or two ago. I did start a thread on this topic. Poor business practice resulting in negative publicity. If you contact the company, record the name - time - date of the conversation and state that Fons and Porter is getting negative publicity on this quilting board. We should have some clout, especially since you did not order this DVD.

I don't remember if it's the same company, but a couple years ago, a number of quilters received a DVD and later a bill. As far as I understand, if you didn't order it then you don't have to pay for it. I received one a couple years ago, still have it and have never paid for it. I also have never used it, although I did look through it.

I agree with Lori S. I would not bother to call. Enjoy the video. It only costed them pennies to copy and distribute.

I agree with the ladies who say you don't have to pay. If you didn't order it, you don't pay.

This happened to me a few years back with a craft company. You are not obligated to pay for anything that comes in the US mail that you did not order. I put it all in writing and every time they wrote me a dun letter, I photocopied my original letter and mailed it back. The third time I threatened legal action. They stopped. Sometimes you just have to be emphatic and outlast those companies. Plus, I have a long memory and don't order anything from that company or any of its affiliates. Sadly, I wonder how many folks just pay up to avoid the hassle.

I also received one. I looked at it. I didn't find it was worth the $13.00. There was a return envelope in the mailing that I just dropped it in and returned it free of charge.

I recieved one of these also. I did get a couple of bills, but just ignored them. Never heard from them again & it has probably been a couple of years.

QUOTE=Lori S;5658804]If you did not order the item, you are under no obligation to pay for it or even return it. I got one of those a way back .. and its one of the reasons I stopped my subscription to Fons and Porter.. its just an unethical business practice.[/QUOTE]

That happened to me last year. I did not send the DVD back nor pay for it and I never heard another word from them after the first bill which I did not respond to. So dont worry about it. Unless they can produce something that shows that you ordered it you don't have to return or pay for it.

I agree. They are hoping to "guilt" you into sending them payment. Don't do it! I stopped long ago paying for things I didn't order, even from charities or fundraisers....such as those return address labels. I use them or toss them but I don't pay for them since I didn't ask to have them sent to me. It's a marketing strategy and obviously works or they wouldn't continue to do it. But it doesn't work with me!

You should be glad that your creditcard info is not in their file otherwise they would have charged you for this DVD.
Happened to me (not with F&P with another quilting company). And then the trouble I had to get them to quit sending me their useless DVD's.

Just ignore the bills when they come. F&P did the same thing to me a while back (I am a subscriber to the magazine, but didn't request the video.) Anything sent to you unsolicited, they can't demand payment for. I believe there is some teeny-tiny print on the invoices which states that.

Fons & Porter, the real people, should demand that the company who bought them out stop degrading their name by using illegal business practices. You do not need to call, write, or respond in any way, and you keep whatever they send you.

I got that same DVD. I thought it was a gift with an issue as I subscribe to their magazine. I thought nothing else of it. Then like you, I got a bill. I haven't received another bill after that first one. I haven't heard anythingelse from it. If this is going to be how they run things I don't even want the magazine. I guess I thought F&P was better than to do underhanded things like that. I haven't read this thread yet so I don't know if anyone else had experienced this or not. Just finished reading the thread and see I amnot the only one. I do wonder however if in any way these can be turned over on credit reports for non payment?

Ladibug

I just finished reading the thread. I had no idea they were sold out. I do wonder however if any of these can be turned over to credit reports for non payment?

That happened to me last year and I put the dvd up and immediately forgot where it was. I got several notices from them and ignored them, as I DID NOT order this. Finally after many months and many whine notices I found it again and sent it back, but only because they had put a return postage in the package.

Really irritates me when companies do this.

delma

Probably just a mix-up with them. They are good about resolving problems. I'd just give them a call.

I got one. Awhile back. I sent the invoice back with a big No Thanks written on it. They never bothered me again. It is sort of a scam, but not really as you are under no obligation to pay.

I too received one of these DVD's. and like you I recieved a bill for it . I dug out the paper work that came with it, and in small print at the bottom of the page it does say since you didn't order this DVD you are under no obligation to pay for it. I threw it in the garbage.

Good to know! Thanks for posting.

Thanks for the advice. I got one of those DVDs a few weeks ago and haven't bothered to even look at it since I didn't order it. Now I know what to do if and when a bill arrives. Thanks again.

Same here. When we moved I found the DVD. But I did not order it and have not watched it. I think it is "Tips.." I would cancel my subscription, but I love the magazines! Will not pay the bill, since I did not order it. I returned the bill at their expense saying I didn't order it and will not return it.
I really hate to see them doing this!

No. You do not have to pay. This is a revenue generating technique. I wish that they would stop this nonsense, but it must scare enough people into paying to make it worth the effort for them.

I don't pay either, I didn't order it, and I am not going to extra work to send it back either. I may or may not use it .

A couple of weeks ago I saw an ad from them for a free copy of the mag. So I ordered it . Never got it but did get a bill for almost $30.00. I emailed them and told them that it is bait and switch , whicch is against the law. They emailed back and said I did not have to pay .

I have occasionally ordered the 'free intro copy' of a magazine. If the bill comes before my 'free copy,' I write on the bill, "NO THANKS--CANCEL--NOT RECEIVED." I return that to them and think no more of it. Whether or not the magazine ever arrives after that, I do not subscribe. I find it more than annoying to be billed for a magazine before I have the opportunity to even see it.

As for the DVD, a couple of years ago some company, not F&P, sent out a quilting DVD that was not ordered. It stated clearly that it was not ordered and the receiver could keep it or return it without charge. If you paid for it, you would get a subscription to more DVDs. They sent out several bills, all of which I ignored. Eventually they stopped. I think if you do nothing, which is what you did to begin with, they will stop the practice if no one responds.

Learner: Thanks !! I needed that information for sure .. Now the next bill I get for a DVD I didn't order will go back with that information on it .. Thanks again !