What would you do???
 

I'm going to post this on a couple of other forums, but I'd like to hear your response.

I recently got a subscription for Fons & Porter quilt magazine. Today in the mail I received a DVD about quilting from F&P. Thank you very much. BUT -- when you read the enclosed letter they say I can preview the DVD and if I want to keep it they will BILL me $13.95 and it signs me for future DVDs! They claim in the letter that the $13.95 is 40% of the subscription!!!!!! But NO mention of how often in the future, nor how much it will ultimately cost. I didn't order this, I know I have a right to keep it, but I don't want the hassle of fighting them. They have specific instructions for sending it back.............but that involves me driving 5 miles into town and going into the post office :(


So --- what would YOU do???

I got one of those. I kept the video and ignored everything else. Never heard from them again.

Me to! Makes me angry when they put the burden of pay up or return on me. Any thing sent to you with out ordering it is yours.

I received one a year or so ago and sent it right back. I didn't want to have to deal with them bugging me about payment, etc.

was there any mention of this being part of your subscription offer? i would contact customer service & talk to them about it- they are going on the assumption more people will accept the offer than will turn it down- but it seems like a 'shady' way to go about it.
i cancelled (let lapse) all of my magazine subscriptions because there was more & more of this type of thing going on- i would rather just pick up a mag at the store once in a while i don't think the savings from subscribing are all that great to merit the hassles involved & when i choose a magazine at the store i can choose from a variety of them- not be 'stuck' with any particular one month after month. i used to love their magazine- but after a couple years it started being (less & less) for me- i do pick one up once in awhile-but have found others i tend to choose more often....nice to have that choice.

We had a lot of posts on this very subject about a year ago. Other magazines were trying the same "tactic". YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO REPLY TO THE AD OR RETURN THE DVD!!!! After the negative press about these practices I'm surprised they even tried it again. The DVD you received was "unsolicited" meaning that you did not request it. Therefore you do not have to return it or even acknowledge in anyway that you received it.

This must happen to all of us... At first I returned them - paid the postage... they claim not received.... then I just marked them refused and did not open....called told them Not to send any more.... did not keep or pay for any... This is main reason I do not renew any quilt magzines -- if I want one I just buy it at Walmart or JoAnn's - they off 10% off which pays the tax. I really get worn out by scams like this don't you. It really is sad that publishers try to put this over on subscribers.

Judy in Phx, AZ

Thanks everyone.....I"m going to ignore it and not send anything back. I just tried to watch the video --- talk about BORING!!!!! I may try it again, however, and look at the PDF file for the patterns. I've seen all the patterns on this one before, so it's nothing new. :(

I just received the same thing about a month ago - well I fretted over it so I sent it back - I am like you and my post office is a 7 mile drive one way - I didn't want to mess with it and did not want to get anymore - I really did think it was illegal for them to send something and then charge us - I don't like this practice - if I wanted the DVD - I would have sent for it.

You can keep anything that you did not order. I too am letting my subscriptions lapse -- one after 20+ years. This one company billed me for a new 5 year subscription -- and said it would automatically be renewed and I agreed to this by paying the current bill. I sent a letter that would blister your ears canceling that subscription.

A couple of other magazine companies have done something similar -- one continued the subscription for 6 months after it ended and then tried to collect. I pointed out that since I did not renew the subscription I was not responsible for anything they sent after the subscription was fulfilled. The only magazine I keep is National Geographic -- at least for now.

I guess they are hard up, but I want to be able to say yes or no to an extension of the subscription.

I had this happen too, but I ignored it. I finally got a letter a couple of weeks ago and it said that since I did not ask for it, I was under no obligation to pay for it unless I wanted to get more. I am still ignoring it.....

Sew News magazine did the same thing to me! I took my sweet time sending it back to them but I also let them know that I didn't appreciate having to return something that I did NOT order!
I think it's a stupid concept to send this out and then expect a return or.. perhaps they hope you won't return it so they can bill you for it.
Nice program they have set up but don't send it unless it's requested, is my thoughts.
Sorry you have to drive to return it, that's not fair!
Just my 2 cents worth

Same here. If you didn't request it, you're not obligated to pay for it.

Im having the same problem with mag. subscriptions. Better Homes and Gardens is threatening me even though I did not renew my subscription.
So far two mags have threatened me with ruining my credit.
This is so underhanded that I am not going to do anymore subscriptions. Dont they realize that people will not stand for this?
I also got the dvd from F&P and will just ignore it. They did this several years ago also.

About a year or so ago, I got a DVD from F&P. I kept the DVD, the letter they sent said it was a gift. I never had any problems with them trying to collect money from me.

I am letting all my subscriptions expire, too. One month I went through 3-4 issues and couldn't find a quilt I liked in a single one. Today I went to the P.O. and there was that annual calendar that I told them not to send any more! So, do I pay for that or just keep it?

had the same thing going here. sent them back because of course I got several. My mags I have been letting go when the sub are up and they call forever trying to get me to renew. Keep telling them I don't have the time to read them all. I think they are all under the same house anyway -- just under a different name. I too got the calender yesterday in the mail I used to get the order form and I would order it--now came without being ordered. I am going to keep it and if they call I am going to tell them I did not order and am not paying for it nor am I paying for sending it back. maybe they will learn their lesson after a bunch of us decide they can't pull this crap.

I got the same treatment from F&P, which is why I no longer take their magazine, buy any of their products, or watch their shows. I'm disappointed that they think this is a good way to do business.

I have adopted the same "policy " now with F&P for the exact same reasons.

Gee -- I sure wish I'd asked before I subscribed!!!!! :)

If it was unsolicited, surely you would not be expected to respond in any way.I certainly would not waste money and time returning the goods when they are obviously fishing.They are probably relying on the usual 10% response to flyers.

and the magazines wonder why so many of us aren't renewing! Several bloggers have been discussing the declination in magazine subscription renewals....this is just one of many reasons. :(

what gets me is that they show great quilts but when call they are out of them and you can't even buy the fabric. don't even get their mags anymore.

I have not renewed any magaazines so many of them are the same old stuff to much advertising and Fons and Porter started putiing a clothes catalog in the center of theirs and didn't want that either if I see a magazine with something
different I will just pick it up at the store and Joanns has 10% off on thiers and there is plenty of patterns on the internet

Take a drive. Send it back. Cost will go up for future DVDs.

It's why I don't subscribe to F & P anymore. I had this happen to me (by another company). They tried to strong arm me into paying or returning. Frankly, I threw the item away, as it wasn't anything I'd use, didn't request it, and so WHY should I pay to return them? There are laws about this type of thing. Not requested? Their loss, not yours.

I had no trouble NOT renewing my subscrition to the F&P mag. In addition to it being boring with so many repeats 90% of the FREE gifts were useless to me.
There are other, better magazines.
MaryKatherine

Ditto to all of the above, I used to love the Fons an Porter magazine but it got so repetitive and not in the world I live in. I only have left one copy, from back when it was "for the love of sewing". I also let all the subscriptions go, as I got tired of storing stacks of mags. I have so many patterns in waiting I am going to have to just hope for reincarnation to get it all done. I am definitely in the use it all up if you can stage of life...

I received a "surprise" quilting DVD in the mail quite a while back (could be as long as 2 years ago). It is very nice ... lengthy and very informative. However, I did not order it and refused to either pay for it or return it. Every so often I got another "reminder" to pay or return, which only took a second of my time to throw into the trash. I haven't received any reminders in a long time now. I consider their sending me the DVD presumptuous and pushy and this was my way of not letting them get away with it. (As far as I know, it had nothing to do with Fons & Porter.)

I received one of these videos months ago. I totally forgot about it until I ran across it while "cleaning" my sewing room. Maybe one day I'll watch it. A DVD costs pennies to reproduce after it is made. Therefore, paying $15.00 for a video that was unsolicited and as some of you have noted is boring, does not seem fair. Besides, there are all types of instructional videos on YouTube and all over the internet. There are so many patterns on the internet for free. I am assuming (yes, I know what assume does to you and me) that the internet is unbelievable competition for these companies and therefore, they are doing every trick in the book to get us to part with our money. The thing that they fail to understand is that the internet is not free to us, we pay for it. However, I prefer to pay for the internet for several reasons, then to pay for magazines. I get more bang for my buck from the internet.

I got the sme deal l few months ago. Sent them an e-mail, telling them I did not request this, and would not go to the trouble of returning it. and that when my subscription expired I was through with the whole thing. I suscribed to their on line quilting show, which was suppose to be free with another subscription. The free show cost me 24.95 and after several phone calls and e-mails, I still have not been able to view any of these shows. Needless to say, they kept my money though.

I'm with you Janet...... I have stacks and stacks of mags....yet, I go to the internet to learn....

Go to the webpage of the USPS, Unsolicited Merchandise and you will find that you have three choices. 1. If you didn't order it you don't have to pay for it. 2. You may return it but you pay the postage. 3. You may throw it away. When I worked for the USPS, so many elderly citizens felt guilty about keeping it and paid to send it back.

I received one after I took out a subscription. Ignored it leaving it in a pile of undecided what to do with mail. Then received a demanding note saying that I must return it postmarked by a specific date or pay charges. Returned it with notes all over it to never send me anything else and that I would not subscribe again. Totally turned me off to the company.

I think with the ease of the internet for almost everything, the magazines are having a hard time getting subscriptions. I know I have stopped taking a lot of them as most anything I want I can find online. I have only one subscription now and probably won't renew it either.

IF YOU DID NOT ORDER IT, YOU NEED NOT PAY FOR IT NOR RESPOND TO THEM, NOR RETURN IT. This is one of many reasons that I did not renew my F & P subscription. Our local (large city newspaper) continued delivering the newspaper after we did not renew, then they turned us over to a collection agency after three months. That agency will no longer take their business

IF YOU DID NOT ORDER IT, YOU NEED NOT EITHER PAY FOR IT NOR RESPOND TO THEM. This is one of many reasons that I did not renew my F & P subscription. Our local (large city newspaper) continued delivering the newspaper after we did not renew, then they turned us over to a collection agency after three months. That agency will no longer take their business

I got one of those to, I kept them because the law says if you get anything in the mail that you didn"t order you can keep it. I started getting bills from them and I had to tell them to stop sending bills and finally they stopped.

Exactly what I did. They sent it. I didn't order it. I didn't have to return it.

I totally ignored the future mail from them and eventually didn't hear from them again. No effect on credit or otherwise. It's a marketing gamble for them, those cds/dvds are so cheap to reproduce these days that if even 10-15% of recipients pay up, they are ahead of the game.

Jan in VA

Unfortunately this isn't new. I can remember a number of years ago several companies would do that and every month or every quarter you'd receive something from them with an automatic invoice. I don't like the ethics of it either.