Door To Door Magazine Sales, Scam?
Tonite we got hit up by a sales rep from Direct Subscription Services, or DSS Inc. The individual was able to talk us into purchasing a subscription from him at what seemed an inflated price but at the time appeared to be only slightly over retail. After he left I checked the online price for a subscription, $26 less than what I was charged. Boy am I a sucker sometimes. Anyway I looked into the company DSS Inc, which is owned/operated by All-star Promotions based out of Texas. Well All-Star has had 49 BBB complaints in the last 36 months so I have issued a stop order to my check and I am sending the cancellation in tomorrow via Fax. Apparently if you do not cancel your order within 3 days before midnight in writing All Star et al will pursue you with a debt collection agency. Just a warning, don’t buy magazines from door to door sales without checking the current price. I don’t mind helping someone out if I am not getting Royally Screwed in the process. For magazine subscriptions look for free signups online. Hopefully this is the last time I have to discuss this.
More Info on Door to Door Magazine Sales:
http://www.travelingsalescrews.info/
Josh Smith is a blogger, database manager and adjunct professor of business and technology. 
I almost got scammed today in front of the local Walmart. It was a college kid earing points for a trip if it’s a true story. He asked me ‘vote’ for him to go to Italy and sounded like they were doing some sort of competition. Then, after all it turned ‘point earning’ by selling a magazine from ‘voting’. Actually I bought a magazine from one of those people before, so I figured out what he was trying to do. By the way, when I bought a magazine from them, I wanted it and received it, so it was not exactly a scam. But I still felt paid a little too much for a magazine though. Anyway, this kid I met today probably thought I am going to pay. But middle of the conversation, I pretended that I got phone call from my work and bailed out. The all information I gave him was also wrong. These people are EVERYWHERE. Watch out for them.
This is the kind of talk that makes me sick. Number one..Most of you said you never even bought the magazines. So how the hell would you know if the company is legit? How he hell can you tell all these people that the mags never come, if YOU DIDN’T buy?? I don’t know about DSS, but I DO know that companies like that are rare!
For those of you that HAVE purchased mags, If you check your receipt, It is CLEARLY written that it could take UP TO 120 DAYS to get your first magazine. And as for closing your bank accounts…it really is overkill. If someone comes to your door selling ANYTHING.. simply ask for the company phone number. If one cannot be provided, Don’t buy. For those that start getting your mags…try to come back on this site and let everyone know. You are all so quick to be negative. How many of you will correct your words?
I have personally worked for one of these Mag crews.
They are the worst thing a young person can get involved in. They take you out of your home state, drop you in anopther state far away, they give you a small amount of money each day out of your “Earnings”, you do not get the full amount you are owed because there is a “waiting period”, if by some chance you realize this is a scam, or you just want to go home they whisk you away in the early dawn hours drop you at a bus station, and poof they are gone. They leave you with no money, you have to wait the “waiting period” then contact the home office to get a check. Your lucky if the number they give you is real, and if you do get a hold of someone they do not have any record of you or your earnings. I speak from personnel experiance. I also had my Stepdaughter do this against my warnings and the exact same thing happened to her.
And you are very lucky if you get your magazine. My parents bought from these people and no magazine.
Let me guess…….UKnowNot (post above) either works for or manages one of these awful magazine scam operations. There is A LOT of information about this thoroughly corrupt industry, including a 2007 New York Times article. These young people are trained to prey on and rip-off the unsuspecting public and then are in turn abused by management. They travel the country in vans, are dumped off in neighborhoods for 10-14 hours at a time, and sometimes are beaten or forced to fight each other if sales are low. They sleep several to a room in shoddy hotels, (lowest sales for the day gets the floor). There have been deaths, thefts in the homes they hit-on, and drug abuse amongst the salespeople. Often they claim that the sales are for fund-raising for college or some trip and the magazine will actually go to a children’s hospital; yeah, right. They are incredibly aggressive and won’t leave your doorstep without an argument. Having been burned once, I am twice shy…….and letting as many people know about them as I can.
Yes. I did this. The woman that approached me seemed very sincere and was very nice. Well practiced at her sales pitch. She was beyond nice with a hard luck story about every member of her family. Had names of neighbors and their purchases. I took the receipt she gave me after the transaction and called the telephone number on it. It was out of service. The two things that threw me off and made me call were the inflated price and the fact that the check had to be made out to an individual not a company. Regardless, I canceled payment on the check. I guess I may never know if I would have gotten the mag within the 120 limit.
Just had a couple of kids selling magazine subscriptions door-to-door with the internship to the BBC story. I told them straight away that I wasn’t interested and one of the kids gave me a look like I was the devil incarnate.
(I’m not, for the record).
I got hit by this young man in dec of 08…there i was 7 months preggo and thinking i was helping this guy out. He was telling me how his team was earning point to go to Cancun and this DSS company was sending them around to diffrent states that also help them with public speaking. I asked him if he was in juvie or was doing this for community service or something. He talked me into buying a Turtle magazine for my daughter. He knew a lot about all of the magazines and talked me into it. Stupid me ended up giving him cash because he said if he got it in cash he would get extra points. I had lost the recipts and recently found it. here it is April and still no magazines. I looked up this company finally since I found the recipt to find out this is a scam….ugh I am out of 53 bucks….
That man messed it up for all the other honest ppl who come to my door for now on..I will ALWAYS say no….now!
Same deal in Baltimore, two guys going door to door claiming they need points to get into the millitary or some such drivel.
I found this page because they’re using the same phone number mentioned above:
219-809-5732
The guys were sketchy enough that we thought they were casing places for future break ins. Hoping it’s just bogus magazine sales.
Company name now is “Horizons II Inc.”, and they’re wearing high class ink jet printed ID badges.
I was visited by similar people just last night, however from the other end. Instead of being asked to buy some magazines, I was asked if I wanted to join them. I talked with the guy, about my age, and he was talking how they sell magazine subscriptions, and as well try to help people out too.
He said that they travel all over the country in groups, and are like a family. They showed me this sheet, had 3 layers. 2 of them were carbon copies. So One you give the the head guy, the middle you give to a head guy that sends it off and you get payed for every subscription. The top you keep and the bottom the person keeps as a recipt.
It sounds interesting, though seems like “too good to be true” though I know that many times too good to be true can be true. I am going to check it out, unless I have to pay to get in, which the guy said I don’t. It would be interesting to see the country, and get payed for doing something easy. And hang out with guys. Though if it is a scam thing, where it is I would be the scammer, I’m out.
I’m 23 by the way, unemployed, been trying to find work with failed attempts. So this seems like a good idea, as long as it isnt a scam thing. Seems pretty lagit. Though I haven’t given up on my doubts on it.
I also worked for a magazine company years ago. We were told that if we had enough sales aka “points”, we would get a trip to somewhere tropical. So that part seemed legit, but what got me was them keeping my money I had earned. When you are trained, the person you are with tends to be deceitful just to get an order out of a customer. I was told it was because you have to get an order or you don’t make money. Which that case was true to the bone. At first I was honest, then when I didn’t get my quota, I got a royal ass chewin from the car handler and had to sit on the floor of the van because I didn’t sell enough for a seat, then you get an ass chewin from the head boss, and whom ever was the leader of your group… What ever you sold you got half of, but out of your half, half would go onto the books for cancellation fees. So yeah, being stressed from the ass chewing, sleep deprived, and at times hungry because of walking the streets and knocking for at least ten hours a day…You tend to do things different to make money when your scared and have no real way out of this.
I asked a simple question, “Why is my half of the money responsible for the order and cancellation? Shouldn’t the amount the company takes take care of that?” I got an ass chewin for asking legit questions. When it comes to safety… HA HA, I almost got asualted by some asshole who pulled me into his apartment. The only reason he stopped was because his roommate came home. I told a friend who was in my group about it and she started crying saying. What had happened to her was worse than me. She said it was something we weren’t aloud to tell because it would scare people away from the group…
When it came to drugs… They’re were more drugs and booze drinking going on with the handlers than within the groups. There was one kid who was a salesman who did go out and sell “mags” but after I over heard a conversation he had with a car handler who drove around in a black BMW… They were discussing drug deals that the kid had made during the day.
A few days later I was pulled aside and told I was being let go. He sent me to my room to pack and his goofer/errand guy took me to a bus station and gave me enough cash to get a bus ticket and something to eat. The goofer told me I was let go because I was too smart for this type of work, and my intelligence would suit me better in other work…I was lucky that I was dropped off in Glendale Ca around 10 am.
Oddly, it has been years but I still remember the full names of major individuals in the magazine business and a few of the salesmen/women. The business is still around and the same person still runs it….
I did this type of job twice, once with mags and once with a cleaner. The cleaner crews were better than the mags. But I would not recommend these jobs to anyone!!!!! I found out a younger friend of mine started to work for one and got him out after I told him everything that had happened to me. And this was in the last two years.
All of you who actually gave them money, and then complain that it’s a scam…. well… you’re stupid, and definitely deserved having this happen to you. WHY WOULD YOU PAY $90 FOR A MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION? Let alone $30…. Quit being so damn stupid and these types of scams won’t be around any more.
You guys complain and can’t believe these scams are around, but you’re the ones that make it possible. It’s called preying on stupid people.
So this tweeker just showed up at my door….teeth were almost completely rotten and he looked like he hadnt slept in days. He had 1 paper folded up with the magazines listed on it and nothing else that I could see. He asked where I would go on vacation if I could go anywhere..then told me he was going to Rome and it was going to be a party and I was invited!! All I had to do was buy magazines….give me a break. Go to rehab - it appears the party has been over for quite some time kiddo.
Today we had this happen at my best friends boyfriends place. We were sitting, enjoying our day watching a movie and we get a knock at the door. He got up and looked out the window to see who it was. No one we knew.
So i sat on the couch and watched as he opened the door. This girl had to be between 18 to 23. Her story was that she was selling magazine’s trying to earn points towards college, Selling these magaines to help send kids to the another country or something like that. She was like, ” you want to know where i’d want to go to? your house to smoke bud.” HA.. not funny. Then she asked if she could get something to drink. He said, ummm.. hold on, let me look. So he kinda closes the door but not all the way and go looks in the kitchen. Still sitting on the couch right by the door, she kinda open the door and walks into the entry. im like WTF is she doing??? I kinda sympasize with her and told her that im currently going to college, i know how money’s short. blah blah blah. she show’s me her feet on how she’s been walking all day, blah blah blah. She see’s his guitar and comments that she plays too. Just weird random things she kept bring up. We didnt have anything for her to drink so we said goodbye and closed the door and locked it. About an hour later we hear her outside yelling and throwing stuff around all upset. Look out the winding and she’s just walking around aimlessly. hmmm.. must of been left behind by her crew.
So we called the sherrifs station and told them about what happened.
These people are freakin crazy man! ha
First off, my 19 year old nephew was ready to pack his bags and leave today with these people. His mother warned him it sounded to good to be true, and of course now we find out it is. Thank you josh for blogging on this scam, and thanks to all the other people’s stories on this subject. I am so happy that a friend decided to Google this company. Well now we know and he is definitely not going with these people. Why this keeps happening to this poor kid is beyond me. He just wants a job that’s all he was so excited about traveling now that’s shot down too.
I got stuck in one of these in the 80’s.You worked 6 days a week and traveled on the 7th.
Constant physical threats and abuse for not selling well enough, and if you did not sell enough, you ended up owing them money.
It is run like a cult and and talk of anything but the group was forbidden, they did not like it if you read either. Usualy got 3.50 a day for food, and this had to be spent in resturants, we were not allowed to go anywhere else.
You would ask for a drink a lot of times from customers as you could suppliment your food a bit that way. You were often on the verge of starving I ate silage and raw soybeans from farms. They tried to prevent me from going home for my sisters wedding. I was punched for not selling well enough, other people were humiliated in the group on a regular basis.
The guy that ran it had a mansion in Gettysburg PA we got to sleep in the barn on his ranch during our 3 days off during Christmas, but we had to do work on his farm.
The owner would lease station wagons for the crew (at least 20 of them) and would return them in a year or so when we had rolled the odometer all the way over so it looked like the car had only 35,000.
I was finally dumped by the crew in the winter in North Carolina The boss claimed I owed them money,and took some of the money that I had wired to me for the bus trip home.
The Owners name was Sib Brown and the crew boss’s name was Victor George.
hi im on a mag. crew and i love it i was siting on the porch at and found a ad in my paper so i called i got the job and i have been doing it for 7 years and i got paid the money i made this is the best job i have had
Like everyone else it was the cancun trip. I was confused as well in the beginning the guy calling it a ‘race’. He also left a ‘no bug’ paper to tape to my door so others know he’s already been there. Of course I didn’t do that and my boyfriend told me to call and stop payment so I did 5 minutes after he left. My question is everyone who has done a stop payment and faxed/mailed in the cancelation form was that the end of it? Or have any of you had any further problems? I’m thinking of closing my bank account and opening another but it’s such a hassle…….Any comments back would be great!. Thanks
hahaha, you think the scam was the inflated price??
Points, points, points… have you seen my points?
2 things. 1. I’m looking for information on a crew or company named ACE and a manager named Will. This is one of the bad crews that gives the good crews a bad name. So many people are so willing to assume the worst when it comes to mag crews and that is disturbing and sad. Living on the road is not for everyone, but for the right people it’s the best job in the world. I have been involved with the same family and company for the past 17 years. I started knocking doors and did so for 7 years. I love it. I grew up in dull boring Ohio and I really had a desire to see the country. Mag sales offered me what I was looking for. I have since been to 39 states and Mexico with this job. I have been to almost every major city and I would never have gotten to see and to do the things I’ve done had I not joined. I have met the coolest people, and have seen a lot of our great country’s national and state parks. It is always easy to point a finger when things don’t go right.
How many people are aware that when they go around yelling scam and it draws the occasional cop that cop might have an attitude and put the sales agent in jail? The police end up taking the agent’s padcase (which contains all of the orders and money) and that padcase goes into “evidence” never to be seen again. The result, people don’t get their magazines and then they yell “SCAM”. That is not our fault. Naturally those orders don’t get processed and checks never get cashed. Were they ripped off? No. Will they ever get their checks or cash or magazines? No. I bet for the majority of people if they called their local police stations their orders may be tucked away in the evidence rooms. Then we get the bad name of being con artists.
I’m not saying it’s entirely the cops fault sometimes agent’s will or do “pocket” the orders. If an order is turned in then the person who purchased their magazine will get their subscription. Yes, there are some BS stories that come a long with the selling of an order. Let’s face it, who woke up this morning and said to themselves “Wow, my subscription to Time just ran out. Where are those kids who sell sunscriptions”? Uh, my guess, very few. There’s BS in every branch of sales. If you buy a car they BS you about the features and warranties available for purchase. If you buy furniture there’s BS about the fabric protection that goes with it as well. All sales have some form of BS.
Yes, the subscriptions that you get from door to door sales are a little pricey and you could get them online or from the magazine insert much cheaper, but then you wouldn’t be helping that young person to earn a proper living. Keeping them off of the streets and out of trouble. Our subscriptions start at $50 an order, but they are a minimum of two years for that price. We don’t sell in 1 year increments. People either like the person knocking on their door and would like to help that person out by purchasing 1 or more subscriptions or they don’t.
The best thing is that the consumer has a choice. If you don’t like it don’t support it. Agent’s have a right to make an honest living just like everyone else. Not all companies practice bad policy. Most are completely legitimate. My best advice to you is to do some research on a company when they show up to the door. Call the company on the reciept. Did you actually talk to someone? You can reach our office staff anytime Mon-Fri 9am -5pm unless they’re at lunch. Go online, are there reports? Check the BBB. Every magazine company worth a lick will be registered with the NFSA or the National Field Selling Assoc.
There are things as the consumer you can do to protect yourself. Be informed and make good choices and you will have a great experience. Failure of reading the entire reciept and not doing your homework before purchasing a subscription is no one’s fault but the purchaser. I could pick up anyone’s padcase and sell mags but if you don’t check you could get screwed because I don’t have the authority to do that. If you check you will know. Keep an open mind the next time someone knocks on your door and tries to sell you a magazine, check out their company, and if it’s legitimate please, help that young person out. At least they’re trying to earn money instead of laying around their parent’s house, or being homeless. Sometimes home is not such a great place to be for these kids…Pay with a check they’re easier to track and impossible for agent’s to steal. These are the ways to enjoy your purchases through door to door sales. Thanks.
I was sitting at home on the phone with my friend. My mom was in the kitchen and my brother was on the couch…. I saw a young girl with a bunch of piercings and tattoos and I thought it might have been one of my sister’s friends…. She knocked on the door and said “Hi my name is Brittany” Well my brother heard her name and by the way she looked, thought it was one of our friends and let her in…….She started calling my mom “mom” and then said the same things about points… Pointed at the picture of my baby nephew and said “aww I have a 3 year old boy” She was very friendly but then asked what we did for work……… found out I didnt have a job and asked if she could make a quick phone call… Then all of a sudden I was hired to work with her???????????????
She told me to pack my bags that we were leaving then and I wouldnt be back for 6-8 months. She said they were staying 45 minutes away and we would be going to las vegas for christmas…. that I would make $700 a week……………. Well that sounded like a dream……… but um I have anxiety so I started worrying when she said I wouldnt be back 6-8 months. My mom went and got my dad who finally got her to leave without me………… But within 10 minutes of being here she had me hired and then I didnt know what to do or how to get out of it………… I feel like I was almost kidnapped. It was DSS and some people said it sounds like a cult of some kind maybe. Now that I am looking online, I see why they wont give you time to think about joining and why they want you to pack up right that second.
I am sooooo grateful that I am not gone. It was very scary. Just leave with a bunch of strangers that second????? Hmmmmmm
My brother also said it looks like her tattoos were drawn on by sharpie. Possibly. But she said everyone has tattoos and piercings, so I know I wouldnt fit in!!!! I cannot believe that almost happened.
What is the group called that always says they are trying to earn enough points to go on a trip? These guys always come to our campus. The first time they did it I was nice to them and heard them out (I was a transfer student and didn’t know anything about this) but I sure wasn’t buying anything. The following semester they tried it again. The way they word it makes you think that they are college students at our university and they want you to vote for them for something. The guys always seem to target girls, I have never seen them approach a guy and try to sell them anything. The one that I actually listened to his whole pitch tried using flattery and flirtation to get me to buy something. I feel really bad for the freshman girls that get swindled. Then lo and behold I am sitting in my apartment this summer (not on campus) and I get the same thing. It took me about 10 seconds to realize it was the same group. I would really like to know what this group is called so I can warn others about them.
and to Brooke above: Wow that would have seriously freaked me out. They make me feel uncomfortable just when they try to sell me stuff, I can’t imagine what it would be like to have them try to take you with them…
August 7,2008 my 84 year old mother was sold subscriptions to COUNTRY WEEKLY, 1 year/26 issues for $40.00 and OUTDOOR LIFE, 2 years/24 issues for $40.00. In addition there was a $15.00 processing fee for an order total of $95.00. The company repsenting this effort was PAA, POINTS ACROSS AMERICA, the team selling in the Ortonville Michigan area was 817, the sales rep was WILLIAM CAEMAR (surname only approx. as the printing was hard to decipher), her order number was 213768. The check however, was made out for $120.00 to PAA.
It was not until late fall when my mother moved into a assisted living facility that I noticed the check and questioned her about it….. to the best of her recollection it was for a nice young man who told her that if he sold all the magazine to would be able to go to Mexico…..
At that point I thought she had been scammed but did not not how or for what…. she couldn’t remember what the money was for. Ultimately I found the receipt but it still took a while to make the connection…. as of December 2008 all her mail is forwarded to me, OUTDOOR LIFE has been delivered as scheduled but not one subscription to COUNTRY WEEKLY has been received.
In the beginning of the year I tried to contact PAA but was never able to get through, nor did they respond to the messages I left with my phone number. I later contacted the publication, I explained the situation and asked to cancel the order for a refund…. well that went well, I believe the refund was to be about $19.00 which would be mailed.
What the hell does an 84 year old woman want with these type of magazines anyway?
Needless to say the refund although minimal never arrived COUNTRY LIFE is still coming and COUNTRY WEEKLY as already stated, never started in the first place.
Obviously, we’ve been scammed, not only by PAA but also the PUBLICATIONS themselves. PAA whom I finally Googled has a multitude of complains against it, even at the BBB site so why are they still in business? The same ‘please leave your name and number, blah blah blah…. and a brief message’ is still there today….
Scrams apparently are part of life and everyone’s hands are tried etc. etc. Where the hell is Consumer Protection? This company and I’m sure, hundreds of others are getting away with preying on the old and trusting…. Go back and look at how many years this has been going on, and they are still in business. Our justice, it seems is for those who can afford to grease the palms of the right officials. But of course that only happens in other corrupt countries….. Oh ya!
Luckily in my mother’s case this did not cause a financial hardship, but many are not so lucky and $120.00 may a well be $1,000. Disgusting!
I had 2 guys from a “Entrepreneur” Agnecy for young men getting a 2nd chance. Both told me they came from really bad neighborhood in Il and CA. One showed me a picture of his son. They both talked alot and fast and I looked through the papers the whole time while making conversation. They did have a BBB sheet and when I inquired about where their company name was he pointed to the part of the form that was “torn becuase I had to kill a bug”. They were overly nice and overly smiley. When I said that I was sorry I would not be able to help them today, but that I would pray for them, one of them got angry and huffed away — all the niceness GONE! I came in a googled ‘magazine scams’ and found this and many other pages like it — it pays - literally - to listen to your gut. I did mean what I said, I will pray for the both of them because they are obviously being taken advantage of. Thanks to all of you before me for sharing.
Just had a call from this group. Guy looked like the typical college kid for today. Baseball cap on sideways, baggy jeans, one tattoo. Earning points to get a $1,000 check for a worthwhile goal in his life. Couldn’t just give me a subscription price without having to note my address down on his form to prove to his boss he was working and not just “chasing chicks” (his words). Also had to write down the magazine I asked for a sample price on. Didn’t order even after he was going to give me the 10 month renewal price of $39. Emailed the company with my dislike of that end of the call. Also checked with my local police department if they can sell door to door without a permit. The lowest normal price he quoted was $63 for 2 years.
Just too flaky.
Yes people, the majority of these operations are a scam, I did this from age 20-23 and the company i worked for Palmetto Marketing, Inc. now Sunshine Subscriptions by law only had to turn in 70% of orders processed. In my experience though, I could easily say we prayed on the mid to lower class people as they were more eager to help our “contest”. We were dropped off in apartment complexes and trailor parks and smaller home neighborhoods. We were clean cut and energetic and very charming and funny. Most people did not fall for our schpiel as I would knock around 60-70 doors a day to sell 10-15 subscriptions per day and I was the tops in the entire company. We took cash or check only and cash was certainly encouraged by the bosses.
Crew life was, in hindsight, a sweatshop on the streets. But the majority of us that stuck around like I did were brainwashed by the management as they were certainly the best salespeople I have seen even to this day. We were 6 days on in a town and traveling the 7th. There really wasn’t a day off because when we reached our destination we had to do laundry, shop for essentials, and were given a very minimal amount to live on. If you were good like me you would get more “draw” but even that sucked in hindsight. The people really getting scammed were us, the youth that was SPIT out by society and taken in with open arms by the slave drivers of the mag crews. Alas, though, looking back, there was a certain type of freedom, away from your friends and family traveling around, being success driven to be the best, drinking whenever you wanted, smoking pot all day if you wanted, sex with your co-workers nightly, sex on territory was also common.
Since I have left, over 10 years ago, I have researched some unbelievable crimes committed by some of these youth, rape, murder, rape and murder, thievery, molestation, etc. Like I said the ones that stuck around weren’t for the faint of heart. We grew up abused, around drugs and alcohol, and poor. We were praised by the bosses for success and almost bludgeoned if you sucked. The praise and recognition is what kept us around as if you were a high writer as they said, you had the most money and the most women. It was different in the real world, we never got that attention. If you were scammed by one of these youth, they do not know they are scamming you, honestly. They believe that every subscription sold goes to the customer. The people that must be shut down are the owners of these operations that do quite well for themselves because out of the hundreds of subscriptions sold by their crews they reap the benefits and they control who get their subscriptions and who does not. Sunshine Subscriptions is out odf Coral Springs, FL and the owner is Vincent Pitts. Go after that guy not the kids.
Thank you,
Andy
My roommate and I were almost suckered by these people yesterday. There were two trashy looking guys, one that “was in a contest” and another that “was learning from him”. Just by the way they looked we knew we weren’t going to be ordering anything from them. The guy said he was in a contest to go to Rome. Asked if I had ever been to Rome and then said he was in seventh place and need some more points to win his trip. He handed me a worn-out brochure with some magazines. He said if we payed cash he would get more points and that if we donated a magazine to a children’s hospital he would get even more points. He definitely had his pitch memorized - to the point that it almost sounded like a rap! haha Well my roommate told them her boyfriend might buy a magazine from them today so they would leave right then, but they said they couldn’t come back and they haven’t. They didn’t do a very good job scamming - first impressions killed them.
Just wanted to update this blog about the scam. I live in Pittsburgh PA and a girl just game to my door and then came inside and asked for water while going over her bogus sales pitch. I called my friend to come over and he quized her too. Everything she said was wrong so we called the leasing office and they kicked her out after she went to a few other apartments. Then she came back in the complex so we called the police and they are now talking to them outside and they caught a few of the other kids. This is actually scary because they could be staking out apartments and its also scary if just my girlfriend was home. Its not safe at all. Please look out for these people and call the police immediately.
my son is missing and we suspect he is with one of these crews. We are gathering information & the police did issue sitations that day to 3 crew members. My son always calls home and we haven’t heard from him. The police said since he is 21 he left on his own free will the only thing we can do is file him as a missing person. He left without any id ,one bag of clothes & a set of shoes. We are scared to death & I can not believe this has happened. He was seen leaving in a black or dark suburban or van. Telling people at a corner convienient store he was getting this job & going to travel the country. He said he was staying at a hotel by our house. We went there that night and they didn’t have any groups & haven’t seen our son. Please if anyone has these people coming to their door ask the person if they need help & call the police. I just had one come to my father’s house and I told them I didn’t have time that I was helping my sick father……dumb me! Does anyone know what we can do. Something is wrong or he would have called by now.
I had a girl come to my door a few days ago, super enthusiastic and cracking all sorts of cheesy jokes. She said she was trying to get points to go to the Caribbean, and she wanted to win money to start a children’s charity or something. She was really chatty and smooth, asking me what I did for hobbies, what my cat’s name was, how long I’d been married, if I were in the contest where would I like to travel, etc. I was wary and refused to buy a magazine, but relented into giving her my name and address so she could “prove” she’d spoken to me or whatever. She asked to use my bathroom - I was suspicious and only let her use the spare bathroom, since there’s nothing of value in it. Judging from the rest of these comments, the poor girl probably did need it after being forced to work all day.
I had a scammer come to my door. I purchased against my better judgment. I looked into the matter further after the salesman left and found this blog. I canceled the check soon after despite the receipt saying I would be charged if I did. They have not taken any money from my account. Therefore, I assume the warning of charging my account was just to prevent me from canceling the check before they could cash it. The salesman was Kevin Trumblay from Florida, or something like that.
I had a young lady come to my door a few days ago. I was very polite and chatted with her outside my door, and she didn’t even show me her magazine “stock” and after I told her I was broke (which I am), she left. The prize was a trip to Italy, and when she said she would take me with her I almost brought her into the house and made her a cup of tea. I wanted to call her parents. She was the most miserable young woman I have ever seen, and she looked like she hadn’t slept in days.