800-906-4901

A Woman named Elizabeth called and offered $300 free gas gift cards with 3 years of Playboy + 2 years of Maxium and 2 years of some other Magazine that I can't remember for $89.00. If I paid for it then with a credit card I would get 10% off. She gave me her name which I can't remember and said that she was new and her supervisor would call me back to confirm and would I put in a good word for her? She also said that I would have to use the gift cards at the same brand of gasoline. The man that called me back said that I could pay for it with a check when billed or pay it in 3 installments of $29 something a month and would get my free stuff as soon as I had it paid in full. Well stupid me wanted the free gas for my Vacation next week so I gave out my credit card info. Then after I hung up I realized that he hadn't asked me for my preferred gas brand info. So STUPID me had to cancel that credit card and I may have to eat the $80.00 but it could have been worse I guess. The caller ID just read Out of Area. I got the number from my credit carrd Co.

I received similar offer with this number as their customer service.  It is Publisher's Service House.

This for a Forbes subscription of $108 for 3 yrs.  Free 2yrs for ESPN and Entrepreneur.  

Phone call received from MA and CA.  I took it as legitimate unless they have broken into Forbes membership list.

Was the offer legitimate?

I got the same phone call offering to extend my ESPN magazine subscription for 3 years for $92.  I was supposed to get the $300 in gas rebates.  I was sent the initial form to fill out for the gas rebate program, but since I returned that at the beginning of August...I GOT NOTHING!  No rebate forms, no magazine extension, NADA!  All the phone numbers to call have automated systems and they do not return your call. I say, HANG UP if you get someone calling and making an offer like this.  It is more of a headache to deal with it than any benefit you might get.

I had the same thing happen to me.  Back in May I received a call asking to extend my Charisma magazine and two others for 3yrs for $87.  With that I would receive $300 worth of free gas.  Not thinking I gave out my information.  Called the automated system and Elizabeth called back and she reassured me that I would be getting my magazines.  The last time I talked with her (3 times) she said it would take about 12 weeks for them to arrive.  I SO wanted to believe I didn't get ripped off.  I even asked her about this being a scam, and she said, "oh no, you'll get your magazines".  Yeah, like she was going to actually tell me she was ripping me off.  Well, just for the heck of it I called again today just to see if she would call back.  In the meantime I googled and found this page.

Is there anything that can be done to put a stop to this and what can be done to put a stop to them?

Is there a way to find out who own the 800 number?

I had a call from a company as well offering magazines and gas cards, I paid planning on renewing my magazine and then never recieved anything.....had to dispute the charge through my bank.  A year later a call came from a company showing up on my ID as Phoenix ADLABS 1-212-371-6682, I answered and they wanted to know if I have been getting my magazine, I told them I did not want to renew anything over the phone and they said they were just verifying my current address and I would not be charged anything, next thing I know I have another charge on my account from the same "Magazine" debit, I called my bank and they will dispute again but had me call the company so I tried the 800-906-4901 number from my online bank account and got a voice message system but never got a person and I tired the 212 number from the call earlier in the day and got times for a Hindu movie with the word "Dirty" in the title.  I cancelled my card today, I should have learned this the first time...wish I could prosecute this company.

I had a call from GOLD READERS CLUB as well offering a 2 year extension on my one of my magazine subscription plus I would get 2 other magazines for one year and a $300.00 gas card.  I spoke with 3 different people and they all convinced me this was for REAL.  I called again after 10 days and another women indicated she would resend letter - never recd.  Called back and when they ask your name I kept providing my name and they would NOT answer the call SO I called and indicated another name and they picked up immediately.  When I tried to act like I was calling on behalf of someone else for me, they indicated that I would need to call SO, I at that point indicated that I was the actual customer and asked to speak to a manager...  they hung up on me.  I notified my Credit card company and disputed the charge, put a block on my account so they can not charge anything on my account.  They immediately credited  my account and will handle the dispute.  If GOLD READERS CLUB decides to give me what I THOUGHT I was paying for, the charge can go through otherwise, the credit card company, will close the case.  If you think it is too good to be true...  than it is.  We are all so strapped these days, you look for deals and sometimes they can bite you in the rear.  We must be careful and NOT give our money away.

My wife received a call about extending a subscription and she declined,  A couple of days later my
checking account was drafted $120.00 and a check using my numbers and my wifes name was on
the draft.  My wife is not on my account, so I don't understand how they can do this.

I got a call from these people in July.  They wanted to send me 3 subscriptions and coupons from a local grocery store (of my choosing) for $197.  They sent confirmation through the mail but I have never received anything.  They don't answer their phone or have an active website.  I have written to cancel but to no avail.  I have cancelled the credit card that was used.  Never again will I do this kind of business over the phone.

I am adding to my call.  the call was from New Subscriptions Center ,538 21st Street, Houston, TX.  the Website is service@newsubswcriptioncenter.com  Take care, Happy New Year!!

Here is their new website: http://www.goldreadersclub.com/
Their number is 888-679-2205.

I have yet to receive any subscriptions, however, how they explained it to me is that they typically get the subscriptions sent to them, and then they turn around and send it to you from their warehouses.

Im still skeptical, but, hopeful.

Let me know if you get your magazines.  I fell for their sweet talk and bought Charisma for 36 months and got 2 free magazines plus $500 worth of grocery coupons.  Never got anything.  I have called them several times the month of January to no avail.  No one returns my calls.  I have turned them in to our local TV station that looks into scams to see what they can do for me.  I will try your information to see if I get any where with them.  I have not been charged any thing else on my credit card.  From the totals people where charged by this LLC it looks like I got off the cheapest...

My 79 year old father JUST got a call like this claiming to be from Playboy and offering the $300 free gas card..I quickly came online and checked this out before they called back, I answered the phone and spoke w/some girl who was very rude to me..she called 2 times...yes..2 freaking times. She said she needed to speak to my dad yet she wouldn't shut up when I put him near the phone (she was on speaker) and I told her if she  or anyone else calls this number I'm calling the police..she continued to argue with me...not a good way to do buisness claiming to be from Playboy. I doube Hugh would approve of this crap. People please remember.....if it sounds too good to be true...IT IS!!!  Be wise on this, never has Playboy called my dad to renew and he's been getting the magazine for over 30 yrs.
It's a good thing I live w/my dad or he would of been screwed...he had a stroke 2 yrs ago and forgets things and is easily taken advantage of.
THIS FREE GAS CARD IS A SCAM!!!

We just received the similar offers, and my husband was going to go for it before I dug up this website.  He stopped the second gal and said he would call her back.  She had given him a customer service number that went to voice mail.  
Then, wah-la!  she called us back.  I answered and asked if she could take down a website address, and gave her this one.  Told her it would explain why we wouldn't be doing business with her.  She insisted the Gold Reader Club was ligit... I again referred her to this website, and told her if the company was really ligit, she probably had access to put us on the "do not call" list.   ---- I also kindly suggested she personally look up the site, so she could know why others have problems with her business.
Stay awake consumers.... and thanks to keeping this site up.

These people are still out there.  Here's my experience with the same people:

A company called (caller id = Kansas) asking if I would like to renew my subscription to my favorite
magazine. They had the name of this magazine, so I indulged and listened.  They had an offer for a 3 year renew for $80.68 and provided me the opportunity of getting 2 additional subscriptions of my choice for two years along with a $1,000 restaurant coupon book.  Seemed good until the service person made a claim that she was new and needed her manager to call back for payment options and would take my cc number then.  We got off the phone and a new number called (caller id = California), which was not from where the original called occurred. I decided to not answer and continue the transaction.

The California number continued to call and about the 4th time calling back I answered.  They stated  they were following up on the previous payment call and mentioned the new employee and didn't know if she had done something to offend.  I mentioned I thought their business model was a bit spammy - meaning that someone needed to call me back for cc payment information.  She indicated that she could take the number now to which I declined.  She then mentioned that I could be invoiced, which I decided to try.  

I received the information a few days later and noticed the subscription information was printed on a inkjet printer.  This spooked me since if they were a published as they proclaimed it would seem that they would have a better quality printer like a laser printer....  This lead me to doing some online
research where I found others like yourselves that had been taken advantage of.  

Here's there information from the paperwork they sent:

Payment: $80.68
Payment Address:

Gold Reader Club
Dept 25730
PO Box 515381
Los Angles CA 90051-6681

Needless to say I never sent the payment in and want to smear the Internet with this information so that this won't happen to anyone else again.

One option is to contact the magazine in question and alert them to what is either totally fraudulent or at least highly unethical conduct on the part of these subscription marketing companies.    They may already know there is a problem or as least you could alert them of trouble.   I suspect many major magazines who find their  good names being used by scammers to cheat subscribers will not sit idly by and watch their reputations and businesses be ruined by criminals.    They can bring a lot more heat on the scammers than an individual victim.

I was contacted by this agency, offering to renew my Discover magazine for 4 years for a one time charge of $78. There was a free bonus gasoline savings included, about which I was somewhat skeptical. However, realizing that the magazine cost was lower than I had been offered elsewhere, I accepted the offer. Both representatives I had spoken with were polite and highly professional. Surprisingly enough, I did receive the free gas promotion, about a week later. It comes in $25 increments instead of $300 at once, which wasn't explained to me initially, but overall I was fairly pleased with the company. Maybe I was lucky, or maybe every company has some disgruntled customers.

I had a call from Gold Readers Club to renew my Star magazine. The offer was for an extension of 2 years, which would include 2 years of W magazine and 1 year of Natural health for free. They also offered me a gas savings program certificate. The sales representative was the person I spoke with first and following that a manager. The manager explained how the gas program worked in its entirety. 1st I would have to send in a release form that came with my order confirmation and send it in. 2nd I would then receive a form from SMART MART (the company actually responsible for gas program) They informed me that the form would have a 4 digit pin# and that I had to register the pin # online or by mail with the Smart Mart company. Anyway, they told me for every $100 I spend in gas I would get back $25 until I been given $300, the $25 would be given on pre-paid visa gift cards. I have been doing the program now for 3 months, so far so good! Good rebate program. I began receiving my magazines 10 weeks after initial order and all is well there too. The number that called me was 888-679-2205. I'm happy with my service so far!

I gave this come-on a lot of thought and finally decided to do it. When I received the materials that were to be returned in order to get the paperwork on the gas refund I noticed at the top it listed four steps. However, at the bottom in small print it mentioned several other things that were required that someone just paying attention to what was at the top would not have seen. I complied with all the requirements. Time passed and I received nothing. I had charged this on American Express so I contacted AmEx and told them I thought it was a scam. They said they would investigate.

After a few weeks I heard back from AmEx that they had asked Golden Readers for information but had received nothing in reply. AmEx refunded my money.