National Magazine Exchange - N.M.E. Scam Ripoff mailer scam through Family Circle Clearwater Florida

I purchased a magazine sub from this company and it was fine. I was not hassled and in fact the dude on the phone was really cool with me and this was back in 2010. I got a great deal on a couple of mag subscriptions and I am still receiving them. Didn't win the sweepstakes but the mag's are a lot less in cost than if I had bought them off the newsstand rack.  

I received an "Official Prize Distribution Statement" from NME and immediately checked with the BBB and Ripoff Report.
This company does not have a D- rating with the  BBB because they give good service and are reputable! 

Before doing business with any company, check them out through several sources.  There are a lot of ripoffs out there!

I am a current employee. The process, although initially semi-deceptive is not illegal or a scam on any level. I would like to see proof of this fine, as I have never heard of it or what it was for, recently the Florida DA was INVITED to visit to show our operation, this is a legitimate business, it employs a lot of hardworking, passionate individuals, and keeps the magazine and mail business going in these hard economic times. The sweepstakes is real, and it is stated on the mail and during the registration conversation that NO purchase or payment is required to enter or win. The offer is therefore unrelated to the sweepstakes and is simply a marketing tool just like any other. 

Anyone can hang up once their name is recorded, and still win the sweepstakes. It is not a scam because people receive the products that are ordered, the magazines, and the worth of the FREE gifts is irrelevant. You have to say YES in order to receive a bill. We have a very meticulous methodical quality department, and we are VERY legally on the up and up. A fraud is defined as "Wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain." there is no deception, all information is given, therefore there is no scam here, since a scam is defined as a fraud.

NME has been around since 1984, if it was truly a scam and many people were hurt by it as many of you have stated, then it would have been shut down far before 1989 at the latest. The only ones who seem to be so hurt are the ex-employees, all of the customers on this site for the most part seem fairly satisfied with the service, I don't see the harm here. Everyone gets what they want lots of people have jobs, and 1 person every 2 years wins 1.1 million dollars or more in the case of the 2010 drawing. No one is ever forced to get magazines, they all said yes of their own free will, we don't have the power to take that away, no one does.

Either you are in company management or you are an idiot consumer.  It's a laugh if, as you imply, you gave your bank account number to strangers - HOW DUMB IS THAT!  Read the many postings about how they have taken money from people's accounts.

Not everyone has the many many hours to spend changing things and doing paperwork like you.  And you have not heard the last of them.  They will hound you to renew those subscriptions.  They will call and call - because you are a customer they can call.

And those watches cost about $1.28 from Asia and the pda is also a $1 JOKE - so BFDelite.  They only send those to get your SIGNATURE on paperwork for legal reasons - you didn't mention to the all the folks reading this that you had to do paperwork and sign it to get that KRAP.

The complaints against this company are REAL.  The huge fines are real.  And there are states where they can not do business.  If it's as good as you say you are the unusual exception.  Admit that you have spent lots of TIME doing paperwork.

You are right about one thing - they do get paid by the magazines to literally give the subscriptions away - that way the magazines can charge their advertisers higher rates.

I also recieved the letter about the sweepstakes and was offered magazines subscriptions at 3 payments of 22.95 because i opted for only a one year subscription for ten magazines they filled in 10 random magazines and I changed all of them as soon as I recieved my paperwork from them. I was offered the website info while still on the phone but i decided to wait. I recieved 2 watches and a pda from them already. I did order expensive magazines like playboy and maxium among several fashion, fitness and parenting magazines i made sure that every subscriotion i chose was for 12 or more magazines a year the per week rate they give is not per magazine. I have called the actual magazine companies ie maxum etc. and they have confirmed that i do in fact have a subscription for a year with them also they suggested I try a few other savings programs for a month free trial and i did i was not interested in any of them but because of the promotions they offer i recieved 2 $50 checks and 1 $40 visa gift card and have already cancelled these and they actually gave me 2 months instead of one so i basically made $70 dollars and get to read a total of 120 magazines that I chose and that interest me. It seems like most of the people filing complaints are really just assuming from their sales pitch that its a scam. they probably get paid by the magazine companies to offer this so that after you have the magazines for a while you'll want to keep recieving them. If they do try anything funny like charging me more I did keep my order form from them and my bank won't hold me liable for either the fradulent charges or any overdraft charges that may occur from them. I don't see anything wrong with this company myself

Maxine this place was fined $550,000 by the FTC for doing BAD things.  There are thousands of postings on this site by people who do not share your opinion.  I worked there.  The year I was there the employee turnover was over 400%.  They had less than 1000 employees and issued thousands of W2's - connect the dots lady!!!

Folks this place does not like negative publicity.  If they will not refund your money when you want it then change your credit card numbers and charge them back.  If you threaton to complain to the attorney general, FTC, BBB, etc. etc. they should leave you alone - including their collecton agency.  Tell the collection agency that you cancelled or did not order the magazines.

I spoke with a representative from this company and do not believe their program is a scam. I was able to register my mother without having to order anything. I told them she wanted no magazines and they took care of that and for myself I ordered a year subscription on five (5) magazines for a total of $67.08. Those of you who thought this was a scam only think so because you wanted the free gifts which are only free with a subscription. I asked the gentleman I spoke with numerous times to make sure he understood my mother wouldn't be charged anything and he did. I also asked him numerous times about my total cost and he very gladly explained to me that I would be charged the one time payment of $67.08 for the one year that I agreed to AND that I would not be charged once the subscription ran out unless I chose to renew my subscription over the phone. He explained to me that it does not renew automatically. I am very pleased with the outcome of that transaction and so is my mother.

Now that I've had a fair trial run as an actual employee of NME, I can bring to you some of the facts anyone looking at NME as a potential employment, better consider it strictly a temporary position and don't expect any longevity or job security with NME because of the rate that the company goes through its people on a daily basis.

On a daily basis NME recruits dozens of prospective employees and trainees, as several training classes are held every weekday and they accommodate several training classes simultaneously. That in itsself is an alarmaing rate of new recruits constantly coming in the door every day for training, but that's the volume of potential hirees and trainees that get pumped through there on a daily basis. Many don't make it out of their second week of training and I have seen in my first three weeks of employment and training there, so many people get booted out of there. I was one of the fortunate ones who did make it to the sales floor, bringing in an average of 7 or 8 sales a day during my regular shift, but that didn't matter to the company at all.

If you're thinking the reason why I was dismissed is perhaps because of a felony charge, you're wrong, because I carry no felony charges or adjudications. Clean record.

Aside of that, whilst during my employ there, I stayed scripted, follwe all the rules, got lots of positive feedback from my trainers and team leaders, everything looked rosy until someone from the downstairs office decided to pull the plug on my employment for no legitemate reason. You see, in Florida, an employer can terminate you for whatever reason or for no reason at all, and it's legal for them to do so.

A word to the wise to anyone who might consider signing up for employment with NME, just know that it's going to be only temporary, just ride the tide and while you're at it still keep looking for work because bottom line, NME isn't going to keep you for very long, so as they can continue to keep the new recruits flowing into the company and the rest of the company's employees flowing through the system and eventually out the door. It's the dreaded revolving door system that offers a false sense of job security and that kind of business hurts our economy and abuses the people who choose to work there in their quest to work for an honest living.

I wonder if perhaps the reason they keep the volume of new recruits and employee inventory flowing thru is because of some clause that dictates if they keep an employee beyond X-number of days or weeks the company has to file some kind of document or submit to some sort of fee? There has to be an underlying answer to why NME chooses to go through so many job-seeking people and just use 'em up and discard us as if we were paper towels.

Four rebuttlals! sounds like desperation.
Next SDP/NME will demand infinite rebuttals if the caller doesn't hang up.

Wouldn't it be interesting if SSA recruits visited this site during training or transition?

A-C here is an update for you from Special Dataland (NME to those of you who were not insiders). They have instituted a new requirement for SSA's to give a minimum of FOUR rebuttals instead of the previous three. They even had the stones to suggest to anyone to whom that edict made uncomfortable (in other words anyone with a sense of decency), to get a job at Wendy's! Actually I think Wendy's starts at $8.00 per hour and their guarantee is down to $7.75 so that isn't a bad alternative and it's honest labor. Then, to add insult to injury, immediately afterward they wrote up our mutual friend who is being constantly profiled and monitored (because she is organizing the union there) for, get this, SEMI-badgering. LOL. They require everyone first to jam the offer and then have the stones to write someone up for doing it!! Tell me that isn't retaliation for union activity. HA!

So to you people out there, if you are still fools enough to call these jabroni's because you still believe you can get something for nothing, don't blame the employees for "badgering" you, after all where else can a person work, follow the rules, and still get punished for it?

By the way a personal thanks, Eileen and I found that $50.00 we received very handy. But, Kathy Margaritondo, I STILL don't understand why our apps were rejected in such a summary manner, before we were escorted out of the building. Robert Moravek would have looked at them for a minute or so before putting them in the shredder.

Oh, to answer your open ended question on WHY I am an ex-employee, it was because I was being profield by QA. In other words my calls were being constantly monitored to set me up for termination because I was unwilling to be a victim of company abuse and harassment. They did not like the way I fought back. I signed a document revoking their right to monitor my calls because of that abuse. Robert Moravek himself "seperated" me. Any other questions?

Yep, "K" I was a long-term employee, but not even slightly embittered. Bringing down corruption has become not only my avocation, but now my profession. I am enjoying myself. And my so called opinions (backed up by VOLUMES of documentary evidence) were taken VERY seriously by numerous parties, many of whom have given your honest employers much grief. Ever wonder what happened to One Switch and the 30 Million per year revenue the company enjoyed from that? Not just me Spanky. So go back into your workstation tell your supervisor what a good little company person you are while kissing their rear end, take your pitiful paycheck, thank them for schedule adherence and profiling and quit annoying the grownups. If you think that being a boot licker will save your pitiful excuse of a job in a boiler room, go find some of their other rejected loyalists who got thrown under the bus after they did Bill Hood's bidding. Incidentally whatever happened to Robert Gorman?

As to me, I will continue to spread my opinions, I don't care one d**n bit who likes it or doesn't, Right Bill? Right, Robert Moravek? Right Vicki Stidel? JC?? Want to play for the bad guys? Your choice, your consequences. And "K" if you think you have the balls or the brains to call me to task, have at least the guts to use your first name. Mine is Chuck DeNova.

Want to be useful? Persuade your masters to clean up their act. The magazine deal was ALWAYS reasonable, their methods however could use "serious review". Be part of the solution, not the problem.

By the way, as you are OBVIOUSLY a part of the "inner circle", secret handshake and all...WHO WON THE SWEEPSTAKES????

To be an EX employee of NME is to be in the majority. I wish more ex employees would speak out about NME. I have not read everything Chuck has printed in this medium but what I have read is pretty FACTUAL!

If NME is a joy to work for how can it be explained that they have over 400% (yes thats four hunderd percent) employee turnover EVERY YEAR? It is well know to local Floridians that the average employee stays less than 60 days. Does that sound like a "joy to work for"?

I have worked for this company in both the role of the opener.....enter into the sweepstakes, pitch the offer, pass to the superviser to close,.....and as a supervisor/closer....firm up the offer, sweeten the deal, get billing info, finalise transaction.

I can say that chuck is a long-time embittered ex-employee that has not worked for the company in years and might be better off keeping his opinions to himself when they are just that...opinions.

I am a highly honourable person and would never scam someone and never did. Yes I was a persistent salesperson like the best are but I never forced anything out of anyone or closed a deal that wasn't solid. I am sure that there are some employees (as in every business) who try to take shortcuts to make their numbers look better and unfortunately those few make the other 500+ honourable employees look bad.

True that you can't change your magazine for ANY magazine in the world because if that publishing company hasn't agreed to do business with NME then we can't sell something we dont have. However, I used the subscriptions every year as an employee and got fantastic discounts on magazines for friends and family that they liked and wanted. Many of them very high priced magazines normally.

This company is only a good deal if you like to read magazines but since most of middle america has left aside their reading of books in favour of the magazine this company continues to do a steady business.

If you didn't order them, don't pay and send the magazines back if they come marked "return to sender" (that costs you nothing to do) This way you aren't liable for the bill.

However, if you do love magazines this company is a joy to work for if you are an honest and upright person... makes you kind of wonder why Chuck is an EX employee doesn't it? (I left cause I moved to England)

Glad to see you like the magazine service. It is a good deal if you get the right mags. No one, myself included ever said otherwise. Too bad they consider it necessary to use in my opinion, slightly shady come-ons and deception to advance the promotion. You may also thank your lucky stars that you never worked there, the way they treat their employees is less than honorable. In light of your praise and adulation maybe YOU know the answer Claire...who won the Strike it Rich Sweepstakes that closed on December 15, 2005? No one else seems to know.

I'm happy your one time experience with this company was positive, consider yourself one of the lucky few.

Acutally it wouldn't happen if someone called NME and tried to switch from Star and US News to People and Martha Living. If someone claims NME made the swithch then everyone who reads this should call in and switch also shouldn't they? That would trully be a good deal.

Actually, I have STAR magazine (normally would run almost 60.00 a year all by itself), U.S. news (also very high sub rate normally), Vogue, men's fitness and bon apetite.
I couldn't be happier with the service. I used to subscribe to these individually and was paying a lot more. I am really starting to doubt what I read about companies on this site. None of it seems to be true.

Frances,
Tell the truth - for $1.29 a week for only a one year suscription did you get 6 mags, and $40 in gas, and two cheap watches, and the cheap PDA? I bet not. If you buy 4 years they can afford to give you that stuff. But 4 years is $268 total (1.29 x 52 x 4 = 268) and they can give you 2 cheap watches from asia and what is really 4 gas rebates at $10 each per month and a nightmare to redeem (it is well known that less than 10% of these types of gas coupons are ever redeemed due to the paperwork - so thats really only $4 per sale - not much if the sale is $268).

By the way - did they offer you something popular like People magazine - I think not. If they let you switch the mags than everyone should call in and ask for People or something expensive like Martha Stewart Living. Give it a try - switch to People and Martha and report back to us all.

Hi, I just found this site and would like to say that I just have ordered magazines from this company and was very pleased with the results. I was offered 6 magazines for one year for the low price of $1.29 [or close to that price}each week and also a 20 dollar gift gas card plus 2 watches. The lady I spoke with was very,very nice, and she explained everything to my satisfaction. I told her I didnt want the mags for 3 years, or even 2 years but I would try them for 1 year and she took my order and explained every thing to me.

She was as sweet a person that you would want to talk to, and I could tell she was really interested in what I wanted as a customer. She was not pushy at all, because I hate pushiness and I would have known it if she was for I am a salesperson myself and I try to treat others as I would like to be treated. I got my mail from the ivoice today and I only have 2 more payments of 22 dollars and some odd cents each and they will be paid for a whole year.

Also, I like it because if I dont like the magazines that I ordered all I have to do is call them and they will exchange them for another one I might like. She said I could do this as many times as I want for no extra charge! I am also entered into the sweepstakes. I dont see how anyone could offer any fairer deal than this. I dont understand the ripoff reports but it would seem to me that any one can 'just say no' . Besides, I called them, they didnt call me. IF you buy these magazines at a newsstand you will pay considerably more for them as a whole. My opinion so far is-nope,not a rip off at all. Lets give credit where credit is due.