Consolidated Media Service Center CLAIMING TO SEND ME FREE WATCH AND MAGAZINES THEN BILLS MY CREDIT CARD ripoff Peoria Illinois

I'm very surprised by all of the legal documents amassed. During every call I received from CMS, the service representative made it very clear what I was purchasing, and verified the total amount several times. During the very first call, I was transferred to a supervisor who confirmed that everything had been verified by the initial representative. In addition, all of the customer service representatives I have dealt with have been polite, friendly and informative.

I am aware that I have purchased the magazines I requested and I will be receiving them for the next three and a half years (six months so far, and still a satisfied consumer). I am aware of my complimentary magazines. I am aware of how much has been charged to my credit card and that I have no more to pay ever since I paid off the entire four years of subscription already. My free watch came in the time they specified.

THERE WERE NO ADDITIONAL CHARGES other than the ones specified and verified by the representatives charged to my credit card. NONE.

Again I say, if consumers had a problem with CMS, they must have been impatient, not paying attention or must have dealt with particular representatives who may have been less than polite or discreet with consumer information.

...you should read this

For Release: April 11, 2002
FTC, DOJ Ask Federal Court to Halt Telemarketing Practices

Magazine Package Marketers Misrepresented Cost and Conditions of Subscriptions

The United States Department of Justice, at the request of the Federal Trade Commission, has asked a U.S. District Court judge to stop the allegedly illegal sales practices of magazine telemarketers Cross Media Marketing Corporation, Media Outsourcing, Inc. and three principals of the corporations.

The agencies charge that the telemarketers, which also operate under the name CONSOLIDATED MEDIA SERVICES or CMS, are violating federal laws by misrepresenting and failing to disclose adequately the costs and conditions of subscription agreements and buying club memberships.

Additionally, the FTC said they are failing to cancel subscriptions and pay refunds and are failing to monitor their independent representatives and discontinue dealing with those who violate federal law. Judge J. Owen Forrester, of the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, in Atlanta, has scheduled an April 30 hearing on the agencies' request for a temporary restraining order. At trial, the agencies will seek a permanent bar on the allegedly illegal activity, civil penalties and consumer redress.

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In documents filed with the court, DOJ and the FTC said they have "Massive and compelling evidence - including tapes of telemarketing calls . . . hundreds of written complaints, and sworn consumer statements . . ." that demonstrate that the telemarketers are engaged in precisely the same conduct that resulted in prior enforcement proceedings against Prochnow and Gougion. Both men are subject to an FTC order issued in 1996. According to DOJ and the FTC, the alleged illegal acts violate the 1996 FTC order. "The abusive and deceptive acts and practices of all defendants also violate the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the FTC Act," the documents say.

The agencies allege that the telemarketers call consumers offering free prizes and sweepstakes opportunities, and that they send mailings to consumers soliciting them to call the telemarketers. Near the end of the call, the telemarketers pitch the magazine subscription packages with allegedly misleading suggestions that the consumers will get some "free" magazines and get others at a small weekly cost. According to the documents filed in court, "Often consumers have not agreed to purchase anything, or agreed but attempt to cancel the order, yet are charged on their credit card. In addition, consumers often are billed for buying clubs after accepting what they are told is a free trial membership." DOJ and the FTC allege that neither the "free" memberships nor the "free" magazines arewere free. Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Cross Media state that its magazine subscription "bundles" cost a consumer an average of $600. Cross Media represents in SEC filings that it has a ten-day cancellation policy. The agencies allege that consumers who try to cancel magazines during verification calls or when they later discover the telemarketers misrepresented the offer are told they may not cancel.

Defendants also contact consumers who purportedly agreed to purchase a magazine subscription package for the purpose of verifying the purchase and offering a trial buying club membership. During these verification calls, the agencies allege, the defendants fail to disclose adequately that the consumer's credit card will be charged for a buying club membership if he or she did not cancel the membership within a thirty-day trial period, and that the consumer's credit card will be charged a renewal fee in following years unless the consumer cancelled. The agencies also allege that the defendants fail to disclose adequately that the consumer's credit card number will be turned over to a third party.

The 1996 FTC order against Prochnow, Gougion and their representatives:

requires that they reveal at the outset of all contacts with consumers that they are calling to sell something;
prohibits them from refusing or failing to cancel a contract when they have claimed it could be canceled;
requires oral and written disclosures of the total cost of each magazine and the entire package; and the purchaser's right to cancel within three days after receiving the sales agreement (or the actual number of days if defendants offer a cancellation period longer than three days); and
requires cancellation of any contract whenever any misrepresentation has been made.
The agencies allege the defendants' and their telemarketers' practices violate the 1996 FTC Order by: routinely telling consumers that the purpose of the telephone contact was to inform them of their entry into a "grand national sweepstakes" or "all cash sweepstakes;" during initial calls, either failing to disclose that consumers can cancel contracts or misrepresenting their cancellation policy; during verification and subsequent calls refusing to cancel, even when earlier the consumer was told that he or she could cancel or when earlier there had been a misrepresentation; failing to disclose, orally and in writing, the costs of the magazines; misrepresenting the costs, and refusing to cancel when misrepresentations have been made.

In addition, the agencies charges that all defendants engage in deceptive practices, in violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the FTC Act. Specifically:

They falsely claim that the consumer cannot cancel, to induce the consumer into making additional payments;
They fail to disclose adequately the terms of the buying club offer; and
They make unauthorized charges to consumers' credit cards and fail to disclose adequately that they will provide consumers' credit card numbers to third parties. This results in unauthorized charges for "free" trial memberships to affiliated buying clubs.
In addition to the temporary restraining order, the agencies have asked the court to order access to records that will allow it to preserve evidence and to determine the scope of the defendants' alleged wrongdoing, the identities of injured consumers, the total amount of consumer injury, and the location of the defendants' assets.

The Commission vote to refer the complaint to the Department of Justice was 5-0. It was filed at the FTC's request by the Department of Justice on April 9, 2002. The court has scheduled an April 30 hearing on the agencies' request for a temporary restraining order against the defendants.

My magazines arrived in the time specified (3-4 weeks for weeklies and 6-8 weeks for monthlies). I received my free watch. And I have always received excellent customer service from Consolidated Media Services.

Consolidated Media Services has NEVER given out my bank account number, nor have I ever received mysterious charges on the credit card that I used to pay for my subscriptions.

I am really surprised by the backlash that I am seeing for a company who serves me as an avid magazine reader so well in that I receive all the magazines I could want, and not have to pay newsstand prices for them, and have the choice to change my subscriptions as my tastes change.

My only conclusion is that people who were dissatisfied with the service must have been very impatient or must have dealt with less than courteous customer service representatives (on the phone and with their information).

To reiterate, I am a very happy and satisfied consumer of Consolidated Media Services.