After calling Mailbox Magazines and speaking to Chastity, (conferencing my mother onto the call to get her approval for MM to discuss her account). I felt it was a wast of time to deal with her.
I then used Google to search for Mailbox Magazines and discovered ripoffreport.com and after reading the posts, I decided I would file a complaint with AG's office, as all of the stories from MM customers were about the same experience.
This is a copy of a complaint:
I am registering this complaint on behalf of my mother, who is 72 years old, on a fixed income and her decision making process is not what it once was. Since the passing of my father (2 years ago), I have been handling all of her financial matters.
When I noticed the charge on her Discover Card, I called the merchant and was informed that the order was for a five year subscription to magazines: 15 payments of $59.80 (or $897.00 total) was told that the order was non-cancelable.
I then called Discover Card and disputed the charge and informed them of the various reports of the same I discovered at a website:ripoffreport.com (search: mailbox magazines).
After a searching the Division of Corporations, I did not find a Florida corporation for Mailbox Magazines, however I did locate an active Florida corporation for Active Periodicals, Inc.
Active Periodicals, Inc.was referenced in on of the posts on ripoffreport.com.(activeperiodicals.net/index.aspx).
If you read a few of the stories regarding the costumer experiences on ripoffreport.com, they are all very similar.
Since I was not on the phone with my mother when the order was placed and confirmed (as they represent), I can not say that she did not agree to what they were representing. However, taking in consideration that I did call to cancel the order within 8 business days, my request should have been granted.
If it was, I would not have researched the company and found so many people who have had the same deceptive experiences as I.
I believe these phone numbers may help and link Mailbox Magazines and Active Periodicals (from a help wanted ad; jobing.com):
# Deerfield location call 954-570-1159
# Tamarac location call 954-724-8411
# Pompano Beach location call 954-975-2663
I will update this post as I pursue a positive result.
Gary
Boca Raton, Florida
U.S.A.