Active Periodicals ripoff dishonest magazine scam and continual harassment Deerfield Beach Florida

I am a former employee of Marvin Kravitz, Active Periodicals. I worked for Marvin for over 18 years, moving up from telephone solicitor to branch manager. I will tell you that during my time with Marvin he was always very conscientious in regards to all sales people, verifiers and office staff adhering to the processes that were in place to ensure the buyer was supplied with all contracts and paperwork necessary to inform them fully of their magazine purchase and obligation.

It is quite possible that if Marvin is not deceased that he has removed himself from the day to day running of the business as he would be well up in years and it sounds that the person or persons that are in charge have taken it upon themselves to change company policy.

Just wanted to add my 2 cents worth in support of a man that taught me alot about human nature, integrity and friendship.

These jerks at "active periodicals" some guy named Kevin Shepard called me telling me i "won a 1000$ online shopping spree" and "5 free magazines" so while im talking to these guys i ran there name through a serch engine on my comp and your report came up... then they asked me for my credit card number and i told um off. thanx brother.

Well, by now you've seen the rebuttal Active Periodicals posted to my postings. Let me just wrap this up for all of you that are still fighting this battle and those who will in the future.

First, I will not waste the time and energy responding item by item to the rebuttal Active Periodicals posted except on a couple key points. I believe the record of my experience and the recorded experience of many others you see on this site and others says more than I can ever hope to capture on this company and how they operate. So, just a couple of points for clarification.

1. Other than the same threats, harassment, phone calls, etc. that are equally well documented in most all of the other postings here, I received ZERO consideration or satisfaction until I made my posting and took the actions described above. If there is credit do anyone for making success int his possible for me it is THE RIPOFF REPORT and the other people who stood up to fight back against these actions. GOOD ON YOU.

2. The Active Periodicals Rep who posted this is mis-informed if she beleived their request for the phone number to be removed was denied. First, they were calling my wife and I scores of times per day and one would reasonably assume they had the number in order to call it. Second, in my first call to them they stated they had my number and would remove it. It is true the numbers were "blocked" I have an unlisted number and blocked any calls from "unknown name unknown number". The reader can make his/her own conclusion on who is telling the truth on this point.

3. The Active Periodicals rep who posted this is correct in the fact that all monies were eventually refunded. What does not appear clear in that response is that the only reason the funds were refunded is because MasterCard did its own investigation. MastyerCard returned my money, to include an ADDITIONAL CHARGE Active Periodicals put on my account AFTER MasterCard denied them payment. At MasterCard's suggestion they cancelled my cards and issued a new number so Active Periodicals could not repeat the performance. I leave it to the reader to estimate the amount of hassle this caused my family and I.

4. I did receive a registered letter from Active Periodicals which we declined on legal advice. I suggest others do the same.

5. YES, Active periodicals left the subscriptions in place for 5 years. What the representative failed to explain is that I have repeatedly told them and the magazines I do not want them, free or otherwise and offered to pay for any I received. I do not want anything for nothing and especially don't want Active Periodicals to be able to insinuate they did anything to compensate me for my problems in this matter. In addition, I sent Active Periodicals the following letter (personal information redacted):

December 20, 2005

Dear Mr. Orr:

Thank you for your recent letter. I am glad you are expunging our names and all information from your database, placed us on your permanent Do Not Call List and will make no further attempts to contact my family. Although it will not adequately compensate us for the suffering and other losses we incurred related to canceling our credit card to obtain a new number, working with our credit card company, dealing with the incessant (in excess of 7 phone calls per day) by your employees, threats of adverse action regarding our credit, etc by your employees, and other actions, I appreciate your taking appropriates steps to make them stop.

I appreciate you looking into the serious activities of your employees and wish you the best in resolving them and the other issues facing your company as a result of their actions.

I must, however, again request that you terminate all subscriptions in my wife or my name immediately. We have notified all of the magazines of this request and, to our knowledge; all subscriptions were suspended while they contacted you. We do not have any desire to receive any materials or services we are not paying for. In addition, we've asked the magazines for the number of issues they have on record as sending us and the subscription price for each so we can pay you or them for the magazines we actually received while trying to resolve this issue. As I said, we have no desire to accept anything we do not pay for. If we receive that information from you or them we will provide re-imbursement just for those.

In the meantime, please take whatever steps on your part are necessary to terminate any subscriptions. It will save us the expense of sending the issues back to the publisher, and will save you the expense of continuing these subscriptions.

You may provide confirmation of Cancellation to FAX XXXX-XXXX if you desire to do so.

Sincerely,

I'm continuing to return the magazines and will do so until they stop.

In conclusion, I'm publishing a redacted version of the letter they sent me for any reader to see. You can all form your own opinions of this company and of their sincerity. I will thank Mr. Orr, however for writing to me and apparently stopping this.

Since he has been noce enough to funish his cell number, I suggest anyone with a problem use it and call him as often as you see fit.

GREG ORR: (954) 448-2823

Good luck to all and I hope my experience helps you resolve yours.

This is in response to Bob of Yorktown, Va. as per Greg Orr- A certified letter was sent to you and refused on delivery. Another was sent via regular mail with Mr. Orr's personal cell phone number and he never heard from you. It has always been the company's policy to remove anyone from our calling list that requests to be removed-However, when the company asked for the phone number to be removed our request was denied. In addition, all incoming phone calls to us were "blocked" on our caller ID therefore making it extremely difficult for us to remove the phone number from our calling list. Further more, all monies were reimbursed and Active Periodicals has even extended ourselves by continuing the subscriptions for 5 years at our expense!
Readers should be aware that Active Periodicals has made every good faith effort to resolve the issues mentioned but without the cooperation of the complaintant. It has been a frustrating experience. We pride ourselves on being customer oriented and fully compliant with all regulations of our industry. We have always been sympathetic to our customers issues and needs.

On some advice, I found a means to get the reputable magazines to help me to stop being harassed.

1. go on line and find the home page for the magazine.

2. Find the subscription department link. Normally they will ask your to input the exacvt address off the mailing lable for the magazine and you will see your subscription come up. When it stated, when it ends.

3. Send an e-mail to the subscription department telling them:

a. Your problem with htese companies.
b. That you want to stop your subscription because of this.
c. The hassles you received from these companies.
d. The fact you notified your credit card company.
e. Ask for how many magazines they shipped and the subscription value of each so that you can pay these companies for the issues you received.

4. Put the exact same information in a letter and mail it to them.

I did this and almost all the the magazines responded that even though the company who placed the order must cancel it, they were suspending the subscriptions and we woudl not be sent eny more or billed for any more. Only one said I had to take it up with the company. I dent them a response saying I did that and the company told me there was no way to cancel the subscription which it seems is not true. I also told them that if I received any of their magazines I woudl return them to sender. I then received the note saying they suspended my account just like the others.

The ball is not in the court of Active Periodicals or the magazine. If they tell me the number of magazines they sent and the value of each one I'll pay them just for that. At least this way these people cannot charge me any more and they can't keep sending me magazines to try to get me to pay for them later.

BE NICE TO THE MAGAZINE COMPANIES THEMSELVES. Remember, they are just as much a victim in this (it appears) as we are.

On another note, I discovered that the contact information on Mr. Orr and Ms Kravitz is confirmed. So you can start contacting them. Mr. Orr as the mail guy especially.

I still think it would be nice to confirm his phone number so we can all contact him day or night right after his people contact us.

As promised the following is the full corporate background check on INTERNATIONAL READER'S LEAGUE.

You can see clearly that Marvin Kravitz is ALSO listed as the primary and SOLE Officer (even though Margot Kravitz Claims he's deceased and they no longer own the Company).

Note that both these reports give everything to include the IRS TAX ID Number and the State of Florida Business Lisc number.

I'm still on the trail of the mysterious Mr. Orr..... anyhelp is appreciated.

Go get them folks!

More to follow when available.

********************* START REPORT ************************
Corporation Report

Company Information
Company Name INTERNATIONAL READERS LEAGUE
Business Street 450 SOTHWEST 12TH AVE
Business City DEERFIELD BEA
Business State FL
Business Zip 33442
Business Phone 9545707700


Business Information
State Of Origin FL
Charter Number L25540
Foreign/Domestic DOMESTIC
Partnership/Proprietorship OTHER
Federal Tax ID 650151901
Profit/Nonprofit PROFIT
Active/Inactive INACTIVE
Status 038
Corporation Type D30
Date Extracted 06/23/1995
Most Recent File Date 08/26/1994


Corporation Information
Incorporated In State FL
Incorporated Flag INCORPORATED
Date Incorporated 10/26/1989


Officer Info
Name MARVIN A KRAVITZ
Title DIRECTOR


Officer Info (rec no. 2)
Name MARVIN A KRAVITZ
Title DIRECTOR


Officer Info (rec no. 3)
Name MARVIN A KRAVITZ
Title DIRECTOR


Historical Info
Name
Abbreviated Legal Name INTERNATIONAL READERS LEAGUE OF DEERFIELD BEACH,


Address
Street 450 SW 12 AVE
City DEERFIELD BEACH
State FL
Zip 33442
Address Indicator MAILING ADDRESS


Officer 1
Name KRAVITZ MARVIN A
Title PRESIDENT
Street 5792 WATERFORD
City BOCA RATON
State FL
Zip 33496


Reg Agent
Name BRILL THEODORE F
Street 8211 W BROWARD BLVD STE 360
City PLANTATION
State FL
Zip 333242737


Business Info
State of Origin FL
Vending Number 504122
SOS Charter Number P98000063612
Origin DOMESTIC
Partnership/Proprietorship Flag OTHER
Federal Tax ID 650851463
Date of Original File 07/20/1998
Term Existence Flag NUMBER OF YEARS
Profit Code PROFIT
Status Description ACTIVE
File Type DOMESTIC PROFIT
Extract Date 05/28/2003


Corporation Info
Incorporated State FL
Incorporated Flag INCORPORATED


Name (rec no. 2)
Abbreviated Legal Name INTERNATIONAL READERS LEAGUE OF FORT LAUDERDALE,


Address (rec no. 2)
Street 450 SW 12 AVE.,
City DEERFIELD BEACH
State FL
Zip 33442
Address Indicator MAILING ADDRESS


Officer 1 (rec no. 2)
Name KRAVITZ, MARVIN A.
Title DIRECTOR
Street 5792 WATERFORD
City BOCA RATON
State FL


Reg Agent (rec no. 2)
Name MEE, GLENN R.
Street 517 SW 1ST AVE.,
City FT. LAUDERDALE
State FL
Zip 33301


Business Info (rec no. 2)
State of Origin FL
Vending Number 504122
SOS Charter Number L25540
Origin DOMESTIC
Partnership/Proprietorship Flag OTHER
Federal Tax ID 650151901
Date of Original File 10/26/1989
Term Existence Flag NUMBER OF YEARS
Profit Code PROFIT
Status Description INACTIVE
File Type DOMESTIC PROFIT
Extract Date 05/28/2003


Corporation Info (rec no. 2)
Incorporated State FL
Incorporated Flag INCORPORATED


Name (rec no. 3)
Abbreviated Legal Name INTERNATIONAL READERS LEAGUE OF TAMARAC, INC.


Address (rec no. 3)
Street 450 SW 12TH AVENUE
City DEERFIELD BEACH
State FL
Zip 33442
Address Indicator MAILING ADDRESS


Officer 1 (rec no. 3)
Name AMIDON NANCY J
Title PRESIDENT
Street 4931 NW 55TH STREET
City TAMARAC
State FL
Zip 33319


Reg Agent (rec no. 3)
Name BRILL THEODORE FESQ.
Street 8211 W. BROWARD BLVD., SUITE 360
City PLANTATION
State FL
Zip 33324


Business Info (rec no. 3)
State of Origin FL
Vending Number 504122
SOS Charter Number P01000048778
Origin DOMESTIC
Partnership/Proprietorship Flag OTHER
Federal Tax ID 651107554
Date of Original File 05/16/2001
Term Existence Flag NUMBER OF YEARS
Profit Code PROFIT
Status Description ACTIVE
File Type DOMESTIC PROFIT
Extract Date 05/28/2003


Corporation Info (rec no. 3)
Incorporated State FL
Incorporated Flag INCORPORATED

*************************** END OF REPORT *********************

I've continued to dig into these people. They also operate under the name "international Reader's League" P.O. Box 1188 Deerfield Beach Florida 33443. I baclktraced the number the call from that they try to have come up as "Unknown Name, Unknown Number" It is (954) 570-8945. This is where the people call from who claim to be from their "Legal Department" If you listen carefully you can here what sounds like a phone bank of telemarketers so my bet it they are going full out calling to hassle us all.

I'm beginning to get the 2-5 calls a night from these people many of the others in this Ripoff Report are experiencing.

I finally decided I'd had enough. I used some of my resources and started "pulling the string" on who these people rally are.

FIRST, here is the Official Corporate report on Active Periodicals showing their corporate registration, history, EVERYTHING you need to run them down and send in your complaints to the Federal Government and the State of Florida:

********************** START REPORT **************************

Corporation Report
Company Information
Company Name ACTIVE PERIODICALS, INC.
Business Street 450 SW 12TH AVENUE
Business City DEERFIELD BEACH
Business State FL
Business Zip 33442
Business Information
State Of Origin FL
Charter Number K83878
Foreign/Domestic DOMESTIC
Partnership/Proprietorship OTHER
Federal Tax ID 650115521
Profit/Nonprofit PROFIT
Active/Inactive INACTIVE
Status 031
Corporation Type D50
Date Extracted 01/31/2005
Original Filing Date 04/27/1989
Corporation Information
Incorporated In State FL
Incorporated Flag INCORPORATED

HISTORICAL INFO
Name
Abbreviated Legal Name ACTIVE PERIODICALS, INC.
Address
Street 450 SW 12TH AVE.
City DEERFIELD BEACH
State FL
Zip 33442
Address Indicator MAILING ADDRESS

Officer 1
Name KRAVITZ MARGOT
Title DIRECTOR
Street 450 SW 12TH AVE
City DEERFIELD BEACH
State FL
Zip 33442

Registered Agent
Name MEE GLENN
Street 517 SW FIRST AVE
City FT. LAUDERDALE
State FL
Zip 33301
Business Info
State of Origin FL
Vending Number 504122
SOS Charter Number P95000050381
Origin DOMESTIC
Partnership/Proprietorship Flag OTHER
Federal Tax ID 650602410
Date of Original File 06/28/1995
Term Existence Flag NUMBER OF YEARS
Profit Code PROFIT
Status Description ACTIVE
File Type DOMESTIC PROFIT
Extract Date 05/28/2003
Corporation Info
Incorporated State FL
Incorporated Flag INCORPORATED

Name (rec no. 2)
Abbreviated Legal Name ACTIVE PERIODICALS, INC.
Address (rec no. 2)
Street 450 SW 12TH AVENUE
City DEERFIELD BEACH
State FL
Zip 33442
Address Indicator MAILING ADDRESS

Officer 1 (rec no. 2)
Name KRAVITZ, MARVIN A.
Title DIRECTOR
Street 5792 WATERFORD
City BOCA RATON
State FL

Reg Agent (rec no. 2)
Name KRAVITZ, MARVIN A.
Street 450 SW 12TH AVENUE
City DEERFIELD BEACH
State FL
Zip 33442

Business Info (rec no. 2)
State of Origin FL
Vending Number 504122
SOS Charter Number K83878
Origin DOMESTIC
Partnership/Proprietorship Flag OTHER
Federal Tax ID 650115521
Date of Original File 04/27/1989
Term Existence Flag NUMBER OF YEARS
Profit Code PROFIT
Status Description INACTIVE
File Type DOMESTIC PROFIT
Extract Date 05/28/2003
Corporation Info (rec no. 2)
Incorporated State FL
Incorporated Flag INCORPORATED

*************************** END REPORT **********************


You'll see the registered owner is Marvin then Margot Kravits. I traced the numbers down and the one shown as (561) 241-1472 is the listed home number of Margot Kravitz. Her complete background check follows at the end of this note.

I CALLED HER LAST NIGHT at home and asked her to have her employees stop calling me.

WELL, her story is that Marvin Kravitcz (I assume her husband) is deceased and she sold the company to a Mr. Greg Orr. She would not give me anything but the office phone number. I have to find a middle name for Mr. Orr then I'll run down and post HIS full background information for your all. If I can locate his home number I'm going to call him at home and see how he would like it if every time one of his people called to threaten me I called him. Not to threaten mind you, just to call ant any time they call me day or night and politely ask him to have his people stop harassing me.

We are all much better than to stoop to their level, but I think MS Kravitz and especially Mr. Orr should now what their people are doing and how it feels to be continually called.

So here the Kravitz info. More news following it.

************************* START REPORT ***********************

MARGOT L KRAVITZ SSN: XX-XX-XXXX Age: 68 DOB: 01/15/1937

Phones Relatives
Aliases/A.K.A. Used by Subject:
KRAVITZ, MARGOT, L

Addresses Associated with the Subject:

Address
Phone Number
Possible Dates

450 SW 12TH AVE, POMPANO BEACH, FL 33069
01/01/1982-03/01/1984

8211 W BROWARD BLVD , STE 360, PLANTATION, FL 33324
01/01/1998-03/01/1999

5792 WATERFORD, BOCA RATON, FL 33496
(561) 241-1472
02/01/1984-03/01/2005

1505 NE 26TH ST, WILTON MANORS, FL 33305
02/01/1984-03/01/2005

450 SW 12TH AVE, DEERFIELD BEACH, FL 33442
(954) 570-7700
01/01/1982-03/01/2005

6144 BELLEZA LN, BOCA RATON, FL 33433
01/01/2000-03/01/2005

450 SW 12TH AV, DEERFIELD BEACH, FL 33442
02/01/1984-10/01/1994

Name/Address Phone Number Matching Level
Kravitz, Alan
5792 Waterford, Boca Raton FL 33496-2907
(561) 241-0002 2

Kravitz, Marvin
5792 Waterford, Boca Raton FL 33496-2907 (
561) 241-1472 2

Phone listings from National Telephone Directory Services
X#XX represents non-published phones
5792 WATERFORD,BOCA RATON, FL 33496
Name Phone Number Possible Dates

ALAN KRAVITZ (561) 241-0002 Feb 2002-Sep 2004

MARVIN KRAVITZ (561) 241-1472 Sep 2001-Sep 2004
1505 NE 26TH ST,WILTON MANORS, FL 33305

Name Phone Number Possible Dates

Not on file (954) 566-6XXX Feb 2002-May 2002
Not on file (954) 630-9404 Dec 2002-Mar 2003

450 SW 12TH AVE,DEERFIELD BEACH, FL 33442

Name Phone Number Possible Dates
Not on file (954) 570-7700 Dec 2002-Mar 2003
6144 BELLEZA LN,BOCA RATON, FL 33433

Possible Relatives of Subject at Each Address:
5792 WATERFORD, BOCA RATON, FL 33496

Name Phone Number Possible Dates
MARVIN A KRAVITZ (561) 241-1472 Feb 1984-Mar 2005
MARVIN A KRAVITZ (561) 241-1472 Feb 1984-Mar 2005
MARVIN KRAVITZ Jul 1989-Oct 1991
MARVIN KRAVITZ Jul 1989-Jun 1991
MARVIN A KRAVITZ Jul 1989-Oct 1991
ALAN KRAVITZ (561) 241-0002 Feb 2002-Mar 2005
1505 NE 26TH ST, WILTON MANORS, FL 33305

Name Phone Number Possible Dates
MARVIN A KRAVITZ Feb 1984-Sep 2003
MARVIN A KRAVITZ Oct 1989-Sep 2003
HOWARD KRAVITZ Jul 1989-Nov 2000
MARVIN KRAVITZ Oct 1989-Mar 2005
MARVIN KRAVITZ Oct 1989-Mar 2005
MARVIN A KRAVITZ Oct 1989-Mar 2005
450 SW 12TH AVE, DEERFIELD BEACH, FL 33442


Name Phone Number Possible Dates
MARVIN A KRAVITZ (954) 570-7700 Jan 1982-Feb 2003
MARVIN A KRAVITZ (954) 570-7700 Jan 1982-Feb 2003
MARVIN KRAVITZ (954) 570-7700 Jan 1983-Feb 2003
MARVIN KRAVITZ Jun 1991-Oct 1989
MARVIN A KRAVITZ (954) 570-7700 Jan 1982-Feb 2003
6144 BELLEZA LN, BOCA RATON, FL 33433

Name Phone Number Possible Dates
MARVIN A KRAVITZ Jan 2000-Mar 2001
MARVIN A KRAVITZ Jan 2000-Mar 2001
8211 W BROWARD BLVD , STE 360, PLANTATION, FL 33324
Name Phone Number Possible Dates
MARVIN A KRAVITZ Jan 1998-Mar 1999
MARVIN A KRAVITZ Jan 1998-Mar 1999
450 SW 12TH AVE, POMPANO BEACH, FL 33069
Name Phone Number Possible Dates
MARVIN A KRAVITZ Jan 1983-Mar 1984
MARVIN A KRAVITZ Jan 1983-Mar 1984
MARVIN KRAVITZ Jan 1983-Mar 1984

*******************END OF REPORT*********************

I'll post more on these people when I run it down.