New Beginnings Association, Inc. Sold magazines subscriptions but we never got them. Check dated Feb. 2007. Evanston Illinois

I am sorry to say, Jean, that unfortunately it is probably too late to recover your money. These itinerant groups are constantly on the move for a number of reasons. Some of reasons are...to avoid local authorities who require they are properly permitted and registered with your state to collect taxes, to keep the young people they hire from easily walking away from a miserable, low, to no paying job, to avoid warrants they and the kids accrue for a myriad of crimes related to this job, not to mention questionable backgrounds they may have come into this work with.

It is very rare to actually get a cust/service person from these groups to answer the phone, and even more rare to receive a refund...although a few people say they have gotten one. Most of these crews create easily pasted web sites that are woefully out of date...to lead folks into thinking they are legit. Most of the time these kids are in and out so fast, that unless you peruse their websites on the spot, carefully, they look just professional enough to get your check or cash.

It is easy to blame the kids, and they do share some, but the REAL culprits are the magmrs who take literally MILLIONS off Americas porches...and do not even pay the agents monies due to them when they finally burn out and leave. This leaves the agent with a whopping 1099 tax bill on income the MANAGERS enjoy...NOT the kid who generated the sale to begin with. And if this isn't enough to make your blood boil...even when you are lucky enough to have been solicited by a group who DOES send you those magazines at ridiculous prices...you may be surprised to learn that these subscriptions are GIVEN to the clearinghouse to artificially bloat circulation numbers to reap higher ad revenues.

These groups sprouted up after WW2, when many of the agents were vets with disabilities, and their spiel contrived to elicit sympathy from the poor souls caught up in this business. Over time, the "texas trio" and others developed the current spiel you heard, and organized groups of young people who could convince folks they were kids in a contest from a place we'll call "ojust". This gives the prospective mark the impression they are from, " oh, just down the road." They are NEVER from just down the road, not college students, not soccer teams or whatever story the agents induvidually contrive. Whats the lesson here? Never, ever, let someone you do not know personally and WELL into your home for ANY reason!

Our legislatures and government have made apparent these groups are simply not a priority with them. The NFSA, a group who calls itself the 'watchdog' of this industry is simply a who's who of wealthy magmrs who are the very problems themselves. Laughable. Tell your neighbors...friends...internet contacts...anyone who will listen about your experience. It is the only way to effect change on an industry that needs to disappear. Getabunch.