Rodale Sent a book I did not order Emmaus Pennsylvania

I got a magazine subscription as a gift and after the subscription had ended, I got a box of 3 books. I had no idea why I got them or who they were from. It was right before Christmas so I figured they were Christmas gifts. When my brother came to visit he was reading them and I told him he could have them. A month later I get a bill from Rodale for $50.90 for the books. It states that I had 21 days from the time I received the books to return them in order to avoid having to pay for them. I called the number on the bill (8008206077) and hit '0' to talk to an agent and was told that their call volume was too high and they hung up on me. I tried back 10 minutes later and got through. I stated that I got a bill for books I did not order and I would like them to remove me from their list so that I no longer receive books or bills. The agent informed me that when I subscribed to the magazine I elected to have some books sent to me to preview (I later confirmed with the person who bought me the subscription that they did not elect to have books sent to me). I told the agent that I never elected to receive any books and the books did not come with any paper work saying who they were from, no account information was included, and nothing was included that indicated I needed to return the books if I did not wish to keep them. I told her that I no longer had the books so I can not return them and I am not going to pay for them because I did not order them. She said that just this one time she would cancel the bill, as if she was doing me a favor. RODALE- Do me a real favor and don't send me anything I did not order!

You're absolutely correct with your feeling.

Any merchandise received that was not ordered can be considered a GIFT according to FTC rules.

Send them a certified, return receipt letter informing them that you never ordered the book and that under the FTC rules you are considering it a gift and do not choose to pay for it.

Also remind them that you are under no obligation to return it to them at YOUR EXPENSE.

Further, remind them that because you didn't order this book, any reference to this on any consumer credit reports is a violation of the FCRA and if such a reference occurs you will seek a full judicial remedy as outlined by law.

Finally, request that they update their records by removing you from their system as you are not and do not wish to be a customer.

That should do it nicely, unless there's something you didn't mention in your report.