National Readers Service

During the month of May, I had received a toll-free call on my cell phone on my way back home from work. I didn't get a chance to look at the number and flipped open the phone. On the other side of the receiver I was told that I was chosen to win a $1000.00 dollar sweepstakes. I asked what were the details of the sweepstakes and the company told me the only way for me to enter the sweepstakes was to order some magazines from a partner company of theirs. I agreed because I was looking into some magazine subscriptions at borders. I was immediately switched over to a deep mans voice who asked me how my day was and if I was interested in buying some magazines. I told him I was, but how much was it going to cost me? He talked extremely fast and there was a lot of people yelling and screaming in the background. I asked him where he was that was causing all the noise. He told me there was a party at the pub he was at and he was actually off duty but was making a special phone call for me. Once again, I asked him how much the subscription would cost and suddenly he started talking really fast saying something about 19.99 a month and it would be over a 4 year contract. I agreed stupidly and suddenly he was again talking really fast about something being recorded and I couldn't cancel after making the pact. He asked me to say "Yes" or "No" to the following questions. I listened as hard as I could as he spoke fast asking me if my name and occupation were correct and I responded, "Yes". After he got done with the yes or no questions, he asked for my credit card number and I gave him my debit card number. He also wanted my Social Security Number, but I refused to give it to him and he told me he understood. After he was done, he reviewed my information really fast and I could barely understand what he was saying, so I just responded yes. He then hung up on me and i felt like I was just scammed. About 3 days later, I received a letter in the mail that was about an inch thick crammed with paperwork. I opened it up and it said that I had signed up for some random services I never agreed to such as: ID ALERT, FRAUD PROTECTION, INSURANCE, ect. On all the papers it said I was going to be billed around 39.95 for each month for all these products. I was enraged because I never signed up for these, only the magazines. I had to leave for work so I didn't get a chance to call the company back. The next day I called the number on the paper work that they sent me and I told the woman on the phone my name and that i wanted to cancel my subscription. The lady was EXTREMELY rude and said "OK.." and then just hung up. I was unsure if my subscription was truly canceled, or if I was being lied to. I waited about a month and I didn't notice any more money being wired out of my account...Until the 15th of the month came around and I was billed 59.65 from two different places, none that actually came from the location the man told me of! I watched my account and it was being drained every 2 days instead of only once a month, and it was no longer 19.99, it was 69.00! I called the number the company gave me again and I told them that I canceled my subscription 2 months ago and I was still being billed. They told me they would switch me over to their supervisor and the problem would be handled. In the background, I could hear screaming again and people saying things such as, "YEAH MAN, WOO, ALRIGHT" the person who answered the phone and didn't give me her name when I asked her, she just changed the topic onto what I was asking her about. I told her I can celled my account and I was still being billed. She told me she was sorry about that and she would get to working on that. I told her thank you and then she started talking really fast and saying things like, "Instead of canceling your payments, since you made a recorded pact, you have to finish your payments and then it will be renewed." I told her over and over that I WANTED TO CANCEL! She kept pushing me and pushing me to not cancel the account and she would just lower the payments. I asked her how much she would lower the payments and that I was angry because I NEVER received any magazines from them. She asked me how old I was and I told her 19. She said I had to be 21 to have the payments lowered anymore, so she said she would put on my application that I was 21. I didn't think that was even ILLEGAL! She said she could lower my payments from 69.95 to 59.30 for 30 months. She didn't speak slow, as normal. Suddenly I was in another recording pledging my pact I could hear kids screaming in the background and I asked her what was going on, she told me there was a party in the office and she was making a special call for me. I then KNEW I was being scammed. The lady didn't even give me a chance to say anything and was getting pushy about me answering yes or no. She rambled on and I didn't understand a single word and when I asked her to repeat, she got rude and impatient. I also was getting fed up with these people. I just hung up. After that incident, I WATCH my bank account and suddenly I was being billed from FOUR different locations again! I called my bank and disputed the charges I could. I asked my grandfather what I should do, because no matter how many times i call asking to cancel, they always pushed me into lowering my payments. He told me to call the Attorney Office in your state and report them. Before I made this report, I called a day ago to speak to the company about canceling again, but the lady who answered just got rude with me saying I couldn't cancel because I wasn't done with my payments and just hung up on me. I want to put these people behind bars. I am not the only one they have scammed. I have read online complaints about this company on how they always charge more then they say they are and go by 3 different names. I feel that I have been unfairly cheated out of my money and I just want them to stop billing me. I am fresh out of high school and I don't want my credit to be bad before college. Please help me to solve this problem. The address for the company is as follows: National Readers Service 1709 South Braddock Avenue #166 Pittsburgh, PA 15218 Phone number: [protected] Open Monday-Friday 9am-8pm