Publishers Clearing House
Complaint 158576 Details

Publishers Clearing House called my cell phone and said that I was one of four who was selected to receive a gift from their $5,000.00 dream contest. They asked me to take a survey and at the end offered me three magazines for the price of one for $4.68. I misunderstood that this amount would be charged each month. The lady transferred me to her supervisor. He asked for my card number, I gave it to him. Then he broke down the payments for me and said it would be $68.00 a month for 19 months. I said that was not what I was told I thought it was $4.68 a month and did not want to process the transaction, to cancel. He said no that it was $4.68 a week, I said that still does not come to $68.00 a month. He said that it came to that since I would pay that for 19 months but get 32 weeks for free. I said no I wanted to cancel, I did not agree to that. He would not listen and kept offering other payment plans. I said no and asked that he cancel the transaction. He informed me that he was cancelling but had to follow his protocol. I said no again and again, then finally I said no means no to cancel. He said that since I gave my card number it would take a minute to cancel and kept coming up with more payment options. I then hung up on him. He immediately called back and said that we got disconnected. He kept giving me more payment options, I told him that I was living on my savings, was unemployed, and disabled, and could not afford it. I asked again to cancel and kept saying cancel as he kept talking. Finally I said cancel, cancel, cancel! He said he didn't understand since I was OK with paying $4.68 a week. I said no I misunderstood, I thought that it was $4.68 a month.I kept saying that I did not want the magazines and to cancel or I would report them and stop payment at my bank. He would not let up so I hung up on him again. He immediately called back and I did not answer my phone. I called my bank and they said that I would have to cancel out my card to stop payment. I cannot do that since I have some automatic payments going out for bills. Guess I'll have to wait and see if I get charged. I did file a complaint with the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection. I have been entering Publishers Clearing House contests daily but not buying anything. I thought they were one of the safest contests to enter and legitimate. I am shocked at their bullish, aggressive marketing sales tactics.