African American Publications

August 26, 2014
Dear [redacted],I am in receipt of your letter regarding the aforementioned complaint, Our sales person, Paul M[redacted] spoke to [redacted] about previewing our materials on March 11, 2014. The preview order was confirmed with her by our shipping clerk, Nathan K[redacted] On...

March 14, 2014. Mr. K[redacted] has a Standard script where in he asks the customer if they determine to retain the materials, do they have the ability to purchase it and confirm there is budget to do so. The packing slip on the outside of the box clearly states the materials are shipped on a 60-day preview as well as the promotional information included in the package.[redacted]’s statement is confusing as she both claims that she “returned the books” and wants to return the books. We have not received the materials returned to us. Our policy is that we will accept returns up until six months. Provided the materials are returned to us prior to September 14, we will credit her account.Mary M
African American Publications

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
[redacted] did not order the items.  Initial phone contact by African American Publications was made with [redacted] in the development office, who has since departed from [redacted].  When we contacted **. [redacted] regarding the invoice, his response to us on 12/23/13 was as follows:**. [redacted] was contacted by a representative from African American Publications. "They said that they were putting together an African
American encyclopedia and they wanted to make donations to schools in
the area by sending a sample. A few weeks later, they didn't send the sample, they sent the
entire encyclopedia, along with the CD Rom bundle 
and the invoice.  I kept the product in the box and immediately emailed them
to say I did not request the whole thing and would like to return it, but not on our dime.  For about a year, I never heard back from them - by email or
phone.  Every six months or so, they would send an invoice, and I would
call back and say, give me your [redacted] info so I can return it.  I
finally spoke with someone earlier in the year and said that we would
not pay to ship it back because it was expensive and I never requested
it.  They said they would fax us a [redacted] form but never did."  The most recent phone contact by [redacted] with African American Publications was made on 11/26/13 and 1/21/14.  A letter requesting written verification of the debt, including authorization for incurring the debt  was faxed to [redacted] at [redacted], the collection agency, on 3/18/14.  Phone contact was made with  [redacted] at [redacted] on 4/14/14.  The resolution they sought was payment of the invoice.  This was not an acceptable resolution as [redacted] did not order the items, nor did the order conform to established ordering procedures.
Regards,
[redacted]

July 22, 2014Dear [redacted],I am in receipt of your letter regarding the aforementioned complaint. Our sales person, Paul M[redacted] spoke to [redacted] about previewing our materials on September 6th. The preview order was confirmed with him by our shipping clerk, Nathan K[redacted]. Mr....

K[redacted] has a standard script where in he asks the customer if they determine to retain the materials, do they have the ability to purchase it and confirm there is budget to do so. The packing slip form clearly states the materials are shipped on a 60-day preview as well as the promotional information included in the package. (Please see attached) The CD ROM and picture Dictionary are pre-packaged together in a plastic wrap. We would not and could not separate the package and only Send a book without the CD. All procedures are standardized and any exception would be highly unusual.Enclosed are our responses to [redacted] three emails received in January, April and May (attached). You will notice that although, in our May response we explain to [redacted] that having retained the materials delivered to him in September (8months prior) we are unable to accept a return, we received the book only returned and credited have the account accordingly. (See attached invoice.)We expect payment to be forthcoming for the CD ROM. This invoice is extremely past due and will be scheduled for collection shortly.Mary M
African American Publications

Review: I was contacted by a representative called **.[redacted] inquiring to offer a free set of 2 bilingual dictionaries for my school with as he said "no catch." He said they were mine to keep and that he would follow up to see if I wanted to purchase more. Instead, I never heard from him and myself ,a teacher, for $329.00. I called to follow up and they claim there was fine print in the box, there was not. My billing name, info are all incorrect. They also told me I would receive a call back to resolve this, haven't heard back from them. They do no answer phone calls but yet continue to mail my school trying to bill me for something that was explicitly told was a sample to keep with no strings attached. I yelped this business when I felt, swindled and misled and found a plethora of similar complaints from other educators by the same **.[redacted]. I spoke with a lady who refused to help me and said "too bad." I have never used the products and happy to send them back but she keeps claiming there was "fine print." However when they were sent to me there was no written agreement that I would pay for them.Desired Settlement: I want this company to stop contacting me and remove any false charges. I also hope they are investigated to be certain they are not scamming more people with their false free sample pitch. It's really unfortunate that people result to this, if their product is good they should not have to scam innocent teachers and children.

Review: I was provided with a 60-day preview of a collection of encyclopedias that I did not authorize. The gentleman on the phone asked if I would like to be sent a collection to look at, assuming it was being donated to the school. Upon receipt of the items, I tried calling the business to explain that I did not want to items, and wanted to return them. They, however, did not provide any return postage. I should not be liable for an item I did not want, did not use, and did not authorize. After the 60 days, and three messages, and e-mails sent to the company, I receive a bill. I try calling again, e-mailing, and left messages regarding the bill, and again no response until I receive another bill. I cannot get in touch with any of the contact numbers for assistance, and I refuse to pay for postage to return the items I initially did not request.Desired Settlement: I want return postage sent to me so I can return the items, and I want the billing to stop sending me bills that I did not authorize.

Business

Response:

May 5, 2014Dear [redacted].I am in receipt of your letter regarding the aforementioned complaint. We have no record of [redacted] attempting to contact us. Nonetheless, enclosed is the return label she requested through the complaint.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: I was sent these books by the publisher; I did not order them. I am so busy at my non-profit that I didn't even get around to opening the package until this summer. When I opened it, to my surprise and dismay, they said the books had to be returned by a certain date or they would charge me for the books. I called them immediately and returned the books, but they said it was too late. The books are unopened, unused, and I had no idea that there was something in the package that I would have to pay for. This seems very unethical to me. These were unsolicited. Now they keep sending me bills.Desired Settlement: accept refund merchandise and stop billing me.

Business

Response:

August 26, 2014Dear [redacted],I am in receipt of your letter regarding the aforementioned complaint, Our sales person, Paul M[redacted] spoke to [redacted] about previewing our materials on March 11, 2014. The preview order was confirmed with her by our shipping clerk, Nathan K[redacted] On March 14, 2014. Mr. K[redacted] has a Standard script where in he asks the customer if they determine to retain the materials, do they have the ability to purchase it and confirm there is budget to do so. The packing slip on the outside of the box clearly states the materials are shipped on a 60-day preview as well as the promotional information included in the package.[redacted]’s statement is confusing as she both claims that she “returned the books” and wants to return the books. We have not received the materials returned to us. Our policy is that we will accept returns up until six months. Provided the materials are returned to us prior to September 14, we will credit her account.Mary MAfrican American Publications

Review: Someone from their organization called my school to offer a free copy of the [redacted] Picture Dictionary and CD-ROM package, which I accepted after confirming that the product was free. Then, I received an invoice from them 2 months later for $295, which included a $25 charge for shipping just the 1 book. I called them to clarify and the representative told me the book was shipped for a 60-day preview and I needed to ship it back (at my school's expense) or pay the $295.Desired Settlement: I will gladly ship the book back but I believe African American Publications should be responsible for the shipping charges since they misrepresented the reason the book was shipped to me in the first place.

Business

Response:

June 19, 2014Dear [redacted],We will send a return label to the customer today via email to [redacted]Thank you.African American Publications

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: I am a teacher at a school in California. I am the lead teacher for the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at my school, and I work in the office coordinating the ESL program. I occasionally receive calls from textbook vendors as part of my job.

Last year, a representative from African American Publications called me at my office and said his company was offering a free trial sample of The [redacted] Picture Dictionary and an accompanying CD Rom. We do use the [redacted] Picture Dictionary, although African American Publications is not our usual supplier.

At first I refused, telling the representative that, even if this was a free sample, we have little access to technology and no money to purchase more of the product even if we liked it (this was true; we have experienced severe budget cuts). However, the representative was very insistent. He told me this was an absolutely free offer, no strings attached, and that I might as well accept it and try it out in case we got more money to buy supplies in the future. I asked him if this was one of those trial offers where you have to return the merchandise or buy it after a certain period of time has elapsed. He said no, this was a free offer, no strings attached.

Vendors do occasionally give us free samples of textbooks and other materials to try out, so I was not suspicious. Mostly because the representative was so insistent, I finally consented to receive the free sample. When it came, I signed for it and gave the materials to a teacher to try out.

After that, I began receiving mail at my office, addressed to me personally, from African American Publications. For a long time I assumed it was junk mail trying to get the school to buy products, and I threw the envelopes away unopened. I did not suspect that they might be bills, because bills do not come to me for payment; that is another department entirely. However, one day someone in the office opened one of the envelopes and gave me the opened envelope and the enclosed letter. It was then I saw that African American Publications was billing me for the "free sample".

I tried to call and email them to tell them that there had been a mistake. I could not reach anyone by phone. I sent them an email also. In response, they just kept sending bills, and they attached a photocopy of the signature I signed when I signed for the package.

I began to feel that, rather than being the victim of a mistake, I was the victim of a deliberate fraud. I did an internet search on African American Publications and found other accounts of experiences similar to mine, including other complaints to the Revdex.com. African American Publications apparently makes a regular practice of talking people into accepting "free" materials and then billing them for them. They seem to prey particularly on cash-strapped public institutions like schools and libraries.Desired Settlement: I would like African American Publications to stop contacting me or my employer demanding payment for these items.

Review: This company called me and told me they had publications for students and they were free. They asked if we would like the books. Since they were free and literature for students I said of course. Weeks after we received the books we were billed for over $400.00. If there was a fee they should have told us that upfront. Once we got the bill we marked the box return to sender and it was picked up and sent back to them.Desired Settlement: I want them to stop sending this bill to us since we sent the books back to them.

Business

Response:

May 29, 2014Dear [redacted],I am in receipt of your letter regarding the aforementioned complaint. I am unable to respond to this complaint, as we do not have [redacted] our database. She does not reference the school or institution she works for and the address provided does not correlate with any of our customers information; the street and zip code are not valid. We have searched all records for [redacted], NC and have not found an account for [redacted]. Also, the telephone number is not represented in our customer database. She did not provide the invoice number. Without at least one of the aforementioned line items, I cannot possibly answer the complaint.

Review: Per our former Advancement Office Dir , the following is a synopsis of his interactions with African American Publications. He was contacted in 2012 by African American Publications regarding a free sample of a publication that was being put together. On 10/16/12, instead of the sample, the entire encyclopedia with a CD Rom bundle and an invoice for over $600 was received. He contacted African American Publications on several occasions and requested a return shipping label in order to return the items since he had not requested the full package. The product remains in the box it was shipped in. No PO or order form authorizing this purchase has been provided.

On 1/21/14, I spoke with [redacted] at African American Publications who said a a return label had been faxed on 2/21/13, which our Advancement Office denies receiving. [redacted] also said that the items were in our posession over 14 months and could not be returned. [redacted] was also supposed to email me a transcript of a conversation with the Advancement Office Dir. Since then, the account was turned over to a collection agency.Desired Settlement: Return of the items that were not ordered and cessation of collections and invoices.

Business

Response:

Dear **. [redacted],I am in receipt of your letter dated April 9, 2014 referencing complaint ID [redacted].This letter is the only letter I have received from you in more than a month.We do not have anyone by the name [redacted] in my database. Likewise, I have no idea what the nature of her complaint it. So, without more information I am unable to comment whatsoever.Kindly provide us with some sort of information regarding such.Thank you,

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

[redacted] did not order the items. Initial phone contact by African American Publications was made with [redacted] in the development office, who has since departed from [redacted]. When we contacted **. [redacted] regarding the invoice, his response to us on 12/23/13 was as follows:**. [redacted] was contacted by a representative from African American Publications. "They said that they were putting together an African

American encyclopedia and they wanted to make donations to schools in

the area by sending a sample. A few weeks later, they didn't send the sample, they sent the

entire encyclopedia, along with the CD Rom bundle

and the invoice. I kept the product in the box and immediately emailed them

to say I did not request the whole thing and would like to return it, but not on our dime.

For about a year, I never heard back from them - by email or

phone. Every six months or so, they would send an invoice, and I would

call back and say, give me your [redacted] info so I can return it. I

finally spoke with someone earlier in the year and said that we would

not pay to ship it back because it was expensive and I never requested

it. They said they would fax us a [redacted] form but never did." The most recent phone contact by [redacted] with African American Publications was made on 11/26/13 and 1/21/14. A letter requesting written verification of the debt, including authorization for incurring the debt was faxed to [redacted] at [redacted], the collection agency, on 3/18/14. Phone contact was made with [redacted] at [redacted] on 4/14/14. The resolution they sought was payment of the invoice. This was not an acceptable resolution as [redacted] did not order the items, nor did the order conform to established ordering procedures.

Regards,

Review: During the Spring 2014 semester, I received an exam copy of the [redacted] Picture Dictionary and CD ROM. I did not think anything of it; I receive exam copies of ESL textbooks from publishers regularly. However, I later received an invoice from “African American Publications” in the amount of $325.00 for the text and CD ROM. I sent the book back to the company via certified mail in April 2014, and it was received and signed for at the business address listed on this complaint. I also left a phone message with the business and sent an email, but received no reply. Last week, I received another invoice stating that the payment was past due. I called the business and left a message, but again, I received no reply.Desired Settlement: This business needs to cancel this invoice promptly and confirm with me that the bill has been canceled.

Business

Response:

June 19,2014 Dear [redacted],Our records do not indicate the merchandise referenced on invoice [redacted] has been returned. If the customer can supply us with a tracking number or proof of delivery we will adjust our records.Thank you,

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: The business had not made record of the return, and as a result, has not canceled the invoice. Per the business' request to verify the return, I have attached a copy of the certified mail receipt for the returned items dated April 3, 2014 and signed by a representative at African American Publications on April 7, 2014.

Regards,

Business

Response:

June 25, 2014Dear [redacted],I am in receipt of your letter regarding the aforementioned complaint. We received confirmation that the package in question was returned to us. We have corrected our records and cancelled the invoice.Thank you.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: This company sent our school a box of books for a 60 day preview in March. I was unable to review the box until after state testing finished in May. We already have the books in our library, so I contacted the company via email to let them know we would need to return the books; however, there was no return label in the box, so I asked them to send me a return postage label. School let out for the summer, but I left word for the office staff to be looking for a return label to come. I didn't hear from the company, so I sent a second email a month and a half later (in July). Someone responded to that email a week later with a return address, but no information was included about a return label. I sent another email asking about the return label with no response. I also tried calling several times, but either got no answer or got a message that said their voice mail box was full. Meanwhile, the company has kept sending invoices stating that we owed them money for the books. On September 3, I faxed a letter to this company to let them know that we still do not need these books and that we would keep them here until a return label was sent. We have now received a "proof of delivery" along with a past due notice that has a statement printed at the bottom: "Materials in your possession for more than six months may NOT be returned." I attempted to call the company today at the number listed on the statements, and for some reason the gentleman that picks up the phone says that his number is different from the one I'm dialing!!!! I even tried using a different phone, and also had our bookkeeper try calling...the call goes to this nice gentleman who says that we are reaching his cell, but that it has a totally different number than what we are dialing.

I have documentation of every contact we have attempted to make with this company...Desired Settlement: We want to return this box of books, but we want the company to pay for return postage. We do not feel that we should have to pay for return postage due to the fact that we didn't ask for the books to be sent. The box was sent as a "preview" box, and this is a public school! We also want to be removed from this company's contact list for any future dealings since they have been so difficult to deal with.

Review: This company sent unrequested encyclopedias to our business to preview. The box contained no information on how to return the books. We eventually received an invoice to which I replied that we would like to return them. Their typographical response was that we "have the materials to long" and "you need to remit". The next response I received, also full of typos, was "We can give u a 50 prevent discount". I asked for a return label several times and have also asked to be contacted by a supervisor. I have not received a response since. This has been going on unproductively since 3/31/14. We will be happy to return the books if we are provided a shipping return label.Desired Settlement: We would like to be provided with a shipping return label to return the books. We do not want to buy them.

Review: This is a company with deplorable business tactics. A representative called me and asked if I would be interested in previewing their their Oxford Picture Dictionary. At no point during the conversation I was informed me that the book was being sent on a trial basis, and that I will have to pay. I just received a bill in the mail, and trying to fix to situation and contacted them several occasions via email with not response. they smartly respond after months saying I could not return the book and pay for it. I researched the price of the book online and it's a dictionary that cost between $18 and they are billing at $300 saying it came with a cd. Please stop cheating schools and teachers that should be teaching our youth instead of spending HUGE amounts of time trying to resolve this kind of problems and filling complains! You are doing things in a very wrong way. I returned the book via certified mail several weeks ago, even when you said I couldn't because it was past due. I don't want to have it and I should not pay something I didn't order for purchase.

Here is one of the mails I sent that might help understand better the complain::

When I first talked with your sales representative on the phone, I was informed I would be receiving a sample book for me to use in my classroom. During this initial conversation I was never informed I was receiving the book on a trial basis with the option to purchase. It was my understanding it would be totally free; it was upon this condition that I accepted delivery. I would not have requested the material, since I am not in a position to purchase books for my school. Again I reiterate that it was my understanding that the book was free.

Email

Dear Sir,

The package I received was a black cover Oxford Picture Dictionary. There was nothing else included in the package, i.e. CD Rom or letter/invoice stating that the book was on a 60 day trial basis If I would have received a letter with the book I would not have accepted delivery. Although you have stated in your e-mail that I owe you money, I am letting you know that I owe nothing, since I have never agreed to the purchase of this dictionary. Additionally no CD was included and there were no conditions disclose with the book I received to lead a prudent person to understand this was a sale and not a free sample. I owe nothing.Desired Settlement: Dictionary was returned... Please stop contacting me.

Business

Response:

July 22, 2014Dear [redacted],I am in receipt of your letter regarding the aforementioned complaint. Our sales person, Paul M[redacted] spoke to [redacted] about previewing our materials on September 6th. The preview order was confirmed with him by our shipping clerk, Nathan K[redacted]. Mr. K[redacted] has a standard script where in he asks the customer if they determine to retain the materials, do they have the ability to purchase it and confirm there is budget to do so. The packing slip form clearly states the materials are shipped on a 60-day preview as well as the promotional information included in the package. (Please see attached) The CD ROM and picture Dictionary are pre-packaged together in a plastic wrap. We would not and could not separate the package and only Send a book without the CD. All procedures are standardized and any exception would be highly unusual.Enclosed are our responses to [redacted] three emails received in January, April and May (attached). You will notice that although, in our May response we explain to [redacted] that having retained the materials delivered to him in September (8months prior) we are unable to accept a return, we received the book only returned and credited have the account accordingly. (See attached invoice.)We expect payment to be forthcoming for the CD ROM. This invoice is extremely past due and will be scheduled for collection shortly.Mary MAfrican American Publications

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

I’m writing in regard the above complain. In the package I received I only found a book, I didn't even know about the existence of a CD as indicated in the communications. I told them in the communications I only received a book, which I already return it. There is nothing else I can return or pay because nothing else was in the package.

I did research on the internet ([redacted], etc) and none of these stores mention selling this book with a CD, so I don’t know what they are talking about plus they have never mention what type of CD they are referring to. They have never told me and I never receive it.

Regards,

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

They are stating that they expect payment for a CD materials, Please understand that the CD was not included in the package I just found a book. Could you please think about he possibility that for accident , mistake or any reason they forgot to include the CD with the book? I know that they say it’s unlikely due to their packaging, but it can happen , and the proof is that it happened to me. I don’t have a clue what CD they are talking about since I never received any CD, the only thing I received was a book, which was already returned. I don’t have any materials from them. How can they expect me to pay something I never received?

Regards,

Business

Response:

August 27, 2014Dear [redacted],I am in receipt of another letter regarding the aforementioned complaint. This will be my third response tothis complaint.We expect payment to be forthcoming for the CD ROM. This invoice is extremely past due and will be scheduled for collection shortly.Mary MAfrican American Publications

Review: I received a sample of a used book and DVD from African American Publications. I did not solicit this sample book, nor did I approve a purchase order for this sample book. Working as a curriculum coordinator for a large school district, it is not uncommon for publishers to send me samples for review. When I received this used sample, there was no invoice or any indication that it was to be returned or that there would be a fee. I later received a bill for $295.00. I returned the used book sample and sent it return receipt so I could confirm it arrived (I paid for this shipping myself). I then received another invoice claiming returns will not be accepted and the $295 was severely passed due.I do not have possession the used sample book (which was a text I regularly order through the actual publisher, [redacted]). I did not place an order for a $295 used book and I do not believe I should allow this business to scam school districts and essentially steal tax dollars that are meant to be spent on students.Desired Settlement: African American Publication needs to stop collection on the $295 invoice. The used book has been returned to them and there was no contract entitling them to bill my school district nearly three hundred dollars in the first place.