Progressive Business Publications

Review: I signed up for a webinar that was advertised by this Company. I have had to make many calls to confirm that they received my payment. They have answered back that they do not have the class. When I threatened to stop payment and file a complaint with the Revdex.com, they called me back and then sent me a copy of a paid invoice. They said that they will send the information to me on 9/26/2013 for the 10/3/2013 class. The whole experience so far see** like a scam. If only I would have checked ahead of time with the Revdex.com, I would have seen that they already have 2500 disputes and complaints against them. We paid $199 for the class. I suspect that my money is lost since they cashed the check already. I will update my complaint if 10/3/2013 comes and I have not been enabled to listen to and see the webinar.

I will never sign up with this "business" again. It see** to be a scam when no one knows what is going on.

Thank you.Desired Settlement: At this time, I would only like the Revdex.com to know that Progressive Business Executive Education see** to be unprofessional and may be scamming the public. I will file another complaint if the webinar does not take place on 10/3/2013.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted],

This serves as a response to the complaint filed by **. [redacted] on 9.23.13. There was confusion as to which event **. [redacted] was registered for due to the amount of events we hold each month. I placed a call to [redacted] immediately upon receiving the Revdex.com complaint and explained what may have happened with one of our reps. Additionally; I apologized on behalf of the company. She was very understanding and I assured her we are absolutely legit, then provided her with materials when they became available. I told her I would also follow-up with her after the event was over. **. [redacted] stated that she would attend another event if the same speaker were instructing. I've included [redacted]'s original request for an invoice, my response containing one and our conversation after she participated in the webinar. I apologize for the delayed response but I wanted to touch base with **. [redacted] and make sure she had the best possible experience before doing so.

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 consistently bills for items not ordered. We have had at least 4 incidences with them in the past. They find our an employee's name and then say that the employee authorized purchase of a book or magazine that was never ordered. When we refuse to pay, they turn us over to their "sister" company - [redacted], who threatens to hurt our credit rating. When we tell them to discontinue calling, they still continue to call. Their deceptive, if not illegal, tactics are ridiculous. We wish for them to discontinue all direct mailing, phone calls, and any other contact with our company.Desired Settlement: Stop contacting our company in any way, shape, or form.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and while I disagree with much of the text of their letter and find their methods to be deceitful, I find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: This Company contacted me earlier in 2014. They offered a free sample of their publication. I declined. I was contacted today 9-11-14 by a collection agency for the company saying that I owe them $198 for publications they sent. Publications I never received, signed up for, or even wanted. I asked for an itemized list or explanation of charges and the collections agency only said they would send this if I was going to pay it. I replied that I was not going to pay for something I never signed up for. I was told that a confirmation of my date of birth is the same thing as consent for receiving the publication. They also state that I had a 60 day Cancellation period. I never received a letter asking me to cancel.Desired Settlement: For the collection agency to stop contacting me, a confirmation that this will not reflect on my credit report and to be removed from any mailing list Progressive Business Publications may have.

Business

Response:

September 15, 2014Dear [redacted] :Thank you for your email of 9/15/14 regarding the above referenced agency complaint that you received on 9/11/14. After review, we would like to respond to your letter with the following detailed explanation.Please note that our primary method by which we secure orders is by telephone solicitation. In such cases, our representatives take orders with a 60-day right of cancellation to a 1-year subscription to one of our newsletters, books or on line programs. We have very stringent quality control procedures regarding our representatives making this offer. These include verifying the mailing address, asking for the month and day of the person’s birth date and asking for the person’s email address or fax so we can send written confirmation of the order within 24 hours. This serves to encourage contact with us if there are any mistakes or changes that need to be made.Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that - [redacted], Med Records Dir, placed an order on 1/23/14 for our Primary Care Coding & Reimbursement publication and he provided us with birth date information as [redacted], as well as an email address. Within 24 hours of the discussion, we sent a confirmation letter that clearly restated the offer discussed, including the liberal 60-day, no questions asked cancellation policy. Our computers show that the confirmation went through without any problems. The birth date information is obtained, in part, to verify the Conversation took place. Once the order was placed, the same computer system sent the newsletter and invoices over a 5-month period of time.Thus the goods that were ordered by [redacted] were sent to him @ [redacted], CA [redacted]. This computer system records and tracks all confirmations, invoices, on-line programs, books, periodicals sent and cancellation requests. It does not show ever receiving a cancellation request or mail returned as `undeliverable". If we had we would have cancelled the account immediately.With all telephone orders placed, if the ordering person does not find the information helpful, all that is required is to write CANCEL on the invoice and return that to us or advise us any other way and the subscription will be stopped with no payment required, as is the publishing industry’s general custom. However, if neither paid nor cancelled after 5-months, 2-warning notices, plus an additional 30-day wait period the account may be turned over for collection. That is what happened in this instance.As a courtesy we contacted the collection agency on 9/12/14 and advised them to cease collection and cancel this account. They have assured us that this will be done. There will be no ramifications due to this account going for collection and there is no money due or owing on this account.While researching this complaint we did find that this company has done business with us in the past and is aware of our cancellation policy. We found many trial subscriptions had been accepted before and all were cancelled as we instructed without issue except this account.We have initiated a request on the same day that the name, address and telephone number be removed from our computer files. This action takes approximately 30-days to process. In business we hesitate to say the company will never receive another mailing from us. If any company information changes our computers may not recognize it and something may go out. If that should happen, simply call us and we will remove that version, too.Please know that we do business regularly with thousands of companies who place "repeat” orders due to their continued satisfaction and our excellent customer service.All of our contact information is in the newsletter and it contains our toll free telephone number. We, also, have a 24 hour /7 days a week voice mail system due to the large amount of calls we receive daily from our coast-to-coast subscribers.Please feel free to contact our Customer Service Department if you have any further questions at [redacted].Thank you.Cordially,Sylvia N. Dir. Of Subscriber Services

Review: Received call from Collector about publication that has not been ordered or received and that we are being billed for.Desired Settlement: no exchange and no further contact.

Business

Response:

September 3, 2013

Dear [redacted]:

Thank you for your email of 9/3/13 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 8/22/13. After review of our detailed electronic records we would like to respond to your letter with the following explanation.

Please note that our primary method by which we secure orders is by telephone solicitation. In such cases, our representatives take orders with a 60-day right of cancellation to a 1-year subscription to one of our newsletters, books or on line programs. We have very stringent quality control procedures regarding our representatives making this offer. These include verifying the address, asking for the month and day of the person's birth and asking for the person's email address or fax so we can send written confirmation of the order within 24 hours, as well as to encourage contact with us if there are any mistakes or changes that need to be made.

Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that **. [redacted], Quality Mgr, placed an order on 1/21/13 for our Quality Manager's Alert publication. We were provided with a birth date of 12/26, as well as an email address. Within 24 hours of the discussion, we sent a confirmation letter that clearly restated the offer discussed, including the liberal 60-day, no questions asked cancellation policy. Our computers show that the confirmation went through without any problems.

The birthday information is obtained, in part, to verify the conversation took place. Once the order was placed, the same computer system sent the newsletters and invoices over a 5-month period of time.

Thus the goods that were ordered by **. [redacted] were sent to the same address that shows on this complaint. This computer system records and tracks all confirmations, invoices, on-line programs, books, periodicals sent and cancellation requests. It does not show that we ever received a cancellation on this account or mail returned as "undeliverable". If we had we would have cancelled the account immediately.

With all telephone orders placed, if the ordering person does not find the information helpful, all that needs to be done is to write CANCEL on the invoice and return it to us or advise us any other way and the subscription will be stopped with no payment required, as is the publishing industry's general custom.

However, if neither paid nor cancelled after 5 months, 2 warning notices plus an additional 30-day wait period the account may be turned over for collection. That is what happened in this instance.

As a courtesy we did contact the collection agency on 9/3/13 and advised the agency to cease collections and cancel the account. They have assured us that will be done. There will be no ramifications due to this account being turned over for collection and there is no money due or owing on the account.

We initiated a request on the same day that the name, address and telephone number be removed from our computer files. This action takes approximately 30-days to process. In business we hesitate to say the company will never receive another mailing from us. If any company information changes our computers may not recognize it and something may go out. If that should happen, simply call us and we will remove that version, too.

While researching this complaint we did find that this company has done business with us in the past and is aware of our cancellation policy. We found several different trial subscriptions had been accepted before; 2-paid in full accounts and other accounts cancelled as we instructed without issue.

Please know that we do business continually with thousands of companies who place repeated orders due to their continued satisfaction and excellent customer service.

All of our contact information is in our newsletter and it contains our toll free telephone number. We, also, have a 24 hour/7 days a week voice mail system due to the large amount of calls we receive daily from our coast-to-coast subscribers.

Feel free to contact the Customer Service Department if you have any questions at ###-###-####.

Thank you.

Review: In speaking to this company, they provided 2 different stories. First, they told me that the HR Manager had authorized sending a magazine for free and sent a confirmation email along with invoices for a 12 month subscription. Upon further review, they stated that only 5 months were sent. We have no invoices, no emails, no confirmations, and no publication. This was then forwarded to collections ([redacted]), and I believe we spoke to the same person there as we did at Progressive. I'm pretty sure this is a scam as no support can be provided in document form as to the original "purchase." I understand that my company does order other publications from this company, and if this is not resolved satisfactorily, we will need to close all business with them.Desired Settlement: This invoice for $299 needs to be cancelled and no further contact should be made to any department outside of [redacted]s legal department.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

Review: At a unknown date and time Progressive Business Solutions (PBS) claims to have contacted an employee of ours, and offered that individual a free trial of there publication, the catch was that unless he called and cancelled within x amount of days they would bill us for a entire year at a cost of $299.00. PBS claims we did not cancel the subscription so they have sent a bill for a full year at $299, and because this has not yet been resolved they have now sent us to collections for payment. I have contacted our employee that they believe agreed to this and he claims that did not agreed to anything, he also says prior to this incident he has told PBS on several occasions to stop calling us, and to not send anything. He states that this works for a while then they start calling again. I have spoke to ([redacted], a customer service rep) @ PBS a few times and at one point she said they were whiling to settle this claim for $130, which I was considering paying just to be done with this but, when I asked to get a email stating that we agreed to settling for $130 so I had something to pay against, I never got it. So, I called several times, left voice mails and still no answer.Desired Settlement: I would like to have our Company be removed from PBS or any of its affiliates, mailing or call lists. I would also like to have our company be removed from collections and to remove the $299.00 charge for services not authorized.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

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: Progressive Business Publications called our business to set up a free trial of a Safety Compliance Alert newsletter. The guy stated that I could cancel at any time and that we would not be charged... as long as I did so before the third newsletter. I tried to tell him we were not interested but somehow I was talked into it. I take full reasonability when I could have just hung up the phone. However, I never thought it would be so difficult to cancel (lesson learned). I tried calling Progressive Business Publications and got a voicemail stating to leave my information to cancel; however they do not have time to contact everyone who wants to cancel. I also emailed and faxed, stating I want to cancel. I did this today so we will see what happens.

I find it very unethical that a company makes it near impossible to cancel a free trial subscription. There is no way for me to know if my subscription has been canceled, as they state they do not have time to get back to everyone. There is no way to talk to a live person, everything is done be leaving a message, emailing or faxing but with no response.

Our Company ([redacted]) has had problems in the past with Progressive Business Publications (unfortunately I was unaware or would not have made a deal with the devil) and after calling, emailing, snail mailing we were still unsuccessful in the cancelation of this trial newsletter. Yes, it is only $299 but if everyone says that then Progressive Business Publications continues to get away with scamming people.Desired Settlement: I would like conformation that Progressive Business Publications has canceled our free trial of Safety Compliance Alert newsletter and no charges will be invoiced. This may be a phone call or email.

Consumer

Response:

From: Revdex.com of Metro DC and Eastern PA <[email protected]>

Date: Fri, May 24, 2013 at 8:59 AM

Subject: Fwd: Complaint #[redacted]

To: [redacted]

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: [redacted]

Date: Thu, May 23, 2013 at 6:58 PM

Subject: Complaint #[redacted]

To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>

This complaint has been resolved! Please see attached.

Thank you for your time,

Safety Records Coordinator

Review: On two occasions, involving two different members of our staff, this company has sent publications to our address without consent of these members and has begun charging them for these publications. I currently have a invoice for $295 for newsletters sent to our location. These were unauthorized and this invoice will not be paid. It appears to be some sort of a scam and I just felt it should be reported. No one agreed to an annual subscription to their publications.Desired Settlement: I have contacted the company and they have rescinded the invoice and will discontinue the mailings. I just want others to be aware.

Business

Response:

August 4, 2014Dear [redacted]:Thank you for your email of 8/4/14 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 7/25/14. After review of our detailed electronic records we would like to respond to your letter with the following explanation.Please note that our primary method by which we secure orders is by telephone solicitation. In such cases, our representatives take orders with a 60-day right of cancellation to a 1-year subscription to one of our newsletters, books or on line programs. We have very stringent quality control procedures regarding our representatives making this offer. These include verifying the address, asking for the month and day of the person's birth date and asking for the person’s email or fax number so we can send written confirmation of the order within 24 hours. This serves to encourage contact with us if there are any mistakes or changes that need to be made.Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that [redacted], Quality Supervisor, placed an order on 5/8/14 for our Supervisors Safety Bulletin publication. We were provided with birth date information as [redacted], as well as an email address. Within 24 hours of the discussion, we sent a confirmation letter that clearly restated the offer discussed, including the liberal 60-day, no questions asked, cancellation policy. Our computers show that the confirmation went through without any problems.The birth date information is obtained, in part, to verify the conversation took place. Once the order was placed, the same Computer System sent the newsletters and invoices over a 2-month period of time.Thus the goods that were ordered by [redacted] were sent to the same address that shows on this complaint. This computer system records and tracks all confirmations, invoices, on-line programs, books, periodicals sent and cancellation requests.With all telephone orders placed, if the ordering person does not find the information helpful, all that needs to be done is to write CANCEL on the invoice and return it to us or advise us any other way and the subscription will be stopped with no payment required, as is the publishing industry’s general custom.As a courtesy we cancelled this account on 7/25/14 @ 10:24 AM (EST) as she requested the same day she called us. There is no money due or owing on the account.We initiated a request on 8/4/14 that the name, address and telephone number be removed from our computer files. This action takes approximately 30-days to process. In business we hesitate to say the company will never receive another mailing from us. If any company information changes our computers may not recognize it and something may go out. If that should happen, simply call us and we will remove that version, too.While researching this complaint we did find that this company has done business with us in the past and is aware of our cancellation policy. We found 1-different trial subscription had been accepted before by [redacted] and all the information to - start a trial subscription matches the account in question. That account was cancelled as she requested without issue.Please know that we do business regularly with thousands of companies who place repeated orders due to their continued satisfaction and our excellent customer service.All of our contact information is in our newsletter and it Contains Our toll free telephone number. We, also, have a 24 hour /7 days a week voice mail system due to the large amount of Calls we receive daily from our coast-to-coast subscribers.Feel free to contact the Customer Service Department if you have any questions at [redacted]. Thank you.

Review: I received a call from a woman named [redacted] from [redacted] at ###-###-#### on 7/15/2014. It was regarding a supposed invoice for a newsletter my company was signed up for for a few weeks in December of 2013 for $299. We'd received a cold call on December 4, 2013 related to a free environmental/construction newsletter. Standard procedure with our company is to deny anything that costs money or requires invoicing, but not regular free newsletters related to our company. I gave the woman my email with the intention of cancelling it later that month. I did as planned and only received emails for a couple months as they took a long time to remove my email from their list. After the collection call today, where the woman wanted payment over the phone and didn't want to resend an invoice, I called the PBP company, who I'd known as Environmental Compliance. The woman there (Cindy R[redacted]) confirmed we supposedly signed up for a paid newsletter and claimed to have sent 5 invoices starting the day of my free trial (makes no sense to bill a free trial). By then she back tracked with the dates while I had all of my emails pulled up from them. My bookkeeper next to me confirmed we'd never received an invoice. This woman just sent me what she claims was the first invoice, which we definitely never received and could've been created after our phone call this morning. The $299 and company matches the amount and names of other companies listed on scamming websites, which we never knew before because they used the name of their newsletter as their company name.Desired Settlement: We have so far refused to pay this bill, and do not want this company to have any of our financial information. Cease contact would be preferred.

Business

Response:

July 23, 2014Dear [redacted] :Thank you for your email of 7/18/14 regarding the above referenced agency complaint that you received on 7/15/14. After review, we would like to respond to your letter with the following detailed explanation.Please note that our primary method by which we secure orders is by telephone solicitation. In such cases, our representatives take orders with a 60-day right of cancellation to a 1-year subscription to one of our newsletters, books or on line programs. We have very stringent quality control procedures regarding our representatives making this offer. These include verifying the mailing address, asking for the month and day of the person’s birth date and asking for the person’s email address or fax so we can send written confirmation of the order within 24 hours. This serves to encourage contact with us if there are any mistakes or changes that need to be made.Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that [redacted], A/A, placed an order on 12/4/13 for Our Environmental Compliance Alert publication and she provided us with birth date information as 9/6, as well as an email address. Within 24 hours of the discussion, we sent a confirmation letter that clearly restated the offer discussed, including the liberal 60-day, no questions asked cancellation policy. Our computers show that the confirmation went through without any problems.The birth date information is obtained, in part, to verify the conversation took place. Once the order was placed, the same computer system sent the newsletter and invoices over a 5-month period of time.Thus the goods that were ordered by [redacted] were sent to the same address that shows in this complaint. This computer system records and tracks all confirmations, invoices, on-line programs, books, periodicals sent and cancellation requests. It does not show ever receiving a cancellation request or mail returned as "undeliverable". If we had we would have cancelled the account immediately.With all telephone orders placed, if the ordering person does not find the information helpful, all that is required is to write CANCEL on the invoice and return that to us or advise us any other way and the subscription will be stopped with no payment required, as is the publishing industry’s general custom. However, if neither paid nor cancelled after 5-months, 2-warning notices, plus an additional 30-day wait period the account may be turned over for collection. That is what happened in this instance.As a courtesy we contacted the collection agency on 7/18/14 and advised them to cease collection and cancel this account. They have assured us that this will be done. There will be no ramifications due to this account going for collection and there is no money due or owing on this account.While researching this complaint we did find that this company has done business with us in the past and is aware of our cancellation policy. We found several trial subscriptions had been accepted before and the accounts were cancelled as we instructed without issue. We, also, found the [redacted] contacted us on 7/15/14 G 9:34 AM (EST) and confirmed all the information we have to start a trial subscription is correct. At that time she requested a copy of the invoice which we emailed immediately to her attention.We have initiated a request on the same day that the name, address and telephone number be removed from our computer files. This action takes approximately 30-days to process. In business We hesitate to say the company will never receive another mailing from us. If any company information changes our computers may not recognize it and something may go out. If that should happen, simply call us and we will remove that version, too.Please know that we do business regularly with thousands of companies who place repeated orders due to their continued satisfaction and our excellent customer service.All of our contact information is in the newsletter and it contains our toll free telephone number. We, also, have a 24 hour /7 days a week voice mail system due to the large amount of calls we receive daily from our coast-to-coast subscribers.Please feel free to contact our Customer Service Department if you have any further questions at [redacted].Thank you.Sylvia *. N[redacted] DIRECTOR OF SUBSCRIBER SERVICES

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:

This

letter is in response to the letter I received dated July 23, 2014 from

Progressive Business Publications through the Revdex.com complaint center. I have not

changed my mind or decision about filing the complaint despite this response

from Progressive Business Publications because the problems described in the

complaint still stand. My response to the letter is as follows:

To

Paragraph 1:

I did acknowledge in my original

complaint that the order was made through a telephone solicitation, but as also

stated in the complaint, the “representative” for the publication did not

advise [redacted] or myself ([redacted]) of anything other

than a FREE email publication. They attempted to get an email and personal

information for officers of the company in order to obtain the publication

order, but when the representative assured me it was a free publication, I gave

her my email address and told her I would screen the publication to see if it

was in line with our company interests. At no point during the call did the

woman say she worked for Progressive Business Publications, she clearly stated

she worked for the Environmental Compliance Bureau sending free email

publications to construction companies.

To

Paragraph 2:

I also acknowledged that we did sign up for what was

described as a FREE publication. The publication had nothing to do with our

company and I attempted to get off of their mailing list. The confirmation

letter that is described was attached to a newsletter. I browsed the newsletter

and determined it was not in line with our company interests and filed it away.

It did not cross my mind to read the bottom print about “Billing cancellation”

when the publication was free anyways. Many companies offer free publications

with the offer to upgrade to certain packages, this is nothing new to our

company.

To

Paragraph 3-5:

We did not receive our first invoice

from Environmental Compliance aka Progressive Business Solutions aka Whoever they

are this week until I received a collection call from another company stating

we had a balance. When I looked up Environmental Compliance I found out their

phone number and information was for Progressive Business and that

Environmental Compliance was just a front website. On the phone with that

person I was also given a balance number. The woman on the phone who is stated

in my complaint insisted they emailed and mailed invoices over a 5 month

period, except that I haven’t received any in my email inbox and our bookkeeper

never received any via mail to enter as a bill or dispute. The woman accused

our mail person of “losing” the bills, but the bookkeeper is the one that sorts

the mail and enters the bills and doesn’t “lose” invoices. Our company would be

out of business if we didn’t pay legitimate invoices regularly. The ONE invoice

the woman finally agreed to send me was dated for the exact date our “free trial”

(as she called it) started with the publication. I’m not sure how something is

free or on a free trial if you send out a bill at the same time, unless she

made a mistake while back dating an invoice I demanded to see.

To

Paragraph 6:

I can assure you that I have not

signed up for any other “free” publications from this company, unless they are

referring to someone else in the company from before I worked here. We also don’t

have their company in our [redacted] database showing we’ve EVER paid them for

anything they would call a service or delivery of goods.

To

Paragraph 7:

Even after my complaint to the “collection

agency”, Progressive Business, and to the Revdex.com, I’ve actually still been

receiving emails from the so called Environmental Compliance as recently as

Sunday. I have had to send all the emails to my junk folder all together

because this company will not remove our information from their system or stop

emailing me. They email several times a week and refuse to take action against

this. There are a dozen times over the last several months I have tried to be

removed from their email list to no avail. For this company to accuse us of

owing them anything when they spam a person’s inbox is highly unprofessional.

To

Paragraph 8:

I have since researched Progressive

Business and the collection company they had call us, and I agree they do

business regularly with thousands of companies, but a lot of them are on the

web and on Revdex.com complaining about being suckered into a “free” publication and

billed later, if at all. A lot of the

people seemed to just get calls directly from the collection agency accusing

them of owing money just as my company did. I believe forums and websites for

complaints like these speak volumes to this company’s nature and business

dealings. If I had known the true name

of the company at the time of the cold call in December 2013 you can be sure

the phone call would have ended at the moment.

If

you have any questions regarding the above letter or my complaint please don’t

hesitate to call me at ###-###-####, or email me at [redacted].

Regards,

Business

Response:

August 12, 2014Dear [redacted] :Regarding the above referenced rebuttal that you received we submit the following:We stand by our original letter.Customer’s original request was "We have so far refused to pay the bill, and do not want this company to have any of our financial information. Cease contact would be preferred.”As requested we contacted the collections agency on 7/18/14 at which time we advised them to cease and cancel the account. We also initiated a request that the name, address and telephone number be removed from our computer files. This action takes approximately 30 days to process.We have done everything that was requested, we feel this complaint has been resolved.If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us .Sylvia *. NDir. Of Subscription Services

Review: Progressive Business Publications clai** that we ordered a subscription to a publication they offer. We did not. Three invoices from Progressive, starting in April of 2013, were followed by requests for payment by International Credit Recovery. We responded to Progressive Business Publications with several requests to cancel our "subscription" and a warning that we would take further action to stop the harassment. Despite all of that, we continue to get faxed requests for payment and a telephone request, as of 1/15/2014, from International Credit Recovery. They are still looking for us to remit to them $299.Desired Settlement: We will not be remitting the $299 charged for this subscription which we did not order, do not want, and do not use. I would like both Progressive Business Publications and International Credit Recovery to cease contacting us regarding this matter. I also want assurance that our business credit standing will not be affected by this. Thank you.

Business

Response:

January 16, 2014

Dear [redacted]:

Thank you for your email of 1/16/14 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 1/15/14. After review of our detailed electronic records we would like to respond to your letter with the following explanation.

Please note that our primary method by which we secure orders is by telephone solicitation. In such cases, our representatives take orders with a 60-day right of cancellation to a 1-year subscription to one of our newsletters, books or on line programs. We have very stringent quality control procedures regarding our representatives making this offer. These include verifying the address, asking for the month and day of the person's birth and asking for the person's email address or fax so we can send written confirmation of the order within 24 hours as well as to encourage contact with us if there are any mistake or changes that need to be made.

Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that [redacted], H/R Asst, placed an order on 3/22/13 for our What's New In Benefits & Compensation publication. We were provided with a birth date of [redacted], as well as a fax number (###-###-####). Within 24 hours of the discussion, we sent a confirmation letter that clearly restated the offer discussed, including the liberal 60-day, no questions asked cancellation policy. Our records show the fax went through without any problems.

The birthday information is obtained, in part, to verify the conversation took place. Once the order was placed, the same computer system sent the newsletters and invoices over a 5-month period of time.

Thus the goods that were ordered by [redacted] were sent to the same address that shows on this complaint. This computer system records and tracks all confirmations, invoices, on-line programs, books, periodicals sent and cancellation requests. It does not show that we ever received a cancellation on this account or mail returned as "undeliverable". If we had we would have cancelled the account immediately.

With all telephone orders placed, if the ordering person does not find the information helpful, all that needs to be done is to write CANCEL on the invoice and return it to us or advise us any other way and the subscription will be stopped with no payment required, as is the publishing industry's general custom.

However, if neither paid nor cancelled after 5 months, 2 warning notices plus an additional 30-day wait period the account may be turned over for collection. That is what happened in this instance.

As a courtesy we did contact the collection agency on 1/16/14 and advised the agency to cease collections and cancel the account. They have assured us that will be done. There will be no ramifications due to this account being turned over for collection and there is no money due or owing on the account.

While researching this complaint we did find that this company has done business with us in the past and is aware of our cancellation policy. We found many different trial subscriptions had been accepted before; [redacted] had accepted 3-different trial subscriptions herself (all information to start a trial subscription matches the account in question.) All other accounts were cancelled as we instructed without issue except this account.

We initiated a request on the same day that the name, address and telephone number be removed from our computer files. This action takes approximately 30-days to process. In business we hesitate to say the company will never receive another mailing from us. If any company information changes our computers may not recognize it and something may go out. If that should happen, simply call us and we will remove that version, too.

Please know that we do business regularly with thousands of companies who place repeated orders due to their continued satisfaction and excellent customer service.

All of our contact information is in our newsletter and it contains our toll free telephone number. We, also, have a 24 hour/7 days a week voice mail system due to the large amount of calls we receive daily from our coast-to-coast subscribers.

Please feel free to contact the Customer Service Department if you have any questions at ###-###-####.

Thank you.

Review: Progressive contacted me on December 6th, 2013 asking that I receive their Facilitiy Manager's Alert publication, the first two issues being a free trial offer and I can continue or cancel after that. After receiving two issues I cancelled in writing and by email on January 30th, 2014. They verified my cancellation via email with the confirmation #[redacted], no other confirmation was provided by Progressive and no other sales calles were ever received. Issues kept coming after my cancellation!! Their problem, not mine! Now in July a collection agency contacts me and tells me that I need to pay a subscription bill, further investigation reveals that they set me up on two seperate accounts! WHAT? Now the collection agency is telling me; "well you didn't cancel both subscriptions so you still owe us for one!" Very unprofessional system...Desired Settlement: I want this resolved as my cancellation notice intended, I don't want the publication and I pay NO subscription fee. Thank You!

Business

Response:

August 12, 2014Dear [redacted] :Thank you for your email of 8/6/14 regarding the above referenced agency complaint that you received 7/31/14. After review, we would like to respond to your letter with the following detailed explanation.Please note that our primary method by which we secure orders is by telephone solicitation. In such cases, our representatives take orders with a 60-day right of cancellation to a 1-year subscription to one of our newsletters, books or on-line programs. We have very stringent quality control procedures regarding our representatives making this offer. These include verifying the mailing address, asking for the month and day of the person’s birth and asking for the person’s email address or fax so we can send written confirmation of the order within 24 hours. This serves to encourage contact with us if there are any mistakes or changes that need to be made.Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that [redacted], Facilities Mgr . , placed an order on 1/3/14 for our Facility Managers Alert publication. We were provided with birth date information as [redacted] as well as an email address. Within 24 hours of the discussion, we sent a confirmation letter that Clearly restated the offer discussed, including the liberal 60-day, no questions asked, cancellation policy. Our computers show that the Confirmation went through without any problems.The birth date information is obtained, in part, to verify the conversation took place. Once the Order was placed, the same computer system sent the newsletters and invoices over a 5-month period of time.Thus goods that were ordered by [redacted] were sent to the same address that shows on this complaint. Our computer System records and tracks all confirmations, invoices, on-line programs, books, periodicals sent and cancellation requests. It does not show that we ever received a cancellation on this account or mail returned as `undeliverable”. If we had We Would have cancelled the account immediately.With all telephone orders placed, if the ordering person does not find the information helpful, all that needs to be done is to write CANCEL on the invoice and return it to us or advise us any other way and the subscription will be stopped with no payment required, as is the publishing industry’s general custom. However, if neither paid nor cancelled after 5 months, 2 warning notices, plus an additional 30-day "wait period” the account may be turned over for collection. That is what happened in this instance.After further review of our records we found [redacted] had signed up for the same publication on 12/8/13, this account was cancelled on 2/7/14 as instructed. Until we received this complaint we were not aware there was a second account.We contacted the collection agency on 8/6/14 and advised the agency to cease collections and cancel the account. They have assured us that will be done. There will be no ramifications due to the account being turned over for Collection. There is no money due or owing on this account.Please know that we do business regularly with thousands of Companies who regularly place repeat orders due to their continued satisfaction and excellent customer service.All of our contact information is in our newsletter and contains our toll free telephone number. We, also have a 24 hour/7 days a week voice mail system due to the large amount of calls we receive daily from our coast–to–coast subscribersFeel free to contact the Customer Service Department if you have Y questions at [redacted]. Thank you.Sylvia *. N[redacted]Dir. Of Subscriber Services

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, [redacted]

Review: Received a bill from Progressive Business Publications in the amount of $229.00 for an Annual Subscription that was not purchased. After doing some research on the company, I found that this is a scam (see comments on [redacted]). I am trying to avoid this bill going to collections. There is no phone number or email address listed for this company so I could not contact them directly.Desired Settlement: Would like to see [redacted] not be held liable for this bill.

Business

Response:

June 16, 2014Dear [redacted]:Thank you for your email of 6/16/14 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 6/13/14. After review of our detailed electronic records we would like to respond to your letter with the following explanation.Please note that our primary method by which we secure orders is by telephone solicitation. In such cases, our representatives take orders with a 60-day right of cancellation to a 1-year subscription to one of our newsletters, books or on line programs. We have very stringent quality control procedures regarding our representatives making this offer. These include verifying the address, asking for the month and day of the person's birth date and asking for the person's email or fax number so we can send written confirmation of the order within 24 hours. This serves to encourage contact with us if there are any mistakes or changes that need to be made.Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that **. [redacted], H/R Mgr, placed an order on 3/27/14 for our What's Working In Human Resources publication. We were provided with birth date information as [redacted], as well as an email address. Within 24 hours of the discussion, we sent a confirmation letter that clearly restated the offer discussed, including the liberal 60-day, no questions asked, cancellation policy. Our computers show that the confirmation went through without any problems.The birth date information is obtained, in part, to verify the conversation took place. Once the order was placed, the same computer system sent the newsletters and invoices over a 2-month period of time.Thus the goods that were ordered by **. [redacted] were sent to the same address that shows on this complaint. This computer system records and tracks all confirmations, invoices, on-line programs, books, periodicals sent and cancellation requests.With all telephone orders placed, if the ordering person does not find the information helpful, all that needs to be done is to write CANCEL on the invoice and return it to us or advise us any other way and the subscription will be stopped with no payment required, as is the publishing industry's general custom.As a courtesy we cancelled this account on 6/13/14 as requested. There is no money due or owing on the account.While researching this complaint we did find that this company has done business with us in the past and is aware of our cancellation policy. We found 1-different trial subscription had been accepted before and cancelled as we instructed without issue.Please know that we do business regularly with thousands of companies who place repeated orders due to their continued satisfaction and our excellent customer service.All of our contact information is in our newsletter (bottom of page) and it contains our toll free telephone number. We, also, have a 24 hour/7 days a week voice mail system due to the large amount of calls we receive daily from our coast-to-coast subscribers.Feel free to contact the Customer Service Department if you have any questions at ###-###-####.Thank you.

Review: This company contacted me last year sometime asking for me to take their services. I declined. Now I am receiving an invoice from the business dated 11/20/2012 trying to bill us for $299.00. We have never had any service with them, never signed any paperwork, and never received any documentation. I did receive these newsletter things but did not open them because they did not interest me. I tossed them. Whenever they billed me, I sent an e-mail to our safety manager and asked if she requested this information be sent to us. She said that she has not ordered and to write on the invoice did not order/ did not receive and fax it to them. I did this and they have turned us over to a collection agency.Desired Settlement: I would like for the company to stop trying to collect this false debt and ensure that none of this is reported on our credit.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

Review: This company sends out "pamphlets" to businesses. This mail is treated as any other, junk mail, and discarded. However, we received an invoice for $94.56 for payment of their mailings. We wrote on the invoice "DO NOT PAY, DID NOT ORDER". Then we receive a call from a collection agency indicating they had turned over the invoice, with my personal name attached. The collection company stated that I had given them my birth month over the phone, which I would NEVER do. When I asked for proof that the order had been placed, she indicated they didn't have any, just my birth month.

We are issuing a check, certified, under protest, indicating we did not order this product and will never do business with them again.Desired Settlement: We ask that they refund the check we are sending for payment, and send proof that our business, [redacted] as well as myself, have been removed from any collection proceedings.

Business

Response:

November 18, 2013

Dear [redacted]:

Thank you for your email of 11/15/13 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 11/15/13. After review of our detailed electronic records we would like to respond to your letter with the following explanation.

Please note that our primary method by which we secure orders is by telephone solicitation. In such cases, our representatives take orders with a 60-day right of cancellation to a 1-year subscription to one of our newsletters, books or on line programs. We have very stringent quality control procedures regarding our representatives making this offer. These include verifying the address and asking for the month and day of the person's birth.

Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that [redacted], H/R Rep, placed an order on 4/25/13 for our Communications Bulletin For Managers & Supervisors publication and she provided us with a birth date of [redacted]. Prior to ending the call we clearly restated the offer, as well as our liberal 60-day, no questions asked cancellation policy.

The birthday information is obtained, in part, to verify the conversation took place. Once the order was placed, the same computer system sent the newsletters and invoices over a 5-month period of time.

Thus the goods that were ordered by [redacted] were sent to the same address that shows on this complaint. This computer system records and tracks all confirmations, invoices, on-line programs, books, periodicals sent and cancellation requests. It does not show that we ever received a cancellation on this account or mail returned as "undeliverable". If we had we would have cancelled the account immediately.

With all telephone orders placed, if the ordering person does not find the information helpful, all that needs to be done is to

write CANCEL on the invoice and return it to us or advise us any other way and the subscription will be stopped with no payment required, as is the publishing industry's general custom.

However, if neither paid nor cancelled after 5 months, 2 warning notices plus an additional 30-day wait period the account may be turned over for collection. That is what happened in this instance.

As a courtesy we did contact the collection agency on 11/15/13 and advised the agency to cease collections and cancel the

account and not to process the check sent. They have assured us that will be done. If we receive the check we will not process it

as payment, either. There will be no ramifications due to this account being turned over for collection and there is no money due or owing on the account. On the same day we left a voice mail message advising [redacted] of our actions.

While researching this complaint we did find that this company has done business with us in the past and is aware of our

cancellation policy. We found many different subscriptions had been accepted before; 6-paid in full accounts and 1-paid account that has been subscribing since 11/2010. We did find 1-other account that [redacted] accepted before (all information to start a trial subscription matches the account in question) and other accounts were cancelled as we instructed without issue except this account.

Please know that we do business continually with thousands of companies who place repeated orders due to their continued satisfaction and excellent customer service.

All of our contact information is in our newsletter and it contains our toll free telephone number. We, also, have a 2 4 hour/7 days a week voice mail system due to the large amount of calls we receive daily from our coast-to-coast subscribers.

Please feel free to contact the Customer Service Department if you have any questions at ###-###-####.

Thank you.

Review: I received an invoice from this company and I did not order the publication. I want my name took off this companies list.Desired Settlement: Stop contacting me!!!!!!!!!!

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

Review: A publication of some sort was sent to an employee who never ordered the publication and this business has been sending invoices for a subscription. They have been advised multiple times that this was never ordered or authorized in any way. As a non-profit board of trustee company all authorizations come through the board or general manager, our long standing employee would never have given any phone authorization. This company stated that the call was recorded and that he did authorize it, but when asked to hear the recording they said it was for quality control only. They cannot show anywhere that this item was ordered. We are now receiving calls from a collections company called [redacted]. They too have been notified that this was unauthorized and we will not pay for an item sent without being ordered.Desired Settlement: Stop billing for product, end communications with our company and clear any account we might have in their system.

Business

Response:

October 24, 2013

Dear [redacted]:

Thank you for your email of 10/23/13 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 10/21/13. After review of our detailed electronic records we would like to respond to your letter with the following explanation.

Please note that our primary method by which we secure orders is by telephone solicitation. In such cases, our representatives take orders with a 60-day right of cancellation to a 1-year subscription to one of our newsletters, books or on line programs. We have very stringent quality control procedures regarding our representatives making this offer. These include verifying the address and asking for the person's email address or fax so we can send written confirmation of the order within 24 hours, as well as to encourage contact with us if there are any mistakes or changes that need to be made.

Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that [redacted], Bldg Super, placed an order on 8/28/12 for our Supervisor's Safety Bulletin publication and we were provided an email address. Within 24 hours of the discussion, we sent a confirmation letter that clearly restated the offer discussed, including the liberal 60-day, no questions asked, cancellation policy. Our records show the email went through without any problems.

Once the order was placed, the same computer system sent the newsletters and invoices over a 5-month period of time.

Thus the goods that were ordered by [redacted] were sent to the same address that shows on this complaint. This computer system records and tracks all confirmations, invoices, on-line programs, books, periodicals sent and cancellation requests. It does not show that we ever received a cancellation on this account or mail returned as "undeliverable". If we had we would have cancelled the account immediately.

With all telephone orders placed, if the ordering person does not find the information helpful, all that needs to be done is to write CANCEL on the invoice and return it to us or advise us any other way and the subscription will be stopped with no payment required, as is the publishing industry's general custom.

However, if neither paid nor cancelled after 5 months, 2 warning notices plus an additional 30-day wait period the account may be turned over for collection. That is what happened in this instance.

As a courtesy we did contact the collection agency on 10/23/13 and advised the agency to cease collections and cancel this account. They have assured us that will be done. There will be no ramifications due to this account being turned over for collection and there is no money due or owing on the account.

We initiated a request on the same day that the name, address and telephone number be removed from our computer files. This action takes approximately 30-days to process. In business we hesitate to say the company will never receive another mailing from us. If any company information changes our computers may not recognize it and something may go out. If that should happen, simply call us and we will remove that version, too.

While researching this complaint we did find that this company has done business with us in the past and is aware of our cancellation policy. We found several different trial subscriptions had been accepted before; 1-paid in full account and 2-different trial accounts for [redacted] herself that she cancelled properly. Also, we found another trial account for [redacted] dated 3/14/13 entitled Safety Compliance Alert that was turned over for collection for nonpayment or cancelling but we ceased collections on that, too. They had other accounts that were cancelled as we instructed without issue.

Please know that we do business continually with thousands of companies who place repeated orders due to their continued satisfaction and excellent customer service.

All of our contact information is in our newsletter and it contains our toll free telephone number. We, also, have a 24 hour/7 days a week voice mail system due to the large amount of calls we receive daily from our coast-to-coast subscribers.

Feel free to contact the Customer Service Department if you have any questions at ###-###-####.

Thank you.

Review: Our company ([redacted].) has been referred to [redacted] of [redacted] for non-payment of an unsolicited subscription to "Information Technology Advisor'. Though we made an effort to return/reply to cancel the subscription, we still received a billing and were referred to a collection agency, threatening to report us to credit ratings agencies.Desired Settlement: Cancel the subscription (if it has not already done so), and order [redacted] to stop any/all actions against us.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

Review: This company continues to bill for a subscription that was NOT requested. They have been ask to remove the invoice via fax since they provide NO contact information.Desired Settlement: They need to stop sending invoices for subscriptions we did not authorize. I have asked them to remove the invoice and they keep requesting payment. They list no contact information on their invoices.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

Review: This company is continuing to bill us for publications we did not order nor receive.Desired Settlement: I would like our account to be removed from collects and voided of all purchases.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

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 continues to contact our facility claiming we approved a subscription to whatever reading material they provide, but we have never approved or saw this material. Last year they did the same using [redacted] as their collection agency and using our Maintenance Supervisor as the scapegoat that "approved" this subscription . Our administrator contacted them then and worked out an agreement to pay a smaller amount if they would just leave our facility alone. Now, we are being contacted again regarding an unpaid bill for a subscription that I, HR/Payroll Manager, allegedly approved. I have no authority to approve any subscriptions and not only that, I have never spoken to this company to even give them my information. I believe this company and the collection agency that they are using are Scamming companies.Desired Settlement: We will not pay and do NOT contact us any more!

Business

Response:

March 31, 2014Dear [redacted]:Thank you for your email of 3/31/14 regarding the above referenced agency complaint that you received on 3/27/14. After review, we would like to respond to your letter with the following detailed explanation.Please note that our primary method by which we secure orders is by telephone solicitation. In such cases, our representatives take orders with a 60-day right of cancellation to a 1-year subscription to one of our newsletters, books or on line programs. We have very stringent quality control procedures regarding our representatives making this offer. These include verifying the mailing address, asking for the month and day of the person's birth date and asking for the person's email address or fax so we can send written confirmation of the order within 24 hours, as well as to encourage contact with us if there are any mistakes or changes that needs to be made.Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that [redacted], H/R & Payroll Mgr, placed an order on 5/3/12 for our Keep Up To Date On Payroll publication and she provided us with birth date information as [redacted], as well as an email address Within 24 hours of the discussion, we sent a confirmation letter that clearly restated the offer discussed, including the liberal 60-day, no questions asked cancellation policy. Our computer shows that the confirmation went through without any problems.The birth date information is obtained, in part, to verify the conversation took place. Once the order was placed, the same computer system sent the newsletter and invoices over a 5-month period of time.Thus the goods that were ordered by [redacted] were sent to the same address that shows in this complaint. This computer system records and tracks all confirmations, invoices, on-line programs, books, periodicals sent and cancellation requests. It does not show ever receiving a cancellation request or mail returned as "undeliverable". If we had we would have cancelled the account immediately.With all telephone orders placed, if the ordering person does not find the information helpful, all that is required is to write CANCEL on the invoice and return that to us or advise us any other way and the subscription will be stopped with no payment required, as is the publishing industry's general custom.However, if neither paid nor cancelled after 5-months, 2-warning notices, plus an additional 30-day "wait period" the account may be turned over for collection. That is what happened in this instance.As a courtesy we contacted the collection agency on 3/31/14 and advised them to cease collection and cancel this account. They have assured us that this will be done. There will be no ramifications due to this account going for collection and there is no money due or owing on this account.While researching this complaint we did find that this company has done business with us in the past and is aware of our cancellation policy. We found several trial subscriptions had been accepted before; 1-paid in full account while others were cancelled. We did find several trial subscriptions for their Maintenance Supervisor and all the information to start a trial subscription matches his 1st account.We have initiated a request on the same day that the name, address and telephone number be removed from our computer files. This action takes approximately 30-days to process. In business we hesitate to say the company will never receive another mailing from us. If any company information changes our computers may not recognize it and something may go out. If that should happen, simply call us and we will remove that version, too.Please know that we do business regularly with thousands of companies who regularly place repeated orders due to their continued satisfaction and our excellent customer service.All of our contact information is in the newsletter and it contains our toll free telephone number. We, also, have a 24 hour/7 days a week voice mail system due to the large amount of calls we receive daily from our coast-to-coast subscribers.Please feel free to contact our Customer Service Department you have any further questions at ###-###-####.Thank you.