Progressive Business Publications

Review: I believe Progressive Business Publications and [redacted] are business partners. Received a call Nov. '13 asking if I would be interested in their on-line safety newsletter free of charge. I stated over & over I would be interested ONLY if it was COMPLETELY free of charge. Stated I didn't want it if it had any hidden charges. She continued to assure me it was absolutely free- asked for my birth date stating I would get an e-mail confirming this conversation.I received a phone call months later saying we had an outstanding balance of $299. I stated I was assured it was a free newsletter. She infor** me it was free for 30 days and then if I didn't cancel I owed the yearly fee. I told her to listen to their taped phone conversation - I explained I was not going to pay for it as I was assured it was absolutely free. Told her I had not received any invoice for me to respond to. I ended the call by restating they needed to listen to their recorded conversation as they would hear me state numerous times I would only agree to receiving it if it was absolutely free. I did not agree to a product that would be charged. They should not send it unless they are sure the person understands it is a billable product. Trick you by saying over and over it is free not stating the IMPORTANT - for 30 Days only.Did not hear from them again until today 6/20- received a COLLECTIONS call [redacted]. Stating it had been turned over to them for $299 or if paid today it would be the 5 mos. fee of $130. Stated it all again to her-said they had my birthday as consent. Katie stated they had been correct as it was Absolutely Free for 30 days. Told me to be careful of phone sales-they call when your busy.She did not want me to contact the Revdex.com - said they could do nothing.Could not supply a copy of my voice recording. Looking into this after the call - I had to click 'more' on the bottom of a newsletter -taken to a page that offers to keep your account currentDesired Settlement: I want this to be zeroed out & closed.They base the billing on a supposed invoice which is hiddenYou have to scroll to the bottom of the newsletter and hit 'more'This takes you to a page which says to pay $299 if you want to stay current.I did not see this before today 6/20/14 but I would not have sent money if I had seen it as I did not want remain current - I did not want a subscription.

Business

Response:

July 3, 2014 Dear [redacted]:Thank you for your email of 7/1/14 regarding the above referenced agency complaint that you received on [redacted]/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], Office Mgr, placed an order on 11/19/13 for our Safety Compliance Alert 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 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. 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 7/1/14 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.Please be advised that [redacted] of New York State is just one of the collection agencies we use when an account becomes delinquent. [redacted] is an independent company that we only have a customer/vendor relationship with.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 ###-###-####.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. Progessive Business Publications should use their voice recorded phone solicitations to verify all sales people are explaining there will be billing after the initial 'trail' period.

Regards,

Review: I received a call from [redacted] of [redacted], who is the collections company for Progressive Business Publications. They advised me that our company will be sent to collections if a $195.00 balance is not taken care of. We do not utilize their newsletters and do not wish to subscribe. I tried to plead my case to [redacted] that everything that we have received from Progressive, was returned to them. I specifically remembered writing in red, “CANCELLED” on their invoices and returning it back to them. Unfortunately, I did not make a copy of the invoice. [redacted] said that being that the cancellation was not done "properly" and not done within the 30 days, that it’s being sent to collections (I don’t know how more proper a cancellation can be done and I know that I returned it as soon as I received it). I have a letter that’s dated May 28, 2008, that I had sent to them to stop sending us stuff, so this has been going on for quite some time. Their way of conducting business is unethical.Desired Settlement: We would like for them to stop contacting us and not charge us for something that we did not order or authorize.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

Review: We were called by a slick fast talking sales person from this company to sign up for a free trial of a book publication. I hesitantly agreed to have him send the book to our company. The next day I called the company and informed them that I did not want this product and not to mail it to us and remove our name from their database.

They still mailed the book and at that time we called them again and told them that we instructed them not to mail it and to remove our company from their database. They said they would do so. We had asked them if we needed to return the book and they said no.

Yesterday we a collection letter from [redacted] Inc. I believe they are some sort of a collection agency but have my doubts. I suspect it is the same owners and they are working together in this scam.

The collection letter is for the amount of $144.95. We are disputing this amount and will not pay them any funds as explained above.

This company is fraudulent in their sales and billing practices.

I request that they remove us from collections and reverse all and any charges related to our company.Desired Settlement: I request that they remove us from collections and reverse any and all charges related to our company. We did not want their product and told them not to ship it to us. WE later told them this and they said they would not bill us and we did not need to return the book.

Business

Response:

November 29, 2013

Dear [redacted]:

Thank you for your email of 11/26/13 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 11/25/13. 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], Fin/Controller, placed an order on 5/24/13 for our Deskbook Encyclopedia of Employment Law book and its companion newsletter. We were provided with a birth date of [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 records show the email 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 and cancellation requests. We did receive a cancellation request for the newsletter on 6/19/13, the book has not been returned.

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 contacted the collection agency on 11/26/13 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 the account being turned over for collection. There is no money due or owing on this account. The [redacted] is not part of our company; they are just one of the collection agencies we use.

We initiated a request on the same day that the company 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 the company's name is misspelled or the zip code incorrect, our computers may not recognize it and something may go out. If that should happen, please call and we will remove that version also.

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 subscriptions had been accepted before; 2-paid in full accounts and other accounts were cancelled as we instructed without issue except this account.

Please know that we do business regularly with many tens of thousands of companies who regularly place repeat orders due to their continued satisfaction and our 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 subscribers

As a Courtesy Please find enclosed a "Prepaid Merchandise Return Label" so that **. [redacted] may return the Book to us at our expense.

Feel free to contact the Customer Service Department if you have any questions at ###-###-####. 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. I will use the self enclosed Prepaid mailing return label and send back the book our company received. I will also send the invoice with the book stating cancelled account. Thank you for helping our company resolve this issue.

Regards,

Review: We received a book in the mail unsolicited from the Business, along with an invoice alleging a charge of $285.10. No book was ever ordered. We initially attempted to return the book but, due to the nature of the shipping, the post office informed us that we could not without paying a postage fee, which we feel is unfair to us as we never ordered the book in the first place.

We called the Business in attempt to resolve the situation and found them unhelpful. When repeatedly asked for a means to return the book, they were evasive. When asked for records of where and when the supposed order took place, we found them to not be completely forthcoming. For instance, they indicated an order date of 1/30/2014 but they could not tell us which representative we talked to on that day. To our records, we took a phone call from someone soliciting product on that date but placed no orders. We only requested they email us information for our review, which is our standard policy for sales cold calls (the email address we gave them appears on the invoice they later sent us.)

While we were dealing with them on the phone, they hung up on us. An attempt to call again was met with voicemail.Desired Settlement: We want the Business to NEVER send us anything unsolicited ever again.

Business

Response:

May 1, 2014Dear [redacted] :Thank you for your email of 5/5/14 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 4/30/14. 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 persons birth date and asking for the persons email or fax number 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], HR, placed an order on 1/17/14 for our Deskbook Encyclopedia Of Employment Law book and its companion newsletter. We were provided with birth date information as **, 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 book, newsletters and invoices over a 4-month period of time.Thus 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 and cancellation requests. It does not show our computers receiving a call from them requesting cancellation as they state in their complaint. 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 write cancel on the invoice and return it along with the book, or advise us by any other way, and the subscription will be stopped with no payment required, as is the publishing industrys general custom.As a courtesy we cancelled the book portion of the account on 5/5/14 as requested. There is no money due or owing on the account.While researching further, we did find that they cancelled the newsletter portion of the account on 5/1/14 via mail.We have initiated a request the same day that the name 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 the companys name information changes, our Computers may not recognize it and something may go out. If that should happen, please call and we will remove that version also .Please know that we do business regularly with many tens of thousands of companies who regularly place repeat orders due to their continued satisfaction and excellent customer service.All of our contact information is in the newsletter. It contains our email, address, telephone, and fax numbers, as well as our website. 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.

Review: I began receiving invoices from Progressive Business Publications months ago and called to cancel. I continued to receive these invoices and thought they were junk mail so I discarded them. I now have been contacted by [redacted]. about Progressive Business Publications sending me to collections for payment of $195.50. I never ordered nor did I ever receive the magazine they claim I subscribed to. I was told I had canceled it but once collections began calling they said I didn't follow proper procedure for cancelling which I was not informed of when I called to cancel. The invoice says I have received 2 magazines which I have never seen and that I am paying for a subscription that I will not receive until I pay, but somehow Progressive Business Publications says there is no way to cancel now. I do not want these magazines, I never wanted these magazines, and I believe that this is a scam.Desired Settlement: I would like them to remove the $195.50 from our account, close our account, and never contact us again. This harassment has to stop.

Business

Response:

November 21, 2013

Dear [redacted]:

Thank you for your email of 11/21/13 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 11/19/13. 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], A/A, placed an order on 4/11/13 for our Administrative Professional Update publication. We were provided with a birth date of [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 records show the email 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 11/21/13 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; 1-paid in full account 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 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 you have any questions at ###-###-####.

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: Back in late August I was given an opportunity to receive a book in the mail to consider purchasing. I decided against purchasing the book and returned it to the company. I did not keep my receipt from returning the book and the company took the situation to a collection agency. I know I returned the book as it is not here at my school nor is it at home. I went ahead and paid the the company as I did not want this collections on my credit score. I believe the company is scamming people out of money. They used a very fast sales pitch which was high pressure and I made the mistake of getting them off my back by accepting the book under pressure.Desired Settlement: People need to know that this company lies about book returns and should return my money.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

Review: A representative of Progressive Business Publications called me with an offer of a magazine with a 30 day free trial. I was told that if I didn't like it, I could just write cancel on the invoice. The magazine contact was useless and I wrote cancel on the first invoice that I received. When they send a second invoice, I wrote "cancel" and send it back. After that I just threw away the invoices. Now, almost 2 years later, I get a harassing call from a collection agency that I owe the money.This is a disreputable company and should be banned from making telephone sales. Their practice of cancelling an order after 30 days is purely fraudulent!Desired Settlement: I would like the $126.50 paid to the collection agency to get off my back to be refunded to me and that they prove that they have the internal controls to honor cancellation of services requests, or be banned from making such fraudulent offers.

Business

Response:

April 10, 2014Dear [redacted] :Thank you for your email of 4/8/14 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 4/3/14. 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 persons birth date and asking for the persons 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 corrections that need to be made.Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that **. [redacted], Controller, placed an order on 1/24/12 for our Whats New In Credit & Collections publication. He provided us with a birth date of [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 60day, no questions asked cancellation policy. Our electronic records show that the confirmation letter 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 -month period of time.Thus 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 and cancellation requests. It does not show that we ever received a cancellation on this account or mail returned as Yundeliverable. 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 write cancel on the invoice and return it to us, or advise us by any other way, and the subscription will be stopped with no payment required, as is the publishing industrys general custom. However, if neither paid nor cancelled after -months, 2 warning notices and 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 4/10/14 and they advised us that they did receive payment (126. 50) on 4/9/14 for issues served only. They have marked this account Settled Satisfactorily. 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 be advised that once the collection agency receives payment there can be no refunds made.While researching this complaint we found 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; 5-paid in full accounts and others cancelled as we instructed.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 the newsletter. It contains our address and telephone. 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.

Review: The issue is that they had sent me an environmental newsletter by mail, said nothing about cost. I received a phone call and they asked if I liked the publication. I said yes, but again heard nothing about cost when I spoke to the representative by phone ([redacted], I believe).

Afterwards, I received an invoice for $320+ to my surprise. When [redacted] called me, I told the rep. that I was never told this newsletter was a cost item, as I receive magazines and newsletters from other firms free of charge. This company certainly is dealing in an unethical manner, and they have called me over and over again. They said they are going to report our company. They even called the security guard on site and asked him to make an intercom announcement to get in touch with me (when I told this to [redacted], she denied this). Our security guard did not do what she wanted and told me about this. They have already contacted our corporate office in [redacted], Ohio, whom I filled in on the issues as well.

I am aware that in 2012 this group has had over 900 complaints per your alert, and over 280 for [redacted].Desired Settlement: Cease and desist collection attempts

Business

Response:

April 10, 2014Dear [redacted]Thank you for your email of 4/8/14 regarding the above referenced agency complaint that you received on 4/3/14. 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 and asking for the month and day of the person's birth date.Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that **. [redacted], Group H/S & E Mgr, placed an order on 8/26/13 for our Environmental Compliance Alert publication and he provided us with birth date information as [redacted]. Prior to ending the conversation we clearly restated the offer discussed, including the liberal 60-day, no questions asked cancellation policy.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 4/9/14 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; 3-paid in full accounts while others were cancelled as we instructed without issue except this account.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 if you have any further questions at ###-###-####. Thank you.

Review: I was contacted by Progressive Business Publications and asked if they could send me a free newsletter on the New OSHA changes and safety issues in the workplace. If I liked the service I can upgrade for a fee. After I received the first letter on 2-11-14 I immediately called, faxed, and emailed a message to the company canceling because they never gave me the information they said they would give. On 2-26-14 I received an invoice for 299 for the services provided.Desired Settlement: Cancel my account without charges due to no services provided.

Business

Response:

March 6, 2014

Dear [redacted]:

Thank you for your email of 3/5/14 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 2/26/14. 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 and asking for the month and day of the person's birth date.

Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that **. [redacted], Safety Mgr, placed an order on 1/17/14 for our Safety Compliance Alert publication and we were provided with birth date information as [redacted]. Prior to ending the call we clearly restated the offer discussed, including the liberal 60-day, no questions asked, cancellation policy.

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 1-month period of time.

Thus the goods that were ordered by **. [redacted] were sent. 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 2/11/14 as he requested the same day he contacted us. There is no money due or owing on the account.

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 ###-###-####.

Thank you.

Review: Progressive Business Publications began sending an unauthorized "payroll" newsletter in November of 2013, in my name to "[redacted]". Since then, sales representatives have called a couple of times in January and February of 2014. The sales reprsentatives have asked if we wanted their service, to which I told them, unequivocally: "NO". I also told them to stop calling our company and to stop sending us newsletters or any other type of publications. Today, our Accounts Payable department received an invoice from Progressive Business Publications in the amount of $230.00 for a 12 month subscription. It said: "Ordered by: [redacted]". Again, neither I nor any [redacted], Inc. representative ever agreed or even entertained an agreement to any type of subscription. goods or services from Progressive Business Publications. This is blatant fraudulence. Progressive Business Publications is preying on businesses and must be stopped immediately.Desired Settlement: Progressive Business Publications must cease and desist immediately!!!

Business

Response:

March 6, 2014

Dear [redacted]:

Thank you for your email of 3/5/14 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 2/24/14. 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 and asking for the month and day of the person's birth date.

Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that **. [redacted], Payroll Mgr, placed an order on 10/25/13 for our Keep Up To Date On Payroll publication. We were provided with birth date information as [redacted]. Prior to ending the call we clearly restated the offer discussed, including the liberal 60-day, no questions asked, cancellation policy.

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 4-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 3/6/14 as requested. 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 many different trial subscriptions had been accepted before; 1-paid in full account and other accounts 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 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.

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:

Although I appreciate that the so-called "account" has been cancelled by Progressive Business Publications on 03/06/14, their response is incorrect on several points: To my knowledge, neither I nor any representative of [redacted], Inc. has ever placed an order with Progressive Business Publications, as stated by [redacted]. Furthermore, neither the month nor the day of my birthdate matches the date of [redacted] given in their response. Progressive Business Publications clearly has no qualms in creating false information to forge illegal contracts in efforts to defraud innocent businesses. I believe Progressive Business Publications is a predatory organization and I personally will not be satisfied until they are forced to permanently close their doors as a business. Please take any action necessary to remove this wolf from the herd. Thank you.

Regards,

Review: On 02/11/2014 I was contacted by an [redacted] an employee of [redacted], (hereafter, [redacted])regarding a supposed debt collection regarding a 3rd party publication "Environmental Compliance Alert" supposedly sold by Progressive Business Compliance (hereafter, PBC). She stated that I had failed to pay for services and she was collecting on that debt. She stated that if "you could just pay it to me now, I would not need to add collection and processing fees." I stated I DID NOT request any service. She stated she had a written transcript of the conversation and they had my birthday authorizing the purchase. I said I did not recall approving any service and if she had such documentation to provide me a copy for review. She stated she would need to check with PBC as [redacted] bought the debt from PBC. Additionally, the transcript was "internal information only". I again restated if I had indeed approved such service I was requesting a copy of my authorization for verification. She stated should would inquire with PBC and call me back. On 02/12/14 I received a follow up call where she stated PBC had provided the verification and [redacted] had emailed me the information. As I did not have any email, it was verified that their email address they had for me was incorrect and I provided the correct address. Upon receipt, what I was provided was a template form email letter from PBC of "Environmental Compliance Alert" stating I had ordered something but there was no confirmation of any approval of placing the order as I had requested. Upon pointing this fact out and re-requesting the confirmation of order approval by PBC, the tone of the conversation was changed to aggressive and threatening. It was stated that I was lying, and that I had indeed told her I requested the services the day prior. I was interrupted and "told" what I had supposedly stated previously. I let her finish her position and questioned if I had an opportunity to respond. She said "yes". When I restated that prior to any review I would need to received the documentation as requested providing verification of the order. She became very aggressive again, cut off my ability to respond and stated I was lying and she was just turning it over to collections and hung up on me. I have sent an email to what contact I did have at [redacted] and PBC stating that the request has been denied based on the following conditions. Grounds for denial of request are based on the following parameters: 1. Services supposedly provided were not requested 2. Upon request of debt payment by [redacted] and PBC, counter request by Company of written confirmation of Company authorization of service was denied by [redacted] and PBC 3. Follow up to seek information on request was denied. 4. Method of collection was coercion, deception, and intimidation.

I have sent an email and a certified letter to PBC and [redacted] reqeuesting no further contact to Company.Desired Settlement: Deletion of this request from their files, stop contacting our Company, assurances that this is not effect company credit.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]:

As we just discussed on the phone, you are starting a no-risk subscription to Environmental Compliance Alert, a print newsletter and online resource center.

Our subscribers tell us that they immediately see the benefits of this quick, relevant, and actionable information that helps you stay up-to-date, keep your facilities compliant, and do your job even better.

You can expect the first issue of the print newsletter in a couple of weeks. But you don’t have to wait until then. You now have exclusive access to the website: [redacted].

Username: [redacted] Password: [redacted]

Check it out now and see the latest environmental news, strategies to stay compliant with ERA regulations, and real-life examples of what's working (and what isn't) in companies around the country. Plus, you can quickly and easily find inspection checklists and compliance resources to prepare your facility for that next inspection.

You’ve made a great decision to start your no-risk subscription. Please see below for information about your account and how the no-risk subscription works.

Visit www.EnvironmentalComplianceAlert.com now

We will mail your newsletters and correspondence to the address below. PLease reply to this email with any corrections:

[redacted]Real Estate Manage[redacted]

As you’ll remember from our phone discussion, in addition to access to the rich Web resources, you'll receive your first mailed issue in three weeks and your second one two weeks later. If you love the value you get from Environmental Compliance Alert, like thousands of other subscribers do, the cost for a full year is only $299.00. You can submit payment along with the invoice we mail you, or you can use your personal invoice under the "My Account” tab on the Environmental Compliance Alert website. If for any reason you don't find the service valuable, simply let us know by marking "cancel" on the invoice, within sixty days, and return it to us - no questions asked -Otherwise your subscription will continue uninterrupted.

We look forward to helping your continued success.

Sincerely,

Review: In August, I was approached by [redacted], a collection agency stating that my company had been sent to collections by Progressive Business Publications and was that the debt was 299.00 and that a complaint would be filed on our company credit if the bill was not taken care of immediately. I was informed that I had been offered a trial over the phone for a product, and that should I not want the product I needed to cancel after 60 days. The is[redacted] that I have is that I had never received any newsletters or invoices from Progressive Business Publications. When I stated this to the collection agent, they stated that it did not matter, that a debt had been incurred. I stated that I had never agreed to this and they stated that I had received an email. I paid the invoice and was told that my subscription would be sent for the rest of the year, a remaining 7 months. I have still not received a publication. I had my HR manager call for a refund, and was told that it was refused. She then began to look into this company as well as the collection agency and it would seem that I am not the first person that this has happened to. Here are the facts, I did not agree to this subscription, I never received the subscription, I was sent to collections for a product that was not ordered and not delivered, and I have now been refused a refund for a product that is not satisfactory as I have never seen it. When I provided this information to Progressive Business Publications I was told that my case would go to review, but that it was likely that I would not get a refund. There was not a legal contract, nor was there any acceptance of their offer. I am frustrated by how many people and companies are being subjected to this threatening business practices.Desired Settlement: I would like the money to be refunded as well as this company practice to be discontinued. This company practice is not ethical nor professional.

Business

Response:

November 18, 2 013

Dear [redacted]:

Thank you for your letter email on 11/14/13 regarding the above referenced complaint. 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 progra**. 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 number so we can send written confirmation of the order within 24 hours to encourage contact with us if there are any mistakes.

Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that **. [redacted], Dir. Employment Relations, placed an order on 3/26/13 for our What's New in Benefits and Compensation 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 that clearly restated the offer in writing that was discussed, including the liberal 60-day, no questions asked, cancellation policy. We do show that the confirmation letter 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 goods that were ordered by [redacted] were sent to the exact same address that shows on this complaint. This computer system records and tracks all confirmations, invoices, on-line programs, books, periodicals 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 write CANCEL on the invoice and return it to us, or advise us by 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,

10 mailings, 2 warning notices and 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 11/8/13 and they advised us that they did receive payment for this account in full for $299. They have marked this account "Settled Satisfactorily". There will be no ramifications due to the account being turned over for collection. Accordingly, there is no money due or owing on this account.

Upon reviewing this account further, our computer records show this company has done business with us in the past and is aware of our cancellation policy. We show this company had accepted over 40 trial publication offers dating back to the year 2000, all of which contain the same mailing address as this account in question. 8 of those accounts were paid in full, including a subscription for [redacted], HR Director who renewed our Supervisors Legal Update publication for 2 years. In addition, we were also contacted by [redacted], HR manager on 11/28/13, and she verified that all the information we have on the account was correct, including the mailing address. If there is some additional information about this account, not currently showing with us, please advise.

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

All of our contact information is in the newsletter. It contains our email, address, telephone, and fax numbers, as well as our website. 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 contact the Customer Service Department if you have any questions at ###-###-####.

Consumer

Response:

January 23, 2014

Dear [redacted]:

I am responding to the letter that you received on November 18, 2013 from [redacted] of Progressive Business Publications. Following an inquiry with our payroll and accounting office, we still have not received any publications from Progressive Business Publications. We receive all other mail, but have never received a single publication of which we were billed 299.00 and sent to collections for.

In her letter, a copy of which is enclosed she states that Progressive Business Publications has conducted business with [redacted] since 2000 with HR Director [redacted]. This is not possible as [redacted] was established in October of 2011 and has never employed [redacted] works for another division of [redacted] and has never had any authority to order anything for [redacted]. Therefore, [redacted] had no prior knowledge of Progressive Business Publications methods of business.

**. [redacted] states that all we would need to do to cancel is write “cancel" on an invoice and return it to them. Aside from the free trial that was offered, we have had no verbal or written correspondence with Progressive Business Publications. I would like to add that without anything in writing, there is not a contract in place for this service. Had our company received their publication it would have been cancelled. The first correspondence had was via their collection agency, stating that because **. [redacted] had provided her birthdate (month and day) that this was acceptable confirmation that we were accepting billing of the product if we did not cancel.

I did contact Progressive Business Publications in an attempt to settle this matter. They stated that they have verified our address and that we should be receiving the publication. While our address is valid, we have still not received the publication that **. [redacted] had no intention of ordering. It is not possible to follow their cancellation policy when there is not an invoice delivered.

I am continuing to request a full refund of the 299.00 dollars collected by their collection agency. We have not received a product, and never intended to order this product to begin with. Please feel free to contact me with any further questions at ###-###-####.

Review: This company continues to send billing and late billing notices for services never provided. I have never and will never subscribe to their publications.Desired Settlement: stop contacting me

Business

Response:

July 23, 2014Dear [redacted] :Thank you for your email of 7/18/14 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 7/15/14. 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 and asking for the month and day of the person's birth date.Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that [redacted], V/P, placed an order on 4/2/14 for our Foundation & Corporate Funding Advantage publication and we were provided with birth date information as [redacted]. Prior to ending the call we clearly restated the offer discussed, including the liberal 60-day, no questions asked cancellation policy.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 7/22/14 as requested. 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 and all those accounts were 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 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 [redacted].Thank you.Sylvia *. N[redacted]Dir. Subscriber Ser

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: Progressive Business Publications harasses our employees by trying to push "free trials" of their publications, and not disclosing the terms of the 30-day trial or the return and cancellation policy. They insist that there is nothing that needs to be done after receiving the free trial to cancel shipments. They tell you that the only thing that will be shipped is the free trial and no other publications will be sent without your authorization. Even after refusing to accept a free trial, they send the publication anyway, and there is no phone number or contact information listed on or with the shipment. They then harass our employees by phone for payment of a 12-month subscription to their publication and threaten to send the account to collections. Even after asking them several times to remove us from their solicitation listing, they still call various employees. Progressive Business Publications is unscrupulous in its business practices, and unethical in its means of soliciting customers and obtaining orders.Desired Settlement: I would like Progressive Business Publications to first adjust any and all billing that they have for our organization, and then to NEVER EVER - NOT EVER contact anyone in our organization again in this eternity or in any to come.

Business

Response:

Response for Unresolved Revdex.com Case #[redacted]

Inboxx

[redacted] <[redacted]>

3:31 PM (0 minutes ago)

to me

Good Day, Please see our updated response for case #[redacted]. Updated Comcast Response: Our records reflect that credit for the activation fee, transfer of service fee, and for the inconvenience was applied to their account on 7/3/13. These credits appear on the billing statement dated 7/21/13. The credits are itemized on the billing statement under “Other Charges & Credits”. All promised credits were applied to the account and the billing is correct. Thank you, [redacted], Regulatory Compliance Specialist[redacted] – [redacted]

Review: My name is [redacted] I am the manager at [redacted] and [redacted]. On 07/01/2013 a company called an spoke to my front office clerk [redacted]. She supposedly agreed to a free subscription for a weekly newsletter called Administrative Professional Update. There was a conformation email sent that also stated if we wanted to cancel to click on the link below. Every week they are suppose to email and send a hard copy to us. On 07/01/2013 I receive a phone call stating we have been sent to collections for nonpayment of the subscription for the amount of $195.00 dollars. We have not received any news letter, or invoices regarding our subscription, also **. [redacted] is not authorized to make any such decisions on behalf of the company. Only the doctor is

authorized to make any financial decisions and he never ordered for subscription.Desired Settlement: We would like Progressive to remove us from collections and drop the charges. We never received their services nor did we authorize them.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

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]

This is **. [redacted], Director of [redacted]. I am rejecting this response because: [redacted] is or was not a owner or was never authorized to purchase any material for the business entity [redacted] & [redacted]). When asked about this order she denied repeatedly authorizing this purchase. **. [redacted] is no longer an employee of [redacted]. Any employee or owner of [redacted] have no responsibility for her personal decision.

Please feel free to contact **. [redacted] and collect charges from her directly if she has authorized this purchase as the response say.

Regards,

The sales person lied to me on the phone about having to "opt-in" once our free trial was over. This was not the case and we were opted in automatically. We also never received the publications which resulted in us only receiving the emails which were worse than spam.

Review: Contacted by company about newsletter service, told them "NO" they sent publication anyway, tried to cancel but still kept coming. Then I was contact by their Collection Service for a outstanding bill of $299.00 for a service I never agreed to. When I questioned them they said because they knew my birthday that was confirmation of a sale. I contacted my company Lawyer and he is going to issue them a letter. Something needs to be done about this type of company.Desired Settlement: Stop trying to collect on a service not authorized or accepted

Business

Response:

May 29, 2014Dear [redacted] :Thank you for your email of 5/23/14 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received 5/21/14. 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 and they include verifying the mailing address, asking for the month and day of the persons birth date and asking for the persons 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], HR Mgr., placed an order on 10/16/13 for our Keep Up To Date On Payroll publication and he provided us with a birth date of **, as well as a fax number ([redacted]). 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. We do show that the confirmation letter 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 – 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, online programs, books, periodicals sent and cancellation requests. It does not show ever receiving a cancellation on the 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 industrys general Custom. However, if neither paid nor cancelled after 5 months, 2 warning notices plus and 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 5/23/14 and advised the agency to cease collections and to cancel the account. They have assured us that this has been 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.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, many different trial subscriptions had been accepted before; 4paid in full accounts and -trial subscriptions for **. [redacted] himself. All the information we have on those trial accounts matches the account in question. Other trials were cancelled as we instructed without issue.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 the companys name is misspelled or the zip code incorrect, our Computers may not recognize it and something may go out. If that should happen, please call and we will remove that version too.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. It contains our address and 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.Cordially yours,

Review: We have recently been contacted by [redacted]) out of New York regarding a balance due with Progressive Business Publications (PBP), who turned it over to [redacted] for collecting. We were a bit surprised by this as we have not ordered anything from PBP as we have felt they are not reputable. We did some checking with others internally and found out that someone did receive a call about a free newsletter which he signed up for, however never received anything. After talking with [redacted], it sounds like this was a free trail and if it was not manually canceled when it expired, it would automatically continue and that is what we are being charged for now. None of which was disclosed during the phone call, just that it was a free publication and that was it.Desired Settlement: We do not feel we should be responsible for the $295.00 they are charging us for something we thought was free and never did end up receiving. We also would like for this to be removed from the collections agency ([redacted]) which PBP forwarded it to.

Business

Response:

April 7, 2014Dear [redacted]:Thank you for your email of 4/4/14 regarding the above referenced agency complaint that you received on 3/31/14. 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 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 need to be made.Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that [redacted], V/P Sis, placed an order on 6/27/13 for our Selling Advantage 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.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 4/4/14 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 different trial subscriptions had been accepted before; [redacted] had 3-different trials himself and all the information given to us to start a trial subscription matches his first account. We found 1-paid in full account and 1-trial subscription for [redacted] that was cancelled properly, as well as other trial subscriptions that had been cancelled as we instructed without issue.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.

Consumer

Response:

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

Review: In April 2014, I received a call from Progressive Publications regarding a Grants/Funding brochure that was "free". I verbally agreed to receive the publication and it was followed up by an email that stated if I was not satisfied by the product I need to call to cancel the delivery otherwise they would charge me an annual subscription fee. This was not stated in the first phone call and the email was found in my junk folder when the CSR called to get money from me. I did not receive the publication. I received a follow up call in July from Progressive Publications to let me know that I owed them money. I told them clearly and hopefully they recorded this conversation, that I did not receive any publication. The sales rep asked if I wanted her to send them again and confirmed my address, which was correct. The sales rep was told that she can do what she wants with the previous publications but I did not receive them when I was supposed to therefore I don't want them and asked how to cancel. I am now of course receiving the publications AFTER I sent in the email to state that I never received it in the first place and to cancel. The sales rep gave me the email address, [redacted] to which I sent the following email of which I have saved and offered as proof of cancellation and non-receipt of the product to [redacted].: I have just received a letter stating that payment is overdue for a subscription. I have never logged into your website nor have I seen the newsletters. I did have a conversation with a sales rep a few months ago who gave me free access to your online publication however I never heard anything after. After searching emails, your email was in my junk inbox and much to my dismay, the free subscription, as noted in the very last sentence of your email states that the subscription would continue after 60 days. There was no mention of this in the phone call as I would have said no from the very beginning.

My organization is not able to pay nor is willing to pay $240 for a subscription that was not and will not be used. Please cancel this account. Thank you for your cooperation."

This email did not bounce back and once again, I heard nothing back. I am now being hounded by a [redacted] of [redacted] in a very aggressive manner. I have spoken to him on multiple occasions and have not avoided the calls in an effort to resolve this problem, until he began telling other employees who have answered our main line to page me or go and get me. In our second conversation, Mr. Bennett said he would talk to his legal department to see if they can reduce the settlement to $100. He came back and said that $100 would be accepted to get rid of the debt. There should not be any debt. I didn't receive a product but he said that all he knows is that Progressive Publications sold this debt to them and that's a Progressive Publication problem. He is now calling 3-6 times a day either directly to my phone or via other staff members. I had a staff member walk into a meeting to tell me he wants me on the phone NOW. I told him when I spoke to him a few days ago that I was having to talk to my CFO and CEO about what we going to do and the decision was made on Friday evening to report this issue to Revdex.com for unethical practices. Again, I never received the publications and I told Progressive this very very clearly last year.

Progressive Publications did not deliver the product promised in the 60 day time frame. This is an unacceptable practice. Never in my years on the job have I seen such an appalling lack of business ethics and to boot, we are a charity.Desired Settlement: I need for Progressive Publications to remove us from the call list and for ICR to stop harassing me and my staff and to drop this erroneous complaint of non-payment for a product we never received.

Business

Response:

See Attached:

Review: Progressive Business Publications claimed that they were offering a "no risk" trial of a payroll newsletter. Even at that, I originally told them that I wasn't interested because we use an outside payroll service. The person on the phone insisted that there was no risk and it wouldn't cost anything to try it. So, I relented and agreed to try the free issues. They asked for my birthday as "proof that they talked to me". I did receive some newsletters and then an invoice for payment. I wrote "cancel" on the invoice and returned it. Sometime later they called me and I told them that I had canceled the subscription and was not interested in it. Today, a collection agency called and told me that I could avoid the payment if I could send them a copy of the invoice showing that I canceled it. I told the woman that I probably didn't keep a copy but that I would look. She told me that "it was too late" if I didn't provide it to her at that moment. I have subsequently looked and don't seem to have a copy of the canceled invoice. However, I am sure that I returned it indicating that I did not want the newsletter. Bottom line is that this was not a "risk free" offer and they are trying to pressure me into paying for something that I did not want in the first place. I followed their procedures to cancel and they are not honoring the cancelation.Desired Settlement: I would like the invoice canceled as I previously requested and for the company to stop contacting me. Also, take our company off of their list for any future offers.

Business

Response:

December 12, 2013

Dear [redacted]:

Thank you for your email of 12/12/13 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 12/11/13. 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], CFO, placed an order on 5/21/13 for our Keep Up To Date On Payroll publication. We were provided with a birth date of [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 records show the email 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 12/12/13 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 company 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 many different subscriptions had been accepted before and all other accounts were cancelled as we instructed without issue except this account. Further, we found an account for our CFO & Controller's Alert publication that **. [redacted] accepted on 12/9/13 and all information given to start a trial subscription matches his other accounts. We cancelled this account on 12/12/13; there is no money due on 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 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 you have any questions at ###-###-####.

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. One note is that the company states that we have canceled all prior subscriptions in accordance with their policies. Although they do not have a record of it, this subscription was also canceled as required. I appreciate that they have resolved this issue.

Regards,