Progressive Business Publications

Review: Progressive Business Publications has sent us notices to pay for a subscription to FOUNDATION & CORPORATE FUNDING ADVANTAGE, but we never ordered a subscription. Now they are threatening to send this bill for $240 to a collection agency.Desired Settlement: We would like Progressive Business Publications to stop demanding payment for a subscription we did not order. We do not want this issue to affect our company's credit rating.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

Review: Progressive Business Publications (PBP) contacted our office and claimed that our company could receive a newsletter for free based on our company needs. A staff member did give the verbal ok, after being harassed to the point of saying yes, just to hang up the phone with the sales person. Yesterday I received a call from an agency called [redacted] claiming they are the company that handles debt collection for PBP and that they are filing a collection dispute. PBP is an unethical company that using scummy tactics to make a sale, which they then rake up more charges and debt by sending more newsletters and add those to an invoice that we never receive.Desired Settlement: I want to be removed from any future solicitations or sales tactics. I was told that I need to put a request in writing to cancel, when all other aspects of the company use verbal confirmation for billing purposes.

Business

Response:

August 22, 2013

Dear [redacted]:

Thank you for your email of 8/22/13 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 8/21/13. 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], Dev Assoc., placed an order on 1/8/13 for our Foundation & Corporate Funding Advantage publication and we were provided with 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.

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 8/21/13 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 8/22/13 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 trial subscriptions had been accepted before; 3-paid in full accounts, as well as 2-accounts for [redacted], herself 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: This company contacted me and asked me if I wanted to purchase their newsletter. I said no. They asked me to provide my birth month and date to verify that they had spoken to a live person. I provided the information. Now they keep sending us bills saying that we have received their newsletter (we have not) and that we owe them money. There is no phone number on these invoices. I Googled them and discovered that many, many people have registered complaints about them with the Revdex.com.Desired Settlement: Stop sending us invoices saying that we owe them money, because we do not owe them money. We did NOT order their newsletters and we did NOT receive any newsletters from them.

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 8/26/13. 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 date and asking for the person's email 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], Ops Mgr, placed an order on 4/8/13 for our Foundation & Corporate Funding Advantage publication. We were provided with birth date information as 9/26, 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 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 9/3/13 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.

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: We received a sales call from the company offering information about their publication but did not agree to purchase the publication from them. They are now trying to collect on a newsletter that we did not receive or wantDesired Settlement: stop contacting me

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 11/20/13. 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/P, placed an order on 4/23/13 for our Keep Up To Date On Accounts Payable 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 subscriptions had been accepted before and all those 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.

Review: I received a call from a woman at a collection agency who said that I ordered a subscription from this company and I have to pay the bill. They said that someone called me and offered me a service and sent it to me as a courtesy and I would have to call to cancel.I receive solicitation calls all the time and refuse all of them because I am not authorized to approve those kinds of purchases for services and/or materials. I am not sure how a company can call you to offer a service, you refuse and still send you something that you are responsible for financially. That makes no sense.I do not even know what company she was talking about until she called. I tried to see if I can speak to an account person and she refused.Desired Settlement: I would like my "account" closed with no requirement for payment since I have refused this service.

Business

Response:

January 6, 2014

Dear [redacted]:

Thank you for your email of 1/6/13 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 1/2/13. 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], System Admin, placed an order on 4/19/13 for our Information Technology Adviser and we were provided with 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 1/6/13 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.

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; 6-paid in full accounts and other accounts were cancelled as we instructed.

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 if you have any questions at ###-###-####. Thank you.

Review: Progressive Business Publications sent an invoice to collection company [redacted] for a periodical my company did not order. The total was $299.00. My company has refused to pay this balance.Desired Settlement: Cessation of collection activity.

Business

Response:

February 27, 2014

Dear [redacted]:

Thank you for your email of 2/27/14 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, 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], Ops Superv., placed an order on 7/24/13 for our Quality Manager's Alert 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 2/27/14 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; 6-paid in full accounts while other 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 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: Was contacted via phone for a "trial" version of their newsletter. We were very clear on the call that we were not interested, but the operator kept badgering until we agreed to the trial. However, we also made it very clear that we were not to be billed for any publications without explicit approval from the CFO of Ohio Transmission Corporation. Despite our request, we were invoiced $299 for this newsletter. We have refused payment and are now being harassed by International Credit Recovery.We had a similar issue with this same company years ago.Desired Settlement: We are refusing to pay the invoice in question, but it is now with a collection agency who continues to call in the same aggressive manner as the original operator.

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 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.Our computer system sent the newsletters and invoices over a 5-month period of time.Thus the goods 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.If the newsletter's information is not 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 4/8/14 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; 1-paid in full account for our "Information Technology Alert" for 4-years; also, [redacted] has had 3-other trial subscriptions before that he cancelled without issue. We found that all other accounts were cancelled as we instructed 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: In February 2014 an employee received a phone call from Progressive Business Publications requesting him to try a FREE trial with relation to SAFETY AND OSHA PRACTICE. The caller was very aggressive with selling his product. At any time during the conversation was it mentioned that we needed to cancel the free trial or any other procedure to keep a subscription from taking place. Employee received a call from [redacted] for collection of the debt in the amout of $299. He informed the rep with [redacted] that he was not authorized to purchase any type of subscription. The message was give to me (Administrator) to call [redacted]. I called and talked with [redacted] at [redacted] and she was VERY RUDE and DEMANDING that I pay this bill. I told her to send me the recording or email where BOBBY had authorized the bill. She, of course, could not produce the information. She continued to threaten me with credit reporting and told me she didnt care whether I paid the bill or not.Desired Settlement: Stop the harassment and hopefully this complaint will assist other companies from being put in this position

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 4/7/14. 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.We want to assure **. [redacted] that we do, indeed, record at the time of the call and these recordings are used only for inhouse training and quality purposes; these tapes are not stored for an extended amount of time.Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that **. [redacted], Clinic Dir, placed an order on 9/26/13 for our Safety Compliance Alert 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 4/9/14 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 2-different trial subscriptions had been accepted before and 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 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: This company has contacted our school district on several occasions via phone/email under the premise of selling guides/subscriptions to our employees at "no cost". They use high pressusre sales tactics that convince the employees that in order to comply with current laws their service is a must have. The company offers a no obligation "trial" as long as the product is sent back within 60 days. Most often the employee is unaware of what they have agreed to. In 2 incidents the product was never received in order for the employee to send it back, yet this company has had collection agencies contact us with a final invoice. Our district has recently been target again, however, this time the product was sent back. The company is claiming they did not receive the product. I have requested on SEVERAL occassions that they do not contact our district again.Desired Settlement: The final invoice for products sent back be credited

Business

Response:

September 18, 2014Dear [redacted]:Thank you for your email of 9/16/14 regarding the above referenced agency complaint that you received on 8/27/14. 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. 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], Super. Student Services, placed an order on 2/6/14 for our Keeping Your School Safe & Secure : A Practical Guide book and its companion newsletter. 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 book, newsletters and invoices over a 5-month period of time.Thus goods that were Ordered by Mr. Walker 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. We do show the newsletter portion of the account was cancelled on 3/17/14 however the book was not returned.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, 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 9/18/14 and they advised us that they did receive payment for the book portion of the account on 9/5/14 ($ 143.05).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 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 too.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 many different trial subscriptions had been accepted before; 4–paid in full accounts while others were cancelled as we instructed without issue. Further, we did find a paid account for Our Keep Up To Date On Payroll from 2001–2005.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.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: I have already put in a complaint against Progressive Business Publications and this morning I went into my e-mails and there is now Progressive Business Institute coming up. This is what created this mess in the first place via e-mail, and then somehow a charge is tagged on without my consent or my knowledge. I have written cancel on the invoices and I have asked that they stop e-mailing whether they are under the Publications name or Institute and clearly they have not done so. I am not sure why they continue to send out information first under the Publications name and now under this Institute name. The next thing I will be receiving is a new bill under this Progressive Business Institute name which I DID NOT sign up for nor under the Publications for that matter. I want them to cease contact and stop sending me invoices for something that I did not sign up for and to stop International Credit Recovery from contacting my place of business.Desired Settlement: I want the invoice payment of $299 thrown out/dismissed and I want them to stop contacting via e-mail or otherwise Under the name of Progressive Business Publications or Progressive Business Institute or [redacted].

Review: I was called and asked to accept a trial subscription to a business publication. I declined. The caller continued to try and sell the publication. I was offered what I believed was an email containing more information. When the email arrived, it said I had agreed to a 60 day free trial. I replied to the email stating that I did not agree to the trial.

I am being billed $299 for something that I did not want or KNOWINGLY agree to. They have now turned this over to a collection agency.Desired Settlement: I never wanted or used the product and want the balance adjusted to $0.00.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

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.

Regards,

Review: This company bills for publications not ordered or received.Desired Settlement: Stop billing [redacted]

Business

Response:

May 5, 2014Dear [redacted] :We received your email dated /5/14, regarding the above reference complainant.In order to respond to the complaint we require further information:1. What is the name of the person who is receiving thepublication? We can find nothing under complainants In -2. Did they receive an invoice? If so, what is theAccount number and name of the publication?Please be advised that the only accounts we could find were very old and cancelled.If you can obtain the current information, please send it to us and we will respond to the complaint immediately.Thank you very much for any assistance you may provide.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted]. Below are the answers to the the questions on the letter from Progressive Business Publications.

Review: This company telephoned me regarding an offer for a publication that I have no interest in. They offered a 30 day trial period which I could cancel if I wished. I did not agree to the 30 day trial period as I had no interest in their product at all. I started receiving mail correspondence from them, which I threw out. They evidently signed me up anyway and then sent the bill to a collection agency when I didn't pay.

I can only assume that the sales person on the phone needed to make a commission and signed me up for the 30 day trial anyway. As I didn't open their correspondence, I was unaware that they were billing me for anything. I have paid the collection agency. I want a refund. This is fraudulent conduct on the part of the sales person.Desired Settlement: Monitor or record your sales people's conversations.

Business

Response:

April 24, 2014Dear [redacted]:Thank you for your email of 4/24/14 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 4/23/14. 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 9/16/13 for our Safety Compliance Alert publication. She provided us with a birth date of **, 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 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 her at their 2nd location [redacted], IN [redacted]. This computer 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 industrys 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 4/24/14 and they advised us that they have received payment in full ($299.00) on 4/23/14 for the subscription. [redacted] has marked this account Settled Satisfactorily" and they reinstated the account so that she will get the remaining newsletters of the 1-year subscription. There will be no ramifications due to this account being turned over for collection and there is no money due or owing on this account. Once the collection agency receives payment there can be no refunds made.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.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 the newsletter. It contains our address and telephone number. We, also, have a 24 hour7 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.Cordinally,

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:

In the business response, they state that the goods were ordered by [redacted]; my name has been [redacted] since 2012. All previous orders they alluded to were under the name [redacted] along with a record of my birth date. All information easily accessible by the CSR that called me. I do not now or have ever worked at the division located at [redacted] IN, which is where you stated you sent the product to. I never received it, and never would have requested you send it there. Since I never received it, how would I have ben able to cancel it?

I reiterate again, I very clearly told your CSR that I had ABSOLUTELY NO INTEREST in this product and I didn't even want the 30 day trial. I believe he took my personal information out of your records and created an order on his own. The fact that you acknowledge that I went through the cancellation process on prior orders but not this one should tell you something.

I want a full refund.Regards,[redacted]

Business

Response:

May 14, 2014Dear [redacted] :Regarding the above referenced rebuttal that you received we submit the following:In reading both the original message sent to you along with the rebuttal message by [redacted], we identified inconsistencies in her messages. Due to this, we contacted **. [redacted] directly by phone to understand each other. Despite the order clearly being valid in our system, as a courtesy, we agreed to contact the collection agency to process a refund.The collection agency confirmed on 05/13/14 that the refund will be processed and issued back to **. [redacted].If you have any further questions, please feel free to Contact us .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, [redacted]

Review: This company has charged us for a product we did not order.Desired Settlement: To take us off their call list. And send us an invoice indicating zero amount owed for the product we did not order.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

Review: Offered free white paper. No mention this was attached to a subscription or fee. Not once while we talked about the white paper was a fee mentioned. The white paper was something that applied to what I was working on at the time. This was a phone call. At end of call salesman said I would owe $299 and hung up. I could not even respond. This after getting my email address. I did not give them other information - it was purchased from [redacted] since that is the only company in [redacted] where I had attended a class. As soon as I was screwed on the call, I went to the web site - no way to cancel. I could not find anything. I have been overworked and didn't pay attention to mail - missed the invoice. I have now canceled subscription via email. I don't believe this is legitimate for the company to take advantage of people - offer them a free article and then charge them. Now I refuse to talk to any one that calls. This company makes it difficult to cancel subscription.Desired Settlement: Have them cancel subscription and leave me alone. They are jerks - they take advantage of people. I will never, ever believe any one in a technical field has a free article to read - this company has left me with a very negative impression.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

Review: We stated receiving phone call stating that we are in collection for $198.00 for a publication we have not order and we have never received. Also this company stated that they have send bills since 8/1/2012 and we have no records of this. This company has a collections department that is been calling 2 or 3 times a day trying to intimidate. I requested confirmation of the agreement and they disconected the call. I called them back and I requested to lisent to the recorded conversation (so they claim) I they againg hag up the phone.Desired Settlement: We never agree for this Publication and we have never received any Publication!!!! We have no financial obligation with 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]

I am rejecting this response because:

1. I'm a billing specialist and I have not order any subcription the only person that is allow to order any type of subcription or any supplies is our office manager.

2. Our office have never received any letter, supplies, books and or any invoices from this peolple.

3. I have [redacted] this company and the motive operandoum is always the same. They take the name of anybody in the office and try to charge people with bogus subcription.

4. How can we cancel a subcription that we never order and have no invoice????

Thanks in advance,

Regards,

Review: I was contacted by an agent of Progressive Business Publications and began to receive information that I never requested or authorized to be provided. Then I received an invoice for a subscription I never authorized. I have emailed them three times, including one time today when I received the first invoice, asking them to cancel the account that I never set up or authorized. Their invoice calls for a $240.00 payment for a bogus subscription. I will also be putting in the mail a copy of their invoice with the words "Canceled" on it today, along with a copy of the three emails I have sent.Desired Settlement: That Progressive Business Publications have their accounts payable department stop sending invoices for an account we never authorize, cancel the account, send [redacted] a letter/email confirming they have canceled the bogus account and will stop sending invoices. Lastly, remove [redacted] from their contact list.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

Review: This company has begun again to contact employees of this agency, receive identifying information, and then mail publications for which they later bill. Their bills are much to high for a private, non profit agency. The material is not authorized although they use the identifying information as a form of saying that it was authorized. They have been told in the past to discontinue mailing, phoning, or emailing any employee of this agency. They have again started their same, tired old methods of contact and then turn it over to a collection agency.Desired Settlement: Discontinue any contact with any employee at any address by phone, mail, or email. Remove from all lists. Cease collection activity.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

Review: Our office continues to receive calls on a regular basis regarding charges for a service from Progressive Business Publications and claiming that an employee of our company authorized a subscription for $299.00 that is a completely false and made up claim. They claim that having this persons name and birth date is verification of said service. This person has not authorized this service, nor have they received any newsletters either by mail or by email. The phone calls are being made by [redacted]. on behalf of Progressive Business Publications and they have threatened reporting my employee and this company to credit bureaus if we don't pay. They have been rude on the phone to the point of hanging up on me personally when I questioned this whole invoice and charges, as well as continuosly threatening us. They ([redacted]) have faxed a so called "Invoice" (from PBP) to our office that has no real information on what the service / newsletter / subscription is and does not have any contact information other than an address for the company that we have supposedly made this agreement with. This is all a big SCAM!Desired Settlement: I wish for this comany to stop contacting our company in regards to anything ever again.

In a perfect world, I wish to see "[redacted]" and the associated "Progressive Bussiness Publications" company investigated and prosecuted for fraud, harassment, and any other applicable laws that they are breaking.

Business

Response:

See Attachment:

Review: Progressive Business Publications began sending a 'free' newsletter to my business and then began sending me bills for $299.99. I did not agree to pay this money and yet they continue to bill me and have turned it over to a 'collection agency'.Desired Settlement: I would like Progressive Business Publications to stop sending me information, bills, or any other correspondence. I would like Progressive Business Publications to stop calling. I would like their collection agency to stop calling.

Business

Response:

August 15, 2013

Dear [redacted]:

Thank you for your email of 8/15/13 regarding the above referenced complaint that you received on 8/13/13. 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 mistake or changes that need to be made.

Regarding the specifics of this situation, please note that **. [redacted], V/P, placed an order on 2/4/13 for our Safety Compliance Alert publication. We were provided with a birth date of 3/14, 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 his [redacted]. 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 8/15/13 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 that **. [redacted] had an account with us before and he cancelled that account as we instructed without issue. The information on the current account matches the information on the account he cancelled properly.

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,