Publishers Elite

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: I call everyday and get the same thing we are still looking into it so I guess im just not buying what they told you if what they say is true then I will accept it but what if I dont get another magazine next month then that will be mths in a row can I reopen this complaint then or don't get the check can we keep this open til then to see that they follow through [redacted]

Lionstone Holdings Group has received Ms [redacted] complaint referenced aboveThank you for the opportunity to respond Lionstone was attempting to locate a consumer and Ms [redacted] number inadvertently was dialed in our skip-tracing effortsWhen skip-tracing, we ensure not to disclose the purpose of our call, unless and until we are able to verify we have reached the consumer we were looking forAs stated above, Ms [redacted] number was dialed by mistakeThere were calls placed by accident to Ms [redacted] number in our attempt to locate a different consumerAt no time was Ms [redacted] threatened or forced to do anythingRather, there were calls placed in a location effort to find a different consumerWhen Ms [redacted] called into our office on May 19, to inform us we have the incorrect number and threaten our representative with arrest, Ms [redacted] hung up prior to our representative explaining that Ms [redacted] number would be removed from our system Ms [redacted] number has subsequently been removed from our system and she should not receive any additional calls from our office Please contact the undersigned if we can be of any additional help in this matter Sincerely, Authorized Representative of Lionstone Holdings Group

I’m a bit confusedWhen we spoke to you Mrs [redacted] after this 11/you said everything was resolvedAnd agreed again to the years and rate

They have called from [redacted] One voicemail was from Kevin [redacted] at extension ***A call from a "blocked" number that same night from Kevin [redacted] (this was his third threatening call) stating he was coming to deliver "Notice to Appear" summons from the local court, and to call [redacted] if we did not want him to show up at MY house (he even stated my address on that call)He stated that WHEN he shows up we "better have a valid state ID" to give himMr [redacted] called a total of times, each time becoming more threateningWhen I called the number Mr [redacted] left, it is Lionstone

Publishers Elite contacts all long time subscribers of over 4,magazine titles nationwide We contact them of subscriber lists that are provided by various clients of ours, however that information does not include information such as Gender, Age, or Ethnicity The only information we have is what appears on the address lines of the magazine label We maintain that we would never misuse or target elderly customers, including a courtesy cancellation policy for children of elderly parents within reason (a mutually beneficial agreement between the customer and the company Since the orders are pre-paid to the publishers from us, we cannot issue full refunds, but we are okay settling orders to ensure that the customer is not overbilled), and a quality assurance division and policy that any customer over the age of that informs us of their age can only be renewed one year at a time (vice the year subscriptions), and it is put into their account to ensure that at no time in the future they are renewed out multiple years Regarding this particular account, we spoke with Mr [redacted] about his customer service etiquette and performed an emergency retraining while also recording his calls for two weeks to ensure proper etiquette is being maintained Regarding Mr [redacted] 's personal account, he has been a long time subscriber through our company We recently changed CRM's (Customer Resource Managers) to help us better track our increasing consumer base, and in the process there were some minor errors in the export process for magazine ordering Due to this, all orders were cleared (ordered) for one year at a time in order to prevent duplicate issues or errors from occurring, and Mr [redacted] was no exception He is currently owed two years, however if he has a Power of Attorney or would like to call himself to cancel at a pro-rated amount, we would have no problem taking care of this for him He is after all a long time subscriber who has the ability to do this at any time Due to the sensitive nature of credit card and checking account information, only power of attorney's and authorized users of the payment method can request a refund and cancellation, to avoid potential misuse of information Finally, regarding the price of the subscription, all our customers are encouraged to send us lower and discounted rates on their magazines so we can price match The rate we sell the publications at is strictly monitored by the publishers, as to avoid any direct competition (which is why we are not only authorized, but encouraged to sell year subscriptions, as at that point there is no competition across a majority of publications), and we have both an over and under price we are not allowed to exceed or fall below without direct authorization or a competing price in hand (we do have a price match guarantee when dealing with the publishers direct)We made one attempt to re-contact the customer, however there was no answer We would love to help Mr [redacted] resolve his issues We do ask them to keep in mind that Amazon, like us, is an authorized 3rd party company that can sell National Geographic, and their agreement with the publishers is both confidential and different than our agreement/authorization, however if Mr [redacted] wants to cancel and go through another agency such as Amazon, we have no problem cancelling our his remaining two years and issuing a prorated refund, however, months after the order was placed, and the service has begun, we cannot issue a refund for the first year of service on the account (which would total $34.95, our standard subscription price), however the remaining two years could be cancelled and refunded for a total of At this point we have put a temporary courtesy DNS/DNR (do not sell, do not renew) hold on Mr [redacted] 's account, however adding him to the DNC list before a resolution is had would prevent any outbound attempts/return calls from being possible Upon completion and settlement of this issue we have annotated the customers request to be on the internal DNC list Alternatively, I highly recommend that the customer contacts the National DNC registry to add their name to the national list in order to prevent further phone calls for products and services not actively being received

Mr [redacted] s account was made with us on July 18, for his magazine subscriptionsWe sent him a refund check in October We have also spoken to Mr [redacted] earlier this week, on February 8, 2017, in regards to a service check that was performed for his [redacted] and [redacted] magazinesThe results of that service check is [redacted] ---started with the FEB issue resent should rcv 2-weeks MARCH issue should be ther eno later than FEB 24TH [redacted] ***

Lionstone Holdings Group ("Lionstone") is in-receipt of the complaint referenced aboveThank you for giving usthe opportunity to respond to this matter.We began efforts to contact Ms [redacted] regarding her [redacted] personal loan on August 16, We wereable to speak to speak with her in regards to the account on September 22, Our agent was contacting Ms [redacted] in an attempt to verify her location information as we are required to send a letter by federal law.We believe that Ms [redacted] mischaracterized what took placeWe reviewed the complaint with therepresentative that spoke with Ms [redacted] and she stated that at that time an agreement was sent up to take care of heroutstanding loan with our officeUnfortunately, Ms [redacted] 's payments that were set up to resolve the matter with ouroffice declinedWe did attempt to reach out to her to see if she would like to set up a new arrangement, but have notheard from her.As requested, we will treat this complaint as a cease and desistMs [redacted] should receive no furthercommunication with us in regards to the account, and there will be no further drafts to the account provided for payments.Please contact the undersigned if we can be of any additional help in this matter.Sincerely,Authorized Representative ofLionstone Holdings Group

Revdex.com: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] ***

This customer is of who got sent letters due to improper cancellationsWhen our collections department printed past due notices this month the system for some reason even printed the CANCELED orders with outstanding balancesThis never happens and since has been fixedAll recipients that received letter we sent a correction letter with an apologyHad the customer just called in and asked they would have been told the same thingThe order in question is from 10/29/No one ever called in to cancel we simply received a CHARGEBACK from their bank in the mail for their 3rd and final payment of $that was NEVER madeSo for the payments of $that were made, they will still receive years of Guidepost Even though the other years were never paid forif the customer stil had any question they may call the office as we are always available M-F 9am-4pm CST

I had to enter this rejection choice in order to attach a pdf file showing our transactions with this company It shows their receipt where we paid as well as our phone call to their employee who told us - essentially tuff biscuit The attached pages show they clearly know who we are and refused to honor our purchase for the past yearI hope there are no other people done this way and decided to follow their suggestion to file it and hope it stops this practice I do not wish to argue that matter though - no reason to do soI am happy that they will send the two subscriptions to Cook-Children's hospital in my wife Anthea Stroman RN name with cc to us On receipt of our purchased products being sent to Cooks hospital, we will check to be sure the Cook hospital children get the magazines All will be happy once more!I appreciate the Tarrant Revdex.com helping with this unusual matter!

I would love to take care of this customer Not only do I want to give them the subscriptions they paid for, but I also want to help them with the donation to Cooks Childrens However I cannot find any information in our system using the information provided by the customer If they could contact [redacted] at ###-###-#### or better, via e-mail at [redacted] - I would be glad to do everything in my power to take care of this customer

I have filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission [redacted] ), New York Revdex.com ( [redacted] ) on 9/4/and Arizona Attorney General Office ( [redacted] ) ON 9/18/I received a restricted phone call on or about 03/25/from a person telling me to call [redacted] , that I better be home to get papers because I was being suedI did call back and spoke with a Joseph [redacted] at LionStone Holding Group, LLCat extension ***He identified himself as member of a law firm, which is a misrepresentationHe was a debt collector, that's allHe began threatening me in this phone callHe alone, threatened me about or at least three times and has continued He also has harassed meI do not remember anything about this " supposed debt"He told me that something happened on or about 12/21/2010, but wouldn't tell me whatI state that they are scamming meHe wouldn't tell me if it was a loan or payday loanI don't knowSupposedly, the original creditor is [redacted] with account number [redacted] their no [redacted] .Lionstone will not provide validation of this "supposed debt"I have asked numerous times for validation of this and even wrote a letter to the address on the email notice from Lionstone 4/12/email letter to me I wrote them a letter dated 08/18/and asked for validation of this " supposed debt"I know they got this letter, as it has not been returned back to meLionstone Holding Group, LLC, and Joseph [redacted] have violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices ActThe 4/12/letter from Lionstone, did not state how much was owed, fees, dates, etcIt just had the payment due dates, amount of payments, but no total amount owed, fees, or other pertinent informationAnd was not given to me within daysI was told by the NYRevdex.com to stop paying them, because they have failed to provide this information to meI have paid to Lionstone beginning on 04/15/2016, $ dollars a month for a total of $ dollars I have placed a "stop " ACH on my bank account.Refund of $ dollars the amount of monies paid with penalties for violating my rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices ActNo contact from LIONSTONE HOLDING GROUP, LLCThis manner resolvedLIONSTONE and Joseph [redacted] should know the laws under Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and not impersonate a lawyer or lawyers office nor threaten me

Just had a lovely conversation in the phone with Mrs [redacted] =), she now has the tracking number to her refund and was happy with my customer service

Lionstone Holdings Group (“Lionstone”) is in receipt of Ms [redacted] complaint and appreciates an opportunity to respond Lionstone was attempting to locate a consumer and Ms [redacted] number inadvertently was dialed in our skip-tracing effortsWhen skip-tracing, we ensure not to disclose the purpose of our call, unless and until we are able to verify we have reached the consumer we were looking forAs stated above, Ms [redacted] number was dialed by mistakeThere were a few calls placed to Ms [redacted] as we were unaware that we had an incorrect numberWhen Ms [redacted] called into our office on April 27, to inform us that we had the wrong number, our representative informed her that her number would immediately be removed from our system Ms [redacted] number was removed and noted as an incorrect numberAs of April 27, when Ms [redacted] informed us that we had the incorrect number she has not and will not receive any other calls from our office Please contact the undersigned if we can be of any additional help in this matter Sincerely, Authorized Representative of Lionstone Holdings Group

This customer was contacted on 3/6/and was told his magazine has errored outThis happens from time to time due to an address or name being over a certain amount of charactersHe was told that the magazine would arrive again within 4-weeks and that he would not lose any credit for the time he had left and won’t start until he receives his new copyFrom the notes it on the account the customer was satisfied with the resolution

Lionstone Holdings Group ("Lionstone") is in receipt of Ms [redacted] complaint andappreciates an opportunity to respond.Lionstone was attempting to contact a consumer with the same name as Ms [redacted] and after placing several phone calls, we were unable to speak with the consumer we were attempting to locateWe did leave some voicemails on a consumer's answering machine, but our representatives are trained to not disclose the purpose of our call until after we verify whowe are attempting to locate as per federal lawUnfortunately, we were unable to verify the consumer we were seeking to locate and the account was closed.Ms [redacted] number was removed and noted as an incorrect numberShe should notreceive any further contact from our business.Please contact the undersigned if we can be of any additional help in this matter.Sincerely,Authorized Representative ofLionstone Holdings Group

Lionstone Holdings Group (“Lionstone”) is in receipt of the complaint referenced aboveThank you for giving us the opportunity to respond to this matter.Lionstone is a debt collector who contacted Mr [redacted] seeking to collect on a personal loan in his nameThe [redacted] personal loan taken out in August, has an account number ending in 4093.We did speak with Mr [redacted] on March 18, when he called into our officeWe updated him regarding the above information for his account in our officeAt that time, he stated that his wife had been paying on the account and asked for additional time to speak to her about it, which our representative respectfully grantedShortly afterwards, we received a written cease and desist stating the information in Mr [redacted] ’s complaint about identity theftAt no time prior to the cease and desist and follow up complaint to your office were we informed about this or we would have gladly assisted Mr [redacted] in any way possible.Our representative that spoke with Mr [redacted] respectfully disagrees with his assessment of what took place and believes he has mischaracterized their conversationHowever, the core of the complaint is that Mr [redacted] has stated he and his wife were victims of identity fraudWe will take Mr [redacted] at his word and his account has been closed and placed in dispute status due to identity fraudHe should not receive any additional calls from our office regarding this account.Please contact the undersigned if we can be of any additional help in this matter.Sincerely,Authorized Representative ofLionstone Holdings Group

Lionstone Holdings Group (“Lionstone”) has received and reviewed Ms [redacted] complaint filed with your office and appreciated an opportunity to respond Lionstone is a debt collector, and we were attempting to contact Ms [redacted] to collect on a personal loan she took out in her name We spoke with Ms [redacted] on March 16, to discuss the above loanMs [redacted] indicated that she had been paying our company monthly on the loanAfter reviewing her file with her, it was determined that she had been paying another companyOur representative then gave Ms [redacted] contact information to provide the paperwork of prior payments as they were not noted on the account when we received them at our officeTo date, we have not received this paperwork, but will take Ms [redacted] at her wordHowever, we are not able to determine what was paid prior without Ms [redacted] providing the documentation or calling into Lionstone to discuss further It is important to note that after reviewing the file, at no time was Ms [redacted] left “threatening messages.” Reviewing the complaint with the representative that handled Ms [redacted] account, they were trying to verify her correct information as they are required to do prior to sending any correspondence We will honor Ms [redacted] desired resolution and cease all calls, only communicating with her via mail However, as stated above, we are unable to properly note her account for any payments she made with a previous agency unless and until she provides the information to our office, either electronically or over the phone At this point, we will place Ms [redacted] account in do not contact status unless we hear from herPlease contact the undersigned if we can be of any additional help in this matterSincerely, Authorized Representative of Lionstone Holdings Group

Re: [redacted] ***ID No: [redacted] Dear [redacted] :Lionstone Holdings Group ("Lionstone") is in receipt of Mr***' complaint andappreciates an opportunity to respond.Lionstone was attempting to locate a consumer and Mr***' number was dialed in ourskip-tracing effortsWhen skip-tracing, we ensure not to disclose the purpose of our call, untilwe are able to verify we have reached the consumer we were looking forUnfortunately, wewere unable to speak with the consumer to verify this informationThere were a few callsplaced to Mr [redacted] as we were unaware that we had an incorrect number.Mr***' number was removed and noted as an incorrect numberHe should notreceive any other calls from our office.Please contact the undersigned if we can be of any additional help in this matter.Sincerely,Authorized Representative ofLionstone Holdings Group

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: The arrangement with Publishers Elite was not for years for each subscription It was suppose to be one year for our subscription and one year for a gift subscription The total for both together was $ The Week magazine directly offers the two together at the rate of $79.00, so it stands to reason that I would not accept an offer that would require me to pay $for each and I would not have agreed to a year arrangement Please continue with this complaint because I feel like they are trying to cheat elderly people Thank you [redacted] Regards, [redacted]