Strategic Media

Review: Unknown to me, this company signed me up for a magazine subscription to Seventeen magazine. I have no interest in the magazines and didn't authorize this subscription.

Upon getting my first issue I called Seventeen magazine to cancel my unauthorized subscription on 10/**/14 at 1800. Was told that a third party had set it up for me, Strategic Media and given their contact number ###-###-####. Called but unable to reach anyone. Looked their businesses up on Revdex.com and found numerous similar complaints for both sets of Strategic Media associated with magazines. So lodged one of my own as this is not the first time they've done this unauthorized subscription set-up. I'm very alarmed at how this company has my name and address and was able to process a subscription without my permission. Please help me! In the meantime, issues from the magazine will go promptly into the recycle bin.Desired Settlement: I demand that Strategic Media LLC cancel any and all magazine subscriptions they have placed in my name and remove any trace of my personal information from their database so this sort of thing can't happen again! I want all no bills for these unauthorized subscriptions.

Business

Response:

A bonus subscription was included with a qualifying purchase at a teen/women's fashion etailer. The bonus was promoted on the home page and the cart page and there was an ability to opt out of the subscription but it appears this customer did not see it. We apologize for the inconvenience and have put through a cancellation for Seventeen. Be advised that we never received your credit card and there will be no charges for this subscription and never would have been. It was a one-year bonus as a thank you for your business from the etailer.

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 and the matter has been resolved.

Sincerely,

Review: This company signed me up for a magazine subscription on my behalf that I did not ask for nor did I want and sent it to me at my place of business. I never authorized them to purchase anything on my behalfDesired Settlement: I want any charges for the magazine subscription to be erased and I want all of my personal data removed from all of their systems.

Business

Response:

I spoke with [redacted] this evening and explained that he received a bonus one-year subscription to Sports Illustrated after making a qualifying purchase on a sports site. There is no additional charge for the subscription and he elected to keep the subscription and requested that I update his address. We will put the updated address request immediately and he was informed it could take a couple of issues until that is updated. He seemed satisfied after our conversation. 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 and the matter has been resolved.

Sincerely,

Review: I did not order a subscription from instyle magazine but it is being delivered to my house. I have no interest in this magazine. I tried to cancel the subscription from the circulation department of the magazine. I was told they cannot do that. I was referred to strategic media (###-###-####). That number rang, no one answered, and then a recorded voice said thank you, which ended the call.

I understand from other complaints to the Revdex.com that this is a complimentary subscription. But I do not want it!Desired Settlement: I want this subscription cancelled, and I do not want any further magazines, courtesy of strategic media, being delivered to my address. Frankly, I resent this company assuming it knows what type of publications I want in my home. Thank you!

Consumer

Response:

At this time, my complaint, ID [redacted] regarding Strategic Media, LLC has been resolved.

(By clicking "OK", your complaint will be closed as Resolved.)

Sincerely,[redacted]

Review: this co starting sending me essence magazine without my permission.Desired Settlement: they need to cancel the fake subsription that they made up to try to rip me off.

Business

Response:

The business responded. Please read below: We never received this Revdex.com complaint. We always answer all complaints within a week! So today on 3/**/15 I called the number on the complaint and left a voice message for [redacted] explaining in detail how she got Essence and apologizing for the delay in responding to her Revdex.com complaint. I let her know that we cancelled her subscription as of 3/**/15 and left my personal phone # if she has any remaining questions/concerns. 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 and the matter has been resolved.

Sincerely,

Review: I did not order this magazine, and tried to cancel from Essence but they referred me to ###-###-####. I have called and left a message and have not received a return call. I want my name removed from any type of list they have and do not want a subscription on my behalf by anyone. I already subscribe to Essence and do not appreciate receiving this subscription at my place of business. I want a notice sent to my email stating that this is indeed cancelled.Desired Settlement: I want a notice sent to my email stating that this is indeed cancelled. And I want a phone call stating when this has taken place, and why it took place without my consent.

Consumer

Response:

I do not have another address, again this is information I received from Essence Magazine. This is a subscripiton I DID NOT order, so I am only able to provide what is on the Internet. There are other complaints on this business so I would figure that you should be able to proceed, especially since I did not order this service. I only knew about it when I received the magazine at my place of employment.

Business

Response:

The business responded. Please read below: We never received this Revdex.com complaint. We always answer all complaints within a week! This subscription was cancelled as of 3/**/15 for Essence. It had been included as a thank you bonus with a qualifying online purchase (no autorenew, no autobill). We never got the customer’s credit card info. I tried to reach the claimant today by phone to explain and answer any questions but the # left is for a store and there was no way to leave a personal message. I will send an email as well to [redacted] explaining. Thank you.

Review: For some unknown reason I started receiving a 2nd copy of [redacted] magazine in Feb 2015Desired Settlement: I demand that Strategic Media LLC cancel any and all magazine subscriptions they have placed in my name and remove any trace of my personal information from their database so this sort of thing can't happen again! I want all no bills for these unauthorized subscriptions.

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 and the matter has been resolved.Spoke directly with the head of Strategic Marketing and she explained that I was receiving another copy of [redacted] because it was a promotion they had with [redacted] to give a year subscription for free. Because I was already a subscriber is why I received 2 copies to same address. In resolving this she is going to contact ** and have them extend my current paid subscription for 1 year after it expires.Very pleased with response from Strategic Marketing as it was resolved in less than 3 business days. A little more information to the subscriber would have been nice in this day of cyber lefts..

Sincerely,

Review: I started receiving “Forbes Magazine” and I called them immediately as I have never ordered it. They told me that the order was placed by Strategic Media, ###-###-####. I told them I wanted the subscription cancelled and I did not ordered this magazine or any other magazine and will not pay for it. They put my subscription on suspense. I have called Strategic Media and never received a telephone call back. I sent them an email to "[redacted]" asking them to stop any subscription they ordered in my name. I have NOT heard back from them.Desired Settlement: I want this company to stop sending or ordering ANYTHING on my behalf. I want all of the information they have on me permanently purged. I have NEVER DONE BUSINESS WITH THEM IN THE PAST, PRESENT OR FUTURE. Please stop this company from harassing me like this.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have been contacted directly by Strategic Media, LLC regarding complaint ID [redacted], however my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

I contacted Forbes Magazine as they are requesting that I "Renew my subscription". I wrote to them and never received a reply from Forbes Magazine. Here is an email I received from Strategic Media on Feb. [redacted] which must have come from a foreign country because of the misspelled words:You received a subscriptionto Forbes as a special Thank You Bonus for making a purchaseon [redacted]. There is NO bill ever for the subscription and itwill not automatically renew. It's just a thank you bonus arrangedfor their customers to receive to thank them for their loyalty We have cancelled the bonussubscription. Please note you may receive one or two more issues until thecancellation takes effect. This is due to teh production schedule of themagazine. IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER COMPMAINTS YOU WILL NEED TO CONTACT[redacted] . They are the ones who provided your name and address soyou can receive your bonus subcription __________________________________________________________________ RegardsMagazine Customer Service

In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,

Business

Response:

The business has responded. Please read below:#[redacted] filed a complaint on 2/**/15 and our records show her subscription to Forbes was cancelled on 2/**/15. I called her today and spoke with her to confirm that she understood how she got Forbes and assured her that the subscription had been cancelled in a timely manner. She seemed satisfied.

Business

Response:

We have researched the status of the customer below who filed a Revdex.com complaint with Strategic Media. The customer received a bonus one-year subscription to Forbes for making a qualifying purchase at a site called [redacted] (please don't publish site name). The bonus was included as a special thank you for making a purchase and there was no charge for it and it will not autorenew and we never received the customer credit card at any time. This subscription was cancelled on April *, 2015. Thank you.

Review: During February 2015, I began receiving Seventeen Magazine (which I did not, and would not ever order). At first, I believed that I received the publication by mistake, but after I received two additional issues, I determined that there was a problem.

First, I contacted Hearst Magazines, and they notified me that the order had been placed by Strategic Media, a"third party" marketing company. I contacted the company at the number provided by the Hearst employee (leading me to suspect that I was not the only one who had contacted them regarding "mysterious" subscriptions). I spoke with an employee named [redacted], with Strategic Media. She informed me that the "system was down" and that it would be "a couple of days" before it was functioning again. She offered to have an employee call me back regarding my issue "in the next couple of days". When I asked for identifying information (aside from her name), she indicated that she was the only one in the office who answered the phone. I also asked her about the area code from whence the call back would originate. She reported that the "call back" (which I suspect will never occur), will originate from a 646 area code (MI) or a 589 area code (not affiliated with a state).Desired Settlement: First, I want charges refunded to me via a certified check sent to my home address. Second, I want a written explanation of how and why I was subscribed to this publication without my knowledge or consent.

Review: I recently received People magazine subscriptions which I never subscribed too. After attempting to cancel the subscription through People Mag customer service I was informed that Strategic Media had to cancel my subscription since it was through them.

I find this unethical! At no point in time did I ever proved this business with my personal information or credit card information. I would like this case taken care of immediately and for my personal information to be deleted from their database and take immediate action to refund my money and provided with a letter of conformation.Desired Settlement: my personal information needs to be deleted out of their database along with my credit card information. I would like a letter of confirmation sent and a phone call addressing the issue and resolution.

Business

Response:

Hi,My name is Marti S[redacted] and I'm the President of Strategic Media. I spoke with [redacted] yesterday (August **, 2015) and explained how she got the People magazine subscription. At NO time did we ever get her credit card #. The subscription was included at no additional cost as a thank you bonus for making a qualifying online purchase. We have cancelled the subscription.Thank you.

Review: I received two magazines "People" and "Essence". I did not subscribe to these at all. I want them canceled and my name removed from their force sending magazines that I did not buy or elect to receive. I will NOT pay for these at all!Desired Settlement: I want them canceled and my name removed from their force sending magazines that I did not buy or elect to receive.

Business

Response:

A bonus subscription to People and Essence was included with a qualifying purchase as a thank you bonus from the vendor, a women's fashion site. There was NO bill for the subscriptions and we did not get the customer credit card or email address. There is no automatic charge associated with this. It was just a one-year bonus included with the purchase. We have arranged for both subscriptions to be cancelled however it may take up to a month for the cancellation to go through.

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 and the matter has been resolved.

Sincerely,

Review: I have received an unwanted magazine subscription with Strategic Media LLC as the third party who took it upon themselves to order me this subscription without my permission. I was unable to cancel the subscription directly from the magazine publisher and was unsuccessful in my attempt to reach Strategic Media LLC. I would like this subscription cancelled.Desired Settlement: An email describing where/when/why this subscription was started in addition to removal of my subscription and contact information from their system.

Business

Response:

[redacted] got a bonus subscription to Sports Illustrated for making a qualifying purchase at a sports merchandise site. There was no bill for the subscription - it was included with the purchase as a thank you bonus (no auto renew either). We did get [redacted] voice message to cancel the magazine and the cancellation was processed on 1/**/15. The Revdex.com complaint is dated 1/**/15 -- after we had cancelled the subscription. I think the problem was that our customer service line was behind in getting back to customers but we did process the cancellation he requested in a timely manner.