Victim Location 48170
Type of a scam Charity
Door to door salesperson. Attempts to sell magazines or have homeowner donate the sale of a magazine to a non profit agency such as hospital, school….
Victim Location 48380
Total money lost $60
Type of a scam Other
Fraudulent door-to-door magazine sales transaction. Cashed my check at a downtown Detroit check-cashing business and then never delivered the magazine subscription product.
Victim Location 48187
Total money lost $178
Type of a scam Debt Collections
On Friday, 4/27/18, a man from “Impeccable Sales” came to our door saying he was trying to better himself and his sales skills and part of that was selling magazines. He said he would receive a better score from his company based on how many magazines we bought. They were all basic magazines, but some had minimal multiple year subscriptions and were rather pricey. Against my better judgement (I was sick + juggling kids), I went ahead and filled out the form to buy 3 (he said the minimum was 3). He told me the total, which was ridiculously high (this should have stopped me – again, I was not in a good state of mind) and I gave him a check and received a receipt. The receipt had a clause for cancellation and I asked him about it and he said yes if I change my mind, no problem. The cancellation clause stated “You the buyer, may cancel this transaction at any time prior to midnight of the third business day after the date of this transaction.” He said to expect the delivery to take up to 120 days (again, red flag that I shouldn’t have ignored). The next day, Saturday, 4/28, having come to my senses, I called to cancel. I received a recording, which did not surprise me because it was a Saturday. So I waited and called back on Monday, 4/30. I tried several times and kept getting the voicemail. So finally I left a message. I got a call back a few hours later from a blocked caller who sounded very confused. I explained that I would like to cancel and she said it was past the deadline. I pointed out that the clause says 3 business days, and it was only 1 (Friday to Monday). She, Nicole, said they are open Saturdays and Sundays too. I said I called but kept getting sent straight to voicemail. She said that’s strange because she was by the phone all day Saturday. Nonetheless, it would still fall within 3 business days even if they were open. She found this confusing but said she would go ahead and let her boss know but it may be too late because they may have already sent the check to the publisher and would call me back I also checked my bank the next day and found that Impeccable Sales had cashed the NEXT DAY on Tuesday, 5/1, even after my call!). What ensued was a month of at least 15 back and forth calls. Every time I would call, voicemail would pick up (she said the phones were not working) and I would get a call back from someone who sounded exactly the same but claimed to be two different people so that each time, Nicole would blame the other person for not following up, and then vice versa on the next call. And my calls back were usually not until at least the next day, and oftentimes only after multiple calls. Each time they promised me progress. Finally I called and left a message saying that I am contacting the BBB. That prompted a fast call back and Nicole said she was out of town but would put a check in my mailbox the following business day. Needless to say, that never happened. And since then, all of my calls have gone unanswered and not returned. PLEASE do not purchase anything from Impeccable Sales – in fact, as a best practice, just don’t buy anything from someone who comes to your door! I find it ironic because their voice mail ends with “Have a blessed day” but they have no qualms about dishonest business practices. Learn from my lesson and don’t learn the hard way like I did.