Valerie got married about a year and a half ago. While planning the wedding, she had a registry on Amazon.com, but no longer had a use for it after the wedding. About a month ago, suddenly, mysteriously, she started receiving Brides Magazine. She received three issues in a span of three weeks. Not planning another wedding anytime soon, she has no need for a subscription, and called to cancel. What followed was a voyage into the mysterious intersection of magazines and third-party subscription vendors, since nobody can tell Valerie where the subscription really originated.

I have now received 3 issues of “Brides” magazine in the last 3 weeks, but I never subscribed. Their May/June issue arrived in mid-July (very ripped and beaten up), addressed to my maiden name. I have been married (with a new last name) for 18 months and never subscribed to their magazine. I e-mailed them asking why they sent me this, and how they got my old last name, but they never responded.

Then a week later, I received their July/August issue. I e-mailed them again, and again no response. Then I found how to look up “my account” from the 10-digit number on the mailing label. It said my subscription is “Active Paid” starting May 1, 2009 and ending March 1, 2010. I called their customer service and was told, “this subscription was ordered through your Amazon.com Wedding Registry.” When I said that my registry was 2 years old and I NEVER signed up for a “Brides” magazine subscription, they couldn’t tell me anything else about it. Upon my request, said they would cancel my ‘subscription’ immediately. I contacted Amazon.com, who assured me that they never signed me up for this subscription, never charged me for it, and said “you must have purchased this through another website.” Um, no, I never signed up for this, nor did I purchase a subscription…

So today in the mail, I received their September/October issue, and when I checked “my account” on their website, it STILL shows me as “Active Paid.”

Has this happened to anyone else?? Did Amazon.com give my contact information to Brides magazine? Is there a way for me to get a real answer from either company?

Have you had a similar experience with a third-party subscription vendor? Is there anyway to stop the unwanted magazine menace?

(Photo: halighalie)

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