Last Thursday, I received In-Style Magazine in my mailbox. What? I thought? Whose is...Nope it has my name and address on it, but (what anyone can figure out by looking at me), I don't exactly follow any fashion trend. Where in the world did this come from? I mean, for me anyway, this is a complete waste of paper (being that I'm a proud non-consumer and this magazine nothing but ad after ad of crap) and a little annoying to have received something I didn't order. What's going on here?
So I call the magazine. I'm told it's a free trial subscription offered to me by some place called M2Mags, but that I can suspend the subscription (which I promptly did after getting this M2Mag's phone number).
Right. So I call M2Mags. Of course after 15 minutes of trying every option they offer, no one live is there to help, but the electronic-voiced chick tells me to email them to take my name off the list. Uh huh. So I type up an email asking to be removed from any mailing list and (you guessed it) the email bounces back. Good grief!
So I did what anyone in this day and age does - I googled "M2Mags" where I found out there are a lot of frustrated people out there like the lady who received "Field and Stream or the middle-aged white couple that received "Essence" magazine (see the comments section).
After some hunting, I found out that there was one common link - purchasing business cards from VistaPrint. Gosh darnit! They were inexpensive and I was trying to be frugal. Just look where it got me - junk mail!
I should have known better, but I've learned my lesson - BUY LOCAL!
P.S. If anyone runs into the same problem, I did finally find an email that works...
15 comments:
Wow! I ordered business cards from VistaPrint ages ago. Thankfully, I haven't gotten any unwanted magazines, but I do get an (almost) daily email from VistaPrint offering me more things for free, with just the mailing charge!
I wonder if thats why I keep getting Maxim magazine at the karate school? Its always a little embarrassing to walk into a school full of little kids and finding that sitting on my desk....I'm going to try that email out!
I learned this lesson a while ago too...cheap or free costs in the long run in the form of a lot of junk.
I found a hand printer that makes hand made business cards by hand. They're absolutely gorgeous!
this completely answers our questions about why we started getting bicycling magazine. my husband ordered business cards from vistaprint. we do cycle a lot, but we never read the magazine. they pile up and then we recycle them. so annoying.
Good for you! My big concern lately was that we started getting calls from debt collectors for someone who happens to have the same last name. After the third attempt to call them and tell them I don't know this person, I researched the law and found out it was illegal for them to call a third party and to harass people. One call to their legal department to let them know I knew my rights and that they had broken the law, and that I would be writing a letter to the FTC, got our number permanently blocked out of their phone system. So far so good... Isn't it so frustrating to have to go out of your way for something that you have nothing to do with, just to get people to leave you alone?
Lisa - Looks like you've been lucky so far. Their daily email is annoying too, but you should be able to cancel that in your on-line account.
Sharli - He he. I can imagine! You can call the magazine to cancel the subscription directly, but email the other people to have them take your name off future mailings.
Beany - We definitely pay eventually. Just last night, I went to pick up our mail and are now getting the JC Penny catalog (we searched all over town for a bedspread and couldn't find anything that I didn't absolutely HATE). We ended up going with something only available at Penny's on-line and now we're getting the catalog. Sheesh! I immediately went to Catalog Choice to have it cancelled.
So tell me about this hand printer...
Holly - That' probably it. I took mine to the library so someone else who wants it can have it for free so at least it's not completely wasted, but hopefully the call to the mag took care of any future mailings. We'll see...
Farmer's Daughter - Ooh. Been there. It's frustrating. It took me months to figure that out as well. Those people aren't just relentless about the calls though, they're downright mean.
Sounds awful and is waste of paper and time.
Sikantis - It was frustrating to waste so much time on the phone trying to get someone to fix this. I learned my lesson, though. That's for sure.
A-Ha! THAT'S why I've been getting Glamour all this time. I've just packed them up and sent them to my sister in Germany. She misses "the gossip" in mindless magazines sometimes.
Bluebird Orchards - Great way to reuse them! I called the magazine to cancel so that's an option. We'll see if I continue getting them though...
omgg well i got this 2 different magazines, buisness weekly and then forbes. i cancelled both by calling them by what do i do now send an email to vistaprint@m2mags.com to stop everything?? if so do i have to put my address? plus also i dono why im even getting these magazines. i have never even ordered from vistaprint.
Anonymous - My guess is that if VistaPrint is selling customer info, surely other companies are as well and that's probably where the magazine company got your info. Do some research into your expenses over the last few months to see if you can't nail down what company might have done it.
It took a couple months, but I'm no longer receiving the magazine. A little time on the phone fixed that and it's worth that bit of time. From now on, I'll just be careful when I purchase and always go local if it's possible.
Thank you for solving the mystery as to why I have been receiving Golf Magazine free of charge for the past 7 months. I have no interest in Golf but I did order cheap business cards from VistaPrint about 7 months ago.
I called M2 Media and got an e-mail address that works to cancel magazine subscriptions: service@m2mags.com. Once you send an e-mail, you get back an autoresponse with a link to their website where you need to fill in your mailing address, e-mail address, and the name of the magazine. (I am sure they go on to sell that information too...)
By the way, VistaPrint is not the only company that partners with M2 Media, as I found out from their website. Other companies that partner with M2 Media and that may also send unwanted magazine subscriptions are:
Barnes&Noble.com, Choice Privileges, DISTANCIA, eHarmony, e-Rewards, Forever 21, Expedia.com, Priority Club Rewards, True.com, and U Talk Back.
Thanks! This info was very helpful. I called to cancel a mag that I never ordered and found out I had to email these m2mag people. What a drag! I did it using an old email account. I'm curious if it's going to start filling up with SPAM.
So, the same thing happened to me. Bought some photos from Vistaprint and now got Essence magazine (the same issue two days in a row). I filled out a cancel request form on M2Media's site today.
Can u share w/us what happened after u sent the e-mail? I read your comment about making a phone call that fixed it, but where should I call?
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