pay a magazine subscription for a magazine that's gone???

[Jookycola]

I had a sweet deal going for a while.

I visited this site where people toss out info on free deals, and stuff. I came across an offer for a free 2 year subscription to Electronic Gaming Monthly. I loved that magazine. Well my subscription was going to be up this march so around December and January i hit up that site again looking for another free deal maybe.

EGM had nothing free offered. Well a company called me on the last month of my subscription to see if i'd renew it for another 2 years for $20. I figured why not i read them and that's not much. 3 weeks after i renewed the subscription Ziff Davis (the publisher) sold the company to Hearst publishing and they canceled EGM Magazine. it's final issue was printed in Febuary.

So now the jackhole company is threatening to ruin my credit if i don't pay for the subscription, they sent me a collections notice too. Now, i know $20 bucks isn't much...but seriously? They can't make me pay for something i never recieved can they? And actually after some fees and what not it's like $28.00

My boss said if you buy something on ebay, and pay through pay pal, and you never get what you paid for that's a crime. He said what they are doing is pretty much the same thing. They can't deliver me a 2 year subscription for a magazine that is no longer in print so legally I shouldn't be obligated to pay.

what should i do? $20 bucks isn't much...but i'm totally being ripped off.

[1time2many]

Send them a nice little notice that the 28 bones they want will cost them 1k or more if your credit is dinged and they continue to harass you.........along with a cease and desist notice never to contact you again.

Then wait for them to violate.

Do not do this on the phone, paper trail only.

[nascar]

They can't deliver me a 2 year subscription for a magazine that is no longer in print so legally I shouldn't be obligated to pay.

what should i do? $20 bucks isn't much...but i'm totally being ripped off.

No, you should not be obligated to pay. And I can't believe I'm saying this but, maybe you should consider paying the 20, to keep things from going any further, then focus your efforts on getting a refund.

Regardless which direction you decide to take, you'll more than likely not have to pay the money - whether you don't pay it at all or end up getting a refund. I guess it all depends on how much other crap you want to deal with in the process.

If they've already sent it to collections, disregard what I've said - go after them an make them pay.

[Flyingifr]

No one should ever be forced to pay for product or services that are not intended to be delivered, but the magazine industry is replete with this policy.

I would notify the CA that the debt is disputed and monitor your credit. If they place a TL on your CRA without the dispute notation, a Lawsuit should be immediate and automatic.

[Robert Nashville/Savannah]

If you had paid for a one year (12 issues/one issue per month) subscription and the publishing company canceled the magazine's existance; you would be due a refund for any issues you hadn't received would you not?

By the same logic, you can't possibly be legally liable for to pay for a subscription for a magazine that has ceased publication before the subscription would have started.

Personally, I wouldn't pay this and I'd eat their lunch if they tried to push the matter. However, if your CR/FICO is a big factor for you then paying the $20 as suggested above may be the smarter thing to do.