I, too, was duped by Heartland, Inc. I had actually agreed to magazine subscriptions from another company and thought that Heartland was them when they called, but then when they couldn't verify the magazines that I had coming to the house, I became very suspicious. A while later, I noticed that my checking account balance had taken a major hit of $1317.50 +/- by a company called Heartland, so, I called them to find out what it was for and got the same story that everyone else has gotten, but when I was offered the option of hearing a recording of my consent to the charges initially, and said that I would like to hear it, the call was disconnected. At that point I called my bank and informed them of the bogus transaction and they reversed it, but I just received another call from them on my cell phone now, after screening calls to my home phone and was told that my credit card/bank card was declined (of course). I politely explained that I was billed over $1300 for magazines, notified my bank and they put a block against the company who overcharged me, and I said that it was a bit steep for a handful of magazines and that I wanted to cancel my subscription. The woman politely explained that I am still obligated to pay the balance and that they couldn't cancel my subscription because it had already been processed, etc., etc. I don't want something for nothing and don't want to pay for something that I don't want. She did ask for my permission to record the call several times, to which I acknowledged, leaving a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I find it odd that they can't just stop sending me magazines if I don't pay. I don't remember there being a contract as to the duration of the service, just the number of issues (with the other company whom I thought I had been dealing with). UGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I received a phone call from Heartland, Inc this evening telling me that their customers had been receiving calls from other magazine companies claiming to be them. They wanted to reassure me that they were in the process of putting a stop to these scam companies and even gave me a security code for my account. They said that unless the person calling me could provide this security code, then it wasn't them. Having bought magazines (big mistake) several years ago and having recently gotten a phone call from another company claiming that I owed money for an account that I paid off years ago, I actually believed them and thanked them for looking out for me. He then went on to ask me what my favorite two magazines were and if I stilled lived at my current address (they had this information which to me added more legitimacy to the call). He said that I would be receiving the 2009 magazine list in the mail in the next 3 or 4 days. They then asked me which of the major credit cards I preferred best for my transactions, to which I replied Visa.

The person I was talking to then told me that he was new and would I mind speaking to his supervisor to put in a good word for him. I said sure as I was pleased that they were looking out for me. When the supervisor came on, I informed him that the caller was polite and had done a good job and thanked him for looking out for me. Thinking that the call was over, the supervisor then proceeded to ask me a number of questions such as the new expiration date of my credit card. I gave this to him and he said it was validated. He then asked me to confirm my credit card number which started with a "4". I asked him why they needed my credit card number since I had paid off my account years ago. He said that as part of my agreement, I was to receive an additional 60 months of magazines at a reduced price of $10/month. I told him that I did not remember agreeing to that 5 years ago, and he said he had my agreement that clearly stated that. I told him again that I did not owe anything, didn't want anything else and had not agreed to the additional 60 months. Just prior to this I had taken my credit card from my wallet and was about to give them my number, but something made me fill uncomfortable in doing so. The 60 month reduced rate agreement which they said I had agreed to made me even more paranoid and I put my card back into my wallet without confirming the number. I then told them that I had not agreed to that and he said that they would send the magazine list and my agreement in the mail in 3 or 4 days. I asked for a phone number, name and name of the company and they immediately hung up. I try to call back at the 515 251-5316 number just to see who would answer and I keep getting an error message saying that the network is having problems and can't connect. I hope I dodged a bullet, but after reading these other complaints, I will definitely be watching my credit account and the mail for anything from these guys.

How can they get away with this and why can't something be done with all of these complaints?

Heartland Inc has been calling almost daily despite my informing them that I don't want any magazines. How do I get them to stop?

First off, I have been registered with the National Do Not Call registry since January of 2003.(I recently checked to verify that I am still on the list, and I am). This Company called me Jan. 17, 2008. and started out bu asking how I like the magazines I was receiving. Since I was receiving magazines from another company, I assumed they were somehow affiliated with that company and I never asked.

They made a lot of small talk(probably designed to get me to give some 'yes' answers that they could use later) and verified some information like age, credit card number address, etc. they never told me that the purpose of the call was a sales call(and I believe, if my research is correct, that this is required of telemarketers) and they never asked me if I would agree to pay $49.90/ month for 20 months to add 5 more years onto the subscriptions.

By February, they were billing my credit card for the $49.90, I missed the first one but I caught it on the March bill and reported it to the credit card company as an unauthorized charge, and they took it off. Heartland then started calling me almost daily and sent me a letter that they would send an invoice and I should mail them a check.

On these phone calls I told them that I had never authorized them to bill me so they played a tape purported to be the recording of the sales call. I can't prove it without having the tape analyzed, but that conversation did not take place in that way and the charges had never been mentioned to me(they were on the tape, however and my response was uh-huh, which I believe was something i answered to a different question and I believe in order for the verbal, recorded contract to be valid, the purchaser has to give a definite and clear affirmative response).

I decided that it would be too costly and time consuming to try to prove the tape was a fake, so I went after the Do Not Call violation instead. The first person I mentioned it too said it was my obligation to notify them that I was on the do not call list, which proved he either didn't know the law or didn't care. The second person I mentioned it too said I wasn't on their list(if they bought the list like they are required to do, I would have been on it).

When I researched the Do Not Call law, I find that they are required to purchase the lists of every area code that they make calls in and if they don't, they could be fined up to $11, 000/ per phone call. But, the FTC does not enforce this, they only keep a data base of the complaints, it is up to an attorney general or a district attorney to bring charges I guess. I did get them to drop the contract by filing complaints with the FTC, the BBB, the South Dakota Attorney General's office and Senator Tim Johnson's office, and I was willing to keep going if necessary.

Even tho, I am no longer on the hook for the charges, I believe scammers should be stopped and I hope someone takes hold of this and runs with it.