So I got a call from Mercury News saying I owe them money.
I have received many calls from them asking me if I am interested to continue subscription and I said no.
I did not even read those newspapers! The reason I subscribe to it is because I was approached by a teen, and Mercury News have some program where they offer scholarships to students who can get a certain number of subscriptions.
I subscribed to the newspaper twice this way. I was careful and paid in cash and did not give away my credit card information. What if those teens lied to me, right? Giving away credit card info to random people are scary. But it turned out, those two teens were genuine and I did receive those newspapers. Good luck to them and hopefully they did being offered scholarships.
The first time, I had to pay $10 and although I receive some calls from Mercury News, I did not continue the subscription. And that was it.
The second time, they hiked up the subscription price to $20, which was fine by me since the guy had an opportunity to get a scholarship. I also received numerous calls from Mercury News asking me to continue subscription but I said no. However, suddenly I owe Mercury News $25!
Let me reiterate, the reason I mentioned “scam” (maybe scam is too strong of a word) “grrr” *mad*is because prior to this phone call, I had received numerous calls from Mercury News asking me to continue subscription and I said NO.
Sorry guys, if I am approached again for this Mercury-news-scholarship-subscription-thing, I am certainly not going to subscribe. Too much of a hassle. And, now Mercury News has my credit card information. Now thinking back, I should have paid using check.
Don’t understand.
how did they get your cc# – was that for the $25 transaction?
The $25 is for the newspapers. Mercury News has automatic renewal the second time I subscribe to it.
I gave my #CC info when they called me, coz when they ask me how I want to pay for the $25 balance, the first thing that came into my mind was convenience, so I paid with #CC lor.
so i found your post after falling for a similar thing from a “student” that came door to door and then now becoming paranoid that it is a scam and googling. i paid $20 cash but all my info is on there. were you able to cancel with no problem? i just want to make sure i don’t get harassed later b/c i probably won’t keep the subscription.