Kids soliciting subscriptions to Mercury News.... (August: 2013, rent, how much)

[ybnormal]

This is a half real and a half scam.

The real part is if you sign for subscription, you'll get the papers delivered.
The scam part is that even though you cancel the subscription later, you'll receive the letter from a collection agency claiming you owe money and threatening to report you to the credit bureaus.

There are many stories, which are all identical. Check the following links.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/san-jose-mercury-news-palo-alto
http://www.yelp.com/biz/san-jose-mercury-news-san-jose
http://www.complaintsboard.com/compl...t=datea&page=2


I got my door knocked on by a high school kid 2 months ago and he begged me to subscribe(with the story that his parents died 2 weeks ago etc. etc.), thereby he could earn the points to receive the commission and go to San Jose State University. I kept refusing it, but at the end, I agreed to give them a subscription for 8 weeks. I didn't know what I got myself into at that time. The 8 weeks will be up on 8/20 and, after watching the horror stories with cancellation of AOL on Youtube, I started thinking that I might face the same problem upon the cancellation. So I searched on google, and I found how SJMN has been running their business lately. I subscribed to them many years ago and there weren't any issues like this back then, but clearly they changed their tactics. I'll call them to cancel my subscription next Monday and tell them not to deliver the papers after 8/20, but I'm pretty sure that I would join those people swamped in this unethical business practice by SJMN.

I heard someone took the complaints to DA's office and hoped SJMN would get axed by the authority.
Will see what will happen.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by sandy7

I was just curious...in the 3 months that I've lived here, twice I have been approached by kids who hang around right outside your door and ask you to subscribe to Mercury News or some newspaper so they get enough points to go to college...

Firstly, is this a scam of some sort or is it for real? The kids tell stories like they graduated from high school with a 3.50+ GPA and stuff.

Secondly, does the Mercury News or whatever paper that is, think asking kids to knock on doors and cold call people is a better way of promoting college degrees as opposed to providing monetary assistance to deserving kids?

Pretty confused after the 2nd time this happened...I wish the best for deserving kids but just want to make sure it's not a racket of some sort.

well that seems like a new approach, but it is really just an old one with the college points being replaced by prizes for X number of subscriptions. When I was growing up almost every boy either had a paper route or went door to door trying to get people to subscribe. If you have any doubts call the paper.

Now, if they are persistant or rude, that is a different story. I remember when I was pregnant with my first child. I had walked to the grocery store and carried home a large bag of groceries. Some higt school kid, outside the door to the aprartment saw me, took my groceries into the apartment and then gave me the sales pitch. 2 years later we were still paying for the damn manazines, but at least he was polite.

Nita

[falan95054]

I got tricked by the same scam. About 8 or 9pm, tired and have other things on my mind.
Kid comes to my door, says he lives around the corner and names the street and high school.
Wants "points" for college. Says my $20 gets him $500. I'm ready to make a donation and
only then does he mention the San Jose Mercury 12-week introductory offer. I tell him 3 times
I have *no* interest in the paper and don't want it to arrive *ever*. He takes my $20 and gives
me a receipt. The receipt is for 12-week Merc promo and makes no mention of college points.
My biggest fear now is the paper will start arriving and I'll have to wait on hold to tell them I don't
want it. I don't think he got my name but obviously he has the address.

[CupertinoCentral]

It's a scam, just ignore them or if you find it a bother, contact the local authorities

[blueyes2]

Originally Posted by SickOfCalifornia

They're staking out your place. They want to see if you are home in the day. They want to get a feel for if you live alone or not. They are looking over your shoulder to see how nice the place is and if it's worth coming back to rob.

Oh, sure, I'll be there are plenty of legit kids trying to earn college money, or points for a trip to DC, or whatever it is... but in general I would be suspicious.

I'm a really nice guy, but the solicitors find me to be a stern-faced a-hole. You'd be wise to do the same.

This was the same impression I got from kids knocking on my apartment door seven or eight years ago. I see that the MO has not changed any.

[jay mills]

first and foremost alot of these programs are real and indeed legitamate and i see no real reason not help a student out, especially in the current economic crisis....ive helped out about 5 in the lat year and a half and nothing ever went wrong you just have to follw the kids directions on how and when to cancell.

as for the gentelmen wh claims these kids are just "casing" the house....that must be the most stupidest thing ive heard...they tell you there names and also leave you with a reciept with that exact info. what criminal would be stupid enough to do that ??????

[Atsuke]

Originally Posted by jay mills

first and foremost alot of these programs are real and indeed legitamate and i see no real reason not help a student out, especially in the current economic crisis....ive helped out about 5 in the lat year and a half and nothing ever went wrong you just have to follw the kids directions on how and when to cancell.

as for the gentelmen wh claims these kids are just "casing" the house....that must be the most stupidest thing ive heard...they tell you there names and also leave you with a reciept with that exact info. what criminal would be stupid enough to do that ??????

Are you one of them? It's not that easy to cancel.
<Insert remark about grammar and spelling here>

Looks like many people are being scammed. Either by the Mercury News directly or a 3rd party pyramid scheme claiming they are the Mercury.

[nr5667]

I had these kids show up, talk about a trip to Europe, but the kids last year got drunk and the trip was a disaster, so this time they have to raise the money themselves, blah blah blah.

It's a scam, these kids are given a B.S story to read out to you, as they're trucked from city to city and neighborhood to neighborhood.

[thecooler]

Last year I got talked into subscribing by a kid who claimed to be an orphan who needed points to go to college. I think I gave him $40, I got the Chron. and the peninsula version of the Merc. immediately and had to call in order to cancel both, which took forever because they go thru a whole list of options to try to get you to subscribe to something, anything rather then just cancelling it all. 6 months later I started getting the San Jose version of Merc. and called saying that I was receiving the paper and hadn't subscribed and sure enough, it was related to that original $40 I'd paid 6 months earlier. So I waited until it was complete and again had to call to cancel, I think they must be getting lots of these kinds of calls because they fought me a lot less this time to cancel completely.

I think this marketing strategy is a last ditch effort to get people subscribed, as the papers are dying. I'm surprised they've lasted this long.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by jay mills

first and foremost alot of these programs are real

First and foremost, you must be either a consenting player in this ongoing farce, or you're that old guy down the block that believes everything he hears. [Oh yeah, got a bridge and a winning lotto ticket, for the right price]
Most of us here have had to deal with these little ****s on our doorstep way more times than we'd care to recall, and, yes, they are all too often sent by their gangster brothers/locals to CASE THE JOINT. What part of that do you not get? You apparently haven't heard it from those who participate in this - some of us have. And we're getting more than sick of it.