Comments on: Beware Random Missed Payment Letters

By: GDad

GDad — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 01:39:59 +0000

I received one of these letters with “Statement Enclosed” on the envelope. It came from a local art museum. I was livid.

By: Mrs. Micah

Mrs. Micah — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 02:38:30 +0000

I’d seen the domain ones before and I think I heard of the magazine ones. But not insurance. Interesting. It’s sad what people sink to when trying to make money.

By: Cory

Cory — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 02:23:07 +0000

I receive these types of messages in the mail pretty regularly (I manage a number of client websites and deal with domain name registrations) and they’ve got the same thing up here in Canada (under the name ‘Domain Registry of Canada’.

I initiated contact with the company because I feel the letters are deceitful, misleading, and an inappropriate form of marketing material. I didn’t get a response but by trying to start a dialogue, I’ll be able to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

These guys wanted something like $40 / year for basic domain name registration services — something you can get for under $10 from a slew of decent providers. Classy.

By: Foobarista

Foobarista — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 23:21:07 +0000

I’ve gotten many of these “letters that look like bills” for magazine subscriptions. It appears that they’re sent to an old DBA alias I had when I was self-employed.

They’re quite sneaky; the letter is clearly in the format of a bill, and sometimes they show up for a magazine that I already subscribe to.

By: RacerX

RacerX — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 21:19:16 +0000

This is a common tactic with new home owners as well (as I found out). They call try to get my wife and say I signed up for Mortgage insurance. Sounds like something that you would need if you never bought a house before, right?

Nope, RUN Forest! It’s a scam. At least when sold this way.

By: jim

jim — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:31:26 +0000

Good call Randy, I remember now hearing the same thing! It’s amazing how many scams there are out there.

By: Randy Peterman

Randy Peterman — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:27:30 +0000

I actually heard a caller on Dave Ramsey’s show talk about a magazine subscription tactic where they warned that they would send you to collections if you didn’t pay the bill – a bill that didn’t exist, but was intended to get more subscribers. I think that this sort of technique will quickly come to a head and there may be some lawsuits coming if companies aren’t careful.