Questionable newspaper subscription tactics

[Wes Billups]

I've got a question and need to vent a little bit. In June '08 my wife setup a one year subscription for a large local newspaper for delivery on Sunday only. Over the next 52 weeks we found we weren't reading it every
Sunday so we decided to not renew when we received the renewal notices in May. The paper kept getting delivered for 5 weeks beyond our original subscription. Last night I get a call from a collections agency stating I owed them $10.25 for the delivered papers. If I did not pay they would escalate this claim within their corporation.

Is this legal?

The thing about this that bothers me the most is that it was the newspaper's choice to deliver them beyond our initial contract. I called them today and they stated this is standard practice and the extra delivery's are a grace period so if I do renew late I won't miss a week. They told me I am legally obligated to pay this bill.

I've always paid my bills on time and take pride in never having a late payment on anything. This really bothers me and I was wanting to get everybody's input on this issue. Have you heard of this practice before and does the paper have a legal right to collect on papers delivered beyond a subscription period?

Thanks,
Wes Billups

[Caspar Hauser]

Receipt of any unsolicited items is considered a gift under the law. Contact your Attorney General's Office and tell the newspaper you intend to do so. They will cancel the bill.

[glenn bradley]

Agreed. They can pound sand.

[Josh Reet]

Agreed. They can pound sand.

That may be. But if it has gone to an actual "collections" agency (and not just the papers "accounts" dept) Wes may have some extra legwork to do in order to make sure that this does not appear on his credit report.

No matter how annoying, I wouldn't just ignore the situation if it is a real collections agency calling.

[Mike Henderson]

I called them today and they stated this is standard practice and the extra delivery's are a grace period so if I do renew late I won't miss a week. They told me I am legally obligated to pay this bill.

Thanks,
Wes Billups

If they had said that to me, I would have laughed at them and told them to try to collect it. But then, I'm not worried about my FICO score.

Josh has the right advice.

Mike

[Tom Veatch]

Receipt of any unsolicited items is considered a gift under the law.

The above is true regarding things sent through the USPS. It may well be the same is true for other items also, but I'm less certain about that. And, there may be fine print in the original subscription contract (which few of us ever read) that covers this event.

If there is a bona fide collection agency involved, I'd expect the newspaper has, or thinks it has, legal standing for the charges. As Josh said, don't just ignore it.

[Dave Johnson29]

does the paper have a legal right to collect on papers delivered beyond a subscription period?


That would depend on the contract you signed or agreed to. You need to read that carefully before signing. If there is no mention of continuing to bill after the prescribed period then write "Good Luck" on the invoice and send it back.

If however the contract said you need to cancel in writing or at least return the renewal form with "no thanks" then you are SOL and must pay up.

[Myk Rian]

Hard to believe they would go through a collection agency. They would only get $5.125 out of it.
Do some research on the agency.

[Matt Meiser]

There was something like that in the contract for the paper we subscribe to.

"Subscription will be continued after initial order term unless The Blade is notified."

[Wes Billups]

When I spoke with the newspaper's subscription department I asked for them to send me a copy of my contract. They stated they don't have contracts. I'll go through their website and see if I can find anything regarding the process for cancellation.

I realize this is all over $10.25. I'm just mad at their tactics. What's to say they don't continue deliverying them for two years and then bill you $200.