817-856-0600

This company obviously preys on old people. My father had aggressive unsolicited calls selling him an Economist subscription which he already has from the legitimate Economist.

They made it seem like they were the legit Economist and that he needed to give his credit card information in order to not have his subscription cancelled. They charged him 20x what a legit Economist subscription costs. Then when we cancelled they threatened to sue if we didn't pay. After we called once again they refunded the funds and promised to take us off their phone list.

Well...fast forward a couple of months and once again the harassing calls making it seem they were from the Economist started. This company is a *** and I would like to file a joint complaint with the Texas Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau.

Please contact me at concernedanonymouscitizen12@gmail.com if you would like to join the complaint. The more people we have join the complaint the more effective it will be.

Caller type: Scammer
Company: Publishers Elite
Number: 817-856-0600

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This is a scam!

It's from a Dallas-area telemarketer called Publishers Elite. Do NOT do business with them. I learned today that this firm is not, repeat NOT, affiliated with the magazines that it claims to represent.

I was called by them earlier today, the caller ID said "Publishers Pref." The caller knew that we subscribe to the Economist magazine, and was very insistent (obviously working from a tight script) that she wanted to know if I was satisfied with my subscription. She ignored my repeated requests to put our number on her company's do-not-call list. When I told her that our number was also on the FCC's do not call list, she responded that it didn't matter to her, and that there were "499 other numbers that will be calling you." At which point I hung up.

A websearch for the number shows that it's for a Dallas-area telemarketing company called "Publishers Elite Subscription Division" at www.publishers-elite.com. The website makes it clear that this is a boiler room operation; and this comes across even more clearly in their local craigslist recruiting ad:
https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/sls/4632424329.html.

I then called the Economist's own customer service line to report the issue. The magazine's customer service rep said that she and her colleagues were well aware of Publishers Elite, and that this company is definitely NOT authorized by the Economist to solicit subscriptions on their behalf.

The customer service rep went on to say that the Economist is currently taking legal action against Publishers Elite. (To which I replied: happy hunting!)

Caller type: Scammer
Company: Publishers PrefPublishers Elite Subscription Division
Number: 817-856-0600

Reply