Caty Ramirez had just put dinner on when the phone rang. Thinking it might be her sister, she failed to check the caller ID — a decision she regretted as soon as she heard the fast-talking salesman. “Mrs. Ramirez? Great news! You’re entitled to a huge discount on Catholic Digest! Now, your address is still … right?”
Caught up in the whirlwind, Caty confirmed that the address was correct.
“OK!” he said. “I’ll let them know, and your subscription will be renewed immediately!”
That was the point where Caty’s head cleared. “No!” she said. “I didn’t authorize you to do that. Mail me the information. I don’t agree to things over the phone!”
Since then, Caty has received several more calls. She finally got so fed up she emailed me one Saturday morning and told me how angry she was at our business tactics.
When I read Caty’s email, I couldn’t believe that Catholic Digest would try to renew like that. And a quick email exchange with our marketing director confirmed it: We don’t. We’re not making these calls.
Since we heard from Caty we’ve learned that many readers are receiving phone calls from very pushy telemarketers asking them to renew their subscription, offering reward cards and very cheap rates, and saying they are calling from Catholic Digest. But the truth is, we never call our customers to renew their subscriptions. We have not authorized this calling program. We’re doing our best to track it down and stop it.
In addition, many of our subscribers have received a renewal form that looks like an invoice or a bill. These are not from us. Legitimate renewal offers from Catholic Digest ask for payment to Catholic Digest, not another company, and they include a business reply envelope with the address P.O. Box 291826, Kettering, OH. If the renewal you receive doesn’t include this, then it is not an authorized renewal from us.
We’ve run boxes in Catholic Digest warning readers about this. But you are so important to us that I felt the time had come to say something about it myself. As always, I ask you to renew your subscription when the form arrives, but first, please make sure it really is from us. If you have any questions or concerns check our website at catholicdigest.com/scam, call 800-678-2836, or email us at catholicdigest@sfsdayton.com.
We need and treasure Caty and each of you who subscribe. We hope you enjoy every issue, and we’re always grateful for your support and prayers.