Best Buy’s Magazine Scam

February 17, 2005 By Ian Bell

The next time you hit Best Buy, a clerk might ask you if you want a free 8-week magazine subscription. The catch is that it will renew automatically, billing your credit card.

The Mercury News has a great question and answer column regarding the free magazine subscribtions that Best Buy is giving away at their stores. And by the sounds of it, the clerks have not been properly trained and reportedly are telling customers that a card will come to them in the mail asking if they would like to renew their magazine subscription.

The Truth: When your free 8 week subscription is up (only 2 issues), you will automatically get billed for the magazines subscription. How do they get your credit card information? Why, with the purchase you just made at Best Buy. Looks like the company’s hands are getting a little dirty…

Showing 3 comments

John O'Rourke at 8:57am 27th March 2010 I reluctantly agreed to the trial subscription when purchasing something at Best Buy and was pleasantly surprised to get an e-mail from Time asking me if I wanted to continue the subscription. I said no and then was unpleasantly surprised to see a charge on my credit card for renewing the subscription. Not nice.
Ian Bell and Dan Gaul at 12:10pm 3rd August 2007 Hi Asia,

Thanks for the post. If you noticed, we originally reported this in Feb '05, more than two years ago. Best Buy's practices may have changed since then, as you have pointed out.

Thanks
Asia at 11:10pm 2nd August 2007 This article is not accurately portraying the transaction that occurs when subscribing for the magazines at best buy. When you make a purchase, and sign up for the magazines, you are to swipe your debit/credit card seperatly for the magazines. That right there should make someone question the billing information, IF the cashier hasnt properly informed you already. But, to say that by making a purchase your going to be charged for magazines is outrageous. With the extremely large, seperate receipt, the cashier,and the extra card swipe, it is more than clear on how the magazine subscriptions work. So dont think that by making a purchase your going to be charged monthly for magazines, because you wont.