Complain about a product or service

Columbia House

Renee of NEW YORK, NY June 18, 2009

I received a call from a collection agency Takhar Collection Agency. I had no knowledge of my daughter, age 16, ordering DVD's from columbia house. I have never received a bill or what DVS's were ordered.

I asked for some type of acknowledgement that this order was placed.

Jennifer of Houston, TX June 18, 2009

Columbia House is engaging in deceptive business practices when you first sign up for a membership you agree to purchase think it's 3 dvd's at regular club prices ( in all honesty what they call a club price ends up being more costly then what you would pay at any store upon a dvd's release) okay so what happened to me I met my obligation then I got calls from reps of Columbia House offering a deal which I assumed was perk of my membership nope each time you except a deal they sign you up for another membership in which you are obligated yet again to buy 3 more dvd's within a year at regular club prices an so on there were times I was getting sent and charged for two of the exact same club featured selections so I finnally stopped authorizing them to charge a selection on my card because I got tired of being charged for movies I didn't want let alone two of the same

I ended getting a nasty letter from Columbia House citing my membership obligations have not been fullfilled demanding I pay 54.00 which is the price of two featured selections thats funny coming from a company that's ripping people off man I would of thought I would have met my membership obligations through the other memberships I had with them. Their collection letter was very nasty just like some of their customer service people I called their automated service an they tried to strong arm me to pay them 54.00 I said I would when I got good and ready they were well aware of my other membership accounts basically they know their engaging in deceptive business practices what I did say and I do plan to follow through if they send my one membership to collections I will sue Columbia House for every penny their worth. I cannot fathom as to why so many complaints have been made against Columbia House for deceptive business practices an nothing is being done about it.

James of Greenwood lake, NY June 9, 2009

I joined Columbia House for some DVD's. I fulfilled my membership and still keep getting emails stating that I have to purchase more DVD's. I trioed to find a customer service phone number. I Sent them emails and they have not replied back.

Ashley of Upland, CA June 6, 2009

I signed up with their membership to get around 5 DVD's for I think it was like .50 each. It was my fault for not reading the fine print about how I needed to fulfill an obligation to purchase another 4 at full price in the next two years. Anyways, once I took care of that obligation, I cancelled my membership.

Ever since then, they CONTINUE sending me DVD's I HAVE NOT ORDERED in the mail, and if I don't send in payment they'll send follow up invoices with late penalties and threaten to send me to collections. There is no phone number they supply with a representative, they only have an automated system that isn't helpful AT ALL. I've had to dig around for hours to find a phone number that gets you in touch with a real person. And when I finally do. I AGAIN tell them to cancel my membership.

After 2 to 3 months go by, my membership is magically reinstated (in other words these scamming con artists don't respect my wishes and sign me up without my consent since they already have my information on file). I begin to receive DVD's in the mail again and the cycle starts all over. I wish I knew of a way I could press charges for harassment.

Kaaren of Candor, NY June 5, 2009

The Several months ago, I was randomly cruising the Internet, and came across Columbia House DVD site. It went on to their site and thought perhaps I would join, and even began filling out the list of what movies I might like to order. However, I came across mention that there was a monthly or trimester fee of almost 40 a month, which I did not want to pay. Therefore I exited the site, without entering any information, not my credit card information or anything. However, they sent me a huge box of DVDs, some of which had been on my make-believe list of what I might like to order, and several others that I'd never even heard of. Thereafter, I began receiving a monthly selection for which I was expected to pay.

I contacted Columbia House letting them know the situation: that I had never pressed a Join button on their site or even given credit card information, and that I did not understand how they would have card information for me. Because the credit card information that they somehow pulled up was under my husband's name, they set me a letter telling me they could only deal with him. When I returned another complaint to them, this one under my husband's name, they only sent the same form letter, stating that they can only deal with my husband. This was confusing, since the letter I sent them was in my husband's name.

Today I am holding yet another unsolicited DVD, which I have no intention of owning or wanting or paying for. I'm going to put it back in the mailbox saying Refused Return to sender, Not a Member, Did not Order. I have a suspicion that they will continue to send me unsolicited DVDs, anyway.

We have excellent credit, despite enormous medical bills. I have cancer, have had a stroke, a complete hip replacement, and have suffered many miscellaneous medical illnesses associated with these major problems. The stress this is thing with Columbia House is causing us us is huge, and nothing that we need to deal with at this time. I am facing another serious operation in the near future, and I'm about to go out of my mind with stress and worry. If anyone knows how to stop these people. I would appreciate some advice. I have looked literally everywhere for a phone number for them but have not found one.

There must be something illegal about this, because I never pressed any join button on their site. I they simply looked the site over and play with their fill-in boxes a little bit. But I never did enter any credit card information. How they randomly pulled that up, I don't know, but it was a true surprise to me to find that we had a box of DVDs at our door one day

Victoria of Marysville, WA June 2, 2009

Wow! After viewing this complaint site, I can't believe how many consumers are negatively impacted and affected by this company. Too many of us are having to deal with either their grossly inept record keeping errors and/or scams which end up taking an enormous toll on our credit report. Isn't anyone doing anything about this?? I, too, just today, received a collection bill out of the blue claiming I owe over 113.00 for not not fulfilling my purchase agreement. For one thing, it has been at least 6 or 7 years since I had last ordered DVDs from this company and secondly, I know I had made all the necessary purchases. I canceled my membership afterward and never heard from this company until now - with a bogus bill. I will be making calls tomorrow, but after reading the testimonies, I am not very hopeful for a successful outcome.

Jordi of Cape Elizabeth, ME May 20, 2009

Ever since I joined CH it has been a pain. They offer "Director's Selections" through email and if you don't respond you don't want it, they'll send you it and charge you. After dealing with the over charging, sending DVDs I never wanted, and trying to cancel my account I get a call. I haven't received any emails from them since 10/08 and today out of the blue I get a call stating I need to pay 49.88 to fulfill my obligations. I made sure I ordered the minimum number of DVDs then emailed the company to make sure they canceled my account.

At first I was scared they never canceled the account but as the minutes passed on the phone I was more and more certain it was a scam. The man said I couldn't log into my account because it has been set aside because I never payed. I think I couldn't log in because I canceled my account. He was very insistent he was trying to help me out by telling me I needed to make this payment over the phone immediately or it would have a negative impact on my credit score. I asked him for my account number which I entered into the website and it gave me a page to create a new account using the account number the "CH rep" told me on the phone.

I looked through old emails and found out that wasn't in fact my account number. Also while trying to log in to the website I would get error messages that included "...or it could be someone trying to impersonate the server." I hope someone sues this company and wipes them out. It really is a pain to go through all these things. I'd love to be a part of it.

Danette of Honolulu, HI May 20, 2009

When I recently applied for credit from my credit union I was denied for credit because some negative report that came form some collection agency that I was not aware of anyhow, I had appilied for this same loan in January 2009 in which at that time was not on the credit report. I had never heard of this Company before.. My credit union had given me the number of the coleection agency and they had told me that I was responsible for the bill. I told them I knew nothing of this only until that was mentioned to me by my bank. furthmore, the credit agency also says this has existed since 2005.

I want so much to get intouch with this company who claims I owe them 87.88. I owe nothing, I recieved no products and most of all these are scams. I would like to get in contact with these people because of something such as this is affecting my credit of something I didn't get or authorized for.

MARILYN of BANGOR, ME May 19, 2009

they claim i ordered some dvd's and never paid them, 1st i don't have the time to watch dvd's, 2nd this would be a bill that is 3 years old, they are threatening to ruin my credit rating if i don't pay even if i didn't order it,really pushy people, i've asked for the paper work to prove that it is mine & they say they can't do that, i've searched for an address for complaints for columbia house & this is what i keep getting.

BRIAN of SANTA CLARITA, CA May 9, 2009

i had columbia house DVD subscription back in late 90's early 2000- i bought the few dvd's as obligated, and never heard from them again. Until 2009- When a collection appeared on my credit report from NRA for 62.50, i emailed them, demanding correction, and wanted to know why they failed to inform me that they were reporting a negative item, failing to give 30 day validation period. Credit officer put in writing that per FCRA they are not required to provide notice. Nevertheless how does a decade go by- then one day a collection.

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