Complain about a product or service

Columbia House

Margie of Norfolk, VA August 19, 2009

I am consistantly being billed for the same movies over and over. A representative called regarding payment and I explained to her that I have paid for the same movies twice and wasn't going to pay another penny. I ask that my membership be cancelled but got another bill for the same movies instead.

Cheryl of Tullahoma, TN July 24, 2009

I fulfilled my contract but didn't cancel my membership. I would go online to mark that I do not want the Directors Selection so they wouldn't send me a movie and I'd have to deal with the inconvience of sending it back. Granted, there was a time or two that I forgot. They would send me movies anyway. I emailed them a few times and sent a letter to complain and cancel my membership. I also told them that the next movie I received, I would consider it a gift from them. They sent another one!

Over a year later, I've gotten phone calls, to the point of being harassment, from Habib in India telling me to pay the bill. He can't understand what the big deal 28 dollars is. I told him if it was no big deal, why harass meover it. I just don't get it....

Johnathan of Norman, OK July 23, 2009

Over a year ago, i fulfilled my contracted purchases with columbia house, ordering the given amount of dvd's at 'regular' price to end my membership. about six months after, i received a bill for 92, stating i had breached their contract for not ordering the specified amount of dvd's in the required timeframe. WHAT?! after arguing with the rep for more than 30 minutes, during which i was told that some of the dvd's i ordered from their catalogue at listed regular price were REALLY not regular price, like they were discounted and should've been 25 instead of 19.99, etc. NONE of that was disclosed anywhere on the catalogue, and they were specifically listed as regular price, in a seperate page and category than the 'special' offers.

out of sheer frustration, i paid the entire amount they were demanding, even though i was furious and SURE i had not done anything wrong. two weeks ago, i got a call from a collection agency, demanding i pay that SAME 92, that i had never paid it, and was collecting fees and interest on it!!! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?!?! this has to be illegal--it's fraud and extortion, pure and simple!

Danny of Vestaburg, MI July 10, 2009

About six months to a year ago I got a call from a collection agency stating that I owed Columbia House for DVDs. I never ordered any DVD's from Columbia House. I told the agency that and they said they would check it out. Two days later I get another call from them saying that I owe 52 and change for DVD's. Again I said I do not owe this and they said that I ordered them and have to pay for them. After several minutes of trying to explain to them that I never ordered DVD's I finally got a supervisor.

They told me to contact Columbia House and that they are the ones to deal with this. I asked for the phone number for Columbia House and they told me to go on line and get it. They would not help me one bit! I went online and there is no phone # for customer service on their web site. So I looked up Columbia House and got about 5 different numbers. It took about 45 minutes to an hour to get the right number and a real person. The representative at Columbia House said that they would take care of it and that was it. I never heard anything again until July 8th 2009. At that time I got a call from another collection agency saying that I owed Columbia House for DVD's that I never ordered. The first person I talked to at this agency said that I should pay a little something on it so it wont be reported to credit bureau.

I said I would not pay for something I did not order and that this was suppose to be taken care of at Columbia House end a long time ago. After several times telling the man that I would not pay anything for something I never ordered (he was persistant that I pay for these even though I told him I wouldn't pay for something I never ordered) He gave me the number to another department. There I got a lady that told me to call Columbia House because they have to clear it. She gave me the proper phone number and the extension to dial. I called and got a lady that told me it would be taken care of. I related to her my frustration and that this was told to me a year before.

She then said that she already took care of it while we were talking. So I then called the collection agency back and told them this. They informed me that the lady at Columbia House lied to me beacause it took at least six hours for any information to reach them if she sent it as an emergency! If she sent it through normal chanels it would take at least a week! So, even more frustrated, I called Columbia House back and got a different person. This person told me that she would fill out the proper forms herself and send them through herself. This person was very helpfull. Then on July 10 I get a call from the collection agency again. This time I talked to a lady who said that she apologized and that she would take care of my account herself and said I should not recieve a call from them for at least two weeks.

She also promised to let me know if this situation is resolved. Not trusting Columbia House to have done what they said, I called them again and this time got a lady who told me that this had been filed and that it would take some time (about a week) to go through processing. I asked her to send me a letter stating that this is cleard she said that it was the responsibility of the collections agency. I told her that the collections agency said it was Columbia House responsibility. Then she said they could send one.

Shannon of Waterford, MI July 10, 2009

Was given a copy of my credit report from my credit union and there was an unpaid balance of 73.08 on the report. I called the number that was listed on the report and it was to a collection company called National Recovery. They went into detail to tell me that it was for Columbia House/BMG. I explain to them I did not have an account with them and the man I talked to argued with me told me this would not leave my credit report until I paid the balance due. Why should I have to pay for something I never ordered nor do I have.

Steve of Colorado Springs, CO July 9, 2009

All this happened while serving in the Air Force from 1999-2003. I was staying in the Air Force Dorms at my duty station when one day I received a promotional offering in the mail. You know, junk mail. I had thought they were offering great deals on DVDs. Boy was I naive. Well I signed up and had fulfilled my first membership with them and a while later I renewed for another promotional deal. I knew I had to purchase so much and so many in a certain amount of time. They give you this invoice with a number printed on it showing how many DVD's you have left to order to fulfill your obligation to them. Prior to experiencing any troubles with Columbia house, I distinctly remember that the invoice said I had 3 left to order before my obligations were satisfied. I called customer service and spoke to a female representative that took my order. She gave me a good deal on one of the DVDs. I ordered two. The DVDs arrived.

Let's pause for a moment and revisit simple math taught to us in elementary school. 3 minus 2 equals 1 right? Ok great! Let's continue.

I get the next month's invoice and it says *drum roll*......I need to order 2 more DVDs to fulfill my obligation~! Wait....3 minus 2 equals 2????? So I called customer service and spoke to one of the most incompetent customer service representatives I have ever had the displeasure of speaking to. Since she was of no help at all I escalated to a supervisor. She explained that the "good deal" I got on one of the DVD's that I paid for did NOT COUNT because of the "good deal" I received on it. WOW! REALLY????????? Well HAD I KNOWN OR AT LEAST BEEN TOLD THAT WOULD BE THE CASE, I WOULD HAVE PAID FULL PRICE FOR THAT DVD INSTEAD.

So....after a bit of explaining my side of it to her, she stated she corrected the issue and I only owed 1 more order. Ok...just to make sure I didn't order anything for about 2 months JUST TO MAKE SURE what was told to me that would happen....would happen. The next two invoices came to me and it only said I owed 1 order. I made that order. I'm done right? WRONG!!!!!!!!!

Fast forward now to 2009, July 8th. I get out of the shower and here's this lovely automated voicemail. I call the number back and it's a collections agency. I ask them why do I owe them any money? This rude snotty little representative who must have been having a bad day said that it was for Columbia House and that I owed them 22. REALLY???? 6 YEARS LATER THEY TRY TO COLLECT ON SOMETHING I CLEARLY DO NOT OWE THEM???? Then I asked how they got my number. She said she didn't know and that it was given to them along with the account. Really now....it was MY CELL PHONE they had contacted. The number I currently have WAS NEVER ACTIVE when I was in the air force. Funny....I don't believe them. But whatevers right? They also said they were the third collections agency that has worked the account or tried to collect. LMAO FUNNY!!! NOT!!!!

Let this be a warning to all. DO NOT ORDER ANYTHING THROUGH 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.

DIANA of Simi Valley , CA June 17, 2009

I filed a complaint with Equifax regarding this "DEBT" I supposedly had/have with Columbia House from 2004/2005. Originally the company that was harrasing me was National Recovery, the results of my disputes from Equifax clearly indicates DELETED FROM MY CREDIT FILE. Then why did Columbia House sent my "file" to Attorneys at Law? I faxed them the results of my dispute and "R. Hill" stated "well obviously its not enough and you still owe it" WHAT!

I had to do short sale, due to all a bad adjustable rate I had and struggled to maintain for the last 5 years, so I am in the proces of fixing my credit, I dont need any of this nonsence on my credit, specially because I dont owe anything to Columbia House. The harrasment, the unprofessionalism, the unpoliteness of this attorneys office and that National recovery collectons is unbelievable, never thought USA had some of those uneducated people.

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.

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