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No Exit? Consumer Finds Way Out of Columbia House

Music, book, DVD clubs a petty but persistent annoyance

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

March 27, 2008

Columbia House • No Exit? Consumer Finds Way Out of Columbia House • Consumers Find It Hard To Leave Columbia House • Columbia House Settles Do Not Call Charges • Columbia House "Surveys" Trap the Unwary • Negative Option: When No Means Yes --- • Columbia House Complaints

Unauthorized charges and negative option marketing traps continue to plague consumers, judging by the number of complaints received at ConsumerAffairs.com. One company in particular, Columbia House, seems to get under consumers' skin, producing 41 complaints in the last 30 days.

Will, of Locust Grove, Georgia, says he has no idea how he became a member of Columbia House, but now says he is receiving a steady stream of DVDs … and bills.

"I cancelled my account, but nothing happens," he told us.com. "You can't call and talk to anyone. I fear they are going to ruin my good credit for something I never signed up for."

Columbia House is one of the oldest "record of the month" clubs in the U.S., offering its members inexpensive CDs or DVDs in exchange for an ongoing commitment to keep buying its products.

Book and record clubs like Columbia House pioneered "negative option" marketing, where a lack of response from a consumer is taken as "implied consent." But while some negative option plans are well-run, many others are questionable.

Some consumers, like George of San Diego, are convinced Columbia House is trying to avoid them when they call to cancel or complain.

"I quit this lousy club approximately six months ago," he said. "Today they charged my credit card $27.84. Trying to contact them has proven fruitless, as they have endless voice mail that won't connect you to a live person."

A consumer named Kent, from Fargo, North Dakota, found a way to get through the voice mail maze. By doing a little online research, he learned that Columbia House was purchased last year by a multi-national conglomerate, BMG Direct.

"If you can't get through to Columbia House, you can get through to the new owners, who need to hear about these complaints" he told ConsumerAffairs.com. "So everyone should call up the 'parent company' and give them a piece of your mind. Unlike the secretive Columbia House, their phone lines are wide open."

BMG Direct, part of Bertelsmann AG, is a privately held company located at 1540 Broadway, New York, NY. Their telephone number is (212)930-4531 and their fax number is (212)930-4526. They can be found online at www.bmgdistribution.com.

But don't commit that to stone. The new CEO of Bertelsmann AG, Europe's largest media company, has made it clear he plans to unload some of the company's less profitable units, including its U.S. book, music and DVD clubs.

In fact, Hartmut Ostrowski confirmed in recent published reports that the company might unload all of Direct Group, which oversees consumer buying clubs in about 20 other countries.

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