Caution flag goes up on door-to-door sales group

She had asked that the magazines she ordered from the door-to-door salesman be sent to a nearby Boys and Girls Club branch.

But even though Madalene Casterline's $75 check was cashed, the club never got the magazines.

Casterline, from Hermosa Beach, Calif., was one of the consumers from Nebraska, California and Georgia who have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau against All Can Succeed, an Omaha-based door-to-door solicitation company.

The consumers reported that they haven't received the subscriptions they paid for and have been given false addresses, making it impossible to use the “three-day right-to-cancel” rule.

The Better Business Bureau warns consumers to use caution when doing business with All Can Succeed. The company has an “F” rating for failing to respond to any complaints presented to the bureau, bureau officials said in a press release.

All Can Succeed's Omaha address comes up in an Internet search as 1802 Florence Heights Blvd., an address that isn't on the Douglas County assessor's Web site. There is, however, a building at 1802 Florence Blvd. that's part of an apartment complex.

A woman who answered the phone at All Can Succeed's phone number, which has a 704 (North Carolina) area code, said Friday the manager was not available to comment.

In the last 12 months, Better Business Bureaus have taken more than 1,100 complaints from consumers nationwide against more than 50 companies that sell magazines door to door, said Jim Hegarty, president and chief executive of the Omaha Better Business Bureau office.

Casterline said a young magazine salesman knocked on her door in November, relating a hard-luck story of jail time and turning his life around. She spent about a half-hour talking to the man.

“My husband's like, ‘Who is this guy?'” she said.

At the end of the conversation, in an attempt to get rid of the salesman, she wrote a $75 check for subscriptions to four children's magazines. After she realized that the check was immediately cashed, she called the phone number on the receipt, but got no relief. She contacted the Better Business Bureau a few weeks later.

The bureau offers these tips to avoid getting scammed:

Ÿ Always research the company at www.bbb.org before writing a check for a magazine subscription.

Ÿ Customers have three days to cancel purchases of more than $25 that are made in their home or at a location that is not the seller's permanent place of business. By law, the company must give customers a refund within 10 days of receiving a cancellation notice.

Ÿ Victims of fraudulent magazine sales can file a complaint at the bureau's Web site, with local law enforcement offices or their state's attorney general's office.

Contact the writer:

444-1109, bob.glissmann@owh.com

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