Avoid Publishers Billing Center

The hydra-headed scoundrels in Oregon who send out mailings intended to look like bills now offer me a subscription to Forbes at significantly greater cost than Forbes charges  me.  This time, the name is “Publishers Billing Center.”  They use dozens of various names.

As I’ve said before, avoid anything asking you to subscribe to something with an address in White City, Oregon.

Bill Bryson on Logos

Bill Bryson’s essay “Rules for Living” includes the following:

“People who wear articles of clothing on which the manufacturer’s name or logo is prominently displayed must also wear a badge saying: ‘Yes, I am an Idiot.’”

As usual Bryson is on the mark.

Avoid Circulation Billing Services

The whack-a-mole scammers in Oregon who offer overpriced magazine subscriptions in mailings designed to look like bills are still at it.  Today I got one from “Circulation Billing Services.”

They probably use at least two-dozen names, all using the same phone number (707-266-6673) and the same Oregon mailing address.

What they are doing is legal — just unethical.  Avoid them, and anything that asks you to pay through publisherspayment.com.

Avoid Publishers Payment

“United Publishers Exchange” or “unitedpubex.com” used to be the schlocky payment service for Associated Publishers Network and its dozens of misleadingly named aliases.  See my earlier posts for more details.

Bad publicity seems to have forced them to a new name.  They now use “Publishers Payment,” which continues to offer outrageously priced magazine subscriptions.  Reputable magazine publishers regularly warn against such operations.

Avoid any offer that asks you to pay through “publisherspayment.com”

Avoid Publishers Distribution Services

Well, “Publishers Distribution Services” kindly offers me a subscription to the Wall Street Journal at $599.95 a year.  That is six times what I currently pay (the education rate).  It is “one of our lowest rates.”  I’d hate to see one of their highest rates.

Avoid these scoundrels.  They operate under dozens of names and hope to deceive people — and they often succeed.

The Return of the Fashion Logo

The Wall Street Journal of 15 November 2013 has an interesting article titled “The Return of the Fashion Logo.”  The article notes that companies are finding fresh and sometimes ironic ways of getting customers to become walking advertisements.  And it notes that:

 After all, logos are as much about broadcasting financial status as they are about making a fashion statement.

An interesting take, and worth the read.

The Wall Street Journal Gets Mad

My recent posts have discussed fraudulent attempts to get people to subscribe to magazines at often outrageous prices.  This morning’s Wall Street Journal (11 November 2013) has a full page on the subject:

It mentions names like Associated Publishers Network, Magazine Billing Network, and United Publishers Service.

Now, the WSJ charges on the order of $275,000 for a full-page ad.  They aren’t going to give over that much valuable advertising space unless they are really, really unhappy.

For more details, see the WSJ site.  That page mentions that the WSJ is taking action to stop such frauds.  I hope they succeed.