Please Help: Problems with LFI

[sdai]

Friends, I thank you first of all for taking your time to read this, if you could provide a specific contact at LFI or had similar subscription problems with LFI before and could share your experience to help me sort out this bizarre case, that's great.

I've been a LFI subscriber for several years and I've chosen auto renewal for my magazine since the very beginning (I still keep a LFI invoice in 2008 proving that), and the magazines have been delivered to me all the time without a hitch.

However, I've got a letter from them recently and according to the letter, I owe them 60 euros for the magazines starting from last December and since I "haven't paid" till now they are starting to add a penalty charge to the unbalanced account.

This is the part I don't understand, if I haven't paid, why did they keep sending me magazines since last December and only remembered to remind me 10 months later? since I've chosen auto renewal on my subscription and they surely have my credit card info on record, why don't they simply charge to my credit card?

The worst of them all, there's no payment instruction in the letter (if indeed I need to pay for any reason), and the online payment form of LFI seems to be only for new subscribers and subscription renewal (and now I don't want to renew it).

I've been using the online form at LFI's web site and the email address of interabo.de on their letter to contact them and have got no response at all.

If you know anybody working for LFI or happen to know how to deal with this kind of issues, can you let me know? it's much appreciated.

Simon

[jaapv]

Well, Europe is a bit different in this respect from the rest of the world. If you have a subscription it usually renews automatically and they will keep on sending and charge you. So that is not unusual at all. I guess Mjh could answer this one. Why don't you PM him?

[sdai]

Thank you for your reply, Jaap.

Well, I think this one is different, I also subscribe to 4 or 5 other German magazines too and had no such issue at all. By all means I think they are serious because in the letter they say they are going to take legal actions if I don't make the payment.

I suspect Michael is only on editorial or just contribute to them occasionally but I'll try to send him a PM if he could provide any pointer.

[andybarton]

Write them a letter (a real one) to the address on the top of the letter they sent to you and explain your position.

It could be that you have used a credit card to subscribe, which has since expired. Not all credit card companies replace cards with ones of the same number when they renew, which causes problems like this.

There are also contact telephone numbers inside the back of every issue.

[jaapv]

Well, the administrative side of LFI seems to be a bit hit or miss in my experience (eufemism), but usually once you manage to get through to a person, they are quite friendly and accomodating.

[sdai]

Originally Posted by andybarton

Write them a letter (a real one) to the address on the top of the letter they sent to you and explain your position.

It could be that you have used a credit card to subscribe, which has since expired. Not all credit card companies replace cards with ones of the same number when they renew, which causes problems like this.

Thank you for your advice, Andy. I suspected the CC expiration could cause the problem at the beginning too but I've double checked that none of my CC information has changed till May, 2009 when one of them was renewed. I had a chat with them and they said even the number has changed the charge can still go through and be applied to the current number. They don't see LFI nor Interabo on my files so I have never used this one for subscription probably.

It's hard to make phone calls to Germany due to the time difference and shift in work hours, I've tried a couple of times and no one was picking up. Oh well, if I could "sit down" then I will write them a "real" letter.

Thank you once again.

[sdai]

Originally Posted by jaapv

Well, the administrative side of LFI seems to be a bit hit or miss in my experience (eufemism), but usually once you manage to get through to a person, they are quite friendly and accomodating.

That's my general feeling as well, Jaap. That's why I'm posting here asking for a "real" person's contact info.

How to send a PM through the forum by the way? I've been monkeying on the forum in the last 5 minutes and couldn't figure it out.

[jaapv]

For instance through user CP. Or the PM link upper right hand.

[sdai]

Originally Posted by jaapv

For instance through user CP. Or the PM link upper right hand.

Thanks again, Jaap ... working on it now.

Update: Michael has chosen not to receive PMs so I can't contact him in that way ... still need help from somebody, please.

[jaapv]

info@lfi-online.de or lfi@interabo.de

[tpkoester]

You may also try lfi_engl@interabo.de

ciao tpk

[sdai]

Somebody just got back to me and I believe it is sorted out now ... although I'm not sure if it is the magic of the forum.

Thanks a lot to everyone who tried to help, this is definitely one good example why you've made visiting the forum worth a while.

Andy, please delete this thread 'cause it's pointless right now.

Have a great day everyone, cheers!

[andybarton]

Glad you got it sorted

Let's leave it up as a sign of the power of the forum

[sdai]

Originally Posted by andybarton

Glad you got it sorted

Let's leave it up as a sign of the power of the forum

Thank you, Andy. It's really appreciated.

[bill]

They really are hopeless. I have just tried to renew on line.

Ein Fehler ist aufgetreten / An error occurred

An error occured
The site you requested does not exist anymore. Please go back to HOME!
>>> GO TO LFI START

...then I got an email saying that my details had been received, but not whether or not my payment had been processed...!

Hopeless...

Regards,

Bill

[peter_n]

Originally Posted by andybarton

It could be that you have used a credit card to subscribe, which has since expired. Not all credit card companies replace cards with ones of the same number when they renew, which causes problems like this.

In my case LFI automatically renewed (without my express permission) in June of 2009, against a Citibank credit card that had been canceled by me in October of 2008. Incredibly, Citibank initially accepted the charge and automatically generated a new credit card account number but never sent me a new card.

Long story short, Citibank are now convinced that the charge was fraudulent even though I figured out what happened and paid their bill. They still haven't canceled the charge card despite repeated requests from me to do so. Meanwhile, LFI have completely ignored five (5) emails I've sent about this to info@lfi-online.de. I've pulled my bank accounts from Citi and I'm absolutely not renewing LFI, if I can only tell them that somehow or another.

[ptarmigan]

I renewed with no issues at all so it's not all bad.

[Doc Henry]

I had the same problem several years before !
I had written a registered letter to ask LFI that i will not subscribe any more.
They are continued sending me many other numbers,
then they claimed me the sum of subscription.
I answered that I already cancel my abonement
Several weeks afterwards, i received a warning with seizure of my business if it is not paid !
I returned all the numbers sent and that I did not open
... so, i'm not subscribed since that date

[mjh]

I hope that all the subscription issues (or issues with cancelling a subscription) mentioned here have been sorted out by now, but just in case: All the subscription chores are handled by Interabo, not LFI (or IDC Corporate Publishing, LFI’s publisher). Occasionally – rarely, I hope – something goes amiss and if Interabo cannot sort it out, it is best to contact LFI directly through info@lfi-online.de – communication through that channel will be handled by some competent and friendly person from LFI and I would yet have to hear about a case where this didn’t work out. (If everything else fails, you might try contacting me at hussmann@lfi-online.de, but I can only relay this to the right people – there is nothing I could do about subscription issues myself and I’m not affiliated to LFI beyond contributing the occasional article and being kind of an old friend of the family.)

[honcho]

Originally Posted by andybarton

Let's leave it up as a sign of the power of the forum

Hmmm....

The OP's experience of Interabo's business methods is not an isolated one.

Threats of legal action and arbitrary 'fines' for non-payment of unwanted goods or services are unacceptable.

If a subscription is not renewed for goods or services, then further deliveries should cease and not continue with demands for payment with threats and penalties.

I am astonished that LFI apparently endorses Interabo's current methods.

Caveat Emptor.