Nanny Goats in Panties: I am such a sucker

Remember this guy? The American Idol Wannabe? The nice young man (named Desmond, or Nesbit, or something) who was selling magazine subscriptions door-to-door?

Remember how he sang for me and I video taped him and showed it to you guys? Remember how I gave him $75 for a subscription to Discover Magazine? I wrote all about it in a blog post entitled "I Can't Afford to Answer the Door".

I was thinking about him the other day and wondered whatever happened to him. Did he make it onto American Idol? Has he been staying off the streets? I hope he's continuing to avoid his brother's fate of getting shot down by gang members. Did he win that subscrition selling contest based on points? Did my contribution of SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS (oh, did I mention that already) help him win?

I also began to wonder: Did he ever turn in my subscription order? Because oddly, I haven't seen a single issue of Discover Magazine yet. And, you know, it's been five months, so I'm beginning to get a little concerned.

So I dug out my receipt and called the company (Universal Subscription Agency, Inc.) at (757) 818-9497 in Chesapeake, Virginia, and would you believe no one answered the phone? I got two different recorded messages both times that I called asking me to leave a message.

So I Googled "Universal Subscription Agency, Inc."

Unfortunately, they didn't have a website, but they are mentioned a lot by others on the internet. In fact, they're famous! See?

Rip-Off? Complaints? Scam? I'm sure there must be some misunderstanding, so I clicked on a few of these links, including one where a Former Employee Tells All. He talks about how Universal Subscription Agency, Inc. is a virtual cult and that they lure in, brainwash, and bully them into selling magazine subscriptions. How the sales people are just as much a victim as the customer and how Universal Subscription Agency, Inc. are just a bunch of highway robbers. It's quite a story, really. You should read it. [dramatic pause] Seriously.

This can't be true though, can it? I think I'll just try calling them again later. By the way, did I mention that the name of this company is Universal Subscription Agency, Inc.? And that their phone number is (757) 818-9497? I'm sure there's just a mix-up in the subscription department or something. I mean, my receipt even has an address and a FAX number, so it must be legit, right? RIGHT???

Because if this turns out to have been a rip-off (perish the thought), I might have to bad mouth them (Universal Subscription Agency , Inc) on my blog or something. I would have to keep saying their name (Universal Subscription Agency , Inc) over and over so that anybody else encountering these people (Universal Subscription Agency , Inc) will know what they're in for and not fall for it the way I did. I might have to start up a website about them (Universal Subscription Agency , Inc) and all the other scams out there to help educate people so that they wouldn't be able to do to you what they did to me.

But until then, I'll just go on about my business and blog about puppies and rainbows.

And goats.

[UPDATE 4/14/2010]: According to comments on this post, the company name has changed to Unique Subscription, Inc.