This weekend there was an unidentified individual soliciting Seattle Times Newspaper subscriptions throughout a condo here on the Hill (this post’s author’s). The newspaper carrier and sales team have been notified that door to door solicitation is not permitted at this particular building. It has not been confirmed whether this person really was a member of the Seattle Times Sales / Marketing team. Reports from an ex-Times employee (also a resident) confirmed with the circulation manager that the scheme was definitely not theirs.
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The scam was offering a free year’s subscription to the Times and all the resident had to do was leave a $2 tip every week for the carrier’s service. The guy was probably casing the joint.
“All they had to do” was leave a tip? Wow, it’s like good old-fashioned mob-style extortion.
I think this post and comment is pretty misleading. If we’re talking about the same guy in the same place, it wasn’t ‘$2 tip for every week’, it was $2 a week for the subscription. The justification was: you just pay for the Sunday edition and get the rest of the week free. Everything was official, he had Seattle Times paper, id, etc. I suppose if it was a scam I got ‘suckered’. But it’s not.
How do I know? I started getting the Times today.
I believe I live in this building, and I remember the day these men came. Luckily I paid them in cash. They appeared official, and yes I did receive my newspaper for about three months. However, then it ceased to show. I didn’t mind much, nor did I receive any phone calls asking to extend my subscription. Today, 10 months later, I received a blank envelope from a bunk collection agency demanding some $70 in missed payments for the Seattle Times telling me to make my check payments to them and not to contact the Times with the note: We’ve been personally asked to collect this money from you under the notion that it is purely an oversight on your part. I feel stupid that I even paid the few dollars in cash to someone showing up to more door in a building that prohibits solicitation, and I strongly recommend that you all be more careful. Thank god, I didn’t give them my credit card number, and that I have a very close relative who is a lawyer.
Did some more research. The collection agency in question is involved in many scams. If you receive a similar letter don’t pay unless you contact a lawyer, or the Seattle times first to verify.
I had this same thing happen to me. Turns out THIS WAS NOT A SCAM. I started receiving the newspaper on monday that next week. I called the Seattle Times to make sure. Yes, the person who did collect my information did sign me up for it, Yes, it was a legit deal for 3 free months of the paper. I however, found that 25$ fee for the paper boys upfront a little strange and I asked to cancel it immediately. He didn’t confirm/deny the need of the 25$ on the phone because I forgot to ask him, lol.
It sounded DEAD ON like a scam but it wasn’t. 6/25/2010
This girl in ripped white jeans and a spaghetti strapped tank top came to my door a second ago. She said that they were distributing the paper for UW students and all I had to do was pay for the Sunday edition. She was crazy hot and kinda flirty, she even gave me her number and her name ‘hope’. I ‘hope’ she comes back soon… =P
I recevie a call with an offer of 25 cent per sunday , and having to pay the 12.00 up front – the person on the phone was real in experienced namd was james lee – couldnt tell me the times phone number , he just said it was on the 2nd page of the paper
is thi s scam?
.25 per paper for sunday only?
a man came to my dore last week and offered me the times for free,although i do not usually read the paper i accepted the offer. then he wanted twentyfive dollars for the sunday paper too. at this point i declined the offer.He accted disapointed and walked away. I did not sign anything but i am getting the paper every day including the sunday paper.I think this should be addressed because it looks like fraud to me .Sincerely Betty lang
You need to stay away from my girl.
I just got visited by a guy wearing a seattletimes jacket 5 mins ago offering the same thing and that I tip the delivery. I’m actually moving next month and when I said that he said he wanted my name and information so that they can deliver there….seems fishy and then when I said no thanks..he looked past me at my living room and said “good looking” and walked away.