On 8/12/2010 a man came to our door to sell magazine subscriptions from American National, Inc. (www.animagazines.com 931-B South Main Street, 184, Kernersville, NC 27284; (336) 287-8610). He said he was 18, married with a 2 year-old son. My husband pitied him and bought three subscriptions. He paid with a check of $299. The next day (8/13, Friday) my husband sent the company an email (time 7:28 AM) asking them to cancel one of the magazines. I realized we would not be able to afford it, so I sent them another email (10:18 AM), asking them to cancel two magazines. Later that day I did an Internet search and found many complaints from customers. It seems they were once/are still called Overachiever Enterprise; some complaints mentioned both companies. The NC Better Business Bureau shows 24 customer complaints, and FOUR only have been resolved (http://winstonsalem. app. bbb.org/commonreport.html?compid=205145213#Complaints). I decided to cancel the subscription. (Our check was deposited to "American National, Inc." the morning after the sale.) I called the number in the receipt (877-547-6927 x2) and left several messages. On 8/19 I got through. I gave my husband's name, invoice number, and check number. I was told I would only get a refund if I knew the name of the salesman. I called my husband at his office; he could only guess the name. I called ANI back and gave what we thought was the name; I was told nobody with that name worked for them, so, no refund. I was so upset I started speaking Portuguese (my mother tongue) and hanged up. Their receipt does not mention the need to provide a salesman's name in order to get a refund. We emailed ANI a copy of it and of the check, explaining I expected to be reimbursed or I would take legal measures. No answer. The OH State Attorney General's office was able to contact them and were told I was going to be refunded. When it didn't happen I contacted the OSAG's office again and was told they could do nothing more, that I should address the NC State Attorney General--which I did. According to the American National's web site, they hold "two motivational meetings daily reading from known authors such as: Dennis Kimbro, Les Brown, Dale Carnegie, and Zig Ziglar." So I let them know their names are linked with that kind of business: Dale Carnegie's senior vice president David Fagaino (www.dalecarnegie.com/about_us/franchise.jsp), Dr. Dennis Kimbro (www.denniskimbro.com), Les Brown (www.lesbrown.com) and Zig Ziegler (www.ziglar.com). I let the Kernersville Chamber of Commerce (www.kernersvillenc.com) know the ANI scam. They are going to share my info with the local Police Department. I also plan to send a letter to the editor of the Kernersville newspaper alerting people.
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