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Business Profile

Employment Training

Optimum Reading Service

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

Find BBB Accredited Businesses in Employment Training.

Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Optimum Reading Service's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

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Optimum Reading Service has 2 locations, listed below.

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    Customer Complaints Summary

    • 36 total complaints in the last 3 years.
    • 11 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

    If you've experienced an issue

    Submit a Complaint

    The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

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    Complaint status

    Complaint type

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:11/14/2022

      Type:Customer Service Issues
      Status:
      Unresolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      Similar to others, I was scammed by an in-person/at-home sale of magazine subscriptions by Optimum Reading Services LLC. A young man named ****** came to my door in March 2022 with his pitch that subscriptions fed rehabilitation programs post-incarceration and other roadblocks facing BIPOC communities. I gave $344 for several multi-year magazine subscriptions but have never received them. I am so frustrated that this is a scam as I believe in activities and efforts to combat these issues and this kind of manipulation only serves to hurt future improvements that can be made. I am seeking either repayment of my spend.

      Business Response

      Date: 11/17/2022

      Hi ****.   Can you provide us with a copy of your receipt so that we can locate your account?

       

       

      Thanks,

       

      *************************

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:11/08/2022

      Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      Unfortunately, I have a very similar story to others listed here. On 11/8/2022 at around 4pm, a nice man came to my doorstep with a little binder of laminated pages, explaining that he worked for Optimum Reading Services and was trying to get his life back on track after leaving a gang. He went on to say that he had grown up in ****** care, which led to his poor decisions, and was now doing his best to raise his 2 young sons with his wife. The laminated pages detailed that he had received some sort of training certification, stipulated that they do not take donations (which I thought meant they didn't allow their salesmen to receive donations/tips), and listed various packages of books and magazines that could be sent for a varying amount of points for the salesman. Believing his story to be legitimate and interested in donating to a local charity, I spent $248 on CashApp to supposedly send reading materials for kids and adults, as well as puzzles, to a battered women's shelter. I fell for the scam hook, line, and sinker and didn't think to look up the organization online until after I made the "donation."

      Business Response

      Date: 11/09/2022

      Hi ***************   To cancel this order and request a refund, please follow the instructions on the back of the receipt.  As long as you mail the receipt(s) within three business days from the date of the sale you will be ok.   To clarify, we do not need to receive the cancellation in three days, it just needs to be postmarked within three business days from the date of the sale.  



      Thanks,

       

      *****

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:10/14/2022

      Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      This company is fraudulent. Similar to what I've read in other complaints, they have sale persons solicit what they claim are "donations of reading materials for nonprofits.'" The fact is, as stated on their website, they do NOT accept donations. The magazines and other reading materials must go to "individuals" who need to be identified and supposedly receive the materials as "gifts." I don't know whether or not that is true because I spent $240 on Venmo to buy what I THOUGHT were materials for a battered women's shelter. Unfortunately, I did not discover this was a scam until after I was taken in by the sales woman who came to my door, describing herself as a survivor of abuse. Having worked for 24 years as a therapist with exactly this type of client, I was the perfect candidate to be suckered into giving her money. I am furious with this company. I think they should be run out of business so no more people are taken advantage of as I was. It is a despicable business practice and I hope they eventually find themselves in legal trouble.

      Business Response

      Date: 10/15/2022

      Hi *****.   Can you provide us with the date of the sale and a copy of the receipt?

       

      Thanks,

       

      ***********************

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:09/19/2022

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      A salesperson from Optimum Reading Service knock on my door and offered to sell me magazines. Since I didn't need magazines the salesperson offered to send the subscriptions to Mary's ****** a local charity for homeless women. I wrote Optimum a check for $240.00.Mary's Place never received the subscriptions. In fact, they said that they NEVER participate in this sort of thing, and that Optimum Reading Service is a scam.I want a refund of $240.00

    Optimum Reading Service is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.

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