On Saturday, January 9, 2016 at 11:22:07 AM UTC-10, wrote:
> In response to a come-on, my wife took out a trial subscription to Cooks
> Illustrated. Now they sent her a "bill" saying that because she had signed up
> for their Six Months Automatic Renewal program, she should please get the
> money in.
>
> Did anyone ever run afoul of this? She never would have tried the
> magazine had she known she was signing up to subscribe in perpetuity.

I've run into this in the 70's. It's a scam only until you understand the rules of the game. It's a good deal if you remember to cancel the subscription early enough. My recommendation is that you learn to play the game.