The envelope said “free, no-risk preview” in large type. The price of the book, $36, sat in much smaller print. For New Yorkers who answered, that mismatch turned a free look at a self-help book into a bill, then a string of past-due notices. A settlement announced on Oct. 28 by Attorney General Letitia James now gives many of them a way to get the money back.
The company is Frank W. Cawood and Associates, known as FC&A, a Georgia publisher of health and self-help books for seniors. Under the deal, anyone who paid for a trial book shipped to a New York address in the past six years can get a full refund. The deadline to contact the company is April 23, 2027.
Who qualifies and what they get
The attorney general’s announcement says eligible consumers receive 100 percent of what they paid. The signed agreement, called an assurance of discontinuance, spells out three groups. The first is people who asked FC&A for a refund and did not get a full one. The second is people who told the company they did not understand or remember requesting the free trial, or never meant to order, but paid anyway. The third is anyone who asks for restitution within six months of the Oct. 23, 2026 effective date, even if they never contacted FC&A before.
All three groups share one requirement: the order was an FC&A product shipped to a New York address on a preview or trial basis within the last six years. The refund includes shipping and any late fees. One example in the agreement shows a $13 late fee on an overdue invoice.
How to ask for the money
The agreement describes no claim form. It lists the company’s address as 103 Clover Green, Peachtree City, GA 30269, and a phone number of (770) 487-6307. The FC&A website lists a customer service line at 1-800-226-8024. People can also contact the attorney general’s office, which forwards the inquiry to FC&A. FC&A must treat that referral as a direct request. The office’s address in the agreement is 28 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10005, and its phone number is (212) 416-6310…