36 Customer Reviews
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Review from Samantha D
1 star08/26/2024
Absolutely mind-boggling that a company claiming to have journalistic integrity would make it virtually impossible to cancel subscriptions, not to mention the fact that the subscription itself charges widely different rates with little to no notice. They demand that you call to cancel and they make that information virtually impossible to find, as their many links to contact or get subscription help crash over and over, no matter what device i use or whatever the browser. Any attempt to manage my own subscription led me through a maze of links that are a blatantly obvious effort to prevent users from canceling. Furthermore, the content was never even made available to me! They require some scammy registration sign up as well as a different initial login and card informationWhen i finally called to cancel the man on the phone claimed that i hadnt gotten any content access because My email wasnt associated with the registration. In my account profile and overview my account email as well as a hidden apple private relay email were BOTH listed and the account number had my email address as its primary contact.Ive never in my life had to deal with such an absurd phone cancellation experienceAs if having to call was not maddening enough in and of itself! I immediately told the man my account number, said i was dissatisfied with the whole experience and wanted to cancel everything. He refused to even respond about cancellation, repeatedly making offer and offer, basically refusing to to let me cancel. I kept saying please, just cancel. He kept offering me random options, all of them intentionally forced a continuation of the subscription.I finally lost my temper and yelled what do i have to do? cancel it: i am not going to accept any offer, ever. The man spent **************************************************** before i finally ended the fiasco after 1.5 hours.Review from Johnny N
1 star05/30/2024
Since I've received unsolicited and unwanted newsletter email (contains headline information) on daily basis started early this year, after so many days even weeks, months, I sent them an Email on May 14, 2024, 9:50 AM and stated the following - "To whom it may concern,Just thought to let you know that I am not interested in receiving any newsletter email from your company.So, please stop sending me any newsletter email.Thanks."And, unsolicited newsletter email continued...So, I sent them the Second Email on May 22, 2024, 2:49 PM and stated the following - "To whom it may concern,Since you totally ignore the Email that I sent to you on May 14, 2024, 9:50AM, let me make it perfectly clear to you - I have absolutely no desire to subscribe to your newsletter."The following day, on May 23, 2024, 11:41 AM, I received an Email from their ******************* in their Email contains the following - "Dear ******,Thank you for contacting us regarding our Newsletters.We wish to inform you that your request has been processed successfully, and you will no longer receive our newsletters. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and trust that this resolution meets your expectations.Thank you for understanding and continued support, If you have any additional questions or concerns please call us at XXXXXXXXXXX or reply to this email.Best regards,*****,Customer Care Team"The problem - unsolicited newsletter email continued...Even today (May 30, 2024)...They never stopped...YET.After reading some of customers complaints on ********************, I begin to understand that this company's business practice is no good...To say the least.BTW, being a careful person like myself, I've saved ALL documentations in digital form, for legal purpose later down the road, just in case.
The News & Observer Publishing Company Response
06/10/2024
Thank you for your message to the **************************** We are sorry to hear the problems you have been experiencing with receiving newsletters and/or emails. Your request to have emails stopped has been requested and confirmed. If there is anything else you have been receiving from **************************** please let us know. We want to be sure your information is updated as you requested.Please feel free to contact us at ************ or ******************************************** if you have any questions.Thank youReview from james r
1 star02/22/2024
Would not provide services paid for And overcharged without consent to credit card. Would not respond to complaints or requests for credits. I had to cancel credit card to keep them out of my wallet. Reported me to collection agency for services I could not cancel. ******** is disreputableThe News & Observer Publishing Company Response
02/23/2024
Thank you for your message to ******************************** Our records show your account was started on 7/31/22. On 12/3/22, the account was voluntarily updated to an automatic monthly payment option online. The account was set to be charged each month. The first payment that did not process was the attempt on 10/22/23. Once the card was no longer going through, the account was changed to being billed in the mail. The renewal notice was mailed 12/4/23. There are no notes indicating the account needed to be canceled. There were no complaints registered on the account to show there was a problem with the delivery. We do apologize for any inconvenience.At this time, the account has been cleared with the *************************** as well as ARM Solutions.Please feel free to contact us at ************ if you have any questions or concerns.Thank youReview from Cathy P
1 star02/21/2024
The N&O Newspaper's customer service is terrible. I've been a subscriber (home delivery) since ****. I called today to cancel my subscription in full, as it expires in several days and we have been incredibly disappointed with the caliber of the paper over the past year. Abysmal. The representative continued to try to upsell even though I was very clear that I wanted to cancel the subscription. She was agressive, talked over me and did not listen - in favor of trying to upsell or negotiate a deal for me to continue. Seriously, I was on the phone for about ten minutes with a very simple request. I asked to speak to someone else or a supervisor and she said she did not have one. She only relented when I said I was going to hang-up and call back to get a different rep. I was clear throughout the call - I wanted to cancel my subscription and she made this simple request a grueling process. Unprofessional. Rude. Agressive tactics - very agressive.Review from Pam H
1 star12/05/2023
The N&O subscription cancellation process is deceptive, I told N&O Feb 2023 not to renew but they did not log this & I was charged almost double the amount in Augustmy credit card refunded the subscription chargeI received no newspapers. No one at N&O can fix system *********** has opened a collections account. I am disputing this unauthorized renewal with the collections agency.The News & Observer Publishing Company Response
12/06/2023
Thank you for contacting the **************************** The account for ******************* shows the payment was cancelled the customer was offered a lower price and refund for the difference but since the payment was cancelled no refund was processed. The balance on the account has been removed.Review from James C
1 star10/27/2023
I signed up for a promotional trial for $1 for the first month. I did enjoy the newspaper and it did renew at the new monthly rate of ~$10/month. After that, I decided I did not want to continue the subscription, so I called to cancel (there is no option to cancel the subscription on the internet!) The agent, after multiple rounds of attempting to get me to remain as a customer or consider gifting a subscription to someone else, finally told me that my credit card was going to be taken off my account. The charges stopped, but this is when the issues began.About 3 months later I received a phone call from their billing department telling me that I had an outstanding balance on my account for nearly $40 and that they needed my credit card to make my account current. I never received any paper or digital bills at any point during this period. Despite me telling the agent that I cancelled it nearly 3 months ago, they told me I had essentially three options: pay the $40, have my balance sent to collections, or agree to put my credit card on auto-pay and renew at $10/mo for a month-to-month subscription. I agreed to the $10/mo option. One week after this interaction I called the billing department to cancel my subscription again, and they gave me the same retention sales pitch as 3 months prior. But this time, the agent ***** was incredibly rude and condescending to me, telling me it was MY FAULT that I didn't cancel my account properly and that I was responsible for all outstanding charges. Additionally, they told me that I couldn't cancel my charges until January, which is 3 months in the future. So I will continue to get charged for a month to month subscription that I cancelled for an additional 3 months! This is the definition of shady.The only way I can stop the charges is to dispute the charges with my credit card company at this point. I believe in local journalism but I do NOT believe in supporting companies that steal from their customers.The News & Observer Publishing Company Response
10/28/2023
Thank you for contacting the **************************** The account for *********************** was started on 6/6/2023 on a $1 promotion the following months automatic payments declined for July a retention representative processed a payment for $10.88 which paid the account until 7/25/2023 a renewal notice was sent out to subscriber .digital access continued to be available until 10/3/2023 the account was stopped having a balance owed A telemarketer contacted *********************** and restarted the service on 10/11/2023 and waived the balance setting the account back up on autopay. On 10/27/2023 we received a call to stop the autopay and discontinue service the payment on 10/11/2023 paid for 3 months of digital access the account payment information has been removed and per subscribers request the service has been stopped for 11/15/2023. If you have any further questions please call the customer service department at ************,Review from Bob W
1 star09/18/2023
Allows you to subscribe online or calling but can't unsubscribe online. You must call/email/chat direct and then they waste your time by trying to pressure you multiple times to keep a subscription. I called twice and they hung up each time when I kept asking them to cancel paper. Shady business and nobody ******* clear english. Feels like I am calling third world.Review from Gwen B
1 star09/15/2023
The News and Observer charged me for a subscription without any notice. I emailed to cancel and asked for a refund, which they said they would provide. Over 3 months I attempted to get them to fulfill this refund through numerous emails and phone calls. The payment had gone through PayPal so in August I escalated the issue to PayPal. The News and Observer didn't respond to PayPal so PP refunded my money. Now the News and Observer has sent me to collections!!!Review from Helen S
1 star09/06/2023
While we had a subscription under the name of xxxxxxxxxxx, this subscription was CANCELLED!During numerous conversations with the customer service department (located, I believe, in Columbia and in *****), this subscription was cancelled prior to the final delivery. At many points and, as mentioned, during numerous conversations, the final date of the subscription was confirmed. It was made abundantly clear that the subscription was not to extend beyond the end date of the subscription! These conversations were, supposedly, recorded. The *************************** is now attempting to collect money for an extended period of time, which was never approved by us, during which we did NOT receive service, and for which we never agreed to pay. Although the amount is relatively negligible, we categorically refuse to pay for a service which we confirmed via the N&O customer service line was cancelled.Review from David H
1 star08/17/2023
Shady business practices. Allows you to subscribe online but not unsubscribe online. You must call/email/chat direct and then they waste your time by trying to pressure you multiple times to keep a subscription or try another. They are banking on the fact that people won't want to go through the extra steps, especially those people with high levels of anxiety or other disabilities. If they cared about the customer they would make all aspects of their business easy for the cusmtomer and not just the processes that will make them the most money. Avoid!
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