5 Customer Reviews
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Review from Forrest H
1 star07/28/2023
Their online subscription service has to be fraudulent. Multiple attempts to cancel my online accounts. Impossible to cancel over the internet. The number is an overseas call center and I have no way to check to see if my account was canceled. This has to be illegal.
Madison Newspapers Inc Response
08/04/2023
We contacted **************** by email and apologized for the inability to cancel online. We hope to have this capability in the future. ******* had cancelled his madison.com/WSJ digital account effective September 8, day after his current paid through date. He was also subscribed to WiscNews/BNR digital which was not cancelled. He confirmed he wanted everything cancelled. The WiscNews/BNR digital has been cancelled effective August 18, the day after the current paid through date. There will be no future charges going forward.Review from Susan M
1 star05/05/2023
The Wisconsin State Journal is using unethical business practices preying on the elderly. The Wisconsin State Journal will not allow customers to cancel subscriptions via email and instead, force customers to call and then refuse to submit anything in writing. I signed up for a digital newspaper with the Wisconsin State Journal for a free subscription for $1.00 and provided my credit card number. I realized it was the wrong newspaper and cancelled the subscription immediately months ago by calling the Customer Service Number. The representative assured me the account would be cancelled and no further charges would occur. I requested something in writing but she refused to give me anything and said they had no way to send me anything in writing even though they had my email address. I received a letter dated 4/17/2023 confirming they would charge my account for the subscription. Please stop this company from utilizing scam type of unethical business practices preying on the elderly and vulnerable who do not have the tenacity to do anything about it. They will not let you cancel subscriptions in writing but they let you sign up in writing.Madison Newspapers Inc Response
05/11/2023
Ms. ****** complaint has been addressed. It was a rather complicated resolution that resulted from subscribing and unsubscribing on the same day. Our terms of use allow subscribers to cancel at any time, but the immediacy of Ms. ****** cancellation didnt allow our system enough time to move from active to terminated. Instead, her credit card was charged and the account was stuck in pending status until ************** brought it to our attention. We had several email exchanges with ************** in an attempt to resolve the issue and offered to refund the $1 charge, however, she had already disputed the charge with her credit card company and been made whole.Review from Anthony D
1 star04/19/2023
Impossible to cancel billing on website. Clicking the option tells you to please call us at- they wouldn't even fill that in. Finally found a number and got through to some call center. Awful and unacceptable Madison Newspapers Inc Response
05/11/2023
Mr. ****************** subscription was cancelled as of April 20 after he spoke to the call center, but unfortunately the representative didnt address the remaining balance. We emailed Mr. ********** and let him know the $7 charged on April 15 would be refunded back to his **** card that was on file at that time.Review from Ann H
1 star08/17/2022
I subscribed to a 6-month trial digital subscription . I didn't use it so 5.5 months later I tried to cancel. Although many things regarding subscription can be handled online its not possible to cancel online. I called multiple times to try to cancel and every time I was told "their system was down" and so they could not cancel my subscription. (However, their system being down didn't impact their ability address other account issues. I finally gave up trying to cancel in frustration and ended up just canceling my credit card so they (hopefully) can't charge me. I strongly recommend against any type of subscription to this newspaper, which is sad, because this is my local newspaper. I will also be avoiding signing up for any trial subscriptions from other companies going forward so I don't ever have to go through this again.Review from Thomas W.
1 star02/14/2022
I subscribed to a 6-month trial digital subscription to try out the service and see if I would use it. I found that I didn’t access the newspaper or website much and opted to cancel. While the business encourages you to manage your subscription online (even when you call them), it’s impossible to cancel from their web portal. I called in a full two weeks before my auto-renewal date and spoke to a representative who told me he would put through my cancellation. The very next day they charged my card $49 for renewal. I called them to dispute the charge and I was told they would put the cancellation through again and refund the charge. A full week goes by and no refund. I opted to dispute the charge with my card company and be done with the service. Another 4 days go by and I get a check in the mail from the Madison Newspapers, but it’s for $44 and change rather than the full $49 they had charged. I don’t plan to cash it until my card dispute is resolved (will depend on outcome), but their whole operation seems to be a mess. Stay away!
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