Journal Media Group

Review: I bought a subscription at a kiosk in picks save and I was given a 10.00 gift card for the subscription, and I was told not to cancel for 2 months. Or they would charge me for the gift card. Well I just canceled and now I am told that I will be charged the 10 because I didn't have it for 6 months. Well that is bait and switch. I am in sales and you can not lie to a customer. I just want my 10.00 dollars back. And them to make sure their sales men don't bait and switch any more.Desired Settlement: 10.00 and make sure their sales men don't blatantly lie to get some one to sign up.

Business

Response:

Dear Mr. [redacted],

Review: We had a subscription with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel while we lived at the noted address. Our subscription expired sometime towards the end of November. Since we were moving we did not pay to renew our subscription. We received a phone call asking us if we wanted to renew and I explained that we were moving and would not be renewing. She then went on to say that we owed $16 and some odd cents for papers delivered after our expiration date. At no time did we ever receive notification that they would continue to charge us after our subscription expired. Upon talking to a customer service representative, they tried to explain that when a subscription expires, they give a grace period of delivery to prevent disruption of service. NEVER was anything approved by us that we would continue to pay after our subscription had EXPIRED! They said that we were still receiving papers and we would be charged for them. We did note that we were receiving papers past our end date and were commenting that we had more credits from vacation holds than what we had thought. I have never heard of someone continuing to charge for a service past the agreed upon end date and charging without approval. I find this business practice to be extremely misleading, if not criminal. They are giving a service that is not approved by us and then expecting payment. Crooked!!Desired Settlement: I expect to have our fee due of $16 dollars and whatever cents removed (I cant give the exact amount because I don't even know how or why they are charging us) and our balance due to them set at -0-. Of course I want to make sure that our "subscription" with them is terminated.

Business

Response:

Dear Mrs. [redacted],

Review: The Journal Sentinel advertises an online rate of $.99/week for online digital access - in digging through their website this appears to be the only price that is mentioned. But in a recent analysis of the bills I have received I noticed that I was being charged about double that amount. In contacting their online support, they informed me that my "introductory pricing" had expired.

Nowhere in the agreement I signed, or on their website do they mention what the new rate is, or what the introductory period is. They did not inform me when they changed the billing rate, and their billing website doesn't provide a detailed billing history. I believe this is very deceptive - they changed the price of their product without providing any sort of notification whatsoever.

I complained through e-mail to [redacted] and [redacted] and did not receive a response from either account - once they understood I was displeased with their deceptive process they chose not to respond.Desired Settlement: I want to be refunded the difference between the "introductory rate" and what I was billed for the months I was charged, and I want the Journal Sentinel to fix this problem for future customers by properly advertising the introductory rate vs. the long-term rate on their website.

Business

Response:

Dear Mr. [redacted],

Review: Attempted contact with the subscription dept. has resulted in long delays, transfers to voice mail, unreturned callbacks, and

disconnected lines or hang ups. Lack of response has resulted in questionable additional fees.Desired Settlement: Contact by someone who has the authority to make subscription and billing adjustments.

Business

Response:

Dear Mr. [redacted],

We have paid for a subscription to the Sunday Journal Sentinel for the past 23 years. In the past month, the newspaper has not arrived by 8:00 am on three out of four Sundays. When we have reported the problem, the company has replied that we will receive the paper by 2:00 pm. Part of a subscription is a "guaranteed" delivery time, and a newspaper which arrives by 2:00 pm does not meet the guarantee, nor does it provide "news". I will be rating my recent experience with the Journal Sentinel as "negative".

Review: I signed up for services to have the Sunday Jounral Sentinal delivered to my home, it seemed like a great offer/price for the Sunday paper. I was anticipating the delivery of the paper, and it never came!! Then I moved a few weeks after starting the subscription, I called to report the failure to deliver and that I was moving. They failed to deliver the paper still after ensuring I would have a paper delivered. They continued to take payments out of the checking account for almost a year, with no deliveries. I had called to cancel the subscription as well, but they only cancelled the subscription we had gotten for our parents house (which also never received a paper) and left our's active even though I asked them to discontinue both. So I spoke to them again they claim they would reimburse my money, first said they would put it back in the checking account, I informed them the account was closed so they would have to issue a check. They confirmed (after 4 phone calls this would be sent to me within 2 weeks) Now it's 3 weeks later and nothing. So I called today and, the customer service rep told me they won't be able to help me I would have to talk with the original customer service rep I talked to 3 weeks ago. and she is off today, but the supervisors are also unable to help me. HORRIBLE BUSINESS!!!Desired Settlement: Send me my refund check immediately for $69.70. Or deposit it into my new checking account as the previous account is no longer active.

Business

Response:

I apologize for the poor experience you encountered while contacting the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. . As I explained while I briefly spoke on the phone to Mrs. [redacted] on 9/12/2014 our security procedure dictates the refund must be made back t the same method of payment as the purchase. The representative you spoke with did attempt to bypass this process and issue a paper check and was unsuccessful. She should have contacted you and informed you of such. After your phone call on 9/10/2014 we attempted to reverse the refund to the credit credit and manually issue a refund check (overriding the system) and the bank did not allow us to do so. Please contact your financial institution to collect the monies due. If there are any questions one you do so, you may have a representative from your financial institution contact us and we can work directly with them to handle this situation as quickly as possible. PLease accept my apologies for the added aggravation this had caused.

Review: I signed up for a subscription for the Milwaukee journal and part of the advertisement and incentive to sign up was that I was to receive a $10 visa gift card with my subscription. I never received the gift card. I called and emailed and both times they said they would send it out but they never did. My last email complaint to them went unanswered.Desired Settlement: I expect to receive either a $10 visa gift card as promised or a check for $10. Either one is fine.

Business

Response:

Dear Mr. [redacted],

Review: Effective 2/16/14 I prepaid for a year paper edition of the Sunday journal. After repeated calls to the company, I was able to read the online edition, but only received one paper edition and that was two days late!!!! I was given a gift card for signing up for a year. I would like my money refunded. Very poor customer service.Desired Settlement: cancel subscription.

Business

Response:

Dear Ms. [redacted],

Review: Journal Communications unilaterally increased its automated monthly credit card charge to me, without my authorization and consent, and without prior notification to me. The duration of an introductory period was not disclosed, and the future price level was not disclosed. An increased price just suddenly appeared on my credit card account. The customer service representative still has not disclosed where on their website new pricing information is even available. After this happened once, I called their customer service department to confirm what my charges were going to be, and was told it was one amount. Nevertheless, now for a second time they suddenly and without any notice increased my price, and they charged my credit card a higher amount.Desired Settlement: I would like Journal Communications to honor the agreement and contract made to charge me the agreed amount of $6.46 per month, and to assure me that there will be no further price increases made and charged to my credit card account, without providing reasonable advance notification.

Business

Response:

Dear Mr. [redacted],

Journal Communications are criminals. They started charging me for a subscription that I did not have. I had never provided them with my card number but yet somehow they got it and were charging me. When I called to receive a credit they even told me that they had no idea where the charges were coming from. They stopped payment and said they would issue a credit immediately. I waited a week and still had not received a credit. When I call back the supervisor was extremely rude and made me feel like it was my fault. She said all she could do is give me a confirmation number for the refund but since they showed it on their end there was no more she could do. I called back the next day and the representative said she did not even show a credit in process and that she would go ahead and process a refund. I am still waiting for the money that they took out of my account without permission.

Review: We have re-newed our Sunday paper. Every Sunday I need to call and have it delivered unless the paper carrier will see me up. I have called and spoke now with 3 different people, today (1/20/15) I was told that the manager would be calling me back, as of 4:30 no phone call. This has been going on for years. The Journal was fast to take my money but will not give me the product.Desired Settlement: To received the Sunday paper as well as a credit for the process of the delivery person.

Business

Response:

Dear Mrs. [redacted],

Review: The Journal Sentinel on-line application for Android phone (digital version of the newspaper), has on a weekly basis denied access to content that I have paid for on a monthly basis. This is an on-going problem that JSOnline has been unable to resolve. Specifically, after reading several articles on-line (in the app), I am asked for my sign-on and password to continue reading, but I am already signed in. Further inputting my sign-on and password does not resolve the problem. So I can not continue to read articles that I have paid for. I have reported this problem and received assistance in the past (10-12 times), and the problem re-occurs weekly. This has been going on since October of 2014. JSOnline acknowledges this problem and is still unable to resolve it. After the first 4-5 instances, a partial credit on my monthly payment was provided, but that remedy is now being denied. The message is that there is no way to permanently solve the problem, so credits create great exposure for this company. This is a problem, as far as I know, that involves their Android application. We hae not had this problem with the iPad.Desired Settlement: Resolve the problem permanently or provide a credit on my monthly payment

Business

Response:

Dear Mr. [redacted],

Review: I signed up online for the JSOnline.com subscription 2 weeks ago. They took my money but I have not been able to log in....not even once. I have emailed them about this at least 5 times and I always get a generic answer that never works. I am computer literate. I have a newer computer with Window 10. I have cleared the cache and all that. Didn't do any good.Desired Settlement: I want them to tell me how I can log in to use the service I paid for.

Business

Response:

I apologize for the frustration you experienced when trying to view your full online access. I reviewed your account and verified you have been able to successfully log in and access your account today as well as the comment section of JS Online. Your subscription has been adjusted so you were not charged for any time prior to today. Future monthly charges to your credit card will occur on or about this day each month. Thank you,

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.However, it will stay with me. Why should I have to force them to give me adequate customer service? My opinion is that they make the online portion so difficult that I think it forces some people to give up and buy the paper subscription, which would help the JS fight off the national trend of people moving away from the paper subscriptions.

Regards,

I am a 2 year +digital subscriber to the Journal Sentinel - jsonline.com. I subscribe because I am a Green Bay Packer fan living in PA and it is a good way to get Packer news. I went to pay my credit card yesterday and noticed that my jsonline bill doubled from the previous month. I received no communication that the rate I was being charged was going to change. I called the customer care # 414.224.2222 and talked with 'Neh.' (spelling?). I explained to her that I am an out of state subscriber simply for Packer news. I received no notice that my subscription rate was going to change. She put me on hold and came back and told me that was an introductory rate! I have received that rate for 2 years! I told her I do not think it is ethical or legal to increase my rate simply because they have my credit card on file without asking or notifying me. She talked again with a supervisor, returned to the phone and told me she would revert the rate back to my original rate, but could not guarantee how long it would stay at that rate. I told her that if it changes, I do not want the subscription. I also asked her to refund the doubled rate that was charged for this month, or at least credit it to the next month's payment. She talked with her supervisor and told me that was not possible.

Review: I signed up for six months of their newspaper at a reduced rate with the impression that if I did not renew it would be canceled. I read through their terms upon signing up and saw nothing about auto renewal nor this grace period thing they keep bringing up. I paid for six months and did not ask for or request any kind of grace period for them to keep sending me papers until I paid. I thought my subscription was still within the six months when I got a call to renew my service. I told the man on the phone that I wasn't going to renew. Recently we have been tight financially and felt that we could not at this time continue or service. To be honest, I don't read the paper. My wife uses it for the coupons. We had been doing the math and figured it was not being beneficial at this time because the coupons aren't as good as they once used to be. Going back to that phone conversation, the man told us we had charges for papers sent during our "grace period". I told him that we didn't ask for it or sign up for it and requested him to drop those charges. He said I had to talk with billing to do that and gave me their number. I did however, make it clear to him that I wanted my subscription canceled. Well, I was busy over the weekend and couldn't call till Wednesday the 20th (my day off from work). In the mean time, they sent us another Sunday paper and another Wednesday paper after which our subscription was supposed to be canceled. Which both are unopened and they can feel free to come get them. I called the number he gave me and talked to Betty today (Wed. Jan. 20th). She claims to have cancelled my subscription, but said that there is no one who can cancel the charges for their "grace period" charges. So she would do nothing further. The reference number the first man, that I had talked with, gave me was 3016306.Desired Settlement: A.) I would like them to please drop the charge for the papers they sent me through the grace period that I did not ask for, and make sure my subscription is canceled. B.) I hope they would reconsider their sly tactics. It might drive up their sales and help push up their numbers but In the long run it will only give them a bad reputation leaving those who were once customers with a sour taste of ever returning to their service. If you want to give people the option of a grace period in getting their bill paid, then give them that as an option they have to sign up for to start with. I'm sure they are smart enough to make that a very clear option for someone to click on just as they can make it hard to see or claim it was there when you automatically sign someone up for it. These kinds of desperate behaviors from both the magazine industry along with paper companies is only going to drive the younger generations (your future) further from you. It's like putting the nails in your own coffin.

Business

Response:

I regret Mr. [redacted] did not see the terms and conditions at the time of subscribing as they are stated on each printed or digital sales piece that "the subscription will automatically renew at the end of the promotional period unless the customer provides notices of cancellation. "Mr. [redacted]'s subscription was paid through until January 6, 2016 and delivery stopped when he contacted us on January 21, 2016 leaving a balance due of $11.18 for papers delivered and received. Our intention is never to mislead or deliver a product to someone who does not wish to receive it. For this reason, the $11.18 will be removed from Mr. [redacted]'s account and he will remain in good standing should he ever wish to re-subscribe. Regards,

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: We sent in two checks for a renewal of a subscription and have still not received a renewal or our money back. The second check had been cashed long before they informed me the check had not been received. This process has taken about 2 months after talking to numerous people in their customer service department and we now have written to the publisher requesting her help.(not e-mail)Desired Settlement: I would just like to get the money back I had sent in and did not receive a subscription!

Business

Response:

Dear Mr [redacted],

Review: We are a [redacted]. Our complaint is aboutthe Journal Media Group, [redacted],publishers of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper.In June, we queried Jim [redacted] at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, about sending one of our publications for consideration for review in that newspaper. Mr. [redacted] returned an email dated June 23,2015 which did not answer all of our questions. In particular, he failed to answer our question in which we asked him to confirm the mailing address. We sent at least two more followup emails and he did not respond. We think this isthe height of rudeness and inconsideration.Online, we found that the website of MJS ([redacted]) gives its mailing address as “[redacted].” We mailed thebook to Mr. [redacted] at that address. Post office tracking now indicates that the book is being returned for “insufficient address”. On further search we see thatbefore the PO Box number, if you want your item to actually reach MSJ, it is necessary to include the street address of 333 W. State St. We are irritated over the rudeness of Mr. [redacted] in repeatedly not responding to our emails and over the insouciance and indifference/negligence of Journal MediaGroup for not publishing online a complete and sufficient address for MSJ.The postage for this failed mailing cost us $3 and, disregarding ourwasted time and aggravation, we would regard it as afair settlement by Journal Media Group to mail us a check in that amount.It should be made out to “[redacted]Desired Settlement: We don't want money from Mr. [redacted] or the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.We want the management of the publishing group to explain in writing to uswhy they fail to publish a complete and sufficient mailing address.

Business

Response:

I regret any frustrating or lack of response received while communicating with our staff. While our physical street address is [redacted], our mailing address is [redacted]. I am unable to provide a sufficient answer as to why the Post Office returned the item to the sender. Items of all sizes are received daily addressed with only the mailing address of [redacted].Regards,[redacted]

Consumer

Response:

(a) They did not apologize; (b) They have not adopted a policy of publicly providing their complete address, with both PO box office and streetaddresss; (c) they should offer to reimburse $3 we wasted on postagetrying to get a piece of mail to them.

Review: I had a 6 month subscription to their newspaper. I received a renewal notice which I did not open as I was not going to resubscribe. The company continued to send the paper. As there had been previous poor service of non delivery, it became unclear as to when the subscription would actually expire. I contacted Journal/Sentinel to ask when the paper was no longer going to be delivered. They told me it had expired and I was on a "grace period." They asked me if I wanted to resubscribe and I told them no. They then said I was to be charged for the papers delivered after the subscription had expired. I told them it was unacceptable to pay for a service I didn't want or ask for. I told them I did not know of a grace period and that when a renewal notice is rejected they should have discontinued service. I asked them why they would continue to send a paper when their had been no approval of reception of the paper since no re-subscription notice had been submitted. Again they said it was for a "grace period." The bill has been paid under protest. I have sent a letter with the bill explaining why and that this business practice was being reported to the Revdex.com.

Business

Response:

Dear Ms. [redacted],

Review: Harassing phone calls to my home telephone--During the month of January 2015, I have received numerous phone calls from Journal Sentinel Inc. These phone calls have numbered as many as five calls a day, oftentimes with no one answering on their end when I answered. I have kept a log of these phone calls: 1/15-11:15am, 12:13pm, 4:53pm, 5:51pm -- 1/16-10:23am, 11:05am, 12:14pm, 5:19pm -- 1/19-10:07am, 10:51am, 3:39pm, 3:52pm -- 1/21-9:57am, 11:24am, 4:25pm, 6:02pm -- 1/24-10:19am, 11am, 3:41pm, 4:03pm -- 1/26-11:45am, 12noon, 12:24pm. This is just a partial listing of all the phone calls they made to my home. This is completely uncalled for. Way too many phone calls, sometimes within minutes of each other. On one evening occasion, my daughter answered and told "[redacted]" to stop calling. Unfortunately the phone calls began again the next morning. This is harassment. At no time did I give them permission to call me and call me this often. Many times they were not even on the line when the call was answered. The call came from the same phone number over and over. When voice contact was made, representative indicated this was to renew subscription to the Sunday edition of the Journal/Sentinel.Desired Settlement: I would appreciate receiving an apology (and not by telephone). It would be nice to receive complimentary delivery of the paper for an extended time due to their harassment.

Business

Response:

Dear Ms. [redacted],

Review: For the last several years, I have notified the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel several days ahead of our departure for traveling in this country and abroad to stop delivery of the daily paper. Each time, I have learned from neighbors that the paper continued to be delivered for up to six daysafter our departure, putting my home at a security risk while I'm gone. The latest is that I asked delivery to stop on August 2nd of this year. The paper continued to be delivered throughAugust 6th! When I phoned the newspapers Customer Service department I got apologies, but it continues to happen when we're gone, hence the filing of this complaint.Desired Settlement: The next time we're gone to have the delivery of the paper cease exactly on the day and datespecified.

Business

Response:

I apologize for the repeated issues you have experienced when putting your newspaper delivery on hold. I will personally speak to the manager for the area regarding this. Although you should not have to resort to any additional effort, if you wish to notify me directly next time you place a hold on your delivery I'll make certain extra steps are taken to ensure the carrier follow instructions as expected.