The Charlotte Observer

My elderly father could no longer afford the paper,so after the last payment in July 2018 he did not renew.He called customer service to cancel (which of course you have no record of) .When you look at his account on line it clearly states it expired in August 2018, yet you continued to deliver for the next 90 days. Finally a bill stating he owed $213 arrived,prior to this bill there were no phone calls,emails or any other paper bills. Even after calling customer service on WED 12/12,THURS12/13 and FRI 12/14 to make sure that his account was marked cancelled he still gets a newspaper and my fear another bill .I spoke to Keanta in the finance dept and she was very quick to threaten a collection agency.I don't feel that my father should have to pay such a high bill when no attempt was made to collect in a timely manner after it was marked expired.

The Charlotte Observer Reported me to the ARM Solutions Inc for a subscription debt that is not valid.
The Charlotte Observer Reported me to the ARM Solutions Inc debt collection agency or a subscription debt that is not valid.

I do not or have not had a subscription to the Charlotte Observer. I reached out directly to the Charlotte Observer via email and they claim that they have not received payment for my subscription from 06/24/2018 up to 9/22/2018. Once again, I did not sign up for a subscription to the paper, the paper is not being delivered to my house, I am not receiving any Charlotte Observer Newspaper.

I requested that the Charlotte Observer provide documentation of my signing up for subscription. They have not provided it.

I requested that the newspaper provide evidence and them trying to collect this debt before reporting it to a debt collection agency, they have not provided it.

I also requested that they contact the AMR Debt collection agency and stop the collection services against me, they have not responded.

I'm now concerned that this incident will be reported to the Credit Bureau and ruin my good credit rating.

The Charlotte Observer is trying to collect a debt against me that is not valid using a debt collection agency.

Dear ***,

We do apologize for the inconvenience. Upon checking the subscription we
do show that an account has been stopped due to non-payment and we do
show an outstanding balance of $42.58 on the account for the services on
06/24/2018 up to 9/22/2018.

If you have other questions or concerns, please let us know. You may
also use our 24/7 subscriber services at *** to
report delivery concerns or for immediate assistance, please contact us
at 1***.

Sincerely,

Raven
Customer Service Representative

When my subscription expired I opted not to renew. Yesterday I recd a collection letter from A.R.M. Solutions requesting pmt for services not recd.
When my subscription to The Charlotte Observer expired I opted to not renew as the papers wound up unread in recycle. Yesterday I received a letter from A.R.M. Solutions advising "due to the delinquency of your account, your information has been forwarded to us to resolve" and requesting payment. I called the number provided, explained I did not renew my subscription as I was no longer interested in receiving the paper.

I called The Charlotte Observer this morning, explained the situation and requested that complaint be corrected. She informed me that the
Observer automatically renews subscriptions. I explained to her this was the first I was ever aware of this policy. She advised she could not make an adjustment and would be indicating I would not be making payment.

According to the collection agency the balance is $27.72. Not sure what period this covers. The dollar amount isn't that great, however, I, and probably others, should not not be held responsible for services/products not requested.

Failure to fulfill home delivery contract
I accepted an offer for 13 weeks of Sunday delivery for $13. First paper was to be delivered on Sunday Nov 25. I called customer service 3 times and was promised delivery in 1-2 hours. I never received a Nov 25-th paper.

It is now Sunday Dec 2. Once again, no newspaper was delivered before 8AM (the Observer promises a 7AM delivery). I called customer service and the agent provided me with the same response I received the previous week. The agent told me they will request the paper be "re-delivered". I should expect the paper by 10AM.

It is now 10AM; no paper was received. Does anyone, at the Charlotte Observer, care about customer service?

Failure to deliver newspapers as billed for by subscription. Failure to respond to complaints in a responsible manner.
You guys have a lot of nerve sending me this insulting email. You called me months ago and enticed me into resubscribing and I did. I subscribed for the Sunday only plus Thanksgiving newspaper. I got NO newspapers. I called subscriptions and talked to a manager who assured me I would get the Sunday paper the following Sunday and my subscription would be extended for the missing newspapers. I STILL GOT NO NEWSPAPERS. I have gone online not once but twice to complain but all I get are recordings that assure me that someone will call me back to follow up BUT NO ONE EVER CALL ME BACK. I have also emailed your newspaper demanding customer service and a refund BUT I NEVER RECEIVED ANY KIND OF RESPONSE> One thing the *** Observer is reliable for is TAKING THE MONEY OUT OF MY BANK ACCOUNT FOR THE SUBSCRIPTION! Because your refusal to own this customer dis-service I am going to report you to the Revdex.com and on *** and am considering filing a theft report to the *** Police department just so that someone there will wake up at their desk and sit up at their chair and talk to a police officer about the theft.

The only newspaper that I got was the Thanksgiving newspaper but there was no follow-up Sunday newspaper.

When a business is so bad with their customer service does that mean they need to open a customer service department to handle all the problems their own customer service department creates?

Harassment. Receiving 2-4 phone calls a day about restarting service and from 4 different telephone numbers.
I canceled my newspaper subscription and got an email stating my subscription would end on 11/11/2018. Since then I have gotten 2-4 phone calls per day about why did I cancel and can they continue my subscription. I have received these calls from four different phone numbers: ***, ***, ***. I have answered why I canceled and my paper should not continue. I am still getting multiple calls dayly. This company is harassing people. I would like for the calls to stop and regain some peace.

I received a collection notice, but have never received a bill. I thought we had auto renewal with auto pay.
I have been a Charlotte Observer customer for 10 years. I received a collection notice this week. I called Charlotte Observer on 11/20/18 at 1238 and spoke with Ron. He informed me that I could pay the fee to him and a $99 reinstatement fee. I explained that we never received a bill and thought we had auto renewal with auto pay. He stated that a bill was mailed 7/5/18 and 7/12/18. I confirmed our address because we never received the bill. He then said that our account was cancelled 9/29/18, but I informed him we have had no disruption in our service, so we had no idea anything was going on with billing. I asked if they tried to call or email us, and he said no. I asked him to confirm our phone number and email. They had the incorrect phone number listed. It was a number we have never had, and no email. I told Ron I am happy to pay whatever we owe, but I do not think we should pay a reinstatement fee as we did not even know our account was cancelled. He said that is their policy. I asked to speak with a manager. He told me he would email one, and I should hear back in 2 days. That is unacceptable!

Have not recieved promised refunds and made multiple attempts to find out where it is. They claim it was sent but cannot provide proof or resend it.
I cancelled my account (***) in September 2018 and was told I would be issued a refund of $17.84. As of yet I have still not recieved it and all emails to them have been a problem. They keep pushing on me to check my bank so I did and again no refund was there like they stated. They claim they mailed a check but they cannot even tell if it was cashed. The last email I have with them stated they didn't know anything about it and I haven't heard from them since 11/1/2018

After canceling service, continuing to receive papers, getting (and paying) a bill, and receiving promise that we were canceled, sent to collections
We subscribed to the Observer in April 2018 on a 52 week plan. When the service ended, we consciously did not renew, as there had been delivery issues throughout the year. We continued to receive papers anyway, and got multiple phone calls daily asking us to renew. We repeatedly told Customer Service that we did not want the paper anymore, and were told on NUMEROUS occasions that service was canceled. We continued to receive the paper, and ultimately got a bill for $27. My husband paid the bill, and got verbal confirmation again that our service was canceled and we would not receive any more papers. We got a few more after that, but delivery eventually stopped (thankfully).
We have now received a letter from ARM Solutions, their collections agency, looking for another payment. I have written back to ARM and disputed their attempt at collection, but am horrified and enraged by the Observer's blatant lack of respect for customers, and clear attempts at forcing us to pay for newspapers that we DID NOT WANT and had been told repeatedly by Customer Service that we would not be getting. Horrible business practices.

Moved paper box, delivered one time and quit. Want the papers delivered.
Have stopped delivering the Charlotte Observer. Paper box knocked down first of August. Moved box to end of drive.
Paper was delivered once and then delivery stopped.
Have emailed and called customer service approx. 8 to 10 times. They apologize and do nothing. Gave me paper distribution telephone numbers that were not in operation.
Did not realize that Observer owned *** so subscribed to them on Oct 5 and no paper has been delivered.
Both Charlotte Observer and *** are charging for papers but no delivery.
We have a digital Observer subscription but my wife cannot read the digital subscription due to an eye condition.

Offered us a specific rate for 52 weeks of 7 day delivery and then after we paid, changed it to 264 days.
Observer price went up so we emailed to tell them we were not renewing. They emailed back and offered 52 weeks of 7 day delivery for $234.23. We printed out the email and sent payment with it. I assumed that it would renew back to the expiration date of my last subscription, 9/23/18. After my check was cashed they sent me an email stating that the amount I sent would extend my subscription to 7/11/2019. That is NOT 52 weeks. I emailed and told them I had the original email with the offer and that was not what it said. The emailed back and said the offer was for 264 days...I have proof of what the offer was and I want my full 52 weeks of delivery for the money I paid. THEY made the offer to me, not the other way around. Feels like a "bait and switch" to me.

Since discontinuing service 2 weeks ago, I have received a minimum of 1 and up to 4 phone calls a day attempting to get me to resume service.
After subscribing to the Observer for over 2 years, my wife and I decided to discontinue our service. Since we began receiving the paper we often would not receive a paper from time to time. This escalated to the point where we decided to reduce our subscription from daily to merely weekend delivery this past spring in roughly March 2018. Starting in roughly August 2018 we would often times not receive our papers at least on of the three days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) that we were supposed to. After not receiving a paper at all during the first two weeks of September and calling to complain, we failed to receive the Saturday edition on September 21 or Friday and Saturday September 27 and 28, we decided to cancel our subscription on October 4.

Since cancelling our subscription, I have received a call nearly every week day from customer service reps requesting to know why we cancelled and whether they could entice us back. Often times these calls came from non-North Carolina numbers and they never left messages. The only way I was able to ascertain who was calling was to answer or to call the number back. Today, October 22, I received 4 calls, I answered 2 of them. Both asked me for the reasons why I cancelled my subscription and whether there was a way they could win back my business. I gave them the same answers I've given them since I first cancelled our subscription over 2 weeks ago and fully exclevtvto receive more calls tomorrow.

This is intolerable and bordering on harassment at this point and just want the calls to stop.

I am disputing a bill dated 8/30/2018. We should not owe $47.06.
Around Easter of this year(2018), the Observer missed three weeks of deliveries which we only pay for Sunday. I (***) called and my husband (***) called and finally it was restored on the 4th week. Then the Observer started delivering daily. They delivered the New York Times Sunday Edition. It was the most screwed up delivery, but we assumed they were trying to make up for our missed weeks.

Still, we decided to not renew because we were mad from having to call repeatedly just to get what we have paid for.

Early September 2018 we got notice we have a previous balance of $47.06. The amount does not correspond to the service I paid for on 10/16/17 (26 weeks for $64.13) It doesn't account for any part of a Sunday only delivery.

On September 9th I called and talked to Vicki and she said this was for a 90 day grace period. I explain I never asked for a grace period and the bill didn't make sense. She rudely said she was sending notice to billing about having the bill waved.

October 8th (2018) I got a letter FROM A COLLECTION AGNENCY! I feel like this is a shake down. I pay my bills when I owe them. No written follow-up after my call with Vicki.

Larry has contacted A.R.M. Solutions (the collection agency) to let them know we are disputing this bill. I have sent a complaint letter to the Observer "Unresolved Customer Issue" department.

I should not have to pay this. It should not even gotten to the point where I contacted the Revdex.com.

Account number: CLT

I have not received THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER SUNDAY NEWSPAPER IN THREE WEEKS. I CONTACTED THEM THREE WEEKS IN A ROW...THEIR PHONES WASN'T WORKING.

I MAILED IN A $13.00 MONEY FOR AN CHARLOTTE OBSERVER NEWSPAPER TO BE DELIVERYED 13 WEEKS FOR $13. I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY CHARLOTTE OBSERVER SUNDAY NEWSPAPER IN THREE WEEKS. I HAVE CALLED SERVERAL TIMES AND IS UNABLE TO REACH ANY CUSTOMER SERVICE REP. ON 10/15/18. I HAVE CALLED SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE ONLY TO GET AN EXCUSE ABOUT WHY I HAVEN'T GOTTEN MY SUNDAY NEWSPAPER. NOW..THEIR PHONE SYSTEM ISN'T WORKING...THIS COMPANY CAN'T BE REACHED NOW. I CAN'T GET A REFUND NOW...SINCE I CAN'T REACH ANY CUSTOMER SERVICE REP.

I have been a subscriber for 32 yrs, I have a paper box to get paper in this box. For this year the delivery person refuses to place paper in box, I have called numerous times to have this from happening again. The person needs to be fired. I am fed up with this situation.

I have been a subscriber for 32 yrs, I have a paper box to get paper in this box. For this year the delivery person refuses to place paper in box, I have called numerous times to have this from happening again. The person needs to be fired. I am fed up with this situation.

Ridiculous issues with delivery of paper. Incredibly poor customer service.
Papers not delivered, sections missing from paper, paper soaking wet and not in plastic sleeve. Changed to 3 days/week hoping that would help, but it didn't. Contacted Customer Service again and again. Finally decided to cancel my subscription after 22 years. The link was broken on the Observer website. After trying multiple times, I gave up. The paper came for quite a while. After several months I received a bill. Tried calling Customer Service again. Got several phone calls, where I explained that I had given up, experienced nothing but problems and had made an effort to cancel. After all the calls about problems someone finally offered a discount on the paper, IF I paid for the papers I received after I tried to cancel. Not interested. Got a call from a collections agency after several more months. Very heavy-handed attempt to collect. Second call offered a settlement, but I'm not interested. Got a letter from the collections agency saying I had 30 day to resolve. Contacted the Observer again and asked to speak to a supervisor. After holding three different times I finally spoke to someone, who apologized and said they would write off the amount. I asked if they would contact the collections agency and was told they would. I asked for that in writing, and never received. Today, after several more months, I got another call from a collections agency. I have had it! And it turns out I'm not the only one. There are 277 complaints registered against the Observer with the Revdex.com for the same things I have experienced.

I have not received my Sunday Charlotte Observer paper for the past 6 out of 7 weeks. Either refund my money or delivery the paper and not charge me.
Today is Oct 7, 2018. I have not received my charlotte observer Sunday paper delivery for the last 6 out of 7 weeks yet you continue to bill me for $18.14 on autopay. I am going to dispute this charge as I have not received any home delivery of my paper. You can't expect people to pay for services they don't get.

On Sunday, September 30, 2018, Charlotte Observer offered a special insert section on Hurricane Florence. This was not included with our paper.
On Sunday, September 30, 2018, Charlotte Observer offered a special insert section on Hurricane Florence. We did not receive this special section. We called and left a message with the Charlotte Observer and asked them to deliver this to us and to leave it in our paper box. We have not received this special section yet, three days later. Back in the spring, we had the same issue with the special insert section commemorating *** death. We called many times and each time they said we would receive this section. Finally, that time, we also contacted the Revdex.com and then finally the special insert was sent to us via mail. I do not believe we would have ever received the special insert had we not contacted the Revdex.com. That is why this time I only phoned the Observer's line one time and have given them only three days (which should be plenty of time to get this special edition to us) before contacting the Revdex.com. We have continuing issues with the Charlotte Observer being thrown in the driveway when we have a perfectly good paper box at the street. On rainy days, the paper gets soaked, It is tossed haphazardly into our driveway, just careless delivery. I am willing to overlook these items, however, I do expect to receive the product for which I have paid which is the complete paper. Please investigate this and arrange to have the special "Hurricane Florence" insert for the Charlotte Observer delivered to us. Many thanks for your service.

My newspapers aren't being delivered.
I subscribed to recieve 13 weeks of newspaper delivery on 06/26/2018. It is now 10/01/2018, and I have only received 4 newspapers. I have called at least once a week every week that I didn't get my newspaper, and every week they reassure me they will fix the problem. I'm tired of fighting to get my newspaper.