The Charlotte Observer

Company failed to deliver paper as subscribed. Company continues to call for further business, even though they sent balance to collection agency
Company was notified we had not been receiving our paper, many days not at all, most days later in the morning to afternoon. We notified the company we were not renewing subscription, in addition to the fact that when we started we were promised a gift card, which we never received. While I believed we had paid remaining balances and papers were no longer being delivered, the company sent a balance of $27 to a collection agency. We are still receiving unwanted phone calls to continue with a new subscription, even though the company failed to follow through with their end of the agreement.

I was overcharged for my subscription renewal. I have tried for over three weeks to get this corrected to no avail. You need to refund me $89.23.
On June 11 at 3:45pm I received a call from a woman named Amanda with your subscription services. The call was based out of ***. She wanted me to renew my subscription. I had tried to do that earlier using the Charlotte Observer customer service line but that takes you to the *** and I was never able to get it done. Amanda offered me a digital subscription with Sunday paper delivery for $89.23. At some point she connected me to her supervisor named Nicole who then told me I could get that same deal for $62.40 which I agreed to. All of this will be on the recording of the call that was made.

The following day, on June 12, I saw that I had been charged both $89.23 and $62.40. I called the customer service line, again ending up in the ***, and spoke to a woman who said she would take care of the refund for $89.23 and it would take 3 - 5 business days.

After 5 business days nothing had happened so I sent an email to the customer service department on June 19. I received an email from a customer service rep named Alex saying my request for a refund had already been escalated and apologizing for the error. Alex said in the email (and I have a copy) that the refund would be processed in 7 - 14 business days. As of July 6, which is 14 business days later, nothing had happened. I emailed again and got a response saying it would take another 7 - 10 business days. This email was from a rep named Marc.

This is simply not acceptable. This money should have been refunded long ago and I need it taken care of immediately. Thank you. My account number is ***.

Continuous late delivery of paper. Sometimes no paper delivery at all. Numerous complaints have yielded no resolution.
See above.

Encore/ Charlotte Observer paper was thrown in the neighborhood driveways like trash.
Charlotte Observer,( Encore edition ), was tossed in driveways throughout our *** neighborhood over the July 4th holiday. I called customer service located outside the U.S. After a very lengthy hold time, I was given a name and number of the distributor, (*** ), located in *** and spoke to a girl named Terri. I explained the reason for my concerns such as, a green flag to potential thieves especially since it was delivered over a holiday when a lot of people maybe out of town, the unsightly litter and, that we actually have a paper box! We also have a No Solicitation sign at our entrance. She in turn told me that they have every right to toss the paper anywhere they like. If I wanted them to stop...I should file a complaint with our HOA and they in turn, can notifly her company. Wow!!! I stopped having the T.C.O. delivered because of delivery issues as well as a lack of customer service.

unauthorized subscription practice
The Observer sent us a letter stating that they would Automatically renew our subscription...If we wanted to renew or extend it we would contact them to do so.
We do not want their paper and feel the automatic renewal should be illegal.

1.- Charge for a "free" newspaper.
2.- Money that has been withdrawn from my checking account in excess and without my authorization.
I contracted a subscription with Charlotte Observer ONLY for Friday, Saturday and Sunday; after period of time they offered the Wednesday delivery for FREE, but they charge it. I noted this issue after receiving a letter with a "new" price too high and wanting to clarify it I called customer service (Philippines), and they confirmed The Charlotte Observer had been charging the newspaper that had to be free. To solve this problem, Rosa *** sales representative) offered to change that old subscription for a new one, less expensive. I signed the new subscription but they also overcharged it, never respected the new deal. I tried to contact the newspaper in multiple ways ***; ***; ***;*** but it has been an almost impossible task.
Three weeks ago I sent an email to STOP my subscription and received three new "offers" from Emily, Jeanette and Marc. Then the representative Maegan B (retention specialist ***; ***) called my home on Friday, June 22 and that day I was able to explain the problem directly to her and she offered to solve it shortly but she did NOT do it; Another representative named Caleb called my home (when I'm not in) and spoke with my son who asked him to call my work and he did NOT do it. Finally I spoke with a representative named Scott and told him that I would send my complaint to Revdex.com and asked him please not to call me at my home.

I've been billed for a renewal service that I did not subscribe to and my account has been turned to collections. This charge needs to be credited!
I had a 13 week subscription that I paid for on 5th December 2017 through a promotion that was advertised in the mail. When my subscription ended, my intention was not to renew and I was not tracking that my 13 weeks had expired when apparently the Charlotte Observer kept delivering the paper. They have now turned me to collections citing delinquency of my account.

When I sign a contract and pay for goods and services for a certain timeframe; that is what I expect in return. I did not receive a single call from the Charlotte observer or anyone else inquiring about the money/debt (that I had no clue about) until yesterday, 6/25/18, when I got a letter from a collection agency that I owe $42.37. I really should not by any means be responsible for this charge as I did not renew my subscription.

After several calls to customer service and then the distribution department, my issue has not been resolved. Greg had called me earlier and was very courteous and forwarded my inquiry to *** in ***. I am expecting to hear back from circulation but with little hope of this issue being resolved as *** bluntly stated that it is my responsibility to pay the $42.37 as renewal is automatic. That is obviously not a customer friendly policy.

The "Encore" tabloid is being strewn throughout our neighborhood advertising vacant homes and is a security risk in addition to becoming litter.
I addressed this problem three times over the past year to no avail. The delivery person throws these papers in driveways, on lawns, in the street and most importantly, in front of unoccupied homes. Doing so advertises to everyone who is not home and what homes are vacant. THIS POSES A SECURITY RISK TO THE ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD.
I have told them repeatedly to stop delivering to my home.
This is NOT a service, it is unrequested litter.
This is a no soliciting neighborhood - this is soliciting. Please get these people to STOP doing this.

Billed for Newspaper after subscription ended.
Our Charlotte Observer subscription ended on 3/4/2018. We chose not to renew. For whatever reason the Observer was still delivered each day. We also received telephone calls each day asking us to nenew. Each time we stated that we did not wish to renew. Our "grace" period has now expired and we no longer receive the newspaper but now we are getting daily telephone calls attempting to collect $98.39 for the time that the newspaper was delivered during the grace period. Yesterday we received a paper bill in the mail for the $98.39. I have talked to the Observer several times about this charge and they indicate that it was my responsibility to call and cancel my subscription even after it had expired. I don't feel that I should be responsible for this charge of $98.39 since I did not renew and repeatedly told them that I did not wish to nenew.

The Charlotte Observer continually tries to charge for unrequested papers.
After taking the Charlotte Observer for decades, we decided to move to a Sunday only delivery with electronic access in October 2017. We paid for 3 months , through the end of Jan 18, to see how we liked it. In Jan of 2018 we received a renewal notice. We decided to go to all electronic delivery ONLY and received a confirmation e-mail from the Observer on Jan 26, 2018. We received a renewal notice in either Mar or Apr 2018 (I do not still have this document). I called on May 9 to try to understand why I am receiving this notice when the electronic delivery is good through Jun 26, 2018. In the conversation, the representative said I owe them for 3 months of paper delivery. We did not sign up for this and I assumed that a confirmation e-mail for electronic only service meant just that - electronic only service. After being escalated to a supervisor, I was assured the charge would be removed and that all services would be stopped. On Jun 6, 2018, I called to follow up on why a paper was still being left in my driveway on occasion. I was told all service was stopped on May 9 and that I owed them $40+ for past due papers. Technically, they owe me for electronic service, but I simply want to be free of these people and have the past due charge for unrequested service removed fro my files / record.

I did not renew our subscription that expired on 5/24/2018, but papers continued and was billed for "past due."
I did not renew our subscription that expired on 5/24/2018, because we no longer wanted the subscription. Because we continued to get the paper, on June 1, 2018 I sent an email advising the Observer to cancel the subscription. The next day, I signed into our account to see if indeed, it had been cancelled. Apparently, the Observer assumed my not having renewed the subscription was an oversight on my part and continued to send papers. I saw our account was listed as "past due" in the amount of $6.87. Rather than waste our time objecting to the "past due" amount, I paid the $6.87 via Visa online at that moment.

I received a response from Observer on 6/2/18, appealing for us to continue subscription rather than accept my note to cancel. They also said I owe them $8.80. I considered the matter closed.

Today, I accessed our account and see they now believe we owe them $8.80. No, we cancelled on June 1, 2018.

I signed up for the paper and was charged for 3 months but never received a single paper. Now they say I owe for even more.
I signed up for a subscription of the paper. I never received a single paper. I tried to contact them but never had anyone return my emails or phone calls. I continued to be charged for months there after until I finally canceled the debit card so they could no longer run the account.
Someone called me because of the billing error. I explained I never received a single paper, had tried to contract them multiple times and never had any luck. They apologized and assured me they would fix the account so it didn't show I was past due.
I was contacted three more times. I explained and was told the same thing, they would clear out the "past due" amount. I just received a letter from a collection agency where they are trying to collect on my account.

I paid for 3 months of service, never received a single paper, was never contacted back and yet I still owe more?!?!?!?!

This is an outrage.

My subscription ran until 1/22/18. They kept delivering papers and are now charging me for them even though I told them to cancel.
My delivery person kept delivering papers while I was on vacation. When my subscription was over on 1/22/18 I told Charlotte Observer I no longer wanted the paper because I kept getting papers on my lawn when I was not home. The papers continued without my consent and ultimately I was billed $23 as a previous balance for papers I did not want.

Newspaper has not been delivered for over 6 months. I have made repeated calls to customer service.
Newspaper has not been delivered since I changed addresses in October 2017. I filed 3 online complaints (12/3/17, 12/17/17, and 1/7/18). I have also made numerous calls to customer service, starting in October 2017 and continuing until May 2018.

Pre-paid for 1 year of Sunday paper. After that time the Observer continued to deliver, now have sent me to collections for product I did not want.
I pre-paid for exactly what I wanted, which was 1 year of Sunday Observer delivered. I did not ask for any additional papers to be delivered, and informed every representative that called me that I did not wish to renew my subscription.
In the mean time, the Observer continue to deliver the Sunday paper to my home, which I did not ask for, and have now sent me to collections for $27.68.
When I called to dispute the charges, Observer customer service told me "I had to call when my subscription expired to stop auto-renewal" This makes no sense to me as I pre-paid for 1 year and do not have a credit card on file with the Observer, nor have I been paying monthly for the paper - the entire year was paid in advance.

The Observer seems to be using shady business practices to maintain readers/subscribers and I do not feel I am responsible to pay for a product (that I didn't request or ask for) simply because it was dropped on my driveway.

I spoke to a customer service manager and asked that I be sent a copy of a contract I signed indicating I would pay for additional newspapers and the auto-renewal of my subscription, and she promptly hung up the phone.

PAY FOR MY SUBSCRIPTION ANNUALLY,FROM JULY TO JULY ,RECEIVED NEW BILL CHANGING MY DATE TO APRIL AND NOT GIVING ME THE CREDIT FOR REMAINING MONTHS
CALLED THE CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPT ON MARCH 11 TALK WITH BAVARE EDGE ABOUT MY RENEWAL DATE BEING CHANGED FROM JULY TO APRIL, SHE APOLOGIZE AND SAID SHE WOULD CHANGED RENEWAL TO AUGUST, BUT RECEIVED NEW INVOICE SHOWING APRIL AS NEW RENEWAL DATE, THEY ARE CHEATING ME OUT OF 4 MONTHS I WANT MY CREDIT FOR THE MONTHS I HAVE ALREADY PAID FOR

I was overcharged $29.60 back on April 11. I have made 5 phone calls and 9 emails over the last month and my money is not yet credited back to me.
Back on April 11, I downgraded by subscription to Sunday only for $15.02 a month...before my monthly debit of $36.00 came out on April 15th. They debited $44.62 that day instead of the agreed to amount. Over the last month I have tried to get my overcharge returned with no success. I have now emailed 9 times and called and spoken to 5 people. On May 8th I was supposed to get a call from the manager of the customer service department, Brian H. It has been 4 business days and no message even from him. I have been a home subscriber for over 20 years and expect better customer service than this.

Fraudulent billing for a month of delivery after my subscription expired.
I was an Observer subscriber for 33 years (account # ***). I always payed by check when the renewal notice arrived. I never signed up for automatic renewal or EZ-Pay. I never gave the Observer a credit card or bank account number. This year I chose not to renew my subscription. As with all periodical subscriptions I choose not to renew, when the renewal notice arrived, clearly stating "Expire Date: 02/03/18", I just ignored the notice. I considered that an implicit cancellation. Newspaper delivery continued after the Expire Date. About 2 weeks later, I received a 2nd renewal notice. This time, I wrote CANCEL across it and mailed it back. Delivery didn't stop for another 2 weeks. Then I received a Past Due Notice for $44.69. How could I be past due for delivery after my subscription expired? I ignored the notice. A few weeks later, I get a letter from A.R.M. Solutions collection agency, demanding the payment of $44.69 (Agency Acct # ***). I sent them a certified letter disputing the charge. I am awaiting a response. I feel this is a fraudulent practice of the Observer, billing for delivery of newspapers after a subscription has expired. It is their responsibility to cease delivery of an expired subscription. Should they choose to continue delivery, they cannot expect former customers to pay for it. To then send the bill to a collection agency to strong-arm payment is outrageous.

Am being sent to collections for services never agreed upon, nor received.
The situation that the Charlotte Observer has put upon us has been a comedy of errors.

At first, I (***) 'purchased' a 12 week subscription to the observer with air miles (***), no cost to me. I never actually received anything from the observer, which was puzzling, but not too concerning, the air miles were of very little value to me so I let it go. This probably occurred around May 2017.

Later, we (specifically my wife, ***) got a telemarketing call with a deal to get the paper. Was probably about $30 for 3 months, which we signed up for and paid for on the phone. We did start getting the papers but we did not find the time to read them so we cancelled before the end of the 3 months. I think this was about Oct 2017.

We then started getting invoices from the Observer. I called up and they saw that I had cancelled and it must be a mistake, I should ignore. This repeated a few times and then went to collections.

In , I think about December 2017, my wife and I had a joint call with the charlotte observer and they found the problem... the billing was related to the first time I signed up with air miles and apparently I never cancelled (why would I cancel, I never actually got any papers). Further, if I was to get papers, why would I have paid the $30 to sign up a few months later?

On that conference call, the representative understood the mistake that the observer made and assured us that we would (a) get no more invoices collection notices (b) would owe no money, the least they could do since we did not owe them a penny and (c) never get a marketing call ever again from this company, since it had been such an unpleasant experience dealign with them.

They have failed on all three criteria. I am constantly getting marketing calls from them and just now, May 2018, have gotten another collection notice.

I do not, and have ever, owed this company a penny, other than the $30 we immeidately paid. We are now getting threatening letters that are their mistake and I assume this is , or will at some point, affect my credit score.

We have tried many, many times to fix this with the Charlotte Observer but as yet they have been unwilling, or unable to remediate this situation , so I am hopeful that the Revdex.com can facilitate a satisfactory conclusion to this matter.

Delivery of the paper stopped sometime in September 2017. I called and told them to cancel.
Papers stopped being delivered at all or a day or 2 late in Sept 2017. I continued to call every day and was told they would just expend my subscription. Finally after 2 months more of this, I called and ask to just cancelled as I am not getting the paper entirely or just late. Bills continued and so did my calls. In fact they even called me about every week trying to get me to renew. I told them no and my subscription should be cancelled. Each time I was told they would notate that on my account. Then, sometime in January I called customer service to dispute the outstanding charges. I was told they put in an email to billing and someone would be in touch. I heard nothing. Then received a collection notice on May 5th 2018 for $57 an some change. I take my credit serious and am not standing for this type of bad business practice. I have phone records to prove the amount of times I have called to get this handled. They even have it on record. I do not owe any money as I cancelled the subscription after 2 months of never getting the paper.