Complaints

This profile includes complaints for The San Diego Union-Tribune's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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• 

  The San Diego Union-Tribune

  600 B St Ste 1201 San Diego, CA 92101-4505

• 

  The San Diego Union-Tribune

  PO Box 120191 San Diego, CA 92112-0191

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/17/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Around March 2024, Mrs. * was approached outside of Albertsons in ******* by a gentleman selling newspaper subscriptions. Mrs. * was told she would receive a one month trial subscription for $24 and that she would not be charged again unless she wished to continue the subscription. In ****** Mrs. * was charged $23.95 and immediately emailed Union Tribune to dispute the charges. The ** representative assured Mrs. * that she would no longer be charged and that her subscription was cancelled. Furthermore, the representative stated that Mrs. * did not have an account on file. *o she was not able to receive the subscription she was being charged for. *everal months have gone by with no further charges, therefore Mrs. * assumed the matter was resolved. However, in January 2025, Mrs. * noticed a charge of $40.95 from UT. After further investigation into bank statements, Mrs. * discovered that she has been charged $40.95 every other month for the past year with a total of $218.22 for a subscription she had no account for and never received. Mrs. * again contacted ** and the representative again stated there was no account under Mrs. *' name. The ** representative asked Mrs. * if her number was the same that was on file. Which it was not a recognized number. Mrs. * contacted the number that was on file only to discover the number belonged to a former ** representative and that this was not the first time he has been contacted under suspicious circumstances. **'s lack of empathy or motivation to resolve this issue is appalling. This matter has been brought to the attention to BBB to investigate how deep this goes and help prevent further future fraud.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/25/2025

  Thank you for contacting us via the Better Business Bureau web portal.

  I have been unable to locate an account using the address provided in the filing. To better assist you with the bank charges, I will need some additional information.  Will you please provide the first six digits of the credit/debit card and the final 4 digits. I will also need to know the exact dates of the charges and the amounts of the charges.  Once I receive this information, our finance department will locate the exact account your charges are being applied and I will determine our next steps.

  Thank you,

  ***** *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/17/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have subscribedto the paper edition of the San Diego Union Tribune since 1990. The large **** ad in the daily paper states boldly, Never miss the newspaper, with the word paper lined out. The ad further states: Your subscription to The San Diego Union-Tribune gives you free access to our daily e-edition Unfortunately, the promise of never missing is highly deceptive.I have NOT received the digital edition many times since I started taking notes on this problem in November 2021, most recently from 2/8/25-2/17/25 (10 days).Heres how I use the digital edition:.- When Im out of town, I catch up on local news.- If I dont have time to read the paper edition, and it has been tossed/recycled, I go back to the digital edition in a prior email.- I email specific stories to friends and family.When Ive contacted the **** multiple times about this problem, Ive been instructed on how to access the e-edition. But this is not at all convenient. Its also not what the **** has promised in its advertising. I must log onto the Internet, and then enter a *** and a password. In contrast, the link in the daily e-mail that is sent to my inbox is convenient, and doesnt require my having to look up the password or remember the *** for the **** website.I subscribe to several other news sources, including 2 local online nonprofit news sources. I have NEVER repeat, NEVER experienced this problem with the other news sources. The local nonprofits, Voice of San Diego and iNewsSource, are small operations and certainly dont have the staffing or technical resources of the San Diego Union Tribune. Yet, theyve never failed to deliver a daily email to my inbox. I think this ongoing problem is considered subscription nonfulfillment and/or deceptive business practice and/or deceptive advertising. The **** is expensive, nearly $30 per week. It promises delivery of the digital edition each day, but it doesnt come through on this promise.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/10/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I recently checked my bank statement and noticed a charge of $58 for San Diego union tribune. Im not a subscriber so I was confused. I called them and they said theyve been charging me $58 for 5 8 week billing cycles and blamed me for not noticing. The only involvement Ive ever had with them was a one time donation for a childs school fundraiser years ago. The account is in my name for an address I havent lived in for 18 months. They never sent me any receipts or invoices and their account service has almost no options for resolution. The cancel subscription function doesnt work either. I asked them to refund me the money and they said theyd forward it to another department but refused to give me any tangible record of my issue or even my account subscription. It was clearly fraudulent behavior.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/01/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My parents purchased one year subscription to the paper. Mailed a check. Now they are being billed. I emailed the company and told they to cancel it, but they continue to send bills.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/02/2024

  Thank you for contacting us via the Better Business Bureau web portal.

  This was received today, December 2nd, but in review of your account I see a cancellation became effective 11/21. 

  The account is showing a zero balance, please disregard any invoices sent to you prior to the cancellation.  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/14/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Hello,I checked my bank statement I realized I was charged mistakenly from San Diego Union Trib. The first charge was on May 1st of $24. The second charge was on June 21 of $23.71. The third charge was on August 16th of $23.71. The fourth charge was on October 11th of $23.71.I have never subscribed the service from *** Diego Union Trib. I tried to call them so many times and the issue was still not addressed. Every month I still have to be charged without my subscription.Please help me get these refund back!Thank you!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/05/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I received a bill from the Union Tribune out of the blue for $831.89! I have not received the paper in over 5 years! The subscriber address isn't even mine! How does a paper delivery bill even get that high? On 8/21/24, when I called to speak to someone and explain that this is not my bill, that I don't even get the paper, a woman named ****** said she would clear it and I wouldn't receive anymore bills. Then I received another bill, so I called again. This time I spoke to a woman named ******** (sounded like ******** voice) she only offered to refer me to the escalation ***** I waited on hold for 22 minutes for a man to come to the phone. I gave him the account number but he wanted my personal information. He said they have a number of *************. I told him that is not my phone number. He refused to help me unless I gave him my phone number (a sneaky tactic to update the account and try to pin this bill on me!) I want this bill cleared from my name, the bill states "please remit payment within 10 days to avoid further collection efforts". I don't want this to affect my credit. Please do not give the Union Tribune my address or phone number.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/29/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have had an online subscription (with Sunday paper delivered) to the San Diego Union-Tribune for some time. I noticed a charge on my credit card statement that seemed high. I called them on August 20th and a representative told me that there had been a rate increase. I stated that I would like to cancel and get my money back. The representative said they have no policy on refunding money, and offered to bill at the old rate. I repeated my desire to cancel and have my credit card credited. She stated that they do not give money back. At that point, I insisted on speaking to a supervisor. She then stated that she would cancel the subscription and issue a credit. After more than a week, while they did stop the subscription, there has been no credit, or email confirming this action. So, I called again this morning, and was told that you pay in advance and the payment is nonrefundable.I dont believe I ever heard these words when I subscribed. They should not charge for a service not delivered; they are not out a ***** or a paper.Their business practices are unscrupulous.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/28/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have a weekly/Sunday subscription to the Union Tribune for paper delivery. They have a credit card on file for every 8 week billing. There are NO DATES on these receipts, simply "8 weeks". I put a vacation hold on my paper for which I have a confirmation from UT customer service and yet they just billed me again for my "8 weeks" completely neglecting the 2 week hold timeframe. The paper also did not resume as scheduled and I missed an additional 2 days of the paper before that issue was corrected with a phone call to customer service. I have asked in the past for their platform to have dates on it but never got any response from them so now I have had to start watching like a hawk the 8 week timeframe they use. I have contacted them and requested to make sure my billing was pushed out the additional 2 weeks for the vacation hold but they billed me on the regular 8 week timeframe today.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/10/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Ive been cut off from access my (already) paid annual subscription to the San Diego Union Tribune via their app unless I agree to let them share information about [me] you. They do not give any explanation as to what information or why. Until I agree to let them share information about me I cannot get my paper via their app on my phone or iPad. This has to be a very recent change because I have been accessing my paper via this app for over 3 years and just renewed in January 2024. It worked until now (August.)

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/22/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have been a print subscriber at my current address since 2020. There are no barriers to delivering at this address, it's not a gated community. It's a single family home clearly marked with the address. In March of 2024, I stopped receiving my Sunday through Thursday paper deliveries. I have called weekly to request redelivery and report not receiving my paper. I am assured each time my complaint is being "escalated." My paper continues not to be delivered. They refuse to refund or cancel the subscription they fail to deliver. I want delivery or a refund.