ComplaintsforThe Athletic Media Company
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Complaint Details
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Initial Complaint
09/12/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Billing Issues
- Status:
- Unanswered
On January 30, 2024 I called about my Athletic subscription, My monthly rate was about to go up and I was looking for a better deal. At that time your representative offered me $1.99 a month for a year and then increasing to $7.99 after that. I accepted the deal and gave my Navy ******************** **** for payment. The error you made was that you continued to bill my **************** from my old deal. Therefore you double billed me for the last 8 months, billing both my **** $1.99 and my **************** $1.99. In addition starting this month you raised my **************** rate to $7.99. I have changed my **************** to no longer accept charges from you and disputed the $7.99 charge. I have also disputed the $1.99 monthly charge on my Navy Federal ****.The bottom line I overpaid $1.99 for 7 months as well as overpaying $7.99 this month due to the rate change on my AMEX.I will drop my disputes if you agree to credit my account for $21.92Initial Complaint
08/22/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Product Issues
- Status:
- Unanswered
I was charged an auto-renewal fee of $71.99 today, August 21, 2024. When I informed the Company I did not want the service for another year, they refused to cancel my charge or refund me. I caught the charge the morning of the charge and immediately brought it to the Company's attention.Initial Complaint
08/15/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Product Issues
- Status:
- Unanswered
Had been a subscriber for a few years, paid for a year on April 24 and tried to cancel and asked for a refund of the remainder of subscription and they are non-responsiveInitial Complaint
04/24/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Sales and Advertising Issues
- Status:
- Resolved
I clicked on a banner in "The Athletic" app which advertised 70% off an annual subscription, a price that was enticing to me. Without this promotion, I would not have purchased the service. I clicked on this link directly, and was shown an invoice for $21 before taxes and fees. I clicked purchase on this, only after it completed did it show my ****** account had been charged the full $75 with no discount applied. At no point did anything indicate that I was not eligible for the promotion. At no point until the sale was complete was the $75 total shown.Assuming this had been an honest technical error, I contacted their support immediately and asked them to honor their sale price. Support from The Athletic told me that I was never eligible for any sale, that there are no refunds available, and that The Athletic will not honor anything relating to the price reduction, effectively calling me a liar multiple times and saying unless it pops back up on my app that the 70% sale is available, they will do nothing (it won't pop back up because now I'm a subscriber). I asked multiple times to be escalated to her manager and she refused. It looks like I am far from the only consumer to be scammed by The Athletic this way. The business is clearly engaged in fraudulent promotions as a sales tactic and should be investigated for such.Customer response
04/25/2024
From: *********************** <*********************************>
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2024 5:34 PM
To: info <************************************>
Subject: Re: Thank you. We've received your complaint.My complaint against The Athletic can be withdrawn as they finally honored the promotional price.
Initial Complaint
02/23/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Order Issues
- Status:
- Unanswered
On 2/22/2024 I was charged $71.99 by The Athletic. While I admittedly had a membership, there was no notification that I was on auto-renew or that my account would be renewing. I attempted to cancel my subscription back in February 2023 and at the time they offered me a reduced price to keep me on for another year. I was never informed that I would be on auto-renew and I don't use the service enough to warrant its cost. I reached out to customer service and got an automated response that simply said they were sorry to hear that I was charged unexpectedly but they won't issue a refund and I will have access to the account until February 2025. I emailed back and have not gotten a response. I would simply like a refund of the $71.99 as I feel it is unfair business practice to not notify a customer of an upcoming yearly charge.Initial Complaint
02/19/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Billing Issues
- Status:
- Unanswered
I have attached several correspondence emails where the request specifically says cancel my account and the ********************** has responded saying they see an active subscription (even though my account clearly shows otherwise) and they do not take steps to assist. I am out of options as I am not seeing an active subscription, a place for me to delete/cancel my whole account and even if i did - how could i confirm they will not still hit my CC. I have attached a screenshot with todays date included showing my account status wit "No Subscription" highlighted. It would be nice to get a refund but at this rate I would just be grateful for them to stop charging me.Initial Complaint
01/05/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Product Issues
- Status:
- Unanswered
They had me on auto renewal and I didn't realize it. I saw a $75 charge for another year. I immediately tried contacting customer service to cancel my account and receive a refund. I never received a response. I tried contacting again, and once again, received no response. Their customer service email is useless. I would like a refund in full and my subscription canceledInitial Complaint
12/24/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Unanswered
The Athletic charged me prior to the end of my 30-day free trial. They're discriminatory against people with delayed mental capacity and disabled Veteran's with PTSD and high blood pressure and *********** difficult to cancel subscriptions for people with disabilities. They need to refund my money, it's just wrong taking from mentally disabled people. Thanks, *************************Initial Complaint
10/30/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Billing Issues
- Status:
- Unanswered
Charged at an over inflated rate of $71.99 after paying $12.00 per year. No announcement or emails provided to explain upcoming charges or significant rise to my subscription no customer service to contact and no way to be refunded for my subscription.Initial Complaint
10/02/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Product Issues
- Status:
- Unanswered
I canceled my subscription in 2021. I just realized Ive been charged $71.99 for 2021, 2022, and 2023. The charge is on a card that I dont use. I want a full refund for the last 3 years that I believed it was canceled. $215.97
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Customer Complaints Summary
77 total complaints in the last 3 years.
10 complaints closed in the last 12 months.