ComplaintsforThe News Herald

• Initial Complaint

  04/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  A subscription owned by Carol B ***********, deceased, was charged to my account with USAA on February 26 2024. for the month of March. I informed them on February 27 of her passing and to cancel the paper and refund the March charge. I called 5 times, the 4th was with a rep. Ray on march 22nd. I just called again today, April 1st. Her account # is ********* 2809 ****** St, Panama City, Fl. 32405 ************. I am Joseph ********* her partner for 23 years. The paper is owned by the Gannett Co. Inc. I am sorry to take your valuable time for this small amount, it is only because of their negligence. Thank you, Joe S.

  Business response

  04/01/2024

  April 1, 2024
  
  Joseph ********
  2809 ****** St
  Panama City, FL 32405
  Daytime Phone: (850) ********
  E-mail: *******@proton.me
  
  Complaint #21512287
  
  Please accept this as confirmation we have received a complaint from your offices regarding Carol *********** and her newspaper subscription to The News Herald, account #*********. Per Mr. ********'s request, the paper was canceled on 2/27/2024. The last payment on the account was made on 2/26/2024 and the financial institution for credit card ending in #3794 canceled the charge on 3/5/2024 reclaiming the funds from us before we could refund it. Mr. ******** will have to contact that bank to collect the funds from them as they have been returned to the bank. When a chargeback comes through, the funds are claimed by that bank immediately.
  
  
  
  We appreciate the opportunity to address these concerns.
  
  Thank you,
  Subscription Management Specialist Team Lead
  

• Initial Complaint

  03/31/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On Jan 03/2023 l prepaid $34.30 from my visa for Delivery of the Panama City News Herald for 6 day weekly delivery from Jan 5th thru Feb 27th,incl. Delivery did not happen for two weeks after complaining to at least 4 different agents. Finally, after two weeks delivery began. Was a two week refund offered? "NO" - they told me they would extend my subscription for two more weeks. l explained that was no good in my case as l am a snowbird and would be going back to Canada by the 27th of February. It is not my fault they kept delivering paper - Panama City Newspaper failed to inform paper delivery person to stop delivery on February 27th. when l prepaid same. Panama City Newspaper service is terrible. Not getting what you originally Respectfully submitted, Peter W. ***** paid for is FRAUD.

  Business response

  05/02/2023

  May 1, 2023
  
  Peter *****
  20 Bluegrass Crescent
  *** *********** ** *** *** CANADA
  Daytime Phone: ***********
  E-mail: pw****************
  
  Complaint #19878658
  
  Please accept this as confirmation we have received a complaint from your offices regarding Mr. ***** and his subscription. Based on his account, Mr. ***** received credit for any reported missed delivery. On 1/14/2023, an email agent advised him to call customer service to cancel his delivery, this was not completed causing the delivery to continue. Mr. ***** spoke to an agent on 3/24/2023 and terminated his account. When his delivery stopped on 3/27/2023, we also waived a past-due balance of $15.50.
  
  All subscriptions are nonrefundable and are canceled on the paid-through date. Billing and delivery will continue unless a subscriber speaks with a customer service agent to stop their account. For more information, please visit *************************************
  
  We appreciate the opportunity to address these concerns.
  
  Thank you,
  Subscription Management Specialist 
  
  
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Hello, I'm a senior citizens on a fixed income I have signed up to receive a newspaper each day, from the News Herald in Panama City Florida. I paid for the service in full for the full year. I have contacted the customer service department for the past 6 months at 888-478-5001. At this time I have not received a newspaper delivered to my door. They did receive a full year in payment at onetime. I keep calling them and they say they are going to fix my issues. I have received the run around for over 6 months now. If you could please help me.

  Business response

  08/26/2022

  August 26th, 2022
  ****** *******
  1001 Sherman Ave
  Apt 203
  Panama City, FL 32401
  
  Complaint #37110363
  
  Please accept this as confirmation we have received a complaint from your offices regarding Mr. ******* and his delivery issues. We apologize for the frustration this has caused. I have notified his carrier and their manager of his concerns. I have asked for an immediate resolution to the ongoing delivery problems. We ask that he continue using the automated services to report any missed deliveries.
  
  We appreciate the opportunity to address these concerns.
  
  Thank you,
  
  Subscription Management Specialist
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Customer response

  08/26/2022

  The response that was giving from News Hereld is the same information they have gave us for over 6 months that they are working on the problem with the carrier. He paid in full over $200 upfront to receive a newspaper daily and still has not received a paper. I also emailed the editor of the newspaper and they did not respond.

• Initial Complaint

  05/13/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I have a prescription with the news hearald for home delivery of a newspaper every morning. As of late, I have only received one newspaper in the last 9 days. I cannot communicate with any one sympathetic to this problem. Complaint call are all handled by a computer which registers the non-delivery issue. If one holds the "0" button on the phone after the computer call, you gain access to a human who speaks very poor English in Guatamala or the Phillipines. They offer an apology and claim to register my complaint. I don't want to talk to a computer or a foreigner in a spanish speaking country. I've written the publisher, a Mr. ******** with no reply. I found a complaint page on-line and submitted my problem to them but have not heard anything back. The news herald has isolated themselves from all consumer complaints without any obvious ways to obtain feedback. I simply want to speak to a local human who will listen to my complaint for me to obtain my paper.

  Business response

  05/23/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/05/19) */ May 16th, 2022 ******* ********* **** Hidden Valley Rd **** Haven, FL XXXXX Complaint #XXXXXXXX Please accept this as confirmation we have received a complaint from your offices regarding Mr. ********* and his delivery issues. We apologize for the frustration this has caused. Based on his account, he no longer has a regular carrier. This means substitute carriers and management are delivering his route. We are aware of the concerns and we are working to correct them. I have notified the manager of his area as well as our Delivery Escalations team and asked for an immediate resolution. We appreciate the opportunity to address these concerns. Thank you, Heather Subscription Management Specialist Gannett Subscriber Services Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2022/05/20) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) I received a call from a Ms. Sue ****** who apologized for the problem they were causing me. People do not want to work and delivery personnel are hard to find and who want a job. Since filing my complaint I have received a paper every morning. It appears the News Herald is struggling and I hope they can restructure their customer service call in experience so it is meaningful and effective. Speaking with Columbia South America personnel is not helpful.

• Initial Complaint

  01/10/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Every year for the past 5+ years, I pay for a "winter/snowbird" subscription to the paper for my parents, who go to Panama City Beach from December 1 to April 1. Every single time, without fail, there is ALWAYS an error on the billing to my credit card that requires me to call back and speak with several people before it is corrected. This current year, however, really takes the cake! In November, I called to "restart" my parents' long-standing subscription on 12/1/21, at $20.87 per month, for each of the four months (Dec., Jan., Feb., March). A short while later, on my December credit card statement, there were 8 (!) separate charges for $20.87 (or $167) total, in that one month! I called then and spoke with a rep, who agreed to credit me $146.09 (7 months' charges, with only $20.87 payable for the month of December), and we then agreed that $20.87 would be auto-paid on my card for the other 3 months (Jan., Feb., March) as each month came due, which is how it was handled in the past. It's been over a month since I called, and NO CREDIT IS APPEARING on my credit card statement as promised. So I am carrying their error of nearly $146+ for another month. I **** have to spend another hour on the phone with them (it's never a quick call; it always takes being transferred to other people, re-explaining the situation, and then begging for a correction to the account). I am livid. I hope this prompts a call to me from someone at The News Herald who can personally CORRECT THE ERROR IMMEDIATELY, and ISSUE ME A CREDIT. This is the most pathetically run business (subscription services at least) that I have ever dealt with in my life. If there were a competitive newspaper in the area that my parents wanted, I would've jumped to it years ago. It's absolutely ridiculous the time and effort this takes every year to successfully "stop" and "restart" a long-existing subscription at the same address for year. Do better.

  Business response

  02/22/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 12, 2022/02/18) */ February 18th, 2022 ****** **** **** Bell Rd ******** KS XXXXX Complaint #XXXXXXXX Please accept this as confirmation we have received a complaint from your offices regarding Ms. **** and her parents' account. We would like to look into this matter for her, but will need her parents' information to view the account and assess it accurately. Thank you for granting us the opportunity to address her concerns. We look forward to her response. Consumer Response /* (2000, 14, 2022/02/22) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) I spoke with ***** in Customer Service today, who is supposed to process a credit for the correct amount which we agreed upon. I'll keep an eye out for that credit to post; if not, I will reopen the matter 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. ↩