Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Belleville News-Democrat's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

close

Find a Location

Belleville News-Democrat has 2 locations, listed below.

*This company may be headquartered in or have additional locations in another country. Please click on the country abbreviation in the search box below to change to a different country location.

BBB accredited

Near

Country

USUnited States

Please enter a valid location.

Filter

• 

  Belleville News-Democrat

  23 Public Sq Ste 2 Belleville, IL 62220-1627

• 

  Belleville News-Democrat

  PO Box 427 Belleville, IL 62222-0427

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:07/22/2024

  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.

  I noticed a charge on my Regions CC, debited on 7-8-24 for $189.99 by Belleville New Cir and I called the Belleville News Democrat newspaper about this charge and to cancel the paper. They told me that they sent an email 7-4-24 about new ************* *** agreed to it, for the next year to 2025, ( I did not receive this nor would I approved it if I had), and that I could not cancel my subscription. I have all my emails and there is nothing from them, trash or junk, they had my correct email address. This paper was recently taken over this spring by ********* ***************** and obviously has misled subscribers and signed them up without any notice. I subscribe to several papers no one ever says you cant cancel, and since this is so new, they say 7-4-24 was my start period for the new year, I should be able to cancel and get my money back. I called today 7-22-24 their customer service rep told me all this information. I also called my credit card company and have a complaint in about this. The price of the paper has also dramatically increased, and is only printed 2 days a week, the rest online. Im an online subscriber and the content for local news, why I bought it in the first place, has greatly diminished, and national news is the new filler. I believe this is a scam in the making, obviously not informing customers about their subscription and rate hikes. This never happens with the **************** they have always sent notices in advance of the new years subscription.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/23/2024

  I found I was able to cancel online on the web site after the customer service representative told me I could not and told me that I was locked into the subscription for another year.  Found this after I contacted your office. 
  I still want a refund, $189.99, that I never authorized or had any indication that it was happening.  I had to cancel my credit card because I am not comfortable that they wont charge me next year. This new company that is running the operations for BND is called *************** and they are not honest. 
  I subscribe to two other papers, one yearly, WAPO, and one monthly, the Daily Camera, *******, they are run by a mass media empire that covers many papers in the west, & they never fail to announce the new year and subscription is coming due. 
  Thanks

  Business Response

  Date: 07/25/2024

  Thank you for contacitng the Belleville News Democrat. The account for ************************* has been reviewed. Our records show from our billing department we sent out a billing increase email on May 22, 2024 informing of the upcoming price increase. At this time I can refund the remaining balance that is on the account which is $178.57. Our Terms of Service define our cancellation policy which states cancellations are processed on the next renewal date. We notify subscribers 30 days in advance of any increase so that they have the option to cancel prior to their next payment draft. We did not receive a cancellation request until  7/22/2024. The refund request has been sent to our finance team once approved the money will be refunded back to your credit card. If you have any further questions you can contact the customer service department at ************.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/29/2024

  Type:Product 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.

  The company is trying to get me to pay for news*****s they did not deliver. They turned it over to collections. I have written them 3 times already with no response. They owe me a refund for *****s not received from August 2023 to Oct 30, 2023. They need to delete the collections. The same news***** delivery person (for St ********** Dispatch) and Belleville News Democrat IL. St Louis ***** gave me a refund for *****s not delivered for the same time period in the amount of $54.46. This business now has a bad reputation since 2020 missing delivery of the ***** I did not find out until recently from other disabled military veterans they don't deliver every day. I let this ***** know up front that Due to my disabilities I can not use computers and can not read on the computer.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/01/2024

  Thank you for contacting the Belleville News Democrat. The account for ************************* was stopped effective 12/21/2023. The account had a renewal date of 11/5/2023 we did not receive a cancellation request renewal notices were sent 30 days prior to the renewal date and 10 days after the renewal date. During the ****** in question there are no records of ************************* not receiving her newspaper delivery. We do have a grace ****** after the renewal date in which papers are delivered while we await a payment or cancellation request. At this time the balance on the account of $59.17 has been removed and we have contacted the **** agency which is a non-reporting agency to let them know to stop any collections attempts. No refund or further adjustment is available. If you have any questions please call the customer service department at ************.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/28/2023

  Type:Delivery 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.

  I want the paper delivered like we paid for or give us our money back. They cut the delivery down from six days a week to two days and we do not know when we are going to get the delivery. IF, they are not going to uphold what they say they are going to do I would like a refund reissued.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/28/2023

  Thank you for your message to The Belleville News Democrat. The delivery of the Belleville News Democrat is still 7 days a week. The combination of digital and print news is available everyday. Effective 10/3023, the printed paper was converted from a 6 day print to a 2 day print delivery with 7 day unlimited digital access. The Wednesday and Sunday printed papers are placed in the mail and delivered by the ***** Our records show you have spoken with customer service and your account is set to stop, per your request, on 1/14/24.

  If you have not activated the digital portion of your subscription, you can go to **************************** and enter your email address and create a password. From here, you will be access your news content on your PC, laptop, tablet or phone 24/7.

  Please feel free to contact us at ************ or *********************** if you have any further questions or concerns.

  Thank you

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/27/2023

  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.

  We have been paying for the Belleville News Democrat and not receiving the papers In the past 2 weeks we have only gotten the paper twice October 16 and 24th You can not get a person on the phone only an automated phone answering system and do not get a response from them

  Business Response

  Date: 10/28/2023

  Thank you for conrtacting the Belleville News Democrat. The account for ****** ****** has been given credit for the complaints called in to our system for missed delivery. At this time the route does not have a regular carrier the management team has been working to deliver this route. We apologize that papers were not received. Effective 10/30/2023 the ppaper will be delivered by mail carrier and available online 7 days a week. Credit is given by extending the renewal date of a subscription by the number of days missed the previous renewal date was 2/19/2024 it has been extended to 3/17/2024. A representative noted the account that they left a message on 10/27/2023 in response to a voicemail you left regarding your servicve. The agent contacted the delivery team to ensure a paper arrives for you on 10/29/2023. If you have any questions you can call our customer service department at ************.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/23/2023

  Type:Delivery 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.

  The Belleville news Democrat is delivery party for the **** ****** *******, that sub contracts the paper delivery, over the last few years we have not got our papers on a timely manner. over the last week we have not got 2 papers out of 6, this has been an on going thing with the carrier we notify both BND and WSJ of problems, T.W. that works for owner of the BND, told me a couple of weeks ago when we miss a paper it will be delivered the next day, that has only happened a couple of times over the last few years, we are told we get credits added to the end of our subscriptions but I have not seen any proof of this, if the Belleville News Democrat cant get the papers delivered they need to find another source that can deliver

  Business Response

  Date: 10/23/2023

  Thank you for your message to the Bellevue News Democrat. We apologize for the service issues that ****** ******** has experienced. We will certainly be following up on this until this is fully resolved. It is important to us to have the newspapers delivered to customer on a consistence basis and in a timely manner. 

  We deliver the WSJ and we communicate any delivery issues. For information on the account, as far as credits and billing, customer will need to notify them at ************.
  
  
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/31/2023

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I feel the BND is just pushing everything on the WSJ, Again on Saturday Oct 28,2023 I did not receive my **** ****** ******* , I called again and left a Message for B.T. ************* on Monday, I also called about not getting Mondays paper, B.T. responded about me not getting my Monday paper , He informed me that as of Monday Oct 30 the BND will not be handling the delivery, when I asked about Saturday paper he never had an answer for me. This has been going on for years not receiving my papers, this has got so bad that I contacted ********* owner of BND in California in 2022, they responded with people from PA,GA (***** & ***** to name a few calling me telling they would get things fixed, over the few weeks **** has been calling me everyday about my paper except on days I haven't got it.

  October 2023, 5 missing papers, Sept.2023 3 missing papers, Aug.2023, 4 missing and soaking wet papers, July 2023 3 missing papers, June 2023 3 missing papers May 2023 4 missing papers March 2023 1 paper Feb. 2023 1 paper, this is a list of some of the papers missing or wet for 2023, each time BND, Bart WSJ, and the people from ********* were notified, a few times WSJ contacted me about late trucks getting to my area and said paper would be delivered the next day, that only happened once, This is why I believe the BND did not give the right response, if their third party delivery company  could not take of  the delivery service for BND then they should have given it up years ago, I have written down in a book more times since 2021 that papers were not Delivered, For me I am glad they  are no longer delivering my papers.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ********

  Business Response

  Date: 11/01/2023

  Thank you for your message to the Belleville News Democrat. We are sorry to hear about the ongoing delivery issues with the **** ****** *******. Our records do show several notes and calls to the ******* residence. We apologize that this was not resovled priro to the changes in delivery.

  Effective 10/30/23, the Belleville New Democrat no longer offers carrier home delivery. Our delivery service is now delivered by mail by USPS delivery. With this change, any delivery or billing inquires will need to be addressed directly with the **** ****** ********

  Thank you

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/26/2023

  Type:Delivery 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.

  I do not get a paper delivered every day and then I have to call them and they tell me that they will have it delivered in the afternoon. Otherwise I do not get a paper delivered. I pay for this subscription every year. I would like my newspaper delivered to me like they are suppose to deliver in this area.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/26/2023

  Thank you for your message to the Belleville News-Democrat. We are very sorry to hear about the delivery problems you have been experiencing. We will be working with our delivery team and delivery manager to improve service and resolve this for you. We are working to get a regular carrier for your area. In the meantime, the paper has been running late and has been delivered later in the day. Please continue to let us know if this continues. We are doing our best to get this resolved as soon as possible.

  Please feel to contact us at ************ or c********************** if you have any further questions or concerns.

  Thank you
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/23/2023

  I still don't have a paper; I ended up having to buy a paper at the Dollar Store.  They said they would have one here by 2 p.m.  By 3:30, still no paper.   I have a one-year subscription.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/01/2023

  Thank you for your message to the Belleville News Democrat. We are sorry to hear about the ongoing delivery issues. We were able to confirm the delivery 10/26, 10/27 & 10/29.  Effective Monday 10/30/23, the delivery has changed from a carrier delivery to the paper being delivered by ****. The current expiration date on the account is 10/20/24.

  Please feel free to contact us at ************ or ***********************

  Thank you

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/24/2023

  Type:Order 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.

  The subscription they are charging is not being fulfilled. They are charging for 13 weeks but we are only getting 9weeks of deliveries. Now they are charging me $283.00 for 8 weeks of delivery which is not correct because the subscription was up until 07/10/2023 but they are saying it was up on 06/19/2023. Now they are trying to charge this $283.00 dating back from 06/19/2023 until today and then $290.00 from 08/24/2023 for 9 weeks. I would like the service that I paid for. I paid 04/03/2023 until 07/10/2023 in the amount of $223.00 for thirteen weeks and the new subscription should have started 07/10/2023 for thirteen weeks. I should not have to pay this back dated charge of $283.00. Also there was a hold for two papers and we should have been credited. I just want what I paid for.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/24/2023

  Thank you for contacting the Belleville News Democrat. The account for ***** ******** is due to renew on 6/19/2023 the last payment received on 4/3/2023 in the amount of $320.70 paid for 13 weeks from 3/1/2023 to 6/21/2023. The previous payment processed on 1/5/2023 paid from 12/12/2022 to 3/5/2023. In April of 2022 a letter was sent by mail/email explaining the week supply chain charge which would be implemented in May 20. This changes your renewal date. You can ask to prepay for the supply chain charge which would then keep your renewal date from moving. The account is currently due and if you would like to make a payment you can call our customer service department at 800-559-6378.  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/21/2023

  Type:Billing 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.

  I paid a $1 trial fee in January and discontinued service prior to February charge. They have continued to charge me every month since. When I called to inquire about the continued charges because I had canceled through the links they provide in the account, they said "that doesn't work, we don't reccomend canceling that way". No where does it provide that information to not use the link. I have not been able to access the account since I canceled in January.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/22/2023

  Thank you for contacting the Belleville News Democrat. The account for ******** *********** has been stopped effective 6/18/2023 a refund request has been sent to our finance department for a refund of $63.96. We apologize that they agent or agents should have advised subscriber to be sure and unsubscribe through Paypal since the initial payment was started through paypal. It is recommended to monitor any charges for subscriptions billed monthly. If you have any questions please contact the customer service department at ###-###-####. 

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/22/2023

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  No where on the actual customer portal does it tell you that you need to cancel through paypal.  It has a place for you to cancel through the portal, when this was done I received notice that my subscription was cancelled, no communication was provided that I would need to go to paypal and cancel there as well.  I can no longer access the portal - haven't since I cancelled, which also means I have not had the access to the subscription regardless of payment - so paying for product I was unable to access.  When I called customer service last week, the customer service representative said that they don't reccomend using their own means of cancellation through the portal.  Why would they give a customer the ability to cancel on the website if if was ineffective?  How would the customer know this information if it is not provided to us?  The call was escalated to the manager and I was told they would work to provide the refund in a week.  No such refund was given.

  I finally figured out that I could cancel through Paypal after the call last week when I feared I would continue to be charged, they did NOT provide me with that information, I had to figure it out on my own.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******** ***********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/31/2023

  Type:Service or Repair 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.

  Recently you have not added in the answers to the Sunday crossword puzzle. This is the large puzzle, not one of the small ones.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/31/2023

  Thank you for contacting the Belleville News Democrat. We want to thank you ************************* for bringing this to our attention regarding the answers to the crossword puzzle in question for this past Sunday 5/28. We apologize for the inconvenience regarding this oversight. Our team has sent an email to your email address on file to thanking you again for letting ** know and we are working with the team that is in charge of that area to ensure the answers are posted right away. Our records do not show a call or email to customer service to report this If you have any further questions or concerns please contact our customer service department at ************ or *********************** 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/31/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/22/2023

  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 lost all patience with you. I received a letter on 2-1-23. I did not want paper online. I called 2-7, 3-7, ****, and ****. I want a refund. On **** was told it was written Batch# C 52302270B. On 3-7 was told it was mailed 3-7 on 14th they said it was in the mail as of today, still no $30.96.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/23/2023

  Thank you for contacting the ************* Leader. The account for *********************; #******* had a refund issues on 2/27/2023 in the amount of $30.96 it was sent in the form of a check. The billing address on file was **********************************************************. Our team will follow up with finance to see what we can do to track this refund. We will contact the subscriber via email to the email address on the account *********************** If you have any questions please call our customer service department at ************. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/03/2023

  I still have not received the refund/money back.  I have called them so many times.  They said it was mailed on Feb. 27th but I have never received it.  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/04/2023

  Thank you for contacting the **************Leader, The account for ********************* had a refund check sent out on  2/27/2023 in the amount of $30.96 to the billing address on file which is *********************************************************. At this time we have reached out to the supervisor of the finance department to see if we can track or re-issue the payment in question. We apologize for the inconvenience and issue but we will be working diligently to get this refund to the subscriber as requested. Our team will be contacting the subscriber directly to up date them on the status of the refund inquiry. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/11/2023

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: 

  My first correspondence was phone calls starting 2/7, spoke to ******, I think, he said Feb. and on Feb. 27, they told me the check was cut and in batch#********B and another call on 3/7, 3/14 and 3/24, on 3/27 I mailed a complaint to Belleville News Democrat and the BBB.  BBB sent me case#********, I still have not received a check for $30.96 as of 4/3/23.  I called BBB today and said I still have not received a check.  My home address is ************************************************************, called BBB today and said I still have not received a check. 

  Message from BND:

  Thank you for contacting the Belleville News Democrat.  Your email will be processed in the order it is received.  We apologize for the delay and appreciate your patience.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/20/2023

  Yes, I have received the refund check.