Complaints

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:03/20/2025

  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.

  My mom ****** **** moved from her old address to a facilty in *******. Her account ************ was paid through July of this year. On January 27 I placed a call for a change of address to begin on 2-7-25. 2-10-25 called because she still had not received a paper and was assured the new address was in system and carrier notified. On 2-12-25 ***** # **** say all new info correct and would renotify carrier. 2-14-25 Axel #*** said a refund of $218.49 would be to her by 2-28-25. 3-3-25 spoke to #AG1480 and asked to speak to a supervisor and was told the check was on the way, later that day a superivisor called and restated the check was in the mail. 3-10-25 I attempted to call ******* office but still ending up out of country. **** #******* that the finance depart said it was mailed on 3-7-25. It is now 3-19-25 and we still have not recieved a paper nor a check. Mom is 89 and I don't ever remember not having the N&O in our home. We no longer are interested in receiving the paper at this time and since a refund was promised, we would like for it to be honored,

  Business Response

  Date: 03/20/2025

  Thank you for the message to ******** and Observer. Our records show the refund was processed on February 18, 2025. We issue refunds through our new Zelle/Direct Deposit refund process. As part of the refund process, an email will be received from ***************************** to the primary email address that is listed on the account. If the Zelle refund is not accepted by a customer after 15 business days after the refund has been processed on our end, the ePayment request will be cancelled and a check refund will be issued to the address listed on the account. As of today, March 20, 2025, we are working on getting the refund check reissued and processed in a check format to be mailed out to ******* *** moms address. Our office will be following up with ******* *** once the refund is reissued on our end and mailed out. Please let customer know it can take up to ***** business days from today's date for her mom ****** **** to receive the refund check by mail. If you have any questions, please contact us at ************. Thank you
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/19/2025

  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 Raleigh *************************** has been charging me for a subscription since last February unknowing to me. I did not place order and have never used any such subscription. They will not refund my money that they stole from me.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/02/2025

  Thank you for contacting the News & Observer.

  Checking this account, the subscription was started online with our Terms of Service having to be accepted in order to start the subscription.  If no cancellation is received, service does continue.

  We have refunded the last 3 months and not the full year.   The total refund of $ ***** was processed back on 2/21/25 to the **** Card on file.

  Thank you,

  The News and Observer

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/16/2025

  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.

  The *************************** has refused to give me a subscription to the print edition six days a week. at their regular subscription rates. They falsely claim that I owe them $199.16 for charges to my account they made after I had sent them a certified letter to cancel my subscription. I want them to cancel this debt and offer me a new subscription at the reduced rates they currently are charging new customers.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/16/2025

  Thank you for contacting the News and Observer.

  The past due balance was cleared from Mr. ****** account back on 11/29/24.   I called and spoke with Mr. **** and started a new account for him at the introductory rate starting 1/17/25 and is set up for 13 weeks auto renewal.

   

  Thank you,

  The News and Observer

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/16/2025

   
  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:11/18/2024

  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.

  The Raleigh News and Observer paper raised my renewal rate by $300 for six months. I canceled, and received calls multiple times a day to seek renewal. As of today (Nov 18th) they are claiming that I owe them $201 for continued service from Nov 9th to present (during which time I did not receive a paper. The customer service team has offered in two calls to 'reduce my outstanding balance'. This is outrageous, dishonest, and manipulative. There was no outstanding balance when I sought cancelation, yet it was created when they wanted me to renew.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/18/2024

  Thank you for your message to ******** and Observer. We are very sorry for the inconvenience and frustration that this has caused for ****** *****. We have reviewed customers account, the account was cancelled effective on November 9, 2024. Show that customer was offered a promotional discounted price on the same day the account was stopped and subscription was restarted effective November 10, 2024. The refund we processed on our end per customer request on November 11, 2024, this caused the account to go to a earlier expiration date and put an amount owed on the account. The subscription was automatically stopped on November *******. As of today, November 18, 2024 the balance on customers account has been put at a $0.00 balance owed. Our office followed up and spoke with ****** ***** on November 18, 2024, restarted the subscription effective on Sunday, November 24, 2024, and will be honoring an expiration date of November ******. If you have any questions, please contact us at ************. Thank you,

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/09/2024

  Type:Delivery 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.

  We have not received our Sunday newspaper for the past 4 weeks. We have reported it by automated phone, to ************* online, and by talking with an agent. We have asked for them to cancel our subscription and refund the money for the papers we did not get. In talking with an agent by phone twice, we were promised extended credit, encouraged to use digital access, and to let them try to fix the problem. We responded that we paid for receiving a paper (not for a credit or digital access). They refused to cancel our subscription and said they had a no refund policy. When we asked for a manager or higher ranking person to talk with, we were told that wasnt a possibility. All along, they promised to make things right and they have not. We are requesting our subscription to be cancelled and a refund on the papers we paid for which were never delivered.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/20/2024

  Thank you for contacting the News & Observer. The account for ************************* is for Sunday delivery only we apologize that you delivery issue was not resolve through your communication with our customer service team. We have assigned your account to a team that specializes in delivery issues and who works closely with the delivery management team. This issue will be resolved we have requested delivery verification each week so that we know this issue has been resolve and that your delivery will remain consistent. We would like the opportunity for our team to get this corrected. If this issue is not corrected and you do not receive a paper we will reach out to our finance department for a refund request or policy is to apply credit and correct the issue first. A member of our Wecare team will be contacting you directly by phone or email to follow up and keep track of our progress to resolve this. We apologize for this issue and will do our very best to resolve this once and for all. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/20/2024

   
  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, although this business has had over a month to fix the problem already and has not cancelled our subscription as we requested nor refunded our money. There will be no renewal of our subscription and our bank will not pay them any more money.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/29/2024

  Type:Customer Service 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 receive one or more email marketing emails from the News and Observer every single day. I have called them, emailed customer service and tried the link in their emails that says "update my email preferences" and nothing has stopped these emails. I thought every company had to offer a simple unsubscribe button on marketing emails but either way, this needs to stop. I can't understand why after multiple contacts directly with the company's customer service group they are choosing to keep bombarding me.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/29/2024

  Thank you for contacting us.   The customer's email has now been removed from receiving any further emails.

   

  Thank you,

  The News and Observer

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/30/2024

   
  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:08/22/2024

  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 subscribed to the newspaper for the first time to start 8/15. I have never received the newspaper and confirmed on my account that the address is correct. I emailed them on 8/20 letting them know I havent received it and never heard back. Today I contacted them for help via online chat and was repeatedly denied a refund and cancellation and then they stopped responding. Then I called and they again refused to cancel and refund me stating they have a no refund policy, which isnt fair since I didnt even get what I paid for. I requested to be escalated which of course they said there are no supervisors. I said thats ridiculous and amazingly they transferred me to a supervisor. He again tried to convince me to give them another chance even though I was very clear - again and again - that there only option is to cancel and refund. He put me on hold and came back to say he escalated the issue to the billing department to see what they can do and that they hope to have an answer by the end of next week and I can call back to find out. They are trying to bully me and its not fair.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/22/2024

  Thank you for contacting the News & Observer. The account for ****************** is set to stop on 8/23/2024. The only complaint filed for non-delivery was on 8/22 our team is reaching out to the manager to make sure service can be corrected. Our team is more than willing to help you get your delivery I apologize that you have not had a paper. It is very important to call when missed this way we can have communication that there is an issue and work to correct it. I do show the account is stopped I would love an opportunity to correct whatever happened initially. Would you be willing to accept a call from a wecare team member and restart the service? An agent left a message on the phone number provide on the account. You will also receive an email from the wecare team. 

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/08/2024

  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 purchased a subscription to News and Observer on 03/29/2024 for $1.07 which was raised per the agreement to ~ $17 after the trial offer ended. However, I've been unable to cancel over the last three weeks. I've called the customer service line 7-8 separate times using **************, emailed ********************************************* and used their chat messaging system. Then today I was finally transferred to a live agent. It took me 11 minutes to cancel my subscription as the representative was unsatisfied with my reasoning. I indicated I never read the paper and did not wish to continuing paying. Unfortunately for the 11 minutes of conversation this was not a sufficient answer. My answer of cancellation due to my recent cancer diagnosis and prognosis was also not a sufficient answer. This business uses aggressive, pushy tactics that I no longer wish to associate with. I do not wish for this company to be in contact with me any longer with an assurance my subscription was cancelled.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/08/2024

  Thank you for contacting the News & Observer. The account for ********************* has going to be cancelled on the expire date of 8/28/2024. We have requested all forms of communication be pulled for training purposes we want to be sure we try to save our subscribers but without being ****** aggressive. The account information has been added to our local do not call list, we have sent communication for the phone number on file to be removed from any list. There will be no future payments processed for this account. If you have any questions you can contact the customer service department at ************. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/15/2024

  Type:Product 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 am unable to cancel my subscription with the News and Observer for the digital subscription edition. I subscribed for a 3 month promo access for $1.06. Two days ago they charged me $17.15 to renew the digital access for July. I have found that I do not use the digital access enough due to technical difficulties logging in each time, and would prefer using ********** to access the articles I would like to read. As I knew my promo was ending I have tried to cancel my subscription to no avail. I am still unable to do so, even after calling on Friday and sending them a direct complaint on the website. I am submitting this complaint so they might improve their customer service experience and make it easier to cancel digital subscriptions online. Preferably they will cancel my subscription and offer a refund of my recent payment of $17.15

  Business Response

  Date: 07/15/2024

  Thank you for your message to ******** & Observer. Our records show your account started 5/12/24 on a promotional digital rate of $1.00 for 2 months and then $15.99/month there after, as explained in the offer disclaimer at the time of purchase. The account was started with the agreement of automatic renewal each month. The most recent charge of $15.99 was for the renewal of 7/12/24-8/11/24. At this time, the account will be stopped on the expiration date of 8/11/24. Please let us know the reason for the cancelation. Our hope is that you have enjoyed reading the News & Observer and you continue to find value in the digital news and content.

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

  Thank you

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/16/2024

   
  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:07/01/2024

  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.

  I subscribe to electronic issue of the newspaper. On June 26th they changed their format and I was un able to get the paper. I tried calling for two days and only got a busy signal. On Friday the 28th I finally got to speak to an agent. He tried for two hours to help me. To no avail. He said he would send instructions to my e mail account, which I never received. They were not available the hole weekend. I finally got through to an agent on Monday the first of June . Finally she helped me connect to the newspaper. When I asked for an adjustment to my bill the agent whose name was **** said . That they were not responsible because they issued the addition. Just because I didnt receive , it wasnt their problem. She was then very rude. She refused to let me speak to her supervisor.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/04/2024

  Thank you for your message to ******** & Observer. We do apologize for the customer experience you encountered. We are happy to hear an agent was able to help you and you are able to read the digital content. Currently, your account is paid until 2/16/25. Typically, there is not an available credit for the digital subscription since the digital information was and is available 24/7. However, at this time, we will honor a 2 week credit and have your expiration date extended to 3/1/25. We appreciate your readership and your feedback.

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

  Thank you