ComplaintsforThe Buffalo News

• Initial Complaint

  08/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On November 28, 2023, I subscribed to the Buffalo News e-Edition introductory offer: Term: 1.00 For 26 Weeks, then $14.99, Cost: $1.00. Six months later, on May-28, I called to cancel. In order to keep me as a subscriber, the customer service agent offered me progressively lower renewal rates, until we finally agreed to a rate of $2.99/month for the next year, effective May 29, 2024. I was subsequently billed $2.99 twice, on June-20 and June-24, which would cover the subscription through July-29. But on July-30, I received an email notifying me that, "Effective August 14, 2024, your subscription rate will change to 16.99 per month"! On Aug-1, just two days after the notice and before I could call to once again cancel, the company billed my credit card $16.99. This was four weeks before my monthly term would end, and two weeks premature of the date in the notification email. Summary: the Buffalo News is guilty of bait & switch, and it illegitimately charges subscriber's credit cards weeks before the term dates.

  Business response

  08/09/2024

  A refund for the $16.99 has been requested, please allow 2-3 weeks for it to be processed.He will also receive 26 weeks (6 months) free, which will take the account to 02/06/25, and will then go to $2.99.Please be advised that subscriptions will automatically be processed up to fourteen (14) days in advance to the renewal date, and the payment method provided will be charged. With the current expiration date of 02/06/24, this can be as early as 01/27/25.

  Customer response

  08/09/2024

  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.  Regards, **** ******

• Initial Complaint

  07/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was told that I could not cancel my subscription because they were updating the system. As a result, I was charged a monthly subscription fee for a period that I did not want the newspaper

  Business response

  08/05/2024

  The refund was requested and was expedited. It has been processed and is on the account.He Mr. ****** was not charged again. His account was stopped when the systems were back up.Unfortunately, his credit card information did not carry over to the new system and the refund has been sent in the form of a check.

• Initial Complaint

  07/20/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I was going through my charges on my checking account, I don’t know why I got charged $14.99 from Buffalo News. I live in Michigan and have NEVER been to Buffalo or even care about news in Buffalo. I’m going to be 65 next month and on a fixed income and cannot afford people taking money from me without asking. And why is a recurring charge?? There is no way to contact anyone. I went to their website and tried. They make it nearly impossible. I attached a screenshot of the charge on my checking account.

  Business response

  07/25/2024

  Ms. ********* was charged $14.99 twice, and we have requested both charges to be refunded. Our Buffalo system is down for maintenance and upgrades so we won’t be able to fully process these refunds until the system is back online this coming Monday.

  Customer response

  07/25/2024

  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. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** *********
  
  
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  06/19/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I would like the News to cancel my digital version of the news. I have attempted several times to email my request for cancelation but the emails are returned as "undeliverable". I received a letter from the news stating that if I don't cancel my subscription I will be charged 14.99. It is impossible to contact this business in order to maje the cancellation. Plrease cancel my digital subscription , Account number ******. It's a very frustrating experience dealing with this newspaper.

  Business response

  06/25/2024

  Thank you for contacting us. Your request was submitted for cancellation and your subscription will not renew past the introductory offer period ending July 9, 2024. Warm regards.

• Initial Complaint

  05/28/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My husband and I have subscribed to The Buffalo News for 49 years and we have currently been receiving the paper electronically. Two weeks ago when trying to access the paper a message appeared saying to continue reading the paper we must subscribe to it. I called the News and reached someone who did not help us. Either she couldn’t understand our issue or didn’t want to. She did say however she would send our problem to their IT division to be addressed. After a few days of not receiving a response from anyone at the News, I sent a letter of complaint to them via e-mail but have not heard back from anyone again. I want to continue receiving the Buffalo News but it appears the Buffalo News does not want our business. They continue to charge us for the days we cannot access the paper. To resolve this we want to be able to read the paper online and we do not want to be charged for anything effective 5-13-24 which is when we could not access the paper anymore. This appears to be a request the News should be able to respond to unless they don’t want to provide their paper to us. Thank you for your assistance in resolving this matter. ******* ******** ************

  Business response

  05/30/2024

  We apologize for the disruption to your digital content. We experienced a database conversion on 5/13/24 that resulted in some digital connection issues. Your access has been restored and you may attempt to login with your email and password at any time. If you do not know your password, you may reset it and save your login credentials. Additionally, your account has been credited for 3 weeks of service. We appreciate your patience and thank you for being a subscriber.

  Customer response

  05/31/2024

  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.   Regards,   ******* ********

• Initial Complaint

  05/23/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

     In November of 2023 I stopped making payments to the Buffalo News because I no longer wanted to receive the paper. However they continued to send me the paper every day even though I made no payments. This is not my fault nor should it be my problem to pay them.

  Business response

  05/29/2024

  We apologize for the misunderstanding. The service continued through a subscription grace period because there was no request to cancel prior to renewal. We will cease collection efforts for the recovery of the services provided after the end of your term. Thank you for subscribing to The Buffalo News. 

• Initial Complaint

  05/23/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I would like to cancel online subscription, account # *****. I tried cancelling on the Buffalo News online dashboard, but it would not allow me to. So I sent an email on 5/19/24 (attached). I never heard back from The Buffalo News. I then tried calling ************ on 5/23/24 but after being on hold for over 25 minutes, had to hang up. Please cancel my online subscription immediately, account # ***** and provide confirmation in writing that it is cancelled and I will no longer be charged.

  Business response

  05/29/2024

  Thank you for contacting us. We apologize for the difficulty accessing your account on the subscriber dashboard. Your cancellation has been submitted for the end of your term on 8/15/24 and there will be no further charges. Please let us know if you need any further assistance. Thank you for subscribing to The Buffalo News.

  Customer response

  05/30/2024

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.  Thanks.  I will keep this in my records to show that you said in writing that I will not be charged any further.    Regards,  ***** *********

• Initial Complaint

  05/16/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  i cancelled the news paper in november because of horrible service. i stopped receiving the paper ,but the news took money in december and again in january. i called numerous times for months trying to get my money back. everybody i talk to has a different story of what they see on their computer. this has caused me to bounce checks (with bank penalties) and now have a negative balance. all calls are recorded for quality service ,but they wont try to make any effort to find their mistake and correct it and keep giving me different excuses of how they did no wrong.

  Business response

  05/21/2024

  The subscription account was cancelled in January 2024 following a threat to cancel in November 2023. At the time a cancellation a refund for the balance in the account was credited to the card on file for $16.87. On a subsequent call to the call center in February the former subscriber insisted on an additional refund back from November 2023. In March 2023, two previous payments in the amount of $30.33 were charged back to the card on file, totaling $60.66. At this time, the consumer has received a total of $77.53 returned to his credit card.

  Customer response

  05/30/2024

  My reply to the Buffalo News is they did not refund the $60.66 as they said.  Every time I talk to someone there the story changes.  (Lie)I did not receive a paper but it was paid- as they kept taking money out of my account- wich caused me to bounce checks and now bank fees.  The news has all this information on their computer- as it was read back to me, and was accurate!  Now they can't keep track of all the lies they have made up.  Cancelled in November, 6 1/2 months ago!!

  Business response

  06/10/2024

  I want to amend my previous response to ****** ****** received a total of $60.66 returned in the form of 2 chargebacks (30.33 + 13.46) and a refund (16.87).Please see the following attached proof from bank transaction records and verification matched to customer subscription account.Please let me know if you have any questions.

• Initial Complaint

  05/13/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On Sunday May 14, I attempted to open my Buffalo News digital print subscription. I could not. Looking at my account, the digital paper was cancelled on May 14 2024. Having said that, I had a digital subscription until December 22 of 2024. After a 45 minute wait, the service agent said there were technical issues and refused to issue me a refund for the remainder of the year after I asked for one. I also cannot access my credit card information with the company,

  Business response

  05/14/2024

  We apologize for the inconvenience. We transitioned to a new account management platform effective 5/13/24 for digital subscriptions and your account data is now stored on the Buffalonews.com Subscriber Services Dashboard. During this transition we had a short period where there was an unexpected interruption with subscription services that was restored as of 10 AM ET on Monday morning. Please let us know if you need any further assistance with your subscription access and you will be contacted or if you intend to continue to pursue a cancellation with refund. Thank you.

  Business response

  07/15/2024

  A credit card refund was processed on 7/10/24 in the amount of $251.42 per an ******** ******* consumer complaint.

  Customer response

  07/15/2024

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. My complaint was resolved. Regards, ***** *********  

• Initial Complaint

  05/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I recently discovered a charge on my credit card for $150 from the Buffalo News. I had signed up for an online subscription to the Buffalo News, while completing a project my senior year of college in 2022. I, then, promptly cancelled the subscription as I would no longer be needing access after graduation. Now come April 2024 and I am still getting charges for access to their online edition. I went online and signed in to my account and immediately went to my subscription status. Online it says there is no matching account found to my email, phone number, or house address. Yet, I am still being charged. I finally called the Buffalo News Billing department, who stated that I did still have an account with them. Odd that online and over the phone are two different answers. I cancelled my account immediately over the phone, though they spent 20 minutes trying to convince me this was unnecessary and that they would cancel it at the end of my new subscription date being in September. Took loads of time and effort to finally get them to cancel the subscription today and to remove my card from their files. Another odd thing, online there is an "option" to cancel subscription. Yet, when you click on that button, it will never direct you to a page to allow you to cancel. It just loads back to the page to manage your subscription.

  Business response

  05/08/2024

  We apologize for the difficulty you experienced cancelling your subscription. Your subscription account cancellation portal is accessible when you login at *************************. However, we can confirm that your subscription has been cancelled as of 5/9/24 and a refund will be processed.

*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. ↩