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Business Profile

Magazine Publishers

The Economist

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

Find BBB Accredited Businesses in Magazine Publishers.

Complaints

Customer Complaints Summary

  • 29 total complaints in the last 3 years.
  • 9 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

If you've experienced an issue

Submit a Complaint

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.

Sort by

Complaint status

Complaint type

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:04/07/2025

    Type:Delivery Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    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.
    Ordered this weekly magazine. They never sent it despite multiple contacts. They charged me. They refuse to refund my money.

    Customer Answer

    Date: 05/01/2025

    Better Business Bureau:

    At this time, I have not been contacted by The Economist regarding complaint ID ********.

    Sincerely,

    ******* *******

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:02/03/2025

    Type:Service or Repair Issues
    Status:
    Unresolved
    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.
    On 1/25/25 I cancelled my subscription to The Economist and was due a refund. I was told the amount would be refunded to the card used to pay for the subscription. That card has been cancelled and the account closed as the card holder is now deceased. I informed The Economist of this and have asked for the refund to be issued by check or to another active card, but they refuse to do so. I have told them multiple times the account is closed. Please let me know if you need anything additional.

    Customer Answer

    Date: 02/27/2025

    At this time, I have been contacted directly by The Economist regarding complaint ID ********, however my complaint has NOT been resolved because: no refund has been processed yet.

    [Your Answer Here]

     

     

     

     

    In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

    Sincerely,

    ***** **********

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:11/25/2024

    Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    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 Economist magazine has a practice of soliciting and encouraging renewals, but rather than extending a current subscription, when a person renews, they create a new subscription. Therefore, when I renewed, I started receiving two magazines every week. When I called, they indicated that this is their practice, and they can cancel one of the subscriptions. Obviously there is no benefit to people to receive two identical magazines. The Economists practice is deceptive and contrary to what people would expectthat their current subscription would be extended. This practice is unfair in that it allows The Economist to charge for two magazines at no benefit to the consumer. I asked if they could extend my subscription in line with the 3 year renewal that I purchased in response to their advertisement (which contained a QR code that I followed), and they said that this is their practice and other than canceling one of the two subscriptions they do not make adjustments to extend subscriptions.

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:09/26/2024

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    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 a customer of ***************************************** ************* On August 15, 2023, I purchased a specific account service from your company. Unfortunately, to date, I have neither received the service nor any information regarding a refund. During this period, I have made multiple attempts to contact your customer service, but have not received a satisfactory response.

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:09/04/2024

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    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 signed up for the one week trial of The Economist and decided within that week that this paper was not something that I wanted to continue to receive or to have them bill me for, so I cancelled before my 7 days was over. On June 2, I was charged $26.49, I called them to get my refund and to ensure this subscription was cancelled. No one answered, so I cancelled through the chat. They stated it was cancelled. On July 2, I was charged $26.49 again. I called and spoke to someone who stated that they had no record of a cancellation and that they couldn't do anything about a refund. I re-cancelled again. On August 2, I had another charge of $26.49 and again I called. They stated that there was not an account with my name, email or card attached and that they couldn't do anything about my charge or a refund. I'm boiling at this point as they were extremely rude. They stated there is no way that my card could be charged again because there was no account on file. On Sept 2, my card was charged again for $26.49. When I called this time, again they stated that there was not an account associated with my name or email and then stated that I had an account under another email address. If I truly had two accounts, then I would have been being charged two times each month, which I was not. I asked for a refund again and they stated that they couldn't do anything about a refund because they didn't have a record of a cancellation. I had to cancel my card and get a new number, so this cannot happen again because I do not trust this paper. I am asking for a full refund of $105.96.

    Customer Answer

    Date: 09/30/2024

    Better Business Bureau:

    At this time, I have not been contacted by The Economist regarding complaint ID ********.

    Sincerely,

    ** *********

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:04/19/2024

    Type:Billing Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    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 signed up for a free preview of the Economist for school. I had to add a cc to get the account. They charged me $16.72 on 2/1, $20.90 on 2/2, $20.90 on 2/3 and $20.90 on 2/4. I am on chat with them right now and they are stalling to avoid giving me my money back. They can't see the charges even though

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:04/01/2024

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    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.
    On March 28, 2024, I saw an an for an Educator Discount on subscriptions to the Economist in an online ad. See screenshot. I attempted to use the link and spent over an hour chatting with representatives of The Economist. They were unable to get me my subscription. I retired 20 years ago

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:03/04/2024

    Type:Service or Repair Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    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 tried to cancel my subscription through the online chat twice. However many times I say that I am not interested in any deals they refuse to cancel my subscription and just keep making offers. This goes on loner than 20 minutes and is dishonest. Today I tried to cancel my subscription through the portal but got the spinning little icon for over 30 minutes I also tried calling. I was told I was 2nd in line and after waiting for 20 minutes I elected to take the call back option but another 30 minutes has gone by and no one has called. The Economist makes it impossible to cancel the auto billing, how many times do I need to contact them. This is deceptive and dishonest

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:01/29/2024

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    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 Economist' magazines addressed to a prior tenant started arriving at my address early in ****. 'The Economist' has been unable to stop delivery to my address or correct the subscriber's address, they claim, because I cannot provide the email or credit card information of the subscriber. This is unfair to me (since I do not want 'The Economist') and to the subscriber, who is not receiving his subscription.

    Customer Answer

    Date: 02/23/2024

    Better Business Bureau:

    At this time, I have not been contacted by The Economist regarding complaint ID ********.

    Sincerely,

    *****************************

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:01/04/2024

    Type:Billing Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    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 recieved a fraudulent charge from the economist in ** and they will not help in clearing the charge or figuring what happened they are unwilling to help in any way

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