Hearst Magazines UK Arvostelua 

I’m only giving one star as I can’t give none!!!
Shocking customer service- absolutely awful.
I advise anybody NOT to buy any subscription from them.
I had a tempting offer to get a subscription to Country Living for 6 months & was told I could cancel after this. Tried online - thought I’d succeeded but magazines kept coming. Phoned & cancelled. Or so I thought. Money taken from my account £29.99
I rang today & was told that I couldn’t cancel until this subscription had ended. I told them I had before money taken but they said I’d agreed to think about it & then email to confirm the cancellation. I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT HEAR THIS OR AGREE TO THIS!!
I said I didn’t have time to read these any more & wanted to cancel immediately & have a partial refund.
I then spoke to a supervisor who wouldn’t cancel the subscription & then my husband spoke to them & asked to speak to his supervisor. He said he’d phone back. We are still waiting……!

UPDATE:
A manager has rung back & apologised for the incident yesterday.
They have promised to refund my money & I can keep the magazines. Lovely person on the phone.
Restored my faith in human nature.
Thanks to the management.

If you want to retain your sanity, avoid this company. Trying to sort issues with my own account has failed. They have not responded to my emails and despite having current subscription, their App tells me I don’t have an account, even though their website shows it’s active. I have now cancelled my subscription (I hope) and will not deal with them again as it’s too frustrating.
UPDATE.
Thank you for your response. Things appear back to normal now and the magazine is being delivered. Please consider the matter closed.

Terrible. Do not subscribe unless you make yourself fully aware of the automatic renewal process. I saw that a payment of £29.99 was pending on my bank account for Hearst Magazines. I tried to cancel online but this didn't seem possible. I tried calling the number to cancel but I gave up after 30 mins of trying to get to speak to someone. The money has since been taken from my account. Today I managed to get through to speak to someone on phone (maybe by not choosing the wish to cancel option). Pretty unhelpful to be honest. My only option to get a refund was to sign up again for another 5 issues for £6 and then she could process my refund. Madness! I said that there should be a cooling off period. I now have to remember to cancel this new subscription by the middle of July otherwise I will be in the same situation all over again. I am furious and I will never subscribe to a magazine with Hearst again.

No notification is sent of upcoming renewal - they just take a payment. Saw the payment had gone out of my account on 19 January, called on 23 January - cancellation and refund was refused, even though I have not received any of the magazines that the payment relates to. Very poor and I thought this wasn't legal? Beware of this company!!!

I ordered the Harpers Bazaar beauty box. When putting in my address I accidentally- using the autofill selected an address which is similar to mine but was not mine. Within minutes I realised my mistake and emailed them asking to cancel the order and that I would reorder using the correct address. I received a reply saying that they were happy to cancel the order but that they could also just change the address to my correct one. I said that was great, supplied my correct address and postcode and was told it had been changed. Yesterday I received a shipping confirmation that the £100 box had been shipped to the wrong address, someone else’s house.

I signed up for an initial 6 copies for £6, I’ve received 2 copies so far and today £25.99 has automatically been taken from my account. Obviously I’ve missed the small writing - but still, after the sixth copy is received or even the fifth! No mention of about to take payment etc… sure they know how to get their money! It’s wrong to not ask and just take! 🤣

I payed subscription, never received thing i payed for. Contacted customer support, they only send automatic answer, not helpful. Never again!!

Let me add my name to those who thought they were buying a one off 12 month subscription to a Hearst magazine but found out a year later that it had been renewed and money taken without either prior or subsequent notice. Of course, they hide behind the small print at point of sale. Disgraceful sharp practice and not OK from a supposedly reputable company, particularly given the impending Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 which is supposed to prevent such thing - for example a cooling off period after automatic renewal to protect those who had forgotten to cancel. Is it really ok that a purchaser has to cancel on the day they buy a subscription to protect themselves from these people? Avoid this company. If Country Living was any good I'd have taken out a new subscription voluntarily, rather than being ripped off for £50 for another year of a magazine I don't want because it's the same each month and 90% adverts. Bet you the company trots out their usual platitudinous reply after this post to pretend that they are reacting to consumer concerns.

Cancelled my subscription in advance and yet they have taken £34.99 out of my bank account and I emailed them straight away. You've cancelled my subscription yet not refunded me my money. Can't get through to anyone on the phone. I have logged it with my bank. I have sent another email just you need to send me my money back or i'll be taking legal action

I can’t believe that this company has once again taken 12 months not 3 for £3 offered on the Black Friday deal. I have contacted them 5 times and they just confirm I have a 12 month subscription.
I would say don’t buy any of the offers you see, they are all scams! It takes months for them to cancel a subscription rollover that you didn’t even sign up to the original!

Like most people on here I too bought one off subscriptions as gifts last Christmas. My order stated “one off “
I too have been charged on my credit card for another 12 months. No email to remind you , no notice of payment. Nothing

I am going to take it up with trading standards. I suggest if everyone does they may do something about it.

Extremely unethical, non transparent company

Absolutely horrendous company. Do not fall for their scams. Unfortunately, I paid for a cheap 3 month subscription, on offer, to see if I liked it. To date, I have received only one magazine, Last week, they took a 6mth extension subscription from my account, without warning and have ignored all my requests to refund the payment.
UPDATE: I provided the additional information requested by the company; haven’t heard a thing, since.

No notification of an automatic renewal was given. Money just taken out. On seeing the transaction I requested a refund. Hearst say “we have a cancel on expiry policy” ….if anyone even knows what that means. I think what it means is we won’t tell you it’s going to renew - we will take your money - and when you realise we tell you can’t have a refund. I thought consumer law demands fair and transparent communication with your consumers so they have choices and don’t feel trapped into agreements.

Despite the bad reviews here my experience has been quite good. They are very slow to answer enquiries and concerns via emails though. Free gift came to me and not the recipient but apparently this is normal practice. Magazines have been delivered as promised to the recipients address.

Now resolved after 9 emails. Thank you.

I emailed the company seven times to cancel and these two have just been renewed. I do not recommend.

Cheap offer to hook customers up then they will bill you every 6 months. The website does not offer a cancellation option. You have to either call or email them. They will not refund any pre-paid subscription fees which violates the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2023 in the UK.

Content is okay if you are really into sports. However, for their dodgy subscription practice, I would stay away from this company.

If I could give NO STARS I would. Similar to others, no email order confirmation, no reply at all after contacting them twice. The first issue of a magazine was supposed to arrive yesterday. No sign at all so I have no hope for the rest of the subscription. Fraudulent I suspect so cancelling and blocking them.

this is why Print media is dying - absolute scam of company, DO NOT get a subscription they will not let you cancel its a scam, the online links they send dont work , and when you call they dont just keep you on hold for 20 mins and they just hang up and say system error , 3 times still done this still taking payments

DO NOT BUY FROM HEARST SUBSCRIPTIONS - I wish I had read other reviews, I have just signed up for Prima one year subscription gift for my mother and I wanted to cancel the auto-renewal for a years time, its take A LOT of time and emails to try and cancel this. The Customer Service Call centre is abroad and it is hard to understand what they are saying let alone deal with your issue, I certainly will not be buying a PRIMA subscription again!!

Wanted to query my subscription. But they ignore emails, and their website logon screen insists on sending a "password reset" code that never arrives. So have deleted my DDs at the bank as only option left.