Hearst Magazines UKArvostelua 

Hearst will not remind you when you 12 months is up for renewal and debit a full year immediately without any option for prorated refund. They do this to take advantage of those of us who have poor memories and management of esp. gift subscriptions. Will not be using again.

Ordered the country living autumn special. The magazine has not arrived despite it being over 14 days. I have tried to call on 2 occasions, yet gave up after being in a queue for over 40 minutes the first time and an HOUR AND HALF the 2nd time!!!! Unbelievable! Have tried emailing but no response. Terrible way to treat customers ( I have 2 subscriptions already and so not a one off customer)
UPDATE...It turns out the magazine was out of stock. Yet nowhere on the website or during ordering does it mention that. You place the order, get an email confirmation to say the order has been placed, then NOTHING! Not even an email to say we are sorry it is out of stock. I managed to get through on the phone by pressing the 'I want to take out a subscription' option. Quick enough to answer then!

I really should have looked at the reviews first before taking out a subscription.
I took out a special offer 3 month subscription and before the time was up I tried going online to cancel and it wouldn't let me sign in, I tried asking for an email re-set code but this was never sent despite me trying several times. I then tried to call but was left ringing with no answer.
So now I have had to pay out £75 for a further 6 month's subscription.
I am convinced the 3 month cheap subscription is just a con to get people stuck in a subscription loop.
The robbing B*****s

Phoned them in February to cancel my subscription. Was assured it had been cancelled and would not auto renew in August. Fast forward to August and they’ve attempted to take £34.99 out of my account. Submitted a complaint at the beginning of the week, auto response said I would hear back within 2 working days. Have heard nothing. Terrible company.

Scammy company. DO NOT SUBSCRIBE.
They take your money on random dates, no warning and NO way to cancel. They don't answer emails either so you can't actually cancel!
The online system gives no way to cancel as it is set up to scam people. Conde Nast do not treat their customers this way.

I bought one of the beauty boxes on 22 July 2025.

When I received it, I found that one of the items was expiring next month and I emailed them about it.

I emailed them 3 times but till today still no reply.

Nobody working??

BUYER BEWARE - I took out a subscription for Good Housekeeping which was duly delivered. However my issue came when I spotted payment on my account, at over twice the price of the original "discounted" subscription. When I contacted them I had apparently taken out auto-renew which admittedly I'd missed when I signed up. Sadly Hearst, unlike reputable companies, do not contact you to advise that your subscription is due to renew and that they will be taking payment so, although you can cancel the subscription, they will not give you a refund. All in all a very disappointing experience so avoid!!

In response to my review and following more tooing and froing via Email, Hearst eventually processed a full refund, but this should have been their response in the first place so if you do take out a review, check the small print so you don't get caught unawares!!

Avoid Hearst Magazines UK at All Costs. Worst Subscription Experience Ever.
I deeply regret ever taking out a subscription with Hearst Magazines UK. After renewing my subscription and paying in full, I was shocked to receive a cancellation invoice as if I hadn’t paid at all. I contacted customer service, and was told to ignore the invoice because my account was paid and active.

That should have been the end of it but instead, things got worse.

Since then, I’ve been receiving a flood of menacing, automated emails threatening further fees and chasing a balance that does not exist. Every time I think it's resolved, another email shows up. It feels like harassment over something that is entirely their mistake. And what’s worse there’s no accountability. Trying to speak to a real person who can actually resolve the issue is near impossible.

This experience has completely put me off Hearst and all of its publications. The magazines may be glossy, but the customer service is an absolute nightmare, and their billing system is either broken or deliberately aggressive.

Stay far away. It’s not worth the stress, the confusion, or the time wasted trying to fix problems they create.

Be very careful when ordering subscriptions through this company. The subscription will auto renew, this isn’t optional, but their defence is it’s their policy (it is in the VERY small print at the end of their confirmation email and is certainly not very clear). The email states you can cancel via your online account but you can’t. Also, I took out a 12 month subscription but the renewal was taken after 11½ months. The new subscription is expensive and there is no way they will give a refund. What a devious, underhand way to make money. Obviously all done deliberately to deceive customers into paying over priced fees for subscriptions they don’t necessarily want. Shame on you!

I purchased the beauty gift box, was told it would arrive 7-10 working days later. Still nothing. I have contacted them 3 times… nothing. I’m am now worried I won’t receive the gift box and they have my money!!
Just to added further they are a total con. Customer service is totally crap. I would advise anyone to NEVER BUY A BEAUTY BOX from these people

TLDR: Do not let your account auto-renew! They will charge you extortionate prices compared to their promotional deals and do not give you any reminders near the renewal date - they rely on you forgetting!

Checked my account 3 weeks ago, as I believed that the renewal was nearby, however, they account said the renewal wasn't due to January. Fast forward to last week, the payment was taken without any notification. The very next day they sent a vouched for 5 issues for £5 (over £30) in savings. Attempted to cancel the account out of principle, but apparently not possible even in a 14 day cooling off period of subscription Renewals.

The only upside is that the person I've gifted the magazine subscription to enjoys reading them.

I bought Good Housekeeping magazine as a one off gift. I emailed to cancel my subscription and surprise surprise an auto renew amount of £54.99 was taken off my credit card the very next day. I wrote to cancel, not remind you to take more money.

I made a mistake and placed 3 order on this website. After few days 2 of them were canceled. And after 9 days no news from another order which I was charged for!
I’m doing follow ups to get my money back but still that’s not a proper way to run a business.

I have a subscription for a weekly magazine but I have not received the last 3 issues. When I have emailed to let them know the reply takes a few days and is very unhelpful because they don't seem to have actually read the email I sent and just give a standard reply.

They did not let me know that my subscription is about to expire and when I tried to renew it I got an email saying my order had failed. As the magazine hasn't been delivered for the last 3 weeks anyway I think this is a sign not to bother with them anymore.

I would definitely not recommend using this company.

Wowzer, they have just told me I can purchase missing issues from the newsagent. I would have never thought of that without their patronising advice.

Do not use this company! They will renew your subscription with no notification, take your money early. I couldn't set up an account (it wouldn't let me), so there's no way of cancelling online. Go out and buy your magazines.

I have 2 subscriptions with Hearst (Runners World and Good Housekeeping) which have risen in price hugely and the direct debit is taken without notice. I’ve followed a complicated process on the website to ask to cancel the NEXT subscription payment, only to receive a delaying email saying they will “get back to me”. Now they have cancelled both subscriptions with immediate effect, despite that fact that they took payment of £29.99 on 23.01.25 and 30.06.25. Surely they should honour delivery of the magazines until the anniversary date?
I would contact them but I cant find a way of doing so.

This is sharp practice and an expensive scam. Don’t sign up unless you want to be duped into ever increasing costs that you can’t easily amend or cancel

I sent an email to Hearst mags cancelling my trial 6 month subscription of Prima magazine on 29/5/25 yet I have just been charged £29.99 by them to continue this unwanted subscription. Why say you can cancel at anytime when emails will just be ignored.

If I could give negative stars, I would. This company is shameful and disgusting. I've been consistently charged (quarterly) for almost a year, despite emailing them cancelling the subscription. I am so appalled by this and I implore anyone reading this to NEVER subscribe because you'll never be able to get out of it. Trying to block this merchant from my bank so they can't take anymore.

Most months i don't get my copy of Elle Magazine and when i do get it its always almost half way through the month.

I didn’t even want to give them one star!! approx 18 months ago I took out subscription on 2 magazines for a one time only gift.I found I was still paying subscriptions and rang up and cancelled all future subscriptions.I only recently discovered I was still paying for one of these subscriptions,I phoned again telling them I already cancelled last year and they said I was paid up until 2026. I absolutely refused to accept that nothing could be done.Ifelt sorry for the person on the other end of the phone, but I stood my ground until finally it was agreed to refund the next 5 subscriptions.I will never ever subscribe to any of their magazines again .BEWARE when you are signing for a one off. Watch out on your bank statements that you’re not automatically charged.