Over the last 10 years I have had several misc. home delivery subscriptions with the Arizona Republic (yes I am one of the dinosaurs that still likes to feel the paper in my hand each morning PLUS the COMICS man the COMICS!)
The last 2 subscriptions have been met with nothing but billing issues, missed deliveries and missing coupons.
I have had 2 negative experiences with the Republic when it comes to cancelling a subscription and still getting billed- which have led me to no longer want home delivery from them ever again. Receiving a refund for this faulty billing requires no less then hours of emails, phone calls, at least 1 hand written snail mail letter, and the promise of your first born as a paper delivery boy. (ok so the last one was a exaggeration but still)
When we moved from a home in Gold Canyon in Dec of 2009 we cancelled a month to month subscription until we got settled into our new place (we did not want the paper going wasted) I was asked what day I wanted the cancellation effective and I told them "immediately." The very next day we stopped getting the paper delivered to our home- However the following month the charge was automatically deducted from our account. After several phone calls I eventually hand wrote a letter and mailed it to the Republic- A month later we got a refund and an apology letter.
In November of 2010 I joined Coupon$ense and through their AZ Republic vendor started a new subscription that included 3 Sunday papers each week (plus a W, F and Sat paper) Since I only needed the coupons in the Sunday paper (and they are supposedly gtd to be in only home delivery papers and not those on the rack) I felt trapped into this excessive subscription. The waste eventually got to me and I left the Coupon$ense program-(another review to come shortly!) I was told by Coupon$ense that I had to cancel my Republic subscription personally separately (even though they were the ones that set it up and never gave me an account number) -Regardless of the fact that I had an email from the Republic with my subscription information (minus an account number) when I called to cancel, my account could not be located. Finally after 3 different customer service reps-someone was able to locate my account and cancel it. The next day I got an email confirming that the cancellation had been processed and we stopped getting papers.
2 days later the monthly subscription fee was automatically deducted from my bank account
See the pattern here?
My advise- skip the home delivery and take a jog down to QT on Sunday mornings to get those bright colored comics and just check to be sure the paper you pick up as a stack of coupons in it. It will save lots of money and hassle.