Important information
- Customer Complaint:Bay Area News Group came to BBB’s attention in December 1967. A review of the company’s complaints was done in October 2024.
BBB recommends users to review the following Bay Area News Group's respective newsrooms for subscription and information.
The Mercury News Membership Options
The Mercury News Contact Us
The East Bay Times Membership Options
East Bay Times Contact Us
Marin Independent Journal Membership Options
Marin Independent Journal Contact Us
Complaints
This profile includes complaints for Bay Area News Group's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see
Customer Complaints Summary
- 117 total complaints in the last 3 years.
- 39 complaints closed in the last 12 months.
If you've experienced an issue
Submit a ComplaintThe 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.
Initial Complaint
Date:09/20/2022
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- 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.
My fiance and I went to a San Francisco Giants game and saw a vendor selling sweatshirts. They explained the sweatshirts were $15 and that they included a month of digital newspapers from The Mercury News so we each bought one. There was no mention of a subscription or automatic billing. A few days later we both received emails to activate our digital access accounts where we found that they had in fact signed us up for recurring monthly billing. We both called their customer support ********** Services number to cancel. The operator explained to us that they did not sign us up for recurring billing and that there would be no further charges. To our surprise, a month later we were both charged another $14.90. Our online account management says our subscriptions do not qualify for online cancellation and to call the same number we already dealt with before. They knowingly lied to us to scam another $14.90x2 out of customers. This company has a long public history of this racketeering and scamming (typically for much higher sums of money).
Business Response
Date: 09/20/2022
***********************
5127 ***********
*********, ** 95628
Daytime Phone: **************
E-mail: ****************************
Devin: I apologize that our salesperson did not properly explain the newspaper subscription that you signed up and paid for at the newspaper subscription kiosk. All of the subscriptions that we sell at events are monthly reoccurring subscriptions as the document you signed states and the email receipt you received at the time of the transaction clearly points out. I will make sure it has been stopped, that your money for the additional months is refunded and the salesperson is alerted to this misunderstanding. If you have any further questions or concerns please contact me at *********************************Initial Complaint
Date:09/20/2022
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- 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.
My fiance and I went to a San Francisco Giants game and saw a vendor selling sweatshirts. They explained the sweatshirts were $15 and that they included a month of digital newspapers from The Mercury News so we each bought one. There was no mention of a subscription or automatic billing. A few days later we both received emails to activate our digital access accounts where we found that they had in fact signed us up for recurring monthly billing. We both called their customer support ********** Services number to cancel. The operator explained to us that they did not sign us up for recurring billing and that there would be no further charges. To our surprise, a month later we were both charged another $14.90. Our online account management says our subscriptions do not qualify for online cancellation and to call the same number we already dealt with before. They knowingly lied to us to scam another $14.90x2 out of customers. This company has a long public history of this racketeering and scamming (typically for much higher sums of money). This needs to be put to a stop and the BBB is unfortunately the only entity to step in to protect innocent customers from predatory businesses.Business Response
Date: 09/20/2022
***********************
5127 ***********
*********, ** 95628
Daytime Phone: **************
E-mail: ****************************Devin: I apologize that our salesperson did not properly explain the newspaper subscription that you signed up and paid for at the newspaper subscription kiosk. All of the subscriptions that we sell at events are monthly reoccurring subscriptions as the document you signed states and the email receipt you received at the time of the transaction clearly points out. I will make sure it has been stopped and that the sales person is alerted to this misunderstanding. If you have any further questions or concerns please contact me at *********************************
Initial Complaint
Date:08/30/2022
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- 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.
Email from Mercury News on 27 Aug that my account was charged $37.64 for one month. Had been $9.15. The office was closed when the email was sent. I called the office the next day and on the third call was able to speak with an agent who changed the rate to $4.00 but refused to refund the charge. I contested the charge with my bank. I sent an email requesting immediate cancellation of my subscription on 29 Aug and have received two emails back saying that the subscription will be stopped on 16 Apr 2023.I was not notified prior to this subscription renewal with a 410% increase in rate nor did I have the opportunity to decline nor did I authorize the renewal or the amount.Business Response
Date: 08/31/2022
Dear *******, The notification of the price increase was emailed to you on 6/30/2022 and opened within about 30 minutes of the email being sent. Attached is the email that was sent. Our data also shows that you clicked on the myaccount.mercurynews.com link in the email. Anyway, we will stop the subscription immediately and issue a refund as requested. If you have any questions, please contact me at ***************************************. Thank you.Customer Answer
Date: 09/01/2022
Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference tocomplaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.I appreciate the BBB facilitating the refund and stopping the subscription effective immediately.
Sincerely,
*******************************Initial Complaint
Date:08/21/2022
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- 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 subscribed to the East Bay Times for many years. On May 30 2022 I relocated from ********************************************** to **** ********** in ********* **. I provided my new address prior to my move date. I did not receive a single news paper at my new address. I cancelled my subscription in July. I received an offer to resubscribe at a lower rate about 3 weeks ago, so I did, hoping to start receiving newspaper delivery. Today. Aug 21st, I called to complain about non-delivery. I received the same standard reply You will start getting your paper tomorrow. Have been told that many times but no newspaper. This new subscription was paid one year in advance hoping that might guarantee delivery. Still no delivery. What can I do other than file suit in small claims court???Business Response
Date: 09/01/2022
Hello, our sincere apologies. We contacted our distributor and asked them to start delivery at the new address. If you have any further issues, please contact me at ***************************************. Thank you.Initial Complaint
Date:08/20/2022
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- 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 received an unsolicited series of phone calls from Mercury News in June and July 2022 offering a *Totally Free* 1-year subscription to the Mercury News. I confirmed verbally that no payment would be expected at any time during or after the 1-year subscription period. Within two weeks a several papers were delivered and immediate aggressive billing materials stating "DUE IMMEDIATELY ON RECEIPT" and specifying arbitration clauses as the only way out. I'm certain that this highway robbery is happening on scale - shame on the BBB if you give them an A+ rating with this type of behavior.At no point were arbitration clauses, agreeing to a contract or subscription or any kind, or anything vaguely related discussed on the phone call. It is a terrible scam that aims to ask for money and then bog a customer who tries to flee into hours of attempt to get through to customer service (2 hours on hold without answer at the ************* on *****) and then locking 'customers' into some ridiculous extra-legal arbitration process.Business Response
Date: 08/22/2022
*****************************: Thank you for expressing your concerns regarding your free subscription offer to The Mercury News. I reviewed the call to make sure the rep mentioned to you that you would receive a statement that you could choose to pay if you wished to continue after the free trial was over. I apologize if sending you our invoice came across as ****** aggressive. As he explained there is no expense to you unless you opt to pay for the terms he outlined on the call after the free delivery you accepted was completed. I have reminded the sales rep's ******* that he should give a more detailed explanation about the statement for future calls so that this does not cause concerns for others as you outlined in your complaint note.
Please feel free to contact me directly at ********************************* if you have further questions or concerns, or feel free to respond via the BBB portal.
Customer Answer
Date: 08/23/2022
Complaint: 17746408
I am rejecting this response because:Kind thanks for your prompt response and review of my case - I would appreciate your written confirmation of immediate cancellation of the free service in this case. I have a relative who let me know they were sent to collections because they decided not to subscribe and it took weeks of negotiation to get things fixed. If you can share proof you have canceled my account and stopped all delivery, I will accept this resolution.
Sincerely,
*****************************Initial Complaint
Date:08/19/2022
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- 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.
We have never subscribed to their ********* Courier Newpaper, but we keep getting them on the weekly basis. We called three times to stop the delivery, but no action was taken.Business Response
Date: 08/22/2022
Hello, our sincere apologies. We will stop delivery of the ********* Courier. If you have any further issues, please contact me at ***************************************
Thank you.
Initial Complaint
Date:07/28/2022
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- 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 cancelled my subscription to The Mercury News on 7/20/2022. I asked for a refund oh the unused portion of the subscription. I was told that they have no refund policy. When I insisted that I deserve the refund I was told that I will get about $83 refund within 3 to 5 days. When the refund did not come thru I called for the status & was told the same thing. I called again the next ********* after, and each time was told the same thing until this morning. This morning I was told that I will not get the refund. It will be very much appreciated if you would look into this matter & get me the refund.Thanks ***********************Business Response
Date: 08/01/2022
Hello, our subscriptions are prepaid and non-refundable, but we will go ahead and issue the refund as requested. Thank you.Customer Answer
Date: 08/01/2022
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference tocomplaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
***********************Initial Complaint
Date:07/26/2022
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- 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 7/6/22 i signed up for 99 cents for 3 months subscription on autopay at that price. The agreement says I would be notified no less than 10 days later if there was a price increase. On 7/11/22 I was billed $42.00. I immediately contacted them to cancel subscription as I did not agree to that price. I have sent numerous emails to request refund of unauthorized $42.00 and they refuse.Business Response
Date: 07/28/2022
Hello, we apologize for the mix up. We will refund $42.00 as requested. Please allow up to 14 days to receive the refund. Thank you.Customer Answer
Date: 07/28/2022
Complaint: 17627251
I am rejecting this response because: There was no "mix up", they charged me $42.00 without notification or my authorization. I was told 2 weeks ago this would be resolved in 2 weeks. Now they are saying another 2 weeks to issue refund. that time period is unacceptable, I want refund immediately.
Sincerely,
*******************************Business Response
Date: 08/01/2022
Hello, the refund was processed on July 28th, 2022.
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