Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Bay Area News Group's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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• 

  Bay Area News Group

  208 Lindbergh Ave Livermore, CA 94551-9512

  
• 

  Bay Area News Group

  6270 Houston Place Suite 200 Dublin, CA 94568

  
• 

  Bay Area News Group

  4301 Lakeside Dr Richmond, CA 94806-5281

  
• 

  Bay Area News Group

  750 Ridder Park Dr San Jose, CA 95190-0001

• 

  Bay Area News Group

  PO Box 5501 Walnut Creek, CA 94596-1501

  

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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/08/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  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 89 year old mother has been automatically billed $137.29 monthly for the newspaper. To date this year she's paid $823.74. The annual rate is approximately $500+. My mother has been paying $1647.48 annually!! When I asked for the account to be adjusted to annual and reimburse the difference of $823.74 and the approximate $500+ I was told "it is in the past and nothing can be done." They want ANOTHER $500+ before they'll change the account to annual. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. They're taking advantage of consumers. They're demanding approx $1300+ for something that costs $500+ approx. I would like the account adjusted not only accordingly but fairly!! The newspaper is something my mother looks forward to daily. She's been a loyal customer for close to 50 years! Please help. Thank you in advance. I put my phone number on the complaint form. The phone number for the account is ************. I've been on hold waiting for a manager while I'm filling this out. They still haven't answered. I'm hanging up.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/09/2023

  Thank you for reaching out.
  
  Newspaper subscription rates, for most of our history, have been supplemented and discounted by advertising revenue.  Over the past five years our business model has been significantly impacted by advertising revenue declines and overall shifts to digital advertising.  At the same time, the costs to produce and deliver the paper have gone up considerably.  With these changes, we have had to rely on subscription revenue to more realistically reflect the cost of reporting, printing and delivering a daily newspaper.  That is the reason for our rate increases. 
  
  Our rates are published in the paper every day on page A4.  Please take a look. Currently, the price for 7-day home delivery is $31.38 per week before tax, which is the rate that has been charged every 4 weeks in this case.  We have to get all of our subscribers on a path to a rate that will at least cover our costs, and unfortunately the $500 annual rate doesnt cover those costs.  We can switch the rate to $500 annually, but that rate will go up over time to our published rate.  Our subscriptions are prepaid and non-refundable, so we are not able to refund any past subscription terms.  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/07/2023

  Type:Delivery Issues
  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.

  May 21st subscribed to home delivery of the East Bay Times. Waited the 4-7 business days for our first delivery . No paper. Called every day for five days to customer service every time they apologized and assured me a paper would be delivered within 2 hours and they would escalate to the manager. No paper. On day 5 of complaint call I cancelled the subscription and requested a refund only to be told they have a no refund policy. As evidenced in these other complaints thats obviously not true. Today after speaking to the floor manager I have been told my request for refund has been submitted to the finance department and I will be emailed an answer in **** days. I asked to be transferred to the finance department that approves refunds and was told they dont have a phone number!Very frustrating experience, the failure to provide the service they promise seems to be systemic since I was told 4 days into my complaints that I wasnt even on the route list. It wasnt a route delivery problem since my neighbor received his paper like clockwork. Sad to say home delivery is no longer an option since the East Bay Times was the only local game in town. Fingers crossed I am refunded, but I cant say I would ever recommend trying home delivery unless you have **************************************************** the hopes that one day you will make it on the delivery schedule.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/08/2023

  Our sincere apologies.  We will provide a refund.  Please allow up to 14 days for processing.  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/06/2023

  Type:Delivery Issues
  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 wife and I agreed to a one-year daily print subscription to the East Bay Times on a phone call with ***** on June 21, 2022 for $192.85. We opted out of the Special Editions. We were told that our subscription was for one year through June 21, 2023.We recently received notice that our subscription would expire on June 14, 2023. When my wife called the business to inquire why the subscription was ending earlier than had been agreed, the representative told her that starting on May 1 there was a 15 per day delivery surcharge which caused our subscription to end one week earlier.We have not seen anything from East Bay Times mentioning a delivery surcharge. There was no surcharge when we entered into the one-year subscription in 2022. We have never consented to the surcharge. It is absurd to start charging a home delivery surcharge for a print subscription, since there is no way to timely receive the print edition except by home delivery.We would like the terms of the one-year subscription to be honored and for our subscription to continue through June 21, 2023, as had been agreed when we entered into the subscription agreement and East Bay Times accepted our payment.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/07/2023

  Our sincere apologies.  We will continue the subscription through 06/21/2023 and stop delivery on 06/22/2023 as requested.  Thank you

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/20/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  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 canceled service. The ** Mercury News refused to refund the remaining 2 months on the subscription

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/22/2023

  Hello, our subscriptions are prepaid and non-refundable, but we will refund the balance of $113.95 within 14 days.  Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/22/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me, assuming that the ** Mercury News follows through on their commitment to refund $118.

  Until such time, please keep this complaint open.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/18/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  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 was just notified of a price increase higher than I agreed to and with no notice. I called to cancel my subscription because of the price increase with no notice. After being told that they would not cancel my subscription, I was on hold for a supervisor, for over 30 minutes. I eventually hung up. They told me that I cannot cancel my subscription even when i did not agree to the price. I would like a prorated refund. It would save the paper the cost of delivery!

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/19/2023

  Hello, we will refund the prorated balance as requested.  Please allow up to 14 days for processing.  If you have any questions, please contact ********************************  Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/20/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/11/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  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.

  My issues with ************** have been numerous in all the years I've done business with them. However, I will stick with the ones that occurred in the last 12 months. ** 2022 the ************** had my permission to charge my credit card monthly for the daily paper delivery. The first few months went without any problems other than the "usual" non-delivery of the paper here and there.On July 29, 2022 they charged me the usual monthly fee of $11.97. Then 15 days later on August 15, 2022 they charged me the monthly fee again. Then 15 days later on September 9, 2022 they charged me $16.59 and on September 30, 2022 they charged me $16.59 again. I called them on 9/30/22, 10/6/22, and again on 10/10/22 to try to get the problem fixed. I was told that they hadn't done anything incorrect because the extra charges are for the $5.00 special editions they deliver 4 times a year. I told them that what they charged was over that amount and that I didn't authorize it. I asked for a refund of the money owed to me but ****** said they don't do refunds, and that in fact I still owe them money. By this time I was so frustrated that I told him I was going to stop them from charging me; which I did.We continued to get calls giving ** "special deals" if we subscribed again. So since we missed getting the paper so I was "stupid" enough to agree to a Sunday only paper for a year for a special fee of *****. I paid by check on December 29, 2022, and we started getting the paper on Sundays only. There has been a couple of Sundays we didn't get a paper but we marked it up as a new delivery person or something. However, the last four weeks we haven't received a paper. I have called and reported it each time and was assured we would receive a paper later that day; we never did. I have called during the week to speak with someone also and been assured we would receive a paper the coming Sunday. We are now on the 5th week and believe they have had plenty of time to correct their problem.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/15/2023

  Our sincere apologies.  We confirmed that delivery was restarted on 5/14/2023.  If you have any further issues, please contact ***************************************  Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/15/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/05/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  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 March 3, 2023, I purchased a subscription to the East Bay Times for weekly digital content plus delivery of the Sunday paper through the site discountednewspapers.com. This term should have been 13 weeks long, for the price of $32.50. I have not received a single Sunday paper since my subscription, even after 3 complaints made over the phone between the timeframe of three weeks after my subscription to the current time. I was notified they do not do refunds. Considering I have not received the Sunday paper, which is what I specifically wanted out of this subscription, I'm hoping a nudge from the BBB will help them provide the services paid for.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/09/2023

  Our sincere apologies.  We will get delivery started on Sunday.  If you have any more issues, please contact ********************************  Thank you

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/28/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  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.

  The East Bay Times is fraudulently claiming that I created a subscription with them and is now sending notices of past due payment. I have never once given even a cent to them, and when I asked about the account, they claim it was paid with a gift card, a clear indicator of a scam.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/01/2023

  *************************
  26388 *****************
  *******, ** 94545
  Daytime Phone: **************
  E-mail: ***********************

   

  Hello *****: Thank you for your note via BBB regarding the delivery of The East Bay Times to your home.  I listened to the call log to make sure your free trial of the newspaper was properly explained and while it was described properly as a free trial, the representative did not explain the purpose of the follow up statement that we mailed out to you.   Our representative should have explained that if after your free delivery you wished to subscribe you could simply send along payment and delivery would continue as a paid subscription.  Otherwise you could send us back the invoice without any payment and instruct us to stop your free delivery.  Please be assured that you are under no obligation to pay for anything as you were simply enjoying the newspaper deliveries at our expense. If you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to send them to me directly at *********************************  

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/22/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  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.

  Paid for the paper through July ************************************************************************************************** a paper

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/24/2023

  Our sincere apologies.  We will refund the last payment of $38.80.  If you have any questions, please contact ********************************.  Thank you

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/24/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/17/2023

  Type:Order Issues
  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.

  Since the beginning of 2023, I have to call to receive my newspaper at least twice a week. I pay for a yearly subscription and would like my newspaper. I am offered a credit. I do not want the credit, I would like to receive my newspaper without calling. I am an 83 year old women who does not drive much and I look forward to receiving a newspaper.Does the Mercury News no longer deliver on a daily basis? The company cashes my check and receives my payment with no problem. They should be able to deliver my paper the same way they cash my check.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/21/2023

  Our sincere apologies.  Our delivery manager has reached out to assist and resolve this.  Please contact ****************************** with any questions.  Thank you.