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Business Profile

Magazine Sales

Outside

Headquarters

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

Find BBB Accredited Businesses in Magazine Sales.

Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Outside's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

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Outside has 5 locations, listed below.

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    Customer Complaints Summary

    • 26 total complaints in the last 3 years.
    • 10 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

    If you've experienced an issue

    Submit a Complaint

    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.

    Sort by

    Complaint status

    Complaint type

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:01/20/2023

      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.
      I originally subscribed to Outside Magazine for our business on November 19, 2021. We received an email confirmation of the order, but never once received a hard copy magazine (I believe it was supposed to be provided monthly). I noticed a renewal charge on my credit card statement in November 2022. I attempted to contact Outside to cancel our subscription and see why we hadn't received any hard copies. I emailed outside initially ************************************** they in turn referred me to a phone number *************). When I called they could not find my subscription (they asked for my phone #, email address, credit card #, even our TIN!) I never did give them the latter 2 because I suspected foul play. I asked to speak to a manager (her name was "Honey") and she too was unable to pull up any of my customer info (mind you they had my email address from our original order confirmation). I vowed to turn them in for scamming me.

      Business Response

      Date: 01/23/2023

      Thank you for the notification. We pulled up the customer's account and confirmed their membership associated with ********************* was canceled and will not renew. Their payment information has been deleted. The customer had submitted a dispute against their renewal charge, and we accepted that dispute in the customer's favor on Dec. 15, 2022. We have reached out to the customer to confirm on Jan. 23, 2023. If the customer has any additional questions or concerns, they may reply to our email and we will help them out! Thank you. 
    • Initial Complaint

      Date:12/30/2022

      Type:Sales and Advertising 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.
      I paid $29 on 6:1/2022 to renew my clean eating magazine. I never received it (last issue received was spring 2022). The website makes it very difficult to get in touch with the company. They dont provide a phone number or an email. But they do provide an inquiry submission form. I submitted one weeks ago with no response. Finally through zoom info I was able to find a phone number. When I called today and explained my situation, they let me know that the magazine clean eating had been discontinued. I asked for a refund, but they refused. I paid for something that I didnt receive. And now I would like them to refund my money.

      Business Response

      Date: 01/04/2023

      Thank you for the notification. We pulled up the customer's account and issued a refund of $29.99 on 1/4/23. Please note: It may take **** days, depending on the bank, to receive the refund. A refund receipt confirmation has also been emailed to **************************************. Thank you.
    • Initial Complaint

      Date:10/24/2022

      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 paid for a 1-year subscription to Outside+/Gaia GPS on 7/5/22 via their online system; my receipt # is 2141-4214. I specified that I want to receive a print copy out Outside magazine and gave them my mailing address. As of 9/9 I hadn't received the magazine so I called them at ************. I was told to send an email to ************************************ which I did the same day.As of 9/19, no one had responsed to my email, so I submitted a help request via their website (https://help.outsideinc.com/hc/en-us/requests). It apparently goes to the same email above, because I received a canned email reply stating, "Your request (******) has been received and is being reviewed by our support staff."As of 9/23 there was still no response, so I contacted Outside via chat on their website (https://help.outsideinc.com/hc/en-us/categories/8533262966935-Billing-and-Memberships). But it was just an automated bot that again resulted in me receving another canned email stating, "Your request (******) has been received and is being reviewed by our support staff."On 9/23 I also sent a direct message to Outside via ******** but never received a reply.It is now the end of October and I still don't have the magazine and no one has responded to ANY of these contacts.DESIRED RESOLUTION: I paid for a 1 year subscription on 7/5/22, which means it expires on 7/4/23. I would like to start receiving the magazine AND I want my expiration date extended to be one year after the first magazine is finally received.

      Business Response

      Date: 10/27/2022

      ************** signed up for a year subscription to Outside+ which includes the option to receive Outside Magazine. Our system did not reflect an order on ****************** behalf, so we have manually added an Outside Magazine order to the account. The first issue will arrive in 4-8 weeks from 10/27/2022. We also issued a full refund for this years purchase and while we are unable to ***** extensions due to product constraints, we have issued a $60 credit for next years renewal.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 10/30/2022


      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.  

      I don't know why their system didn't reflect that I wanted to receive the magazine, since I made this selection the same day I signed up for the Outside+ subscription.  But I definitely appreciate their quick and generous resolution, once you got involved.

      Sincerely,

      *******************
    • Initial Complaint

      Date:09/23/2022

      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.
      They terminated triathlete magazine early. I apparently have $9 credit due. They wont send a check. They havent refunded credit card. Please refund the $9 either check or credit card credit. They agreed to a contract and then severed it early without refunding the difference. Or. Simply sever the entire contract and refund $69.

      Business Response

      Date: 10/03/2022

      Thank you for the notice. We searched our billing and subscription systems here at Outside and could not locate an order under the customer's full name and email. We just sent a request to our fulfilment centers that we have worked with in the past, in an attempt to track down the transaction so that we can request a refund for the customer. We are waiting to hear back from these centers, which could take a few business days.  

      Customer Answer

      Date: 10/04/2022

       
      Complaint: 18118789

      I am rejecting this response because:

      Sincerely,

      *****************

       

      3807 ********* ***********.  ** *****.   That is current residence.  I paid the bill while living at *******************************.  301.   *********************************.   Or I could just cancel the entire credit card order from several years ago and refund the entire amount.  Please dont close the ticket until you solved it.  This isnt solve. Dont ask to close the ticket unless you solved it. I dont know why you are asking to close it. 

      Business Response

      Date: 10/07/2022

      Our apologies for the delay.  We are in the process of moving our subscription file to a new data center.  At this time we are unable to access your account however we will initiate a refund check in your name for $9.00.  The check will be processed and shipped next week, but please allow 2-3 weeks for it to arrive.  Thank you for your patience.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 10/14/2022

       
      Complaint: 18118789

      I am rejecting this response because:

       

      When then check is in hand it will be closed.  Not until then. 

      Sincerely,

      *****************

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:09/02/2022

      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.
      I received a charge on my Mastercard bill of $29.99 from Outside Clean Eating Magazine on 5/31/22. When I received my Mastercard bill on 6/27/22 I called Outside Clean Eating Magazine at ************ and spoke to a representative explaining I had this charge and did not request another subscription. She apologized and explained that I would receive a full credit of $29.99 on my next months credit card bill. As of today, 8/30/22, I have not received a credit. I called Outside Clean Eating Magazine today, 8/30/22 to inquire about my refund and the representative explained that I need to send an email to Outside Clean Eating Magazine to receive my refund. He said he showed no record of me requesting this refund. I have the date and details written on my charge card bill. This same thing happened to me approximately a year ago with this company. I had purchased a subscription for myself and for a friend a year later. The first time I called Outside Clean Eating to request my refund for my subscription, they processed it with just a phone call and in a timely manner. I would have thought when I told them I did not want to renew my subscription, they would not charge me for the gift subscription a year later. I would like the BBB to be aware of this poor customer service and to help me receive a refund for something I did not request. Thank you.

      Business Response

      Date: 05/16/2025

      After reviewing the customers account, we confirmed that in our last response on 8/30/22 (ticket #******), we directed the customer to contact the Clean Eating Fulfillment House directly for their refund. That system is managed separately, and we dont have access to their order or refund data.
      That said, in good faith and to help resolve the issue, **** submitted a request to issue a check refund for $29.99. Please note that check refunds typically take about 30 days to fully process and be mailed out.
    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/13/2022

      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.
      On 1/30/2022, I subscribed via Outside's website for ************ digital + print subscription, specifically for the print subscription. Immediately, I requested my subscription and waited patiently until about 18 weeks had passed and still hadn't received 1 issue. So on 6/9/2022 I reached out via customer service checking in to see when first issue would arrive and received no answer. Then on 6/15/2022 I found the customer service #************** for ********************, called and received an automated message that said due to high volume of customer service requests they werent taking calls. I tried to find my subscription via the ************ magazine website and it couldn't find my account. Then I called ************ magazine directly and they informed me that they couldnt find an account or records in their system and I had to email Outside to fix it. The email that YJ gave me was the same one I had messaged before with no response. I waited another week, then on 6/22/2022 & 6/23/2022, with photos about my account, I reached out via email support and only ever received automated responses with subject No Magazine Arrival but never received any response from an actual person. Yet in their case history these have been solved. On 6/28/2022 I messaged again and got the same automated email response. I sent another email on 7/8/2022 and still the same automated response and it is also marked solved. Today 7/13/2022 I reopened this email and got the same automated response email. I also tried calling again and keep receiving an automated message directing me to email.I am extremely frustrated with this lack of customer respect and not actually receiving what I paid for. I would like a refund immediately.

      Business Response

      Date: 07/14/2022

      Thank you for notifying us. We have processed a full refund for the original order. You'll see the $24 refund in **** days, depending on your bank. In addition to the refund, we emailed you offering a courtesy membership to access our digital content for free. 

      Customer Answer

      Date: 07/14/2022

       
      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,

      *************************

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