The Epoch Times
reviews and complaints

As someone who values honesty and integrity in news reporting, I have found The Epoch Times to be a refreshing source of information. Their commitment to delivering factual news free from external influences is commendable. I appreciate the diverse range of perspectives they offer, allowing me to form my own opinions. The in-depth coverage and insightful analysis have helped me stay informed and think critically about current events. The Epoch Times has renewed my faith in journalism and I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a reliable news source.

Dear Ms. Liu,
Just writing to let you know that I did receive the gift card code on the same day as I subscribed. I just now discovered The Epoch Times gift card in my junk mail. Although The Epoch Times timely sent the code, for some unknown reason it was sent to junk mail so I didn't know that I had indeed received it. No action is required. Thank you again for responding and helping me.
Sincerely

My friend forwarded an article from Epoch Times. Then I started receiving several emails from Epoch Times. I could not read any of the articles unless I subscribed. I decided to subscribe . My email box is OVERWHELMED with Epoch Times emails. The worst part is, even though Ive subscribed I still cant read the articles unless upgrade. What?! Id like to cancel my subscription and block emails but it seems impossible. I hope Epoch Times reads this and provides a link to cancel my paid subscription and no longer send emails. Please! And thank you.

Epoch Times offers you a 4 month trial for $1. Than, when you call to cancel the trial so that you will not be charged for future Times on-line subscriptions, they cancel you from receiving the Epoch Times on-line but...they still have the account active - So, they start charging you $7.99 per month. I was charged for 2 months and when I noticed these charges, immediately called (twice) and all they did was cancel my subscription again. I don't trust this company and they have hundreds of workers on phones as I could hear them on in the background.

Received email out of no where from this company. The email was organized like a newspaper email, but all the articles were old and full of stories that don't make logical sense. The moment I opened the email they sent two more emails: a paid subscription offer and a welcome email that encouraged me to make an account. I never signed up for this and it obviously should have went to my spam folder in the first place. They did not explain how they got my email address. This is the info from the bottom:Our mailing address is:The Epoch Times

Deceptive cancellation policy. If you call, they'll tell you that you can only unsubscribe from email. If you email, they'll tell you that you have to call. If you do chat on their website, they'll tell you that you have to call. By any medium that you attempt to unsubscribe they'll give you a run-around like they're trying to sell you at a timeshare. You can say no a dozen times and they'll just keep talking. I ended up just taking a screenshot and threatening legal action. Which I fully intend to take. Good companies with honest reporting don't need to make it impossible to cancel a subscription.

Growing up, I always enjoyed reading a newspaper on Saturday morning with my coffee. The news, comics, crossword puzzles. Then the change occurred. Living in the ***, I was getting nothing but left wing biased political articles. Mainly sourced from left wing sources. I did not ask for left wing bias in the news, but that's what they forced upon us. I happily dropped my subscription and told them why. For many years I went without news print, until a friend gave me a guest subscription to The Epoch Times. I love it. Leftists like to say it's right wing biased, but all I see is accurate reporting, leaving me to interpret. If you like print, give it a try.

I received an email telling me my subscription was due to automatically renew on a certain date. I decided I no longer wanted to be subscribed and went online to cancel. Oh no-o-o-o-o! You click cancel, get a bunch of ads trying to convince you not to, go to the next page and are required to watch a video for your "options", then when you try to cancel again, you're told you cannot do it online, you must call customer service. I'm writing this review on a Sunday and they reopen on Monday. I'm sure it will be a real joy to try to cancel on the phone as well. It is unacceptable not to be able to simply unsubscribe online. I think it is unethical for this business to make you jump through all these hoops, and without then being unable to simply unsubscribe! I am hopping mad right now - and that's being polite. I would rate this business zero stars if I was able to, but it's not an option here.

This is criminal. Who reads Terms and Conditions? I, for one, did not and came to sorely regret it. When you sign up for a subscriptions, believing that when they say you may cancel at any time, in the America, you assume that includes a refund of the remaining time. In my case, I subscribed yesterday only to be explicitly told today - NO REFUNDS. Everyone needs to know this - up front! BUYER BEWARE! . . . The Epoch Times Terms and Conditions Refunds:No refunds will be issued on any of our products. In the event of a cancellation, no future payments will be charged, but we will not refund a prorated subscription amount for the days between the cancellation and the current billing cycle's end. In the rare event we do a refund, it is completely at our discretion and will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.THIS IS INEXUSABLE FOR AN ORGANIZATION PRETENDING TO PROTECT AND DEFEND JUSTICE, LIBERTY, AND FREEDOM.

I signed up for a free 3 month trial a year and a half ago. The product was fine but I didn't use it so I cancelled before it ended. After the 3 months they charged me a full years subscription and I spent days trying to get a hold of them and finally about an hour on the phone trying to get it cancelled and refunded. They had said had no record of my cancelation, but apologized and re-cancelled it. The refund however was more complicated they had to send a request to someone else in the company to do it and I had to wait about a week to hear back from them. About months later they charged me again and I spent another week trying to get answers on why I was charged again. It took even more time than the first, but ultimately they again apologized and refunded me. Today for the third time they charged me a monthly subsection fee! I'm in the process fo again cancelling this after a year of cancelling the first time and trying to get refunded.

Received a newsletter in my inbox that I never signed up for. I skimmed two articles by *** and immediately recognized it was far-right, anti-vax propaganda. Needless to say, I immediately unsubscribed. My complaint and question is: how did they get my email address in the first place? It seems that this media outlet is known for shoving their content in people's faces and calling it a 'freebie'. It's really dangerous for misleading information produced by this source to sneakily, without consent, make it's way into unsupecting inboxes, in front of folks' eye *** that *** not know better, and can't easily identify fact from far-right opinion. Can I find out who sold my email address to this agency, where they were able to pull it from, and/or who put my email on their subscriber list without my consent? I'd like to let them know how I feel directly. Maybe I can get their email address and slip a note into their inbox, perhaps? I'll give them some light reading. Thanks.

Issue: UNSOLICITED delivery of Epoch Times to my physical mailbox in Los Angeles County, California. As the son of a WWII war correspondent and my having majored in Journalism back in the 1970s, I know what is and is not actual journalism. I'm also a life long, left of center Democrat. It is well known that Epoch Times is slick, right wing, political disinformation having started some time during the Trump "era" - and still continues its dishonest faux journalism with dangerous slants. Hence I would have NEVER consented to having such a so-called paper in my mailbox. They may say it is a "sample", but this goes far beyond me - they are mailing people unsolicited in Canada too (*** it). Has ANY legitimate newspaper (i.e. The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, etc.) ever sent me (or most people) a "sample"? NO. My guess is they are probably using some mass mailing loophole to brainwash vulnerable people who unfortunately fall for their type of propaganda, i.e. "the Big Lie" (that the 2020 Election was "stolen", and the like. Hopefully the ComplaintsBoard.com or some Federal agency will look into this scam sooner or later and stop it.

The Epoch Times subscription service & customer service is VERY difficult to work with. Their self-service cancellation process is dishonest and geared to make it difficult, if not impossible to cancel the trial subscription. Two weeks into the 4 week I cancelled on-line, they confirmed the cancellation and then two weeks later they debit my card for a 6 month subscription anyway. Customer service was useless, first unwilling to cancel the 6 month subscription, then said the best they could do was charge for a full month (even though the actual subscription had not started and no materials received) and refund the 5 months. Next, they said somebody from billing will get back to me. Very much unacceptable. Regardless of your view of their publication or editorial content, they have a very slick, stacked against you process & cancellation policy, non-responsive customer service - no way be running a business with the keystone of "Truth and Tradition". Nothing truthful about their process and certainly not in the tradition of great American businesses. I'd give them 3 stars for content and 1/2 star for customer service and ease of use.

I am trying to reduce how much I spend on subscriptions. Epoch Times was on the chopping block. The process of canceling your subscription with them involves watching a mandatory video about why you shouldn't cancel, following an unintuitive string of hyperlinks that are dwarfed by messages saying, "Don't Leave" and "Loyalty Offer, Click HERE". Finally, when you think you've navigated to the last page to cancel your subscription, you are given a phone number to call with very limited hours of availability. If the Epoch Times were a "mom and pop" shop, then calling would be at least somewhat understandable (not taking into account the video and hyperlink fiasco). Epoch, however, is instead a global news organization. This is a horrible business practice. They invest in subscriber retention not by improving the quality of their product but by making it as difficult and unintuitive as possible to cancel your subscription. The real irony is that this news outlet prides itself on eternal principles that defend freedom and individual autonomy. What hypocrisy! Why don't they practice what they preach, set up a "Cancel Subscription" button and use their overly-staffed *** to provide a better product?

I received a "sample" edition of Epoch Times in my personal mailbox using my NAME and ADDRESS. I called the number listed on the paper and asked where the h*** they got my personal information and/or permission to specifically send me their falsely-based propaganda. The agent, (who barely spoke English), 'pumped' me for more personal information, which I denied to give. After some time, he would only admit that 'marketing' was responsible for the misuse of my name and address ...which is the same as saying nothing. I believe I have a right to know how an unethical business, especially a corrupt hard-leaning political organization, got my name and address ...and why they think they have the right to impose their unsolicited fabrications and obvious venality upon me.Folks, be aware that this slick so-called newspaper may be either stealing or buying your personal information in order to cleverly spread lies and deception under the guise of patriotism. In my opinion, it is an immoral and evil media source doing business in an underhanded and equally false method. (Read other reviews.) I believe current and past FACTS and HISTORY are not only misrepresented but artfully distorted to support their extreme political indoctrination and sly infiltration of false narratives.

Warning: trial offer for $1.00 turns into a recurring nightmare on your bank account for $79.00 all the while you do not receive a news paper. I have cancelled with Epoch Times over a year ago and just yesterday (1/5/22) there was another $79.00 charge on my bank account for a subscription renewal. I called Epoch Times and spoke to *** that showed that my subscription was still active and that I never cancelled my subscription...all false information. *** and I went back and forth on the line regarding my account. Again, I asserted that I cancelled over a year ago back late August . Informed her that I never received a news paper from them in the first place (hard copy or digital). I asked for a permanent cancellation as they falsely renewed my account every six months. I asked for a refund. *** spoke to her manager and came back told me they will refund and cancel my subscription again. They gave me a reference# which I am not confident means a permanent cancellation. Looking back at my bank account I noticed that they renew and charge you every six months even if you cancel. I have to constantly keep an eye on my bank account to cancel every six months it appears. It is ridiculous. Once they have your bank information, you end up in this never ending trap of auto-recurring even if you cancel. Beware The Epoch Times, they will charge you even if you cancel and will not send you a so-called newspaper (digital or hardcopy).

The billing for The Epoch Times is dishonest. So much for a newspaper that talks of it's honesty. I signed up for the 4-week trial and was told that they had a NO REFUND policy and that I needed to keep my subscription through the 6-month term since I paid ahead through my credit card. Then when I went to cancel before the 6 months was over, I called asking them to cancel my subscription. They said they couldn't cancel over the phone and would send me an email with a cancellation button. I canceled with the cancellation button. Then I kept receiving emails asking me to sign up for the online version. I told them no and said I had already canceled my subscription. Today, I received a credit card bill for another 6 month of the print edition. I called and was told that since the subscription started, they couldn't cancel it until the summer. I told them that THEY billed my credit card for the subscription against my will and wanted the entire amount back. They countered with, "We can only partly give the money back because you have continued to receive the subscription." I told them that I canceled the subscription SEVERAL TIMES repeatedly and wanted the entire amount refunded. I was on hold for several long periods while they talked to a supervisor. After the last discussion with the supervisor, I was told that someone would review my emails, calls, etc. and the supervisor would call me back to discuss the situation, but there was NO RESOLUTION even after being on the phone for nearly 20 minutes. How can a newspaper that declares it only prints truth be so disreputable in its business dealings?

I have a tremendous amount of respect for what the Epoch Times claimed they were setting out to accomplish. Therefore, I was extremely disappointed to discover their predatory cancelation policy when I decided to end my subscription. While beginning the subscription, it merely took a quick click and credit card entry online. However, the cancelation process is clearly structured to be deliberately challenging. The customer is forced to watch a video (you can not continue until you do) begging you not to cancel. Then after jumping through several more hoops, you are given a phone number to call and put on hold. After I got connected with a person and indicated in no uncertain terms that I wanted to cancel immediately, not pause my account, the lady continued to hound me 3 more times (each monologue was 3-5 minutes) attempting to pressure me out of proceeding with the cancelation. Remember, of this was AFTER I had clearly articulated my desire to cancel my subscription. It was extremely unprofessional. This is the kind of tasteless, uncouth behavior which makes our entire movement look bad. If you are an independent, libertarian, classic liberal, or conservative who wants an unbiased news source untethered to the mainstream media/pharma/government unholy trinity which is swallowing up our society, and you want to support an organization with class and integrity, I would recommend the *** as an alternative. I have had no issues with them. They are professional and their content selection is steadily growing at an incredible rate. These people are nearly as corrupt, dishonest, and predatory as the infamous fraudulent charitythat took advantage of donors during the Summer of Love. Their actions do NOT represent the values of the majority of hardworking, God fearing conservatives who support free speech, small government, and anti-globalism.

I have heard of the newspaper on Rush Limbaugh and other talk shows.
I saw a Facebook advertisement offering the spygate free poster with a subscription.
I ordered the paper and was charged to my credit card. I inquired about the poster about 2 weeks later.
They responded with
Hi Kevin,

Your subscription plan does not include the Spygate Infographic poster or other special featured items. If you want to purchase them, please visit epochshop.com.

Best,
Esther

My reply back

Yes please cancel my subscription. I will not be renewing.
I am just surprised you can so easily false advertise and not live up to it. Just over a poster.
So sad the way customer service has digressed.

Kevin

Their final reply.

Thank you for contacting us. Sorry to see you go.

As per your request, we have cancelled your subscription. No more charges will be incurred unless you contact us to renew.

Purchased print and digital paper deliveries will continue until the end of your paid month, on November 5,2019, unless a request is made to stop receiving the materials.

We hope you are enjoying the digital version as well as weekly print delivery. If you like the digital only, we have a rate of $9.99 per month.

Please contact us if you have any questions. We appreciate our customers and thank you so much for having been our subscriber.

Best regards,

The Epoch Times

I specifically ordered based on the free poster promotion. The content of the paper seems decent. But beware of customer service.
Seems they are a scam newspaper.
Just sharing my story so you can make an educated choice.

Kevin Burkey
Texas

At first I was interested in some of the information they were talking about. I paid for the $1 magazine which was the only thing I authorized them to charge me for. Then out of the blue I'm seeing that they are charging $10 for something I never agreed to and they are charging this every single month! And for what? It's a total ripoff. Be careful about these online merchants.

I have called numerous times to cancel my "subscription" only to be berated and offered free extensions on the "subscription". I do not want this service. Victoria Pruden.

Email: [protected]@icloud.com, [protected]@hotmail.com

My PayPal and credit card have now been charged.

The heavy handed approach of phone representatives is a waste of time, and there are no options to cancel by email, via app or my mail. This is wrong.

I asked for the answers to August 9 Sedoku Classic from The Epoch Times as it was not included in that day's paper. I didn't want the paper. I had it. I want the answers. I got another paper that still didn't include the answers. 7916 E. Yacht Dr. Oak Island, NC 28465. Subscription paid.

I have since spoken to another Customer Service representative. This woman promised to send me by e-mail the requested answers to the August 9th Sedoku Classic puzzle. That conversation was a week ago. I still have NOT received those answers...which could be sent instantly.

I'm very disappointed in The Epoch Times.

Bb

I thought that the unwanted emails from The Epoch Times had ended. I actually got an email response from *** with my first ComplaintsBoard.com complaint attached saying my email wasn't in their system. And if I continued receiving emails to "send a screenshot of the most recent newsletter that you received. Please make sure that your email and the sender's email can be seen on your screenshot." Today I received another email from them with "This is a reminder that your request (#***) is pending and is waiting for your response. We will send another reminder in one week. The Epoch Times *** Team" The request # was a hyperlink which I did not click on, due to safe practices. The only request I've made is to remove me from their list, which they claim I'm not on!

Within the last few months, I have never once ever subscribed to The Epoch Times; However, I have been receiving multiple emails from them daily, as if I had subscribed.I don't know how they got my email, or how it was entered into a subscription, but I am NOT happy about it in the slightest.As of today, Nov. 19, 2022, I was finally able to access the unsubscribe link, and while doing so, it loaded a popup window which asked for me to PAY for a subscription, after closing this pop up, it takes you to an unsubscribe page, but not the one allowing you to unsubscribe from any/all messaging, this takes at least 1-2 more clicks and the "unsubscribe all" button is listed at the very bottom of the page, after scrolling through at least 10+ newsletter options first, rather than being up-top and obvious.

We have had two unsuccessful tries at resolving this issue with The Epoch Times. We used to subscribe to their newspaper. Then they began sending us their magazine instead. Then we found a charge for $199 on our credit card. Realizing we did not have time to read the newspaper or magazine, we called on 3/23/22 and requested a refund and a cancellation .They removed the charge, but put it back on 3/25/22.Meanwhile, we returned the magazines. We waited until July 28th to speak via phone with them again. They promised to refund the full amount to our card, and they did temporarily, but put it back on July 29th. They tried to trick us by saying, "Do you think you might be interested in subscribing in the future?" Is there anything we can do to get a refund ? They seem polite on the phone, but devious in practice.

I began receiving unsolicited e-newsletters from this organization and when I click unsubscribe, I am taken to a screen which says that the unsubscribe was successful. However, the screen also has a mandatory feedback box to complete before your unsubscribe is actually successful. The mandatory feedback box is missing a submit button so you can never actually unsubscribe because you can never submit the mandatory feedback. There also appears to be an infinite number of words to follow the words The Epoch________ so if you manage to unsubscribe to one newsletter, they will continue to email you under another newsletter name. I have only ever seen a submit button once so the company keeps you in a loop. This is illegal and reportable to the federal government under its anti-spam legislation, which I have now done.

Today November 2, and several days before this, I received an unsolicited Newsletter email from the Epoch Times. I know this is a propaganda paper, and I've seen the very misleading ads on *** in the past. The first time (several emails ago) I clicked in the email to see what they were sending me, and as I clicked it, it launched a message box that said once I click the email I will be automatically subscribed to their newsletter. I instantly accessed my automatically created account and unsubscribed. I still kept receiving their emails. I have clicked on the bottom of the emails to unsubscribe more than once. I am still receiving their emails. I can see from other people's comments on this ComplaintsBoard.com site that this is typical behavior from this unscrupulous company to push their agenda on Americans. Is there anything ComplaintsBoard.com can do about this? Thanks.

I tried a subscription to The Epoch Times and after about a month or two called to cancel my subscription.Unfortunately I do not have a reference number for the cancellation which CANNOT be performed online, although they make it very easy to subscribe online. This is very frustrating as they waste a lot of time with links to Cancel Subscription which ultimately lead to the requirement to call. When I realized that they charged me $7.99 per month from July to current month, (8) months worth of charges, I attempted to contact their customer service by phone on Saturday to no avail. One place in their website quotes 3 pm as closing time on Saturday for customer service, another says 4 pm, and I was calling after 3 but before 4.Can you help me get a written confirmation that they have cancelled my subscription, and a refund of the last (6) months of charges for a total of $47.94? Thank you so much.

I would like to file a complaint against The Epoch Times, ***, phone number ***. An acquaintance of mine just decided to forward an article to me from The Epoch Times. This was entirely unsolicited on my part. I did not know The Epoch Times even existed so I then did some research. They are extremely right wing and I have absolutely no interest in subscribing to them. Because my acquaintance emailed one of The Epoch Times articles now they have my email address and they are sending me emails trying to get me to subscribe. Again I have absolutely no interest in subscribing to this junk. I tried numerous times to unsubscribe from getting these unwanted emails and their unsubscribe button conveniently DOES NOT WORK so that certainly tells us something about this company. I did not solicit this company in any way and I want them to immediately STOP sending me emails.

Back in March this year I was automatically billed a renewal for a subscription. I immediately called, cancelled the renewal and requested a refund. And again on September 16, The Epoch Times billed me again. This is when I realized they had never refunded me back in March. Today I called The Epoch Times "customer service" phone number. In spite of confirming they had a record of my call back in March to cancel and non-renew, they never could resolve the dispute. Furthermore, they never could answer the question why they automatically billed me again, when I specifically told them to cancel and non-renew. The person representing customer service at The Epoch Times, put me on hold apologizing for the wait every two minutes saying she was waiting for permission to perform the desired results; 45 minutes spent on the phone. It was clearly designed to cause the consumer to lose patience and give up; a poorly devised scheme to put road blocks in place of resolving consumer refunds.

Around election time last year, The Epoch Times advertised a $1 deal for 4 printed papers and one digital acocunt subscription. After so many days, if you do not cancel, you would be charged for $79 for a full year's subscription worth. I did that. I used two different emails to create accounts, and to be honest, I thought one subscription was for the digital and one for the paper. Then in December and in January I correspondened way before the time for penalty so I would not owe $79. The agent & I used text chat through their system. I gave them my info and explained that I wanted to cancel all subscriptions I had. The agent supposedly ran a check using my name and information as well as all resemblances and instances of my email address. The agent then proceeded to tell me that ALL my accounts were successfully unsubscribed. I asked them to double check, and the agent assured me that ALL my accounts were unsubscribed. I was charged $79. They refuse to fix. I have saved evidence.

I apparently signed up for a free trial for four months in Dec. 2020. I have never received ONE email from them regarding this transaction. My Bookkeeper thought it was a charge I had approved and that is why I just caught it now and cancelled it tonight. They told me if I wanted an email notice each month then I should have gone online when I subscribed and requested a monthly statement be emailed to me. They never sent me an email telling me that. Yet, they had my email for the last 23 months and not one time have the sent me any type of billing email. I haven't even received any Epoch Times Newsletters or Newspaper or anything! I never knew I had the account! My husband has the free account they told me but he never uses it due to the complication of logging in each time to just read an article. There is NO correspondence anywhere in my emails (spam included) This is fraud if I have ever seen it. Such a shame that this is how they do business. I feel I should receive a refund since April, $7.99 a month.

I have called 4 times to Epoch Times plus had numerous chats (online at their site) They will not allow you to cancel a subscription. Today I called again, 4th time in 4 months. The person at ET said, "I see you called in February but you called to Subscribe not Cancel" I explained AGAIN that I have no reason to call and subscribe since I already have a subscription so WHY WOULD I CALL AND SUBSCRIBE? ET lies and refuses to cancel. I was on chat last month for close to an hour and then chatted again with a person who said he already talked to me. *** chats they refused to cancel. LIke I said, I have called 4 times in 4 months and they still keep charging me. If you follow their link to unsubscribe it only takes you to a video about why you should keep getting their horrible subscription. It is a total scam. I originally called in July to cancel and they tell me I only called to Pause the subscription and have charged me *** for the months of September, October, November, December, January, February and now, March. That is upward of $56.00. I am at my *** end. Please help!