Hearst Communications
Reviews and Complaints

I was sent an email from Country Living Magazine stating they were giving away 3 x $1000 winners. The entry form states "No Purchase Necessary". I entered the sweepstakes then received an email that I was signed up to receive Country Living magazine for $10. It also states that after I receive the first issue in 6 to 8 weeks I will have the chance to cancel. This is pure deception. No where does it state that entering the contest means anyone is signing up for a years subscription. I am 64 years old so I am still alert enough to make sure this get's cancelled but not everyone is so attentive and consider this a scam.

You really need good luck to fill out a complaint on line. The address on the return envelope is "invalid". ?
I just wrote an old fashion letter to BBB in my area.

I just got one too! And is not first time! I always ignore it. Not now. It happened to my 93 years old father in law. He fell for it. I have done some resources on line and to my big surprise The Hearst Corporation has an A+ rating from BBB. And there are so many complains people make to their Complain Board. My next move will be a complain to BBB. Everybody should do the same. Maybe somebody will do something about this kind of abusive business. Good luck everyone!

This happened to me too! I did not renew my subscriptions intentionally to Redbook, Good Housekeeping and Women's day. Hearst Corporation kept sending me notices for each magazine stating that I had checke3d the box to renew my subscriptions and bill me later. I know I did not ask to renew the subscriptions and I never check the bill me later box so I kept throwing the notices away and kept reading the magazines. There is a law that states that if you receive something without ordering it, it is considered a gift. I was beginning to get worried about the letters though; However, I noticed on their most recent round of letters, that their greatest threat was,
" ...we have reached the point where unless we receive a payment from you we will be required to terminate your account." I think they know that legally, they cannot collect money from me and cannot turn me over to a debt collection agency. Therefore, I think I'll just continue to throw them out and nothing will happen. Thank goodness they don't have my credit card number!

I signed up for Country Living through Living Social, and evidently there was an automatic renewal provision buried somewhere in the fine print. My current subscription ended with this month's (July) issue. As in, I have not yet received an issue from a new, (as yet unpaid) subscription. And today, July 16, I received a letter captioned "FINAL NOTICE" which reads: "Dear XXXXX: We extended you the privilege of paying later for your subscription. By entering into this agreement we anticipated that you would remit a payment when billed. The balance outstanding is now several months past due. We have sent you numerous bills. We must now insist that you send us your payment immediately. This will be your final opportunity to resume service on your subscription." I called customer service and did get the auto-renewal cancelled, but I found this letter to be an intentional attempt to mislead me into thinking they were turning my information over to a credit rating agency or debt collection agency. Terrible customer service. I am an attorney, so I didn't fall for it, but I can imagine that people would have been bullied into renewing without really wanting to.

I subcribe Oprah magazine in [protected] . That was suppose to be the end of my
two years . Then when it came for my two years to end. They sent a letter asking if I
wanted to renew my subscription. but before i could contact them i misplace the
letter. so i figure they would send me another letter, like most magazine does. Instead
I receive a letter stateing that I agree to renew my subscription for O, The Oprah Magazine. and they have not received payment. By making payment your account and subscription will be reinstated and restored to good standing. I wrote them back and told them that i was sorry i didn't get to them in time to let them know i didn't want my subscription renew and i don't owe them any money. they still sent me a letter sayin i owed them for renewing my subsription, which i have never received. So with the complaint that you'll have I have it too. Something needs to be done about this. If nesscessary I will take it to the news channel.

A DISSATIFIED CUSTOMER

Yesterday, I received a final notice like the post dated 2/9/09. I have not renewed this subcription for 'Marie Claire' magazine but the notice states that 'your delinquent account with us has been brought to my attention for collections'. However, I feel like I do have much of a choice but to pay this unwanted bill as I do not want this to go to collections or even for this to end up on my credit report. I am force to pay for something I didn't order. I AM PISSED!

I just received a bill stating "Thank you for being part of our continuous service program". I never ordered the magazine in the first place! Last year I entered a contest and apparently at the bottom of the page they have a box, already marked, saying to order the magazine. So, if you don't notice it and un-check it, they automatically start your subscription. So fine, I paid the stupid bill for the yearly subscription which is up in May 2011. And now they have renewed me again without my permission and expect me to pay for another year of magazines that I just throw away when they arrive in the mail. What a scam!

The Hearts Corporation or House Beautiful is A BIG SCAM. DO NOT PAY OR SEND ANY CHECK TO THEM .

I got the same problems like you guys. I neither ordered nor subcribed magazine with House Beautiful. However, they keeps sending me invoices under The Hearst Corporation. First 2 invoices, I ignored them; then just today, a 3rd invoice is an "Invoice Bureau" which its contain with some threating such as "threats of negative credit report". I'm not scare of this threat at all. I'm about to find the way how to sue these companies. I did a google search and found out a law office who do help victims like us who are abused with these types such as: threated of negative credit report, threat of repossesion, calls from unknown numbers, profane language, other threats, etc. This law firm can STOP illegal debt collection practices and get you the compensation you deserve. Their service is 100% FREE because debt collectors must pay their legal fees under the Fair Debt Collection Act.

Everybody wants to get rid of this SCAM and/or interest in on suing these company, go to this link and find out more details:

http://lemberglaw.com/debt-collection-law-attorney-msn.php?gclid=CIaAgMet4qMCFUxb2god2Hv3Rw

Hope this will help all of us from falling to be a victim of Fault Business Practices of the SCAMER such as The Hearts Corporation and House Beautiful.

Why is this allowed to continue on Hearst Magazines part? This will be the second time this scam has happened to me - Good Housekeeping and House Beautiful. I get a bills stating my subscription is past due before the date of my paid subscription is up. First I have to search for the carbon copy of the check I wrote then I have to spend a huge amount of time online researching where in the hell to get Hearst magazines customer service contact number (conveniently left of the billing statements) to resolve the "scam". Come on Hearst Magazine! This is BAD BUSINESS PRACTICE and now I WILL be filing a complaint with the Attorney Generals office.

Tracie Carter
Columbus, Ohio

This past year (2009) I have had the EXACT same experience. Two years back I got a magazine subscription for Men's Health from a friend, and this year Rodale sent me like 3 large hard-cover books with muscle-building recipes, then a month later sent me a bill for them. I called MULTIPLE times and they keep saying it's up to ME to prove that I did not order these products they are trying to charge me for and REFUSE to give me a method of returning them without charging me for shipping and handling. I hope this scam feels the wrath of the public, who knows how many innocent people they are scamming the $60 for the books from.

To Jason Tillo:

There should be a semicolon after book in sentence one.
You didn't spell punctuation correctly.
It's "Rodale" not "Dodale" and there is no need for give to be capitalized.

You actually don't have to pay the postage. You can call or email Rodale and they will send you a return label for you to return it free of charge. Also, books are only sent if there has been an order card filled out. If you did not order the book, then someone filled a card out for you. The order card states in fine print that by ordering whatever book (in your case, flat belly) you agree to preview the annual book-if you like it, keep and pay for it. If you don't like it, you can contact them and tehy will send you a prepaid return label-and you can cancel out of the program. Many people claim they have not ordered the series, but really they did. They just failed to read the fine print. I'm not saying it's right, but you really did order it. If you want to order a book and not get the series-just cross it out and indicate you do not want the series when you order.

Crappy, but legal.

Good luck!

I ordered a subscription to Prevention magazine and received these two books I never ordered from Rolale on weight loss. I had to return the books at my expense with confirmation to avoid paying an overpriced fee of $54.00. Rodale and Prevention have lost my business for good.

I feel like I"m trapped in a Rodale circus! I ordered 2 fitness videos and returned them immediately, unopened. This was months ago. After numerous calls I recv'd credit for 1. After many more calls they assured me that I would get credit for the 2nd one and I'm still not only getting a bill for it but nasty messages about being turned to collections. I don't know what else I can do but to say that this is the most messed up company would be an understatement. !

I am having the same problem, I ordered a calendar and they automatically gave me a magazine subscription and I cannot find out who to talk to about it. I ready to file as many complaints as possible.

I am going through same issue now. I made the mistake of providing my name and home address before backing out of the order. My husband came into the room and I told him I was ordering this book and he went to the bookshelf. When he returned he had a book very similar. I backed out of the order only to receive it a couple of weeks later. I told them I would be happy to return the book they mistakenly sent me on their dime. No response ever. Just continued bills from them. So today I receive something from a collections company. DON''T PROVIDE THEM ANY OF YOUR INFORMATION!

I just ordered a book from them then i stumbled onto this site. How can I get out of it because I have 2 small children and dont have time to deal this kind of crap? I have had other companies do this to me and its getting very old.

i ordered a book on 400 calories when e-mail sent had me down for 3 books I did not order. Please cancel my order!

I recieved a book called FLAT BELLY REV. WHICH DID NOT ORDER and I keep getting paperwork for it saying I have to pay $46.94 for it or it will go to the criet bureau. Please help me.

All orders are wrong, no customer service ... you just get extra hassle in trying to return your wrong orders back to them! Yeah, and good luck with that!

My 81 year old mother keeps getting books she did not order she sends them back & they send more PLEASE stop sending them to her it is so hard for her to get around.
Why don't you just stop sending them to her and make it easy for the older folks out there.

I had this problem years and yeas ago with Rodale. I reported them to BBB and I think that that helped a lot. Today I noticed a $10 charge on my bank statement for a magazine on my Kindle fire that I never made. Gee, it's a Rodale magazine too. I cancelled the subscription but I'm still trying to figure out how to directly contact Amazon to get a refund, they don't seem to have a 1-800 # or a complaint board. Feeling very frustrated right now...

Rodalestore, is run by a bunch of incompetent ###s. There are several DVD's which I order from them on a repeat basis, as they are not sold at retail, and it takes 3-4 weeks to receive them, which is ridiculous, especially when they charge more than enough to ship these first class or priority mail. It takes this long, because they are shipping DVD's, which only weigh a few ounces using the Bound Printed Matter rate, which I actually believe is a violation of Postal Service regulations since this rate is not the same as media mail. I have been complaining to them about this for a long time, to no avail. Their phone reps are pleasant, but they cannot do anything right in filling orders, or forwarding information to someone who can do something. I was so mad today at a combination of problems, that I reported them to the U.S. Postal Inspector for possible repeat violation of Postal regulations.

Now we have to waste time dealing with this scam.

I received a book from Rodale which I did not order. It states if I do not want it I have to return it at my own expense. I do not feel I should have to pay freight on an item I did not order.

Trying to find a phone number to complain is virtually impossible. The only phone number I find is to pay the bill.

I've received multiple demands for payment of a book I did not order. I have e-mailed my protest, declared that I did not order the book, and yet still receive the repeated demands for payment. What recourse do I have in this situation?

No way to cancel them. No phone to call all is automated to make a payment or change your address. Even the website only is to make a payment. They have cancelled their customer service web site.

Have tried to had Rodale cancel books that I did not order twice. Stated that I order them why I renewed my magazine, which I did not renew the magazine.

Iam on a Government assistance and I don't have the money to pay for a book that they sent through the mail Called First-Aid Campanion Dogs/Cats claiming that I Owe them 45.94 and I refuse to pay them because someone on their company screwed up.

I ordered a book and a DVD from Rodale. Paid for both. Received the book and not the DVD but invoice said both were in the package. I have tried unsuccessfully for WEEKS to get a hold of someone from the company. No one wll answer my emails. The phone number is only for returns and to pay your bill. You speak to NO ONE! Does anyone have a phone number that you speak to a person?! Please I am desperate!

At Rodale, we take customer satisfaction very seriously. Please reply with your name and account information so we can look into this issue for you.

Rodale Customer Service

I received two books from them that I never ordered, and they charged my credit card through a web site. I spoke to someone that said I had to send the books back and then wait for a refund. I told them that I never ordered the books in the first place, but they said that I visited the web site. Now I have sent back the books, but the money has not yet been credited back to my account. I am hoping that this gets resolved soon.

Here is a customer service email address that my be of some help: customerservice@rodale.com
In my communications with them, they do not post a phone number.

Once you send in the card for a free trial, they start you on a repetitive book program and will occassionally send more books for "free" trial.
I emailed and demanded they drop me from this program and did receive a confirmation email that it was done. I hope it is ligit.

I just received 2 invoices for 2 different magazine, which I did not order. One subscription even has the wrong address. UGH, who are these people and how do I cancel this scam billing process they are doing?

I filled out a sweepstakes entry here: https://subscribe.hearstmags.com/subscribe/elledecor/229466/ILAED0063?sub_option=1

Next thing I know I get an email saying I'd subscribed to Elle for $5. They didn't even get any payment info. Not sure if I'll get the magazine, but wasn't sure if I was getting scammed...

I am receiving magazines from these companies but never subscribed. I have written notifying them and asked them to be cancelled. They have not done so. I have notified the US Post Office and the State Attorney General.

I have a copy of my original 1 year subscription to House Beautiful Magazine from Aug. '08. I cancelled their sneaky 'continuous renewal program' in May of '09. To date I've received no less that 4 threatening collection letters and they are still sending me the magazine.

I keep getting a bill for a subscription to Popular Mechanics. I didn't subscribe to it, never recieved it, and can't even change the oil in my car. Can never get a hold of anyone when I Google for a phone number- very annoying and a scam!

I had been getting renewal notices from Hearst Magazines for a popular Mechanics subscription that I did not renew and had specifically sent in a check for my initial subscription, to make sure they didn't have a credit card number to auto renew me.

I followed the link shown above : http://www.contacthelp.com/directory/Media/Magazines/Hearst+Magazines?ListingID=1164 and found a phone number of [protected] which I called and got an agent almost immediately. She told me that she cancelled my subscription and I should stop getting to renewal notices. -- Took about 2 minutes. She did 'of course' continue to try to sell me on other subscriptions, which I declined.

I was just treated to the delights of Hearst Corporation's desperate attempts to renew magazine subscriptions by claiming I owed them money. What a scam. I had subscribed to Veranda magazine for many years but decided against renewing for the time being. As of December 2013, I started letters that hinted at some sort of payment I needed to make, right away, but I ignored it as my subscription expired in June. As of mid-May 2014, I received a less subtle and more threatening letter from "CREDIT & COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT, " with the return envelope addressed to the "INVOICING BUREAU." The letter began with "Your delinquent account with us has been brought to my attention." It went on to state that my subscription had been suspended for non-payment (true, as by then my subscription term had expired as expected), that I had agreed to pay them upon receipt of an invoice (I don't recall any such agreement), I'd failed to numerous requests for payment (true again, as I ignored requests to renew the magazine), and I should "take a moment to settle your obligation with us" (what obligation, exactly?). I checked my account online, found I owed nothing and had not received any magazines which I had not already paid for and that my most recent one year subscription had expired as anticipated. I had a difficult time finding a phone number for customer service--[protected]--but finally found one and contacted them about their most recent letter to me. I asked the CS rep what this letter was about, and she said that because I had, supposedly, signed up for some sort of advance billing arrangement, they sent letters to me over the last six months asking me to renew before my subscription expired. I entered into no such arrangement with them. The Customer Service rep said that when I did not respond to their letters, the "verbiage" in the letters changed. The change in "verbiage" would include the threats about a non-existent delinquency and false claims that I owed them money. The CS rep confirmed that I owed nothing and their was no delinquency, telling me to ignore the most recent letter. It is difficult to ignore scams and baseless threats that characterize me as delinquent, obligated to pay, and in debt when that is completely untrue. Their tactics to get me to renew are shameful, and I am going to cancel the other two Hearst magazines I currently receive.

I have also received a nasty invoice from Popular Mechanics telling me that I agreed to be billed and am overdue and they have placed me in their delinquent files. I NEVER AGREED TO A DAMN THING! I simply waited to renew my subscription to the end of what I had paid for, and was considering renewing it. But now since they have sent me their nasty letters telling me that I'm a deadbeat and that I have failed in "My Agreement" with them I WILL NOT EVER SUBSCRIBE TO POPULAR MECHANICS AGAIN, EVER! This is now a matter of principle for me. Hey POPULAR MECHANICS stop with the heavy handed tactics scam and try being nice to your subscribers! And btw, just by sending me a letter stating that if I don't reply back to you I agreed to keep on paying you is NOT LEGAL! I usually let most everything slide by but this one really got me hot. You've lost a subscriber for life now.

I also recieved a nasty invoice stating that payment is past due for soemthing I did not renew...Will this be forwarded to collections? or better yet, can they? or is this an idle threat in order to intimidate a ceratin percentage of readers to forward them a chq?

I subscribed to the More magazine and I have yet to receive the October Issue and already it's Oct17th. How can I resolve this? Who do I write to in order to get my magazine or just my money back.

You can go to: http://www.oprah.com and scroll all the way to the bottom of the page. Click on
Customer service. Enter your account number and the security code listed.
Then on the left hand side of the page click on cancel subscription.

i also did not renew theoprahmag. i got a bill for 33.00 dollars today...i am not going to pay for something i didnt ask for...no phone on bill so cant cancel it...now what do i do. ladyfate43@hotmail.com

Add me to the list, cancelled my mother's subscription to O ages ago, stopped receiving the mag, yet got a bill for $15.00.

When I went to the website "paytheoprahmag.com", my virus shield blocked the site as a malicious site.

I called the 800 number given in a previous post, and voice robot took information to cancel... fingers crossed.

I got an invoice from O Magazine stating that I agreed to be billed later for my magazines, First of all I sent a check for the full amount on March 21, 2013. I have been receiving them since you guys first came out with them. This is the second time you all have pulled this about a bill I didn't owe. For all the years that I've purchased these Magazines I should get a year free! Thanks Loretta Leonard-Tisdom

I got an invoice saying I ordered oprah magazine...I DID NOT, , , , , DO NOT WANT, , , , , , ,

Add me to the list of complaints against The Hearst Corporation. I ordered O Magazine, paid for it. When it was time for my subscription to renew, I started receiving past due notices that indicated that they were extending the "privilege" and that I had agreed to be billed and am several months past due. No phone number was provided or even an email address. I went through my records and confirmed that I did send them a check for the first year and returned the notice with the check number and my phone number and had not received a single word back from them. Many other people would have just paid it. I really think this company needs to be held accountable for their practices.

I did not order your "0" magazine for another. I do not appreciate you doing this automatically without my permission. Please cancel.

I receive an invoice for The Hearst corporation invoice bureau charge me for a subscription I do not want to renew!
Please can somebody cancel-void this charges ?invoice payment number GHK10356033471123718085631012000000000000A2400 . Just to let everybody know this corporation dare to ask me to return a envelop with payment for a magazine I do not want to have anymore and I sent to them a letter asked politely to avoid the "charges" they impouse to me.Let me go out, what's going on here... help ! Look all this complains !This type of negative billing shoud be actualy illegal! Lou

Call Hearst Corporation at [protected] to cancel subscription. I don't agree with automatic invoicing it's like forcing you to buy something every year just because you subscripted once. The first year I went ahead and paid the invoice but this year I decided to take a stand. I cancelled my subscription. Sally

I was surprised the first last year when I received a bill stating that I owe for another year's subscription. So I paid the charges last year but recently I just received another invoice for this year stating the same thing. I am not renewing again. I will not be subscribing to this magazine again. Subscription should be by choice and automatic invoicing is not by choice. It is like forcing me to buy something just because I purchased it once. Sally

This happened to my elderly mom this month (July 2012). Nasty repeat invoices for a renewal she never agreed to, and which in fact she had sent written reply that she did NOT want. No phone number or email contact info on the invoice / harassing reminders to enable her to get in touch with them to discuss. No phone number on the website given for paying account.

She is very disillusioned with Oprah that she would be associated with this type of behaviour. After much scouring, I found that you can contact O Magazines subscriptions by phone at [protected]. It should be illegal to send invoices without a contact phone number.

I thought the law says, if you receive something for which you did not order, you could use it with even sending a response back that it was not ordered by you. Is this correct? I have been having the same problem as others with Hearst and Good Housekeeping Mag. After reading these responses, I am NOT going to renew or send any letters to them! Sandy

I am getting the same postal mail from the Hearst Corporation, Invoicing Bureau from Red Oak, Iowa stating I was choosing to be a part of their Continous Service Program. It states that "as we recently notified you, your renewal to House Beautiful has been processed". I DID NOT ask to be a part of this, I did not check any box to be a part of this, and they are saying payment is due NOW. What a scam! I will NEVER order magazines again as I can find what I want, when I want, online.

I emailed Good Housekeeping re receipt of a bill for a renewal of my subscription that doesn't even expire until September 2011! It says I have chosen to be part of their Continuous Service Program, but I have no record of having some that. I got a "canned" response to my email, saying someone would be contacting me in about 48 hours or something like that. Instead, today I got another reminder that I owe them $15.97 for my renewal. All attempts to find a phone number to call were futile until I came across this website. Wish me luck. I'm going to try to call them. I refuse to waste 44 cents by writing them a letter.

I have sent two requests to cancel my Oprah subscription by USPS and emailed (scanned a copy of the invoice with "CANCELLED" written all over it. Received a fourth invoice and thanks to the postings on this site I was finally able to locate a phone number and spoke to a representative that was quite nice and assured me it was cancelled. Time will tell, but I think this time we got it taken care of. Thanks! Joanne

Same thing happened to me; it really turned me off to ordering the O magazine again but also wary of ever ordering any magazines through any program. I started this one through a school band program raising funds. I thought the Oprah organization would take better care to ensure their business is handled through a corporation with higher integrity and standards...it's very juvenile to not even have a phone number listed anywhere on the invoice or later on the regular bill. I appreciate ya'll's help in locating phone numbers; it was on my "to do" list and you've cut my job in half. Thanks! Renee L. Grapevine, Texas

I was also automatically signed up for a renewal to the Oprah Magazine. I did not want this, but there was no number on the invoice to call. I did some research. For anyone wanting to cancel and talk to a real person, try this number : [protected]
The lady I spoke with was really nice and canceled it for no fee.

I agree the same is happening to me. I have sent e-mails and returned us mail stating I did not order to no avail. I will try calling tomorrow.

Here is some information: I just cancelled my subscription to
Good Housekeeping.

Assistant to the. Publishing Director. PUBLISHED BY THE HEARST CORPORATION ... Box 7146, Red Oak, IA 51591, or call [protected] or [protected]. ...

Where are my magazine subscriptions ? I subscribe to 3 magazines and they are not getting delivered. I am going to tally up the news stand price for all missing issues and submit the bill to Doorfront Direct. Hire some competent delivery people ! Enough is enough !

11/17/18

I just received a request for payment for a magazine called Veranda. I had never heard of Veranda Magazine until it showed up in my email. I never enter sweepstakes. I did not subscribe to Veranda Magazine at any time.

Please look in to this matter as your billing is in error.

gayeweinman@gmail.com

I'm a subscriber to the magazine for 15 years and I 've never had a problem. When I moved they were the first to send their magazine to my new - and they were the last magazine I contacted, about a week after I contacted others. No complaints at all with them or Rodale.