The Mercury News
reviews and complaints

NEVER SIGNED UP! I have been receiving the SUNDAY paper that I have not signed up for. It's being Thrown away! Not sure if I'm receiving by error/wrong address. I never Signed up and have no interest in receiving this paper. This has become a nuisance. Im starting to feel like Im being forced to receive a trial subscription I did not sign up for, nor will I pay for a service Im not interested in receiving.

The cartoon of Millard Fillmore on April 5th is completely disrespectful to me and the President Biden. Uncalled for.

The Mercury news should not print this.

No paper as of 10AM, 1/14/22. The price is to expensive to miss a day.
William Neubauer
13202 Glen Brae Dr.
Saratoga, CA 95070
[protected]

Received call couple months ago about a free trial. Said yes. Received some newspapers. Was then sent an invoice asking me to subscribe and include payment. Went to company website to check account and set it up. Had a balnce of ~20 dollars despite receiving a supposedly "free trial". No way to cancel the subscription, and customer service has not responded for over several hours. Links to arbitration website no longer works. No way to cancel account.

Where is our Sunday paper. We have been readers for YEARS!We need the paper now!

I was offered a 1 year subscription that included free digital access along with a physical paper on Sunday. I started my subscription in February 2021. As of today 4/7/21, I have not received a single delivered paper. I have called, written letter and emailed. I just keep getting the standard reply that they will look into it and will compensate me by extending my subscription.

My account #[protected] Saint Joseph Ave Half Moon Bay did not receive Friday's 1/21 paper I was too late to call by 0930 am.
[protected]@sbcglobal.net
Thanks

I all most always have problems accessing my ongoing subscription to the paper. I enter the my account url and who knows where it will take me. I just signed in again and it has taken me to the search engine for subscribing. Some times when I access the emails that are sent to me it sends me to make a subscription. I just got notice thanking me for my monthly payment and I can't even get to the paper. If this type of problem continues I will be canceling my subscription very soon.

I tried to sign up for an introductory offer for digital access only, 7 days a week for $0.99 for 1st month, $9.95 a month thereafter. It would not let me complete the process. The button showed a red icon indicating not valid. I can't push it. I tried phoning and none of the people I talked with understood the problem. In addition, they would not even acknowledge the introductory rate. I was told they could not authorize the rate offered. So, it appears you (1) Have a faulty webpage or (2) your staff is incompetent or (3) you are guilty of fraudulent advertising.

The bottom line is that your introductory rate is not available by phone or online.

https://checkout.mercurynews.com/Subscriptionmultiproduct7?g2i_source=nav&g2i_medium=link&g2i_campaign=nav

I tried with three different browsers on Window 10

You are delivering a Sunday newspaper (hard copy) to my door every Sunday for the past two months. I did NOT request nor ever order this service. I am requesting you STOP delivering this paper to me. I am throwing it away immediately, but it is a nuisance. It is also a security threat as people and burglars can see if I am gone for any extended period. Contact me for my street address on this delivery. Email: [protected]@gmail.com

I am a long time San Jose Mercury News customer. I am 91 years old semi disabled, have requested to have my Sunday paper delivered on my front porch (which has an easy access to). I have made numerous complaints re: this issue (my records will verify this}. there was a time (a year or so ago I cancelled for this reason).I came back with the same request, for a time my request was granted. Now, for some reason, the carrier will not comply. i have called each week, have been assured carrier would be notified.
No avail.Now, the past two Sundays the paper has been dropped at the end of my driveway on the curb.! maybe you can explain the reason for this. I do not want to cancel...I have called and the young peronnel have assured me they would send message to carrier of my request. nothing has changed. please e mail me that this complaint will be looked into, and send me the results. I have been a San Jose MercuryNews customer for over 50 years. e mail:[protected]@aol.com thank you for your attention to this matter. Lorraine Daste

I can only afford the sunday paper and I really look forward to receiving it each sunday. As it was missing today I called you and was told it was a vacation hold or something like that, well what the H--- does that mean and I would like my paper as soon as possible. I have been a long time subscriber to the San Jose Mercury and always paid my bill on time so I think my paper should be on time.

Thank you Jackie Richardson.

I am writing on behalf of my neighbor who is in his early 80s. He has been a subscriber for years and loves his morning paper and has been very grateful to have it delivered to his front door.
Problem. His morning paper is consistently ending up a couple of houses away. Sometimes under a neighbor's car but never in front of my neighbor's actual house.
Why this is a problem: 1) my neighbor's has increasing sever heart failure. Very hard for him to walk a distance to get his morning paper. 2) I travel for work and am often gone so cannot consistently pick up paper for him. Solution: deliver the paper to his front porch. Not so difficult. Just toss the paper with a little more heft, for goodness sake!

The son of grape farmers, Judge Manuel Real should never have been appointed to such a high position on the Federal court.

He died in July 2019 at age 95.

He was considered a crook by many attorneys and the most troublesome and stupid judge on the entire bench in the nation. (read: https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/08/02/mathews-nations-longest-serving-judge-was-a-tyrant-in-the-court/)

If it wasn't for his ethnicity, Judge Real would have been impeached ages ago.

He never favored the little guy. Always the corporation. Just like the son of a grape farmer, he loved his cushy job and taking money from the public for doing a useless job on the bench.

He was a crook in the end. We should take his name of the elementary school and may he burn forever with the worms. Amen.

Please read all the complaints from the last month unresolved through today. I am tired calling every day only to hear I am sorry from complaint taker. I have never received a replacement paper.Wait on the phone 30 to 40 minutes. Vic and Darlene Cardoza. 831.661.5979. Simple to resolve paper deliver/Covered, I pay everything is ok. please have a Supervisor call us and resolve once and for all.

I was told at a sporting event that I was signing up for the newspaper for $14.95 per month. They were giving away a team blanket that I liked. I specifically asked if I could cancel right away, and he did tell me I could adding, "We hope to see you keep it at least two weeks to pay for the cost of the blanket."
No confirmation, and no newspaper was ever delivered.
After 2 months I called to get refund - It is their policy not to issue refunds. I feel like this is a total unethical scam; bait and switch.
On the phone I was told I have "online only" subscription (was told I was getting the paper delivered) for minimum 5 months (Was told I could cancel at any time) for a cost of $14.95 per month. For 14.95? This ain't Netflix.
I was told by Melissa the Supervisor that my case would be sent to billing, and they would make a decision. When asked when I would be notified of this decision, I was told that they do not contact anyone with the decision. (I know how this will go).
I am forced to give them my money for a service I will never receive, and at this point a service I done even want. HELP! They have me by my sensitive areas!

We signed up for the paper with a kid raising money for college almost 2 years ago. We received the paper for a couple months and then it stopped coming. We have been charged 2x per month (which is a double charge!) for over a year for the paper and have not received a single paper after the initial 3 months! I have tried to call numerous times but was placed on hold so long I could no longer stay on the phone, tried to have you call back instead of staying on hold but never received a call or was disconnected so that I was never able to get through to cancel our subscription. We have paid a lot of money for no product.
We like to support local news organizations but this has been a complete scam. I see that we are by no means the only victims of this scam as well. We would like a refund for the past year of our payments to you. The account is under Eric Stimpson [protected] Stierlin Rd Apt 9).

and refuse to stop! no matter how many times I call and complain.

My guess is 1, they want more crime, say you are going on vacation, thieves will know no one is home. Cowabunga $$!

guess number 2: they tell the liquor companies and whatnot, they have an exaggerated number of subscribers, so they get more money for adds.

(3) As the kids say, I am being trolled. ha ha.

(4) Fraud, corruption. Salesmen are getting bonuses by making up "sales."

(5) absolutely, an intentional effort to INCREASE our carbon footprint unnecessary, e.g., cut down more trees, melt more ice caps, increase the ozone level and decrease world oxygen. Even if I liked the Merc News, in the past 15-20 years, couldn't I more efficiently read it online? Why throw garbage under my front lawn sprinkler?

I requested -- in 2018 --to cancel my paper delivery subscription because of the high cost (>$600/y).
The San Jose Mercury News informed me that I was charged for 1y and the subscription cannot be cancelled with prorated refund. They stated this issue was nonnegotiable. I directed them not to renew me in 2019.

I recently attempted to sign up for digital only access at $9.99 / mo.

The Mercury News informed me that they continued to send the paper to me even after the paper delivery subscription expired, and I owe them $150. They informed me that I must pay this before digital access could occur, and their position is nonnegotiable.

In my opinion, the position of this company in both cases that I must pay for a service I do not want is unethical, and treating a more than 10y customer with a response that the issues are nonnegotiable is appalling, especially considering that I was attempting to continue a customer relationship with the San Jose Mercury News.

I subscribed to SJMN online for yearly subscription in October 2018. I got the confirmation email with the order details. In April 2019, suddenly the paper deliveries stopped. When I contacted the customer service, I was told that, though, they have taken the money for annual subscription in October 2018, they have applied it for some other balance which I am not aware and never asked for any deliveries. The customer service acknowledged that what they did was without my knowledge and maybe illegal but they did not help me correct the record. I am trying to dispute this through my credit card company and will see what happens. But try to stay clear of SJMN and don't get fooled by their online subscription sign up. They will take your money and not provide you the services.