New Yorker- Unauthorized Subscription Renewal: Charged $120 Without Notice, Discovered 8 Months Later – Refuses to Resolve the Issue New York New York

Formal Complaint Against The New Yorker’s Subscription Practices

To Whom It May Concern,

I am filing this complaint against The New Yorker regarding an unjust subscription renewal, lack of transparency, and poor customer service. Below is a detailed account of the issue:

Last year, I purchased a three-month subscription to The New Yorker. In July 2023, I canceled my subscription. However, due to website issues, my cancellation may not have been successfully processed, though at the time, I believed it had been.

It was not until last week that I discovered I was still a subscriber. While opening The New Yorker app to check for any centennial events, I realized I had an active subscription. I then checked my credit card statements and found that on July 22, 2024, I had been charged $120 for an annual subscription—without my knowledge.

Key Issues

1.No Subscription Confirmation – After being charged, I never received any email confirming my subscription renewal. As a result, I was unaware of my membership status for nearly eight months, during which I never accessed The New Yorker.

2.Website and Account Issues – When I attempted to check my account details on The New Yorker’s website, I repeatedly encountered errors preventing access. This led me to suspect that my original cancellation in 2023 had not been properly processed.

3.Lack of Customer Support Accountability – Upon discovering this issue, I reached out to The New Yorker’s support team and provided:

•A detailed explanation of the situation

•Screenshots and recordings of the website issues I encountered

•My credit card records

•A request for them to verify my account access history to confirm that I had not used the service in the past eight months

Despite multiple rounds of rational and thorough communication over five days (totaling 15 emails across time zones), The New Yorker consistently responded with generic, unhelpful replies, simply stating:

“We don't care about your order, but you can continue accessing your subscription until July 22, 2025.(I paid for it!)”

This response shows no willingness to take responsibility or offer a fair resolution.

My Reasonable Request

I am not demanding a full refund. However, I believe that both parties share responsibility in this issue. The New Yorker’s failure to process my cancellation properly, its lack of subscription confirmation emails, and its account access issues have all contributed to the current situation. Given this, I have proposed two fair solutions:

1.Extend my subscription from now until March 2026 to ensure I receive a full year of access.

2.Refund me for the remaining four months (March–July 2025), since I have not used the service for the past eight months.

Yet, The New Yorker refuses to take any responsibility and instead places the entire burden on the user.

I initially reached out to The New Yorker in good faith, hoping for a fair and professional resolution. However, their refusal to acknowledge or address the problem has left me no choice but to escalate the matter.

I urge The New Yorker to take responsibility and resolve this issue fairly.

Sincerely,

Lee