Sacramento Bee

We do apologize for the sales calls. This phone number has been placed on our do not call list. This has also been sent to the Sales Manager to be removed from any current sales calling file. Please feel free to contact us at [redacted] if you have any further questions or concerns.Thank...

you

Mr. [redacted] is on a discounted Sunday only rate of $0.50/week. The Published rate is $5.54/week. We did receive the payment for 52 weeks. This posted on 1/17/14. The reason the account is shortened is because all subscriptions have 9 holiday premium papers throughout the year. Each holiday paper is...

$1.00. When the holiday hits, the $1.00 is deducted from the account. Since Mr. [redacted]'s account is on such a deep discount, the deduction of $1.00 can shortened the account by about 2 weeks. These holidays are listed on all promotional materials, email notifications, renewal notices and in paper. As a one time courteousy, Mr. [redacted]'s account has been credited for these holiday papers. The current expiration date will be 1/18/15. 
Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.
Thank you

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my concern, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Thank you for this resolution.

Consumer states:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my concern, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

I am rejecting this response because: I have been told multiple times that the distributor would be talked to and yet I am still having this issue, I should not have to call every Sunday and request my paper. I guarantee that this will happen again this Sunday as well; a week here or there I understand but this has become rediculous. I receive the same answer each time and it is still not resolved so how am I to know it will be resolved this time? Luckily the Bee has an awesome field rep. that has personally brought me my paper but he shouldn't have to do that every weekend either. His name is [redacted] and he seems like a great employee, he has been the most helpful but this has still remained ongoing.

This account was stopped 9/3/15 with an amount past due of $80.29. We received a payment on 9/18/15 to clear the balance. Then, on 9/20/15, The Bee received another payment of $77.48 through our automated system. Along with the payment, we also received a new start from one of our Sales vendors. The...

account was restarted on 9/22/15 on a promotional rate of $2.95/week for 26 weeks. The account is currently paid until 3/8/16. As requested, the account has been stopped and a refund will be generated back to [redacted]. There is also a second account at this same address under a different name. This account was started on 10/2/15. To find out more information on the second account, please contact us by phone.Please feel free to contact us at [redacted] if you have any further questions or concerns.Thank you

You are far too liberal; do not like the content. In fact, your research is misleading the readers; for example:: The median Salvadorians who are here illegally on a temporary basis in our country came here 4 (FOUR) years before their disaster, and after the fact claimed temporary status knowing current U.S policy would not be so lax they would not be required to leave. TEMPORARY IS up. Send them home. And no DACA. they are not all valedictorian; in fact only 4% complete college.= which is less than our native Americans. Follow the Constitution.

I have recently switched my subscription to "online" primarily because the major reasons I read the "Bee" is for the Comics and the Sudoku.

For some unknown reason, I am unable to locate "Sudoku" on Saturdays because it doesn't list "Puzzles" on the front page of the Saturday paper and nothing else seems to lead me there.

Where, How do I locate the "Sudoku" in the Saturday Bee?

Thank you, Bob Miller - Fair Oaks

It’s easy to see why the Sacramento Bee has so many poor customer service ratings. Every year I have to renegotiate subscriptions costs on behalf of my 88 year old mother. Every year, costs go up.
This year, after her subscription expired, the Bee continued to deliver a newspaper for 13 weeks before discontinuing delivery. Perhaps in violation of the California Automatic Renewal Law. They are now billing her at a much higher rate than either her previous subscription or than I was able to negotiate for a new subscription.
Three separate times I asked for and was told that I would receive a return call from a supervisor. That call has never materialized.
Finally out of frustration, I agreed to pay the exorbitant rate in order to get an elderly woman her newspaper. I paid the unsubscribed balance as well as a new subscription and was told that her paper would be delivered the following day.
A week later, I am still trying to contact the supervisor who assured me that her paper would again be delivered or anyone who can explain to me what went wrong. I have only been able to contact front line people who tell me that nothing has been paid.
You would think that with the decline of newspapers today, those remaining would try to maintain their readership with exemplary customer service. Apparently not.

It seems impossible to unsubscribe to the Market Value Place (MVP) Sacramento Bee no matter what I do. I've contacted Sac Bee support 5 times and each time they tell me they will talk to the distributor and cease sending with no luck. I will never support any advertiser that advertises in MVP. They are just contributing to paper waste and postage SPAM.

I haven't been a subscriber in months but they still call daily trying to get me to renew. Stop harassing your ex-customers! We're not subscribers for a reason!

I have been a loyal subscriber my whole life but it doesn't matter to this company based on the total disregard to customer service they have shown lately. About 2 months ago, the Bee switched to a commercial delivery service. The paper come late if it comes at all and is always placed on the curb in front of my driveway. I have called and emailed to complain many times, but the situation has not changed.

We have been subscribers to the Sacramento Bee for 15 years and, until 2 months ago, had a great experience with home delivery. Our long-time carrier consistently delivered the paper around 4:00am and left it on our front porch, right in front of our door.

For the past two months, delivery of our daily paper has been horrible and sporadic. Today, it arrived after 10:00am (we had already purchased a paper at the store). Every other day, it has been dropped at the street in front of our house (a good walk from our front door). The past few days it has been left in our driveway on the back side of the house. Delivery times vary, but often come after 7am.

I have contacted the Bee on at least 6 occasions, by phone, email and their online portal. I have at times reached their very friendly Philippines-based customer service, who always promise a follow-up call from the route manager. No call. When I called the home delivery manager directly and left a message, she didn't return my call. I have never received a reply and our delivery has not improved.

I have never come across a company with such poor customer service and such high disregard for their readers.

I would like a call back, improved home delivery and a refund for the dates when we didn't receive a timely home delivery of our paper.

Review: They will not stop calling us to subscribe. We have asked repeatedly to stop. Almost once a day they call.Desired Settlement: No more calls! Or mail.

Business

Response:

Customer account has been verified and both phone and mailing address will be added to our Do Not Call or Mail listing. Account is left at a zero balance and if customer has any further questions or concerns please contact us at [redacted].

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my concern, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Review: We have taken the Sacto Bee since the 1970's. Within the past three years the delivery person has periodically attached notes to the paper advising us to not contact the Bee with issues as the Bee charges the delivery person $4.00 per complaint for a missing paper. In March 2016 we received a note on the paper stating the porch service will be suspended until further notice and the paper will be delivered on the driveway. My spouse has issues with walking, stooping, and bending over. The delivery person has now started to harass us as she does not want to delivery the paper to the porch and sates my spouse is not disabled. We have spoken with the BEE twice, (once today with no call back) and have been assured we will receive the paper on the porch. I do not understand why the BEE would employ a person to provide customer service when they apparently do not support customer service. I will be cancelling my subscription and expect a refund.Desired Settlement: I expect a refund deposited into my bank account within three days.

Business

Response:

Customer account was stopped on 07/26/2016 and the refund of $20.83 will be mailed on 07/29/16. If you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to contact us at [redacted].

Review: I've subscribed to the Sacramento Bee for some 20+ years. When they raised their subscription rates last year, I cancelled my subscription. About a week or two later I received a phone call from the Bee from a person named [redacted] who offered me a special rate to renew my subscription. She offered me the rate for either 6 months or 12 months. Since the monthly rate was the same for either period, I told her to charge me for just 6 months. My credit card that I gave her over the phone was then charged for the agreed amount.

Unbeknown to me, my subscription expired in early February of this year. The paper kept being delivered. Then I received a bill from the Bee for service they provided after the subscription expired. I called the Bee and told them I did not ask them to extend my subscription and will not pay the higher price that they were asking me to pay. However, the paper kept being delivered even subsequent to that call.

Finally, after three different conversations with various people at the Bee the paper stopped being delivered a couple of weeks ago. Last week I received a bill for $58.56 for the delivery of the paper from my subscription's expiration date to the date that they finally stopped the daily delivery.

I called the number on the bill [redacted]. I was told that it was their policy to continue delivery of the paper after a subscription expires. I told them that I did not request this and had asked them a number of times to stop cluttering my front door with their paper. I have never agreed to their policy of extending their service beyond the expiration date. And it is my policy to not pay for services I did not ask for. After speaking with a "supervisor", I was still getting nowhere with them.

I have excellent credit and if they do continue with a collection agency, I will be forced to initiate legal action against the Bee. So, I hope the problem can be resolved without further frustration.Desired Settlement: Negate the bill and send me confirmation that no amount is owed by me to the Sacramento Bee.

Business

Response:

Contacted customer and customer was satisfied with end result.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my concern, and find that this resolution was overdue. It is unfortunate that the Bee's right hand is continuing to perpetuate the policy of extending subscriptions without the customer's permission and then trying to collect money for that unwanted service, while its left hand apologizes and negates their request for the money. Their call center is obviously instructed to stonewall complaints about the bogus bills which only get resolved after considerable effort on part of the customer. I spoke with several different people employed by the Bee to no avail until complaining here at the Revdex.com. I should bill them for my time... In conclusion, I think the Bee should reexamine their practice of following the "policy" of extending subscriptions without the customer's permission, unless making money with this scam is more important than retaining customers like me who have subscribed to the paper for 20+ years.

Review: Subscribe to Sacramento Bee for daily delivery and pay in advance. Didn't receive newspaper on Friday 8/19/2016 or Saturday 8/20/2016. Called and notified them on Sunday 8/21/2016, couldn't call Saturday as they don't have representatives on Saturday. Was told by Sacramento Bee call center that the delivery truck broke down and would receive my papers late Sunday or Monday. Didn't receive papers Sunday or Monday! Called Monday 8/22/2016 to complain on deaf ears yet again and received no satisfactory answer from complaint department. The complaint person suggested that we read the digital newspaper, if I WANTED DIGITAL news we would have subscribed to that form. Digital news has been offered several times from Sacramento Bee representatives and appears that they don't want to deliver newspapers. Asked to have the route manager call me and explain what the problem was and when it would be resolved. Update Tuesday 8/23/2016, no papers have been delivered, no call from route manager. No local phone numbers that actually reach anyone in Sacramento, appears that the call center is located in another country.

So much for customer satisfaction from a less than reputable company!! Will cancel my subscription.Desired Settlement: Daily delivery! I paid in advance and expect to receive the newspaper daily. That is the service that I signed up for and expect them to deliver as advertised.

Business

Response:

Customer stopped his account on 08/23/2016 for poor service however he did receive credit for the days customer did not receive service. Customer also requested a refund of $100.26 since customer pre-paid in advance. If customer has any further questions or would like to restart service we would be more than happy to assist him at [redacted].

Review: I have ordered Sunday's newspaper. The start date was May 1, but I have not received the newspaper last 2 weeks. I contacted the customer service, but they don't seem to care.Desired Settlement: I want the newspaper to be delivered.

Business

Response:

Customer's subscription was supposed to start Sunday 5/1/16. We apologize for the missed deliveries on Sunday 5/1 and Sunday 5/8. We have processed a complaint for both days and we have notified the distributor and Regional Manager in this area. We have requested the Sunday 5/8 paper be delivered today 5/9. We have also credited the account for the 2 missing papers. This will be resolved as of this coming weekend.Please feel free to contact us at [redacted] if you have any further questions or concerns.Thank you

I purchased a groupon for $9 towards 26 weeks of Sunday Home delivery last September. We didn't end up reading the paper like I had hoped, so once the 26 weeks were up I did not plan on renewing. Well, we continued to get the paper on Sundays and I had thought it was just like magazines subscriptions. They continue to send them a few more times along with 'renewal offers' and once you have not renewed they stop. The Sacramento Bee kept calling me from a private number. Finally I answered one day to find out the private number and spoke with someone. They asked me about renewing I said we no longer wanted the paper and I thought that was that. A few weeks later I received a bill in the mail stating I owed them $18 for the past deliveries and owed them more money for renewal. So I called them on Father's day and spoke with a female. Told her the same thing. I didn't want the paper and hadn't wanted it for some time. I never renewed plus I had paid for it through Groupon so I never signed up directly with them. Now I just received a collection letter in the mail! I went back to my Groupon Voucher and in very tiny fine print it says the subscription will auto-renew. This is very misleading. The huge letters advertise it is only a 26 week subscription. I have never had any newspaper or magazine subscription that was able to continue to charge me with out my consent or signing up let alone send me to collections! I will pay my $18 bill , but I will never get the Sacramento Bee and I am telling everyone I talk to about their misleading advertising and trickery!

Review: I was not receiving my paper since April, cancelled as of may, was given free paper till June stii did not get,was charged in June we are now in July and no credit to my account yetDesired Settlement: Credit

Business

Response:

The customer cancelled on 06/23/16 and received a refund of $13.28 back on the credit card [redacted] on 07/01/16. Customer should see it as a positive amount on their account. If you have any further questions please contact us at [redacted].