October 24, [redacted] Bloomington, MN Re: Revdex.com Minnesota Case No.: [redacted] Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] Dear Mr***: We are in receipt of your complaint to the Revdex.com regarding missed deliveries of your Sunday Star Tribune I truly regret that this delivery problem was not corrected more quickly John [redacted] of my staff has contacted our Bloomington distributor about this problem and will follow up with you to make certain it is resolved In addition to the credit you initially received for missed papers, we have added weeks of service to your account the inconvenience this caused Thanks for staying with us as we work to remedy this problem John will follow up with you on the 30th of October to verify that the problem is corrected Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation cc: [redacted] ***, Revdex.com Minnesota and North Dakota
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/08/21) */ Perhaps some background as to why we recently changed our vacation policy may better help you understand why we implemented this change Each and every week the Star Tribune processes more than 6,vacation stops and a like amount of vacation restartsWith each stop, numerous departments in the Company are impactedThis includes the call center, the production department, and Fleet transportation personnelThis also creates a big strain on our carriers and increases variances in their route lists every dayThe continuance of billing for the first seven days of a vacation stop is a "processing fee" to cover the costs of having to stop and restart so many accounts each and every weekI am certain that if you disconnected your cable TV service for a vacation period, they would most assuredly charge a "reactivation fee" upon your returnThe same would be true for your power company, your telephone service, etc Interestingly, about 75% of our subscribers do not stop their paper for vacation during any given yearThat means the almost 13,vacation stops and restarts we get each week are coming from only 25% of our subscribers, some of which stop and restart their subscription many times each yearTaking these effects into consideration, we felt this program change seemed fairer than passing on a price increase to all of our subscribers to cover the cost for vacation stops and restarts Finally, most major metropolitan newspapers have changed their vacation policy to one of no credit for any stopped vacation days; we drew the line at days believing that this was an appropriate charge for the handling of a vacation stop I hope this additional explanation at least helps you understand why we made this changeThank you for subscribing to the Star Tribune Sincerely, Arden [redacted] SVP Circ Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 7, 2015/08/28) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I understand that a company can change a policy, what I don't understand is how you can have a contract with someone and are able to change the condition of the contract without notifying the customerI believe my agreement should stand until the initial contract period endsSince I signed up for the paper in August and you changed policy in October I should fall under the rules in place at the time of our agreement in AugustI want a refund for my lost days
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/06/02) */ Mr& Mrs***: First, I'm sorry that you needed to take your complaint to the Revdex.com for resolution I checked your address and the Strib Express that you had opted in for on 3/16/was stopped as of 5/17/Your address was also marked as DO NOT Deliver TCV [redacted] , Verification Manager has contacted the Distributor for the TCV in your area to make sure that your address is not delivered to going forward I'm sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you Sincerely, [redacted] Vice President, Circulation Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 8, 2015/06/04) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) The reply states "that you(I) had opted in for on 3/16/2014"I did notI would like to know where this came from and what "opted in" means I too am sorry that this had to end up at the Revdex.com, but after communications and still no resolution, I knew of no other optionsIf Arden has any ideas on how this could be prevented in the future for others, it may be helpful to knowIt seems that customer service at Star Media, respectfully, failed Thanks, [redacted] Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 10, 2015/06/10) */ Mr***: According to the information on your address, we can see the following: - 3/6/- Someone in your household spoke to a telemarketer for our Strib Express advertising product that was delivered on Thursday and Sunday at no cost to the customer - 11/2/StribExpress delivery schedule change to Sunday only - 5/17/StribExpress stopped via the Internet with a note: "I'm unable to fill in your form--kind of hard to opt out." Your communications regarding stopping the TCV product were entered on your address as NO DELIVERY Again, our apologies for how long it took to get this resolved
Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] ( [redacted] *, Plymouth, 55442) Dear Mr***: We are in receipt of your complaint regarding continued delivery and billing after you called to stop your subscriptionWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution After looking for your account, we found it (by phone number/email address) listed at [redacted] in Plymouth, MN I don’t know how the incorrect address happened and apologize for any errors on our partWe have written off the past due balance and will communicate your customer service communication issues to the Customer Service Manager Thank you for subscribing to the Star Tribune I hope you will consider a subscription again in the futureSincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
December 7, [redacted] St Paul, MN Re: Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] Revdex.com Complaint ID: [redacted] Dear Ms [redacted] : I’m responding to your complaint to the Revdex.com and am terribly sorry for the inconvenience you encountered in starting a new subscription for the Star Tribune last month Based on my review, it seems that we had two problems; one of which resulted from us applying the wrong rate, (which we corrected), followed by a series of declined transactions affecting your credit card payment In the end, we did not receive the payment you refer to in your complaint I’m not saying the transaction doesn’t exist, only that we have not applied any credit from you for $ As requested in my voice mail to you yesterday, please send us a copy of the bank charges you are seeing on your end and we will fix any errors promptly! Sincerely, John [redacted] Department Administrator, Circulation cc: [redacted] ***, Revdex.com Minnesota and North Dakota
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/09/29) */ Ms [redacted] , First this is totally unacceptable delivery by our Distributor for your areaWe have contacted him regarding every complaint that you have filed and went higher up with the Revdex.com complaint that you filedOur desired outcome is their personal promise that you will receive a Saturday and Sunday paperOn that promise, we cover the cost for a 4-week trial period to make sure that delivery was correctly made for that period of timeIf you wanted to continue after that time, we would restart your paid subscription We will contact you as soon as we hear from the Distributor, but wanted to give you an update along with our apology
I spoke to Ms [redacted] yesterday Resolution requires input between Ms [redacted] and our distribution agent which will take place this week We will follow up with the customer and Revdex.com within the next week
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/10/08) */ Dear Mr [redacted] : We are in receipt of your complaint to the Revdex.com regarding the continued delivery and billing past the expire dateWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution First, it is important you understand all Star Tribune invoices advise that service and billing do not automatically stop at the end of the subscription term and that the subscriber should contact the Star Tribune if they wish to stop their subscriptionWe provide this grace period as a courtesy to our subscribers to prevent an unnecessary interruption in their delivery should their payment be sent after the due dateThis information is also noted on all marketing communications including but not limited to direct mail, kiosk sales forms, email promotions, and website solicitations for new subscribers Upon reviewing your account, we see that a 26-week, Sunday print gift subscription was started on 12/28/from a single copy insert by Bessie [redacted] The subscription expire date was 6/28/We also see that a renewal invoice was not sent to you until 8/16/2015, seven weeks past the expire dateYou would not have known to call earlier to stop the subscription because you were not aware of the above processThe balance was written off on 10/5/2015, after your call to the customer service centerThere was then an $payment noted on the account on 10/7/ Because of the miscommunication by us and you not receiving a renewal invoice prior to the expire date, we have written off the past due balance and are refunding the $that was paid on the accountWe are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
March 23, [redacted] Crystal, MN Re: Revdex.com Minnesota Case No: [redacted] Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] Dear Mr [redacted] : We are in receipt of your property damage complaintWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution Upon review of your account, we see that you have called in a complaint about damaged ceramic welcome sign on 2/12/and followed up several times when you did not receive the requested call from the Distributor to resolve the issue This is unacceptable and not the premier service we want to provide to our subscribers The Home Delivery Manager and Distributor were contacted immediatelyIt is our understanding that the Distributor did contact you last week to resolve the damage issue Again, our sincere apologies that the damage complaint was not addressed immediately Thank you for bringing this to our attention and being a long-time Star Tribune subscriber Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.Thank you, [redacted]
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2016/02/15) */ Mr [redacted] : First, we are very sorry that the Twin Cities Values (TCV) product was not stopped, especially after several requestsYour address is marked "NO TCV" alreadyWe have contacted the Verification and Quality Assurance Manager to make sure this is stoppedWe have contacted the Distributor to make sure your address is not on the delivery list and to be put on the check list to make sure it is not deliveredThis process sometimes takes up to two weeks before it is stopped Again, our apologies and thank you for brining it to our attention Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (2000, 7, 2016/02/19) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) Perfectly acceptable response and plan Thank you
Hi [redacted] , I’m writing to you in response to your complaint (Case #: [redacted] )submitted to the Revdex.com on February 14thI apologize about the inconvenience you experienced when placing your online/print auto adsUnfortunately, we had a technical issue (our system was down) for the online portion and the rep (Gabby) did not clearly articulate that to you in the calls that I reviewedBoth your online and print ads have been placed and are up and running with no problemsPer your conversation with Brian, we will run your online portion for an additional days to make up for the lapse in posting time on our end Please reach out to me with any other issues or concerns and I would be happy to help Regards, Michelle Michelle [redacted] Employment and Call Center Manager o ###-###-#### c ###-###-#### f ###-###-#### Michelle[redacted] @startribune.com [redacted] | Minneapolis, MN |
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/12/03) */ Dear Mr [redacted] : We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the continued delivery and billing past the expire date of your newspaper deliveryWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution First, it is important you understand all Star Tribune invoices advise that service and billing do not automatically stop at the end of the subscription term and that the subscriber should contact the Star Tribune if they wish to stop their subscriptionWe provide this grace period as a courtesy to our subscribers to prevent an unnecessary interruption in their delivery should their payment be sent after the due dateThis information is also noted on all marketing communications including but not limited to direct mail, kiosk sales forms, and website solicitations for new subscribers Upon reviewing your account, we see you started a 26-week, 7-day print subscription on 5/21/thru Newspaper Subscription Service at a low introductory rate with an expire date of 11/21/We sent our first renewal invoice on 11/1/(three weeks prior to the expire date)All invoices clearly stated that the customer needed to call to stop deliveryTo further clarify, the introductory 26-week period was over and the rate increased to the rate of $per week ($for Sunday and $daily) on the renewal invoice The email notice you received was a reminder for you with some easy options for payment and was not a replica of the official renewal invoice mailed to you via USPSI apologize if you felt it was confusing and misrepresentativeWe will review the wording with our Marketing Department for the future use We have written off the past due balance of $Thank you trying the Star Tribune Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (2000, 7, 2015/12/04) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) The part I accept is the writing off of $8.15, because otherwise I would have continued complaining I am not pleased with the Strib's response on how to alert the customer, that they must take an additional step to get the paper stopped This is the problem sentence: "We provide this grace period as a courtesy to our subscribers to prevent an unnecessary interruption in their delivery should their payment be sent after the due date" No, this policy is not "a courtesy to our subscribers", it's a courtesy to the Star Tribune"Unnecessary" interruption?? When someone subscribes for six months, it means that the subscription must end at the end of six months If I subscribed for one year and agreed to pay every three months, and I forgot to send in my check at the end of the third month, then I could understand that the Strib would grant a grace periodBut at the end of one year, the paper would stopThen the phrases "unnecessary interruption" or "grace period" would not apply But it's up to the Strib to change their policy or notI prefer the Internet
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/09/11) */ Dear Ms***: We are in receipt of your complaint to the regarding the continued digital access/billing past the expire date and being sent to collectionsWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution First, it is important you understand all Star Tribune invoices advise that service and billing do not automatically stop at the end of the subscription term and that the subscriber should contact the Star Tribune if they wish to stop their subscriptionWe provide this grace period as a courtesy to our subscribers to prevent an unnecessary interruption in their delivery should their payment be sent after the due dateThis information is also noted on all marketing communications including but not limited to direct mail, kiosk sales forms, email promotions, and website solicitations for new subscribers Upon reviewing your account, we see that you started a 26-week Premium Digital subscription on 8/11/at a low introductory rate from an email promotional offer (copy attached)The email clearly stated that delivery and billing would continue and the price may increase after the original termYou would have had to check and agree to this statement when you signed up on the web prior to the subscription being accepted and startedYou also received renewal invoices on 1/58/(two weeks prior to the expire date), 3/1/15, 4/5/15, and a final invoice on 5/10/15, when access was stopped for non-paymentAll clearly indicated that subscriber needed to call to stop delivery You indicated that you had called our customer service department and a rep had told you that you would not auto renewWe think the rep may have misunderstood and thought you were talking about not auto payingAll our reps are aware that delivery and billing continue unless the subscriber contacts us Because of the possible miscommunication and misunderstanding by our rep and as a one-time courtesy, we have written off the past due balance and pulled it from collections The Star Tribune does not report past due accounts for newspaper delivery to the credit bureaus, so you do not have to worry about your credit rating on this transaction Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (2000, 7, 2015/09/15) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Dear Mr [redacted] :We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the continued delivery and billing past the expire date of your newspaper delivery and being sent to collectionsWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution First, it is important you understand all Star Tribune invoices advise that service and billing do not automatically stop at the end of the subscription term and that the subscriber should contact the Star Tribune if they wish to stop their subscription We provide this grace period as a courtesy to our subscribers to prevent an unnecessary interruption in their delivery should their payment be sent after the due date This information is also noted on all marketing communications including but not limited to direct mail, kiosk sales forms, and website solicitations for new subscribers After reviewing your account, we see that you have been a subscriber since September You started your latest 26-week, Sunday-only subscription on 6/10/via the internet with a special introductory rate You would have been notified of the above policy and had to check an agreement box to start the subscription There was a past due balance on your account of $that was taken out of your payment first, which made your expire date 11/1/ Renewal invoices were sent to you on 10/4/(three weeks prior to the expire date), 11/8/15, 12/6/15, and a final invoice on 1/16/when service was stopped in our system for non-payment all requesting that you call to stop delivery It’s also noted that we tried to call you on 12/9/and left a voicemail regarding your accountAs a one-courtesy, we have written off the past due balance and pulled the account from collectionsAgain, we apologize for any inconvenience that this issue caused you.The Star Tribune does not report past due accounts for newspaper delivery to the credit bureaus, so you do not have to worry about your credit rating on this transaction.Sincerely,Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
December 1, [redacted] Anoka, MN Re: Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] Revdex.com Complaint ID: [redacted] Dear Mr [redacted] : Thanks for your patience as we investigated your complaint regarding a special-offer gift card I regret that we did not resolve this matter more swiftly I understand that you have now received the gift card from our outside vendor CPU Based on our e mail correspondence, I am quite certain that you now consider your Revdex.com complaint as resolved to your satisfaction I appreciate your continued readership and my best wishes for a happy holiday season Sincerely, John [redacted] Department Administrator, Circulation cc: [redacted] ***, Revdex.com Minnesota and North Dakota
June 14, Dear Ms***: We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the continued delivery and billing past the expire date of your subscription and being sent to collectionsWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution First, it is important you understand all Star Tribune invoices advise that service and billing do not automatically stop at the end of the subscription term and that the subscriber should contact the Star Tribune if they wish to stop their subscription We provide this grace period as a courtesy to our subscribers to prevent an unnecessary interruption in their delivery should their payment be sent after the due date This information is also noted on all marketing communications including but not limited to direct mail, kiosk sales forms, and website solicitations for new subscribers After reviewing your accounts, we see you were a subscriber since 2014, and you used the above grace period when payments were not by the expire date Your most recent expire date was 12/25/ Invoices were sent to you on 12/4/(three weeks prior to the expire date), 1/8/17, 2/5/17, and a final invoice on 3/25/when service was stopped in our system for non-payment--all requesting that you call to stop delivery There is no indication of you calling or contacting us to stop delivery or questioning the final past due bill Your account also indicates that you received credit for several of the missed papers, which extended your expire date As a one-time courtesy, we have written off the past due balance and pulled the account from collections We apologize for any for any inconvenience that this issue caused you The Star Tribune does not report past due accounts for newspaper delivery to the credit bureaus, so you do not have to worry about your credit rating on this transaction Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] Dear Mr [redacted] : We are in receipt of your complaint regarding continued delivery and billing after you tried writing and online access to stop at your expire dateWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution After reviewing your account, we see that you have been a Premium Digital Access subscriber since October You were on the 4-week, auto pay plan until your credit card declined on 8/22/16—probably due to new expiration date on your card Invoices were sent to you on 8/28/16, 9/18/16, and 10/23/ We also tried calling you on 10/29/16, but it was noted that the number on the account was disconnected You called our Customer Service Center on 10/31/and stopped your Premium Digital account You also stated that you had sent in one of the invoices and requested your subscription be stopped Unfortunately, customers are asked to not write on invoices but call, because payments are processed at a different location You also stated that you tried to stop your subscription online, but would have been instructed to call We are very sorry for that your attempts to stop the subscription did not work You did pay half of the balance due, and we wrote off the other half on 11/14/ Based on your attempts to stop service and as a one-time courtesy, we will refund the $that you paid via your credit card The refund will be processed in the next few days and you will see the amount credited back to your credit card Thank you for subscribing to the Star Tribune I hope you will consider a subscription again in the future Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/12/15) */ Dear Ms [redacted] : We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the continued delivery and billing past the expire date of your Premium Digital subscription and access problems during the subscriptionWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution First, it is important you understand all Star Tribune invoices advise that service and billing do not automatically stop at the end of the subscription term and that the subscriber should contact the Star Tribune if they wish to stop their subscriptionWe provide this grace period as a courtesy to our subscribers to prevent an unnecessary interruption in their delivery should their payment be sent after the due dateThis information is also noted on all marketing communications including but not limited to direct mail, kiosk sales forms, and website solicitations for new subscribers Upon reviewing your account, we see you started a 52-week, Premium Digital subscription on 9/29/via the internet from an email offer at a low introductory rate with an expire date of 9/28/You would have read and accepted the subscription conditions that stated delivery and billing continued after the expire dateWe sent renewal invoices on 9/13/(two weeks prior to the expire date), 10/18/15, and 11/22/We also tried to contact you by telephone on 11/24/and left a voicemail regarding your accountAll invoices clearly stated that the customer needed to call to stop delivery Lisa [redacted] , Director of Circulation Systems, researched your account to make sure that your account was set up correctly and that the e-Edition (replica) and unlimited digital access at StarTribune.com was linked, which it wasThe only thought about your problems with unlimited access on StarTribune.com was that you might not have been logged into your accountWe are very sorry that you were not given the helped needed to resolve any problems We have written off the past due balanceWe would also like to offer you six months of complimentary Premium Digital Access, with a perm stop date, so there is no issue of being billed after your six monthsWe want you to have the full benefit of the service you originally orderedIf you would like accept our offer, you can contact my assistant Cindy [redacted] at [redacted] or Lisa [redacted] at [redacted] Again, we are very sorry of the problems that you experiencedThank you trying Star Tribune digital access Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (2000, 7, 2015/12/16) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) I will accept at the business's response in order to formally close this complaint, but I also would encourage the Star Tribune to revisit and reconsider it's troubling invoicing and billing tactics, as I have separately indicated to the representatives I have communicated with since submitting this Revdex.com complaint In addition, to the extent the Star Tribune keeps records of invoices that are "returned to sender" as undeliverable, I would suggest that those records be consulted with respect to my accountThe county changed our house address in the summer of 2015, and a large percentage of our mail has been returned to sender as undeliverable, as well as been mis-delivered to the apartment located next door since that timeIndeed, mail delivery issues such as this are a primary example with respect to why the Star Tribune's practice of invoicing customers for a subscription after its expiration date is problematic and concerning, particularly for unsophisticated consumers Lastly, I was abroad when the Star Tribune left a voicemail on 11/24/and did not receive the message until my return to Minnesota in December, at which point I contacted the company promptly to confirm non-renewal of my subscription To the extent the company is noting these various mailing and message dates in its response to my Revdex.com complaint as a basis for justifying its practice of invoicing me after my subscription period ended, I take issue with that position
Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] Dear Mr [redacted] We are in receipt of your complaint regarding failure to receive the gift card offered in a recent subscription promotionWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution This letter is to follow up on the resolution provided by Jason [redacted] According to our records you started a 26-week, Sunday print subscription on 4/17/16, from an offer in one of our single copy papers The offer included a $gift card with prepayment of the subscription, which you did Our records show that your voucher was received and a gift card sent to you Since it had not been redeemed, Jason offered to send you another gift card You did not want to wait for another gift card, but wanted a $credit on your account Although this is usually not an option, Jason did credit your account for the $and informed you of the new expire date I’m sorry for any inconvenience this issue caused you Thank you for subscribing to the Star TribuneSincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation Tell us why hereConsumer Response: Arden [redacted] statement : Our records show that your voucher was received and a gift card sent to youWHEN ??? Since it had not been redeemed, Jason offered to send you another gift cardNo date specified that Gift cards was sentIssue 1: statements by Arden [redacted] Issue 2: Newspaper website account login was cancelled or failed
October 24, [redacted] Bloomington, MN Re: Revdex.com Minnesota Case No.: [redacted] Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] Dear Mr***: We are in receipt of your complaint to the Revdex.com regarding missed deliveries of your Sunday Star Tribune I truly regret that this delivery problem was not corrected more quickly John [redacted] of my staff has contacted our Bloomington distributor about this problem and will follow up with you to make certain it is resolved In addition to the credit you initially received for missed papers, we have added weeks of service to your account the inconvenience this caused Thanks for staying with us as we work to remedy this problem John will follow up with you on the 30th of October to verify that the problem is corrected Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation cc: [redacted] ***, Revdex.com Minnesota and North Dakota
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/08/21) */ Perhaps some background as to why we recently changed our vacation policy may better help you understand why we implemented this change Each and every week the Star Tribune processes more than 6,vacation stops and a like amount of vacation restartsWith each stop, numerous departments in the Company are impactedThis includes the call center, the production department, and Fleet transportation personnelThis also creates a big strain on our carriers and increases variances in their route lists every dayThe continuance of billing for the first seven days of a vacation stop is a "processing fee" to cover the costs of having to stop and restart so many accounts each and every weekI am certain that if you disconnected your cable TV service for a vacation period, they would most assuredly charge a "reactivation fee" upon your returnThe same would be true for your power company, your telephone service, etc Interestingly, about 75% of our subscribers do not stop their paper for vacation during any given yearThat means the almost 13,vacation stops and restarts we get each week are coming from only 25% of our subscribers, some of which stop and restart their subscription many times each yearTaking these effects into consideration, we felt this program change seemed fairer than passing on a price increase to all of our subscribers to cover the cost for vacation stops and restarts Finally, most major metropolitan newspapers have changed their vacation policy to one of no credit for any stopped vacation days; we drew the line at days believing that this was an appropriate charge for the handling of a vacation stop I hope this additional explanation at least helps you understand why we made this changeThank you for subscribing to the Star Tribune Sincerely, Arden [redacted] SVP Circ Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 7, 2015/08/28) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I understand that a company can change a policy, what I don't understand is how you can have a contract with someone and are able to change the condition of the contract without notifying the customerI believe my agreement should stand until the initial contract period endsSince I signed up for the paper in August and you changed policy in October I should fall under the rules in place at the time of our agreement in AugustI want a refund for my lost days
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/06/02) */ Mr& Mrs***: First, I'm sorry that you needed to take your complaint to the Revdex.com for resolution I checked your address and the Strib Express that you had opted in for on 3/16/was stopped as of 5/17/Your address was also marked as DO NOT Deliver TCV [redacted] , Verification Manager has contacted the Distributor for the TCV in your area to make sure that your address is not delivered to going forward I'm sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you Sincerely, [redacted] Vice President, Circulation Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 8, 2015/06/04) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) The reply states "that you(I) had opted in for on 3/16/2014"I did notI would like to know where this came from and what "opted in" means I too am sorry that this had to end up at the Revdex.com, but after communications and still no resolution, I knew of no other optionsIf Arden has any ideas on how this could be prevented in the future for others, it may be helpful to knowIt seems that customer service at Star Media, respectfully, failed Thanks, [redacted] Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 10, 2015/06/10) */ Mr***: According to the information on your address, we can see the following: - 3/6/- Someone in your household spoke to a telemarketer for our Strib Express advertising product that was delivered on Thursday and Sunday at no cost to the customer - 11/2/StribExpress delivery schedule change to Sunday only - 5/17/StribExpress stopped via the Internet with a note: "I'm unable to fill in your form--kind of hard to opt out." Your communications regarding stopping the TCV product were entered on your address as NO DELIVERY Again, our apologies for how long it took to get this resolved
Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] ( [redacted] *, Plymouth, 55442) Dear Mr***: We are in receipt of your complaint regarding continued delivery and billing after you called to stop your subscriptionWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution After looking for your account, we found it (by phone number/email address) listed at [redacted] in Plymouth, MN I don’t know how the incorrect address happened and apologize for any errors on our partWe have written off the past due balance and will communicate your customer service communication issues to the Customer Service Manager Thank you for subscribing to the Star Tribune I hope you will consider a subscription again in the futureSincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
December 7, [redacted] St Paul, MN Re: Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] Revdex.com Complaint ID: [redacted] Dear Ms [redacted] : I’m responding to your complaint to the Revdex.com and am terribly sorry for the inconvenience you encountered in starting a new subscription for the Star Tribune last month Based on my review, it seems that we had two problems; one of which resulted from us applying the wrong rate, (which we corrected), followed by a series of declined transactions affecting your credit card payment In the end, we did not receive the payment you refer to in your complaint I’m not saying the transaction doesn’t exist, only that we have not applied any credit from you for $ As requested in my voice mail to you yesterday, please send us a copy of the bank charges you are seeing on your end and we will fix any errors promptly! Sincerely, John [redacted] Department Administrator, Circulation cc: [redacted] ***, Revdex.com Minnesota and North Dakota
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/09/29) */ Ms [redacted] , First this is totally unacceptable delivery by our Distributor for your areaWe have contacted him regarding every complaint that you have filed and went higher up with the Revdex.com complaint that you filedOur desired outcome is their personal promise that you will receive a Saturday and Sunday paperOn that promise, we cover the cost for a 4-week trial period to make sure that delivery was correctly made for that period of timeIf you wanted to continue after that time, we would restart your paid subscription We will contact you as soon as we hear from the Distributor, but wanted to give you an update along with our apology
I spoke to Ms [redacted] yesterday Resolution requires input between Ms [redacted] and our distribution agent which will take place this week We will follow up with the customer and Revdex.com within the next week
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/10/08) */ Dear Mr [redacted] : We are in receipt of your complaint to the Revdex.com regarding the continued delivery and billing past the expire dateWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution First, it is important you understand all Star Tribune invoices advise that service and billing do not automatically stop at the end of the subscription term and that the subscriber should contact the Star Tribune if they wish to stop their subscriptionWe provide this grace period as a courtesy to our subscribers to prevent an unnecessary interruption in their delivery should their payment be sent after the due dateThis information is also noted on all marketing communications including but not limited to direct mail, kiosk sales forms, email promotions, and website solicitations for new subscribers Upon reviewing your account, we see that a 26-week, Sunday print gift subscription was started on 12/28/from a single copy insert by Bessie [redacted] The subscription expire date was 6/28/We also see that a renewal invoice was not sent to you until 8/16/2015, seven weeks past the expire dateYou would not have known to call earlier to stop the subscription because you were not aware of the above processThe balance was written off on 10/5/2015, after your call to the customer service centerThere was then an $payment noted on the account on 10/7/ Because of the miscommunication by us and you not receiving a renewal invoice prior to the expire date, we have written off the past due balance and are refunding the $that was paid on the accountWe are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
March 23, [redacted] Crystal, MN Re: Revdex.com Minnesota Case No: [redacted] Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] Dear Mr [redacted] : We are in receipt of your property damage complaintWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution Upon review of your account, we see that you have called in a complaint about damaged ceramic welcome sign on 2/12/and followed up several times when you did not receive the requested call from the Distributor to resolve the issue This is unacceptable and not the premier service we want to provide to our subscribers The Home Delivery Manager and Distributor were contacted immediatelyIt is our understanding that the Distributor did contact you last week to resolve the damage issue Again, our sincere apologies that the damage complaint was not addressed immediately Thank you for bringing this to our attention and being a long-time Star Tribune subscriber Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.Thank you, [redacted]
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2016/02/15) */ Mr [redacted] : First, we are very sorry that the Twin Cities Values (TCV) product was not stopped, especially after several requestsYour address is marked "NO TCV" alreadyWe have contacted the Verification and Quality Assurance Manager to make sure this is stoppedWe have contacted the Distributor to make sure your address is not on the delivery list and to be put on the check list to make sure it is not deliveredThis process sometimes takes up to two weeks before it is stopped Again, our apologies and thank you for brining it to our attention Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (2000, 7, 2016/02/19) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) Perfectly acceptable response and plan Thank you
Hi [redacted] , I’m writing to you in response to your complaint (Case #: [redacted] )submitted to the Revdex.com on February 14thI apologize about the inconvenience you experienced when placing your online/print auto adsUnfortunately, we had a technical issue (our system was down) for the online portion and the rep (Gabby) did not clearly articulate that to you in the calls that I reviewedBoth your online and print ads have been placed and are up and running with no problemsPer your conversation with Brian, we will run your online portion for an additional days to make up for the lapse in posting time on our end Please reach out to me with any other issues or concerns and I would be happy to help Regards, Michelle Michelle [redacted] Employment and Call Center Manager o ###-###-#### c ###-###-#### f ###-###-#### Michelle[redacted] @startribune.com [redacted] | Minneapolis, MN |
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/12/03) */ Dear Mr [redacted] : We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the continued delivery and billing past the expire date of your newspaper deliveryWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution First, it is important you understand all Star Tribune invoices advise that service and billing do not automatically stop at the end of the subscription term and that the subscriber should contact the Star Tribune if they wish to stop their subscriptionWe provide this grace period as a courtesy to our subscribers to prevent an unnecessary interruption in their delivery should their payment be sent after the due dateThis information is also noted on all marketing communications including but not limited to direct mail, kiosk sales forms, and website solicitations for new subscribers Upon reviewing your account, we see you started a 26-week, 7-day print subscription on 5/21/thru Newspaper Subscription Service at a low introductory rate with an expire date of 11/21/We sent our first renewal invoice on 11/1/(three weeks prior to the expire date)All invoices clearly stated that the customer needed to call to stop deliveryTo further clarify, the introductory 26-week period was over and the rate increased to the rate of $per week ($for Sunday and $daily) on the renewal invoice The email notice you received was a reminder for you with some easy options for payment and was not a replica of the official renewal invoice mailed to you via USPSI apologize if you felt it was confusing and misrepresentativeWe will review the wording with our Marketing Department for the future use We have written off the past due balance of $Thank you trying the Star Tribune Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (2000, 7, 2015/12/04) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) The part I accept is the writing off of $8.15, because otherwise I would have continued complaining I am not pleased with the Strib's response on how to alert the customer, that they must take an additional step to get the paper stopped This is the problem sentence: "We provide this grace period as a courtesy to our subscribers to prevent an unnecessary interruption in their delivery should their payment be sent after the due date" No, this policy is not "a courtesy to our subscribers", it's a courtesy to the Star Tribune"Unnecessary" interruption?? When someone subscribes for six months, it means that the subscription must end at the end of six months If I subscribed for one year and agreed to pay every three months, and I forgot to send in my check at the end of the third month, then I could understand that the Strib would grant a grace periodBut at the end of one year, the paper would stopThen the phrases "unnecessary interruption" or "grace period" would not apply But it's up to the Strib to change their policy or notI prefer the Internet
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/09/11) */ Dear Ms***: We are in receipt of your complaint to the regarding the continued digital access/billing past the expire date and being sent to collectionsWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution First, it is important you understand all Star Tribune invoices advise that service and billing do not automatically stop at the end of the subscription term and that the subscriber should contact the Star Tribune if they wish to stop their subscriptionWe provide this grace period as a courtesy to our subscribers to prevent an unnecessary interruption in their delivery should their payment be sent after the due dateThis information is also noted on all marketing communications including but not limited to direct mail, kiosk sales forms, email promotions, and website solicitations for new subscribers Upon reviewing your account, we see that you started a 26-week Premium Digital subscription on 8/11/at a low introductory rate from an email promotional offer (copy attached)The email clearly stated that delivery and billing would continue and the price may increase after the original termYou would have had to check and agree to this statement when you signed up on the web prior to the subscription being accepted and startedYou also received renewal invoices on 1/58/(two weeks prior to the expire date), 3/1/15, 4/5/15, and a final invoice on 5/10/15, when access was stopped for non-paymentAll clearly indicated that subscriber needed to call to stop delivery You indicated that you had called our customer service department and a rep had told you that you would not auto renewWe think the rep may have misunderstood and thought you were talking about not auto payingAll our reps are aware that delivery and billing continue unless the subscriber contacts us Because of the possible miscommunication and misunderstanding by our rep and as a one-time courtesy, we have written off the past due balance and pulled it from collections The Star Tribune does not report past due accounts for newspaper delivery to the credit bureaus, so you do not have to worry about your credit rating on this transaction Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (2000, 7, 2015/09/15) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Dear Mr [redacted] :We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the continued delivery and billing past the expire date of your newspaper delivery and being sent to collectionsWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution First, it is important you understand all Star Tribune invoices advise that service and billing do not automatically stop at the end of the subscription term and that the subscriber should contact the Star Tribune if they wish to stop their subscription We provide this grace period as a courtesy to our subscribers to prevent an unnecessary interruption in their delivery should their payment be sent after the due date This information is also noted on all marketing communications including but not limited to direct mail, kiosk sales forms, and website solicitations for new subscribers After reviewing your account, we see that you have been a subscriber since September You started your latest 26-week, Sunday-only subscription on 6/10/via the internet with a special introductory rate You would have been notified of the above policy and had to check an agreement box to start the subscription There was a past due balance on your account of $that was taken out of your payment first, which made your expire date 11/1/ Renewal invoices were sent to you on 10/4/(three weeks prior to the expire date), 11/8/15, 12/6/15, and a final invoice on 1/16/when service was stopped in our system for non-payment all requesting that you call to stop delivery It’s also noted that we tried to call you on 12/9/and left a voicemail regarding your accountAs a one-courtesy, we have written off the past due balance and pulled the account from collectionsAgain, we apologize for any inconvenience that this issue caused you.The Star Tribune does not report past due accounts for newspaper delivery to the credit bureaus, so you do not have to worry about your credit rating on this transaction.Sincerely,Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
December 1, [redacted] Anoka, MN Re: Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] Revdex.com Complaint ID: [redacted] Dear Mr [redacted] : Thanks for your patience as we investigated your complaint regarding a special-offer gift card I regret that we did not resolve this matter more swiftly I understand that you have now received the gift card from our outside vendor CPU Based on our e mail correspondence, I am quite certain that you now consider your Revdex.com complaint as resolved to your satisfaction I appreciate your continued readership and my best wishes for a happy holiday season Sincerely, John [redacted] Department Administrator, Circulation cc: [redacted] ***, Revdex.com Minnesota and North Dakota
June 14, Dear Ms***: We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the continued delivery and billing past the expire date of your subscription and being sent to collectionsWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution First, it is important you understand all Star Tribune invoices advise that service and billing do not automatically stop at the end of the subscription term and that the subscriber should contact the Star Tribune if they wish to stop their subscription We provide this grace period as a courtesy to our subscribers to prevent an unnecessary interruption in their delivery should their payment be sent after the due date This information is also noted on all marketing communications including but not limited to direct mail, kiosk sales forms, and website solicitations for new subscribers After reviewing your accounts, we see you were a subscriber since 2014, and you used the above grace period when payments were not by the expire date Your most recent expire date was 12/25/ Invoices were sent to you on 12/4/(three weeks prior to the expire date), 1/8/17, 2/5/17, and a final invoice on 3/25/when service was stopped in our system for non-payment--all requesting that you call to stop delivery There is no indication of you calling or contacting us to stop delivery or questioning the final past due bill Your account also indicates that you received credit for several of the missed papers, which extended your expire date As a one-time courtesy, we have written off the past due balance and pulled the account from collections We apologize for any for any inconvenience that this issue caused you The Star Tribune does not report past due accounts for newspaper delivery to the credit bureaus, so you do not have to worry about your credit rating on this transaction Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] Dear Mr [redacted] : We are in receipt of your complaint regarding continued delivery and billing after you tried writing and online access to stop at your expire dateWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution After reviewing your account, we see that you have been a Premium Digital Access subscriber since October You were on the 4-week, auto pay plan until your credit card declined on 8/22/16—probably due to new expiration date on your card Invoices were sent to you on 8/28/16, 9/18/16, and 10/23/ We also tried calling you on 10/29/16, but it was noted that the number on the account was disconnected You called our Customer Service Center on 10/31/and stopped your Premium Digital account You also stated that you had sent in one of the invoices and requested your subscription be stopped Unfortunately, customers are asked to not write on invoices but call, because payments are processed at a different location You also stated that you tried to stop your subscription online, but would have been instructed to call We are very sorry for that your attempts to stop the subscription did not work You did pay half of the balance due, and we wrote off the other half on 11/14/ Based on your attempts to stop service and as a one-time courtesy, we will refund the $that you paid via your credit card The refund will be processed in the next few days and you will see the amount credited back to your credit card Thank you for subscribing to the Star Tribune I hope you will consider a subscription again in the future Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/12/15) */ Dear Ms [redacted] : We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the continued delivery and billing past the expire date of your Premium Digital subscription and access problems during the subscriptionWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution First, it is important you understand all Star Tribune invoices advise that service and billing do not automatically stop at the end of the subscription term and that the subscriber should contact the Star Tribune if they wish to stop their subscriptionWe provide this grace period as a courtesy to our subscribers to prevent an unnecessary interruption in their delivery should their payment be sent after the due dateThis information is also noted on all marketing communications including but not limited to direct mail, kiosk sales forms, and website solicitations for new subscribers Upon reviewing your account, we see you started a 52-week, Premium Digital subscription on 9/29/via the internet from an email offer at a low introductory rate with an expire date of 9/28/You would have read and accepted the subscription conditions that stated delivery and billing continued after the expire dateWe sent renewal invoices on 9/13/(two weeks prior to the expire date), 10/18/15, and 11/22/We also tried to contact you by telephone on 11/24/and left a voicemail regarding your accountAll invoices clearly stated that the customer needed to call to stop delivery Lisa [redacted] , Director of Circulation Systems, researched your account to make sure that your account was set up correctly and that the e-Edition (replica) and unlimited digital access at StarTribune.com was linked, which it wasThe only thought about your problems with unlimited access on StarTribune.com was that you might not have been logged into your accountWe are very sorry that you were not given the helped needed to resolve any problems We have written off the past due balanceWe would also like to offer you six months of complimentary Premium Digital Access, with a perm stop date, so there is no issue of being billed after your six monthsWe want you to have the full benefit of the service you originally orderedIf you would like accept our offer, you can contact my assistant Cindy [redacted] at [redacted] or Lisa [redacted] at [redacted] Again, we are very sorry of the problems that you experiencedThank you trying Star Tribune digital access Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (2000, 7, 2015/12/16) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) I will accept at the business's response in order to formally close this complaint, but I also would encourage the Star Tribune to revisit and reconsider it's troubling invoicing and billing tactics, as I have separately indicated to the representatives I have communicated with since submitting this Revdex.com complaint In addition, to the extent the Star Tribune keeps records of invoices that are "returned to sender" as undeliverable, I would suggest that those records be consulted with respect to my accountThe county changed our house address in the summer of 2015, and a large percentage of our mail has been returned to sender as undeliverable, as well as been mis-delivered to the apartment located next door since that timeIndeed, mail delivery issues such as this are a primary example with respect to why the Star Tribune's practice of invoicing customers for a subscription after its expiration date is problematic and concerning, particularly for unsophisticated consumers Lastly, I was abroad when the Star Tribune left a voicemail on 11/24/and did not receive the message until my return to Minnesota in December, at which point I contacted the company promptly to confirm non-renewal of my subscription To the extent the company is noting these various mailing and message dates in its response to my Revdex.com complaint as a basis for justifying its practice of invoicing me after my subscription period ended, I take issue with that position
Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] Dear Mr [redacted] We are in receipt of your complaint regarding failure to receive the gift card offered in a recent subscription promotionWe apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution This letter is to follow up on the resolution provided by Jason [redacted] According to our records you started a 26-week, Sunday print subscription on 4/17/16, from an offer in one of our single copy papers The offer included a $gift card with prepayment of the subscription, which you did Our records show that your voucher was received and a gift card sent to you Since it had not been redeemed, Jason offered to send you another gift card You did not want to wait for another gift card, but wanted a $credit on your account Although this is usually not an option, Jason did credit your account for the $and informed you of the new expire date I’m sorry for any inconvenience this issue caused you Thank you for subscribing to the Star TribuneSincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation Tell us why hereConsumer Response: Arden [redacted] statement : Our records show that your voucher was received and a gift card sent to youWHEN ??? Since it had not been redeemed, Jason offered to send you another gift cardNo date specified that Gift cards was sentIssue 1: statements by Arden [redacted] Issue 2: Newspaper website account login was cancelled or failed