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]
Dear Ms. [redacted]: We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the continued service and billing of your subscription beyond the original expiration date. We regret that you were unable to resolve this question prior to contacting the Revdex.com and are sorry for this...
inconvenience. The email campaign you responded and subscribed to for Premium Digital Access (EMB611f) notified customers that “delivery and billing of your subscription will continue beyond the initial order period unless you contact the Star Tribune by calling.” We provide this grace period as a courtesy to our subscribers to prevent an unnecessary interruption in their service 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. As a one-time courtesy, we have written off 50% of the past due balance you requested of $48.92. A credit of $24.46 was posted by the Star Tribune on 7/26/17 as was your payment in the same amount also on 7/26. Your account is now paid in full. Given the previous disclosure and subsequent invoices notifying you of continuing service, we feel that our write off of 50% of your balance represents a good faith effort to resolve your complaint. . 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. We appreciate your past Star Tribune readership and hope you will consider subscribing again in the future. Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
Re: Revdex.com ID [redacted]
Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted]
Dear Mr....
[redacted]:
We are in receipt of your complaint regarding continued delivery and billing beyond the expiration date of your subscription. We regret being unable to resolve this problem more efficiently.
Star Tribune invoices do advise customer’s that service and billing do not automatically stop at the end of the subscription term and state that subscribers should contact the Star Tribune if they wish to stop service. 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. Unfortunately, your request to stop service upon expiration was never received.
This said, we do appreciate you being a subscriber and regret that you have chosen to stop service. Misunderstanding of this policy does occur at times and we trust that you intended to stop service upon the expiration date.
As a one-time courtesy, we have written off the past due balance of $44.73. The Star Tribune does not report past due accounts for newspaper delivery to the credit bureaus, so you do not have to worry about any adverse impact on your credit rating as a result.
Thank you for being a Star Tribune customer and hope you will consider subscribing again in the near future.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/08) */
Mr. [redacted],
A formal written follow up to our telephone conversation. Your delivery has been better for the last two weeks. It can still be later, but the paper has been coming satisfactorily.
Thank you for your patience while getting...
this resolved. Please contact me directly if you have any further problems.
We contacted our fulfillment vendor and they clarified their original response to us. They mailed out the voucher to be filled out by Mr. [redacted] but did not receive the filled out form back to mail out the actual gift card. We apologize for the miscommunication. Your account was credited for $10.00, which extends the subscription. ** Consumer Final Response **I do not concur with the closing of the case, because my questions
were not answered.I've indicated that I applied for the gift card on line and sent
proof of this fact. This was ignored both by Arden [redacted] and Thaddeus [redacted] of
the Revdex.com. Arden [redacted] first lied about the gift card being sent and not
redeemed. He never investigated the online submission. Management Integrity is now the issue.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/24) */
Mr. [redacted]:
First I am sorry that you needed to take your complaint to the Revdex.com.
We have credited your account for six weeks to cover the papers that you missed. We also contacted the Distributor for your area on Saturday 6/20, so you...
should have received your paper on 6/21.
We have been having phone issues in our customer service center because of an expansion project. We are also working to increase the number of reps and lines.
Please let us know if you have any more problems. We feel that the steps we have taken should resolved your delivery problem and have given you credit for the missed papers.
Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] ([redacted]) Dear Ms. [redacted]: We are in receipt of your complaint regarding a billing issue with the subscription at the above address. We apologize that you needed to take...
this to the Revdex.com for resolution. After reviewing the account, we believe the expiration date change was caused by the introduction and charge for the new Star Tribune Quarterly Magazine that was introduced in April. We went to great lengths to communicate to all of our subscribers that this magazine was coming and how they could opt out if they chose to do so. We sent out post cards, emails, and included notices on our billing invoices, spending tens of thousands of dollars to reduce the likelihood someone might inadvertently end up paying for this if they did not want it. You may have thought you had opted out because you opted out of our additional days of delivery when you subscribed. Unfortunately, that was not true and your account was charged $1.99 for the Star Tribune Quarterly Magazine delivered with your Sunday paper on April 16, 2017. We credited the account for the missed paper on 5/21/17 and the $1.99 charge for the Star Tribune Quarterly Magazine. These credits in addition to a $0.76 credit currently on the account will leave a balance of $3.75. We requested a refund, since the account is perm stopped. I apologize for the time and inconvenience this may have caused you. Thank you for trying the Star Tribune. Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] Dear Mr. [redacted]: We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the Star Tribune invoice not showing credits for missed paper complaints that you called in and the service problem. We...
apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution. This letter is a written follow up to the telephone conversation that you had with my assistant Cindy [redacted]. First, my apology for the original service problem causing you billing questions and not receiving callbacks to answer your questions. Per Cindy’s conversation with you, the following actions and resolutions were taken: Confirmed that you received credit for the 4 missed paper calls recorded—changed the expire date from the original 3/13/17 to 3/17/17 Cindy credited your account for an additional two weeks service based on the additional missed papers that you purchased and did not call about – changed the expire date from 6/16/17 (latest payment expire date) to 7/1/17 Confirmed that service has been good for the last two to three weeks Please let us know if you have any continuing issues. Thank you for being a loyal Star Tribune customer. Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
Mr. [redacted] called last evening to apologize for his response. He indicated that he only received the end of the letter starting with "The only "failed to stop" complaint.... and responded to it. When he went to print out our response, he saw the entire letter, which did respond to his concerns and did credit his account for all stopped days that were listed on his account. There is no response to the request for money to customer when a paper is delivered during a hold. Mr. [redacted] said that he had tried to contact the Revdex.com to change his response yesterday, but you were closed. He stated that he would try again today.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/11/11) */
Dear Mr. [redacted]:
We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the continued delivery and billing past the expire date of your newspaper delivery. We 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--including using Newspaper Subscription Services thru mileage partners.
Upon reviewing your account, we see you started a 13-week, 7-day print subscription on 6/15/2015 thru Newspaper Subscription Services using miles as payment at a low introductory rate. We sent renewal invoices on 8/30/15 (two weeks prior to the expire date), 10/4/15, and 11/1/15. All clearly indicated that subscriber needed to call to stop delivery (copies provide upon request). You contacted our customer service department after receiving the third renewal invoice to dispute the past due balance.
As a one-courtesy, we have written off the past due balance of $59.35. Your concerns regarding our marketing practices were passed on to the Marketing Department. We appreciate you trying the Star Tribune.
Sincerely,
Arden [redacted]
Senior Vice President, Circulation
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/11/17) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The invoice sent to me has an invoice date of November 1 is for the amount of $91.65. The response only indicates that the Star Tribune is willing to write off $59.35.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 11, 2015/12/01) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I agree with the resolution of this matter, but remain troubled with the aggressive collection efforts of the Star Tribune to collect what they asserted was a "debt", but for which there was no contractual obligation. I should not have had to file a Revdex.com complaint to resolve this issue.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/12/01) */
The $59.35 was the past due part of the bill. The rest was to pay for continuing the account and paying for the next 13 weeks. Your account is stopped and at zero.
Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] Dear Mr. [redacted]: We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the continued autopay charges to your credit card and failure to stop your subscription. We apologize that you needed...
to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution. After reviewing your account, we see where you called in on 2/5/16, and the rep entered a transaction to stop the automatic, 4-week charge to your credit card for your Premium Digital Access subscription. Unfortunately, the rep missed checking the final box to stop the auto charge. Also, the rep did not do the perm stop transaction to stop the subscription, which would also have stopped any further charges to your credit card. I agree that you are entitled to the full refund of $197.00 that you requested. The customer service rep did issue you a credit of $45.13 that was refunded directly to your credit card. Enclosed is a check in the amount of $152.00 for the balance of the refund. Our Customer Service Manager will be following up with the customer service reps regarding the mistakes that were made on your account. Again, our apologies for the mistakes made on your account. Thank you for trying the Star Tribune’s Premium Digital Access subscription. Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
Initial Business Response /* (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 date. We 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, 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 12/28/2014 from a single copy insert by Bessie [redacted]. The subscription expire date was 6/28/2015. We also see that a renewal invoice was not sent to you until 8/16/2015, seven weeks past the expire date. You would not have known to call earlier to stop the subscription because you were not aware of the above process. The balance was written off on 10/5/2015, after your call to the customer service center. There was then an $8.00 payment noted on the account on 10/7/2015.
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 $8.00 that was paid on the account. We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you.
Sincerely,
Arden [redacted]
Senior Vice President, Circulation
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/09/11) */
Dear Ms. [redacted]:
We are in receipt of your complaint to the regarding the continued digital access/billing past the expire date and being sent to collections. We 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, email promotions, and website solicitations for new subscribers.
Upon reviewing your account, we see that you started a 26-week Premium Digital subscription on 8/11/2014 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 term. You would have had to check and agree to this statement when you signed up on the web prior to the subscription being accepted and started. You also received renewal invoices on 1/58/15 (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-payment. All 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 renew. We think the rep may have misunderstood and thought you were talking about not auto paying. All 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 /* (2000, 7, 2015/09/15) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Mr. [redacted]:First, our apologies for not getting back to you sooner, but with the holidays, there were several people unavailable to research your issue. Your subscription account was credited for the $3.00 past due amount, so there is no balance owing.Our gift card vendor shows that your gift...
card was sent to you promptly and redeemed in full on February 26, 2016. Sent to [redacted] at [redacted], St. Paul, MN 55125. If you have any further questions regarding the gift card, you can contact Jason [redacted] at ###-###-####.Sincerely,Arden [redacted]Senior Vice President, Circulation
According to our records, the StarTribune responded to this complaint on 8/31/17. Response attached. Please confirm receipt. Customer indicated he is satisfied with our response.
Thanks,
John
John [redacted]
Department Administrator, Circulation
StarTribune
I am rejecting this response because:
The response from the Startribune only addresses part of the complaint. It addresses the delivery placement issue. The other part of the complaint addresses the numerous requests to have a supervisor return my phone call. I requested many, many times to have a supervisor return my phone call and to date (20 March 2017) I still have not heard from them. Each time I requested a return phone call I was assured that the request would be forwarded and a supervisor in customer service or the department above customer service and I would receive a return call. Once when I called and actually got to talk to a supervisor he told me he would call me the next day , I'm still waiting for the return call. I am very frustrated and dissatisfied with their customer service and feel like I have been lied to. I would like to know why no supervisor in Customer Service or any supervisor above customer service will return my phone call requests.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/09/11) */
Dear Mr. [redacted]:
We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the continued delivery/billing past the expire date and being sent to collections. We 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.
Upon reviewing your account, we see that you have been a customer for periods of time since 1991. You utilized the above grace period more than once during this time. Your most recent subscription was a Sunday only subscription that started on 8/3/2014 at a low introductory rate from a direct mail offer that was sent to you. The form stated that delivery and billing would continue. You also received renewal invoices on 1/11/15 (three weeks prior to the expire date), 2/15/15, 5/15/15, and a final invoice on 5/2/15, when deliver was stopped for non-payment. All clearly indicated that subscriber needed to call to stop delivery (copies provide upon request). We also called and left a voicemail for you on 3/23/15 regarding your account being past due and did not hear back from you. Based on your account history, we would not have known that you wanted to stop without your calling.
You did not indicate that you did not receive the newspaper. The price had not increased on the invoices. We thank you for paying for the papers that you received.
Your concerns regarding our marketing practices were passed on to the Marketing Department.
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 /* (2000, 7, 2015/09/15) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
The purported voice mail was never received, and even if it was, by your own records that seems to be your only attempt in contacting us prior to submitting a $16 invoice to a collection agency. While I think that the renewal notice is rather misleading, we would have paid this bill without you resorting to the hard line tactics that your organization employed.
Your attempt to contact us was an extremely weak effort and we consider your follow up strategy to be extremely unsavory and unprofessional, akin to sending a hit man to bust your clients kneecaps for a debt rather than a more straight forward approach.
As a 23+ year customer, I would have expected better out of your organization and you would have had a much better possibility of retaining a customer in a market that is rapidly shrinking. We remain dissatisfied, however I'm marking your response as accepted.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/15) */
Dear Mr. [redacted]:
We are in receipt of your complaint regarding late and placement problems with the week day delivery. We apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution.
Upon reviewing your account,...
we see many missed, late, and wrong location complaints since August. This is not acceptable and not the Premium Service that we want to give our customers. There are also many messages and notes to the Distributor regarding all these issues and responses that the Distributor was talking to the carrier
We contacted the Distributor directly about your continued poor service. The current carrier is doing two routes because of open routes and your route is the second one, which is the problem with the late delivery. The Distributor has proposed the following to resolve your issue:
- He will have a new carrier for your route within two weeks.
- He said that he will personally check your delivery until the time and placement are satisfactory.
Thank you for bringing your service issues to our attention and giving us the chance to correct them. Your account has been credited for two weeks of service.
Again, we are very sorry for the problems that you experienced. Thank you for being a long and loyal Star Tribune subscriber.
Sincerely,
Arden [redacted]
Senior Vice President, Circulation
We are in receipt of your Revdex.com complaint regarding...
StribExpress delivery dated October 16, 2017. I am sorry that you have had to contact us multiple times in an effort to receive this free, weekly publication.
StribExpress delivery was scheduled to start on July 16th. I’m pleased to learn that you find the publication to be of great value in your weekly shopping. I have contacted our Distributor in your area – he will work with your carrier to underscore the importance of delivering the publication to you each week.
Again, our apologies for the inconvenience you experienced. Thank you for bringing this to our attention and for being a StribExpress customer.
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]
Dear Ms. [redacted]: We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the continued service and billing of your subscription beyond the original expiration date. We regret that you were unable to resolve this question prior to contacting the Revdex.com and are sorry for this...
inconvenience. The email campaign you responded and subscribed to for Premium Digital Access (EMB611f) notified customers that “delivery and billing of your subscription will continue beyond the initial order period unless you contact the Star Tribune by calling.” We provide this grace period as a courtesy to our subscribers to prevent an unnecessary interruption in their service 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. As a one-time courtesy, we have written off 50% of the past due balance you requested of $48.92. A credit of $24.46 was posted by the Star Tribune on 7/26/17 as was your payment in the same amount also on 7/26. Your account is now paid in full. Given the previous disclosure and subsequent invoices notifying you of continuing service, we feel that our write off of 50% of your balance represents a good faith effort to resolve your complaint. . 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. We appreciate your past Star Tribune readership and hope you will consider subscribing again in the future. Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
October 4, 2017
[redacted] L. [redacted]
St Paul, MN 55105
Re: Revdex.com ID [redacted]
Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted]
Dear Mr....
[redacted]:
We are in receipt of your complaint regarding continued delivery and billing beyond the expiration date of your subscription. We regret being unable to resolve this problem more efficiently.
Star Tribune invoices do advise customer’s that service and billing do not automatically stop at the end of the subscription term and state that subscribers should contact the Star Tribune if they wish to stop service. 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. Unfortunately, your request to stop service upon expiration was never received.
This said, we do appreciate you being a subscriber and regret that you have chosen to stop service. Misunderstanding of this policy does occur at times and we trust that you intended to stop service upon the expiration date.
As a one-time courtesy, we have written off the past due balance of $44.73. The Star Tribune does not report past due accounts for newspaper delivery to the credit bureaus, so you do not have to worry about any adverse impact on your credit rating as a result.
Thank you for being a Star Tribune customer and hope you will consider subscribing again in the near future.
Sincerely,
Arden [redacted]
Senior Vice President, Circulation
cc: [redacted], Revdex.com
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/08) */
Mr. [redacted],
A formal written follow up to our telephone conversation. Your delivery has been better for the last two weeks. It can still be later, but the paper has been coming satisfactorily.
Thank you for your patience while getting...
this resolved. Please contact me directly if you have any further problems.
We contacted our fulfillment vendor and they clarified their original response to us. They mailed out the voucher to be filled out by Mr. [redacted] but did not receive the filled out form back to mail out the actual gift card. We apologize for the miscommunication. Your account was credited for $10.00, which extends the subscription. ** Consumer Final Response **I do not concur with the closing of the case, because my questions
were not answered.I've indicated that I applied for the gift card on line and sent
proof of this fact. This was ignored both by Arden [redacted] and Thaddeus [redacted] of
the Revdex.com. Arden [redacted] first lied about the gift card being sent and not
redeemed. He never investigated the online submission. Management Integrity is now the issue.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/24) */
Mr. [redacted]:
First I am sorry that you needed to take your complaint to the Revdex.com.
We have credited your account for six weeks to cover the papers that you missed. We also contacted the Distributor for your area on Saturday 6/20, so you...
should have received your paper on 6/21.
We have been having phone issues in our customer service center because of an expansion project. We are also working to increase the number of reps and lines.
Please let us know if you have any more problems. We feel that the steps we have taken should resolved your delivery problem and have given you credit for the missed papers.
Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] ([redacted]) Dear Ms. [redacted]: We are in receipt of your complaint regarding a billing issue with the subscription at the above address. We apologize that you needed to take...
this to the Revdex.com for resolution. After reviewing the account, we believe the expiration date change was caused by the introduction and charge for the new Star Tribune Quarterly Magazine that was introduced in April. We went to great lengths to communicate to all of our subscribers that this magazine was coming and how they could opt out if they chose to do so. We sent out post cards, emails, and included notices on our billing invoices, spending tens of thousands of dollars to reduce the likelihood someone might inadvertently end up paying for this if they did not want it. You may have thought you had opted out because you opted out of our additional days of delivery when you subscribed. Unfortunately, that was not true and your account was charged $1.99 for the Star Tribune Quarterly Magazine delivered with your Sunday paper on April 16, 2017. We credited the account for the missed paper on 5/21/17 and the $1.99 charge for the Star Tribune Quarterly Magazine. These credits in addition to a $0.76 credit currently on the account will leave a balance of $3.75. We requested a refund, since the account is perm stopped. I apologize for the time and inconvenience this may have caused you. Thank you for trying the Star Tribune. Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] Dear Mr. [redacted]: We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the Star Tribune invoice not showing credits for missed paper complaints that you called in and the service problem. We...
apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution. This letter is a written follow up to the telephone conversation that you had with my assistant Cindy [redacted]. First, my apology for the original service problem causing you billing questions and not receiving callbacks to answer your questions. Per Cindy’s conversation with you, the following actions and resolutions were taken: Confirmed that you received credit for the 4 missed paper calls recorded—changed the expire date from the original 3/13/17 to 3/17/17 Cindy credited your account for an additional two weeks service based on the additional missed papers that you purchased and did not call about – changed the expire date from 6/16/17 (latest payment expire date) to 7/1/17 Confirmed that service has been good for the last two to three weeks Please let us know if you have any continuing issues. Thank you for being a loyal Star Tribune customer. Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
Mr. [redacted] called last evening to apologize for his response. He indicated that he only received the end of the letter starting with "The only "failed to stop" complaint.... and responded to it. When he went to print out our response, he saw the entire letter, which did respond to his concerns and did credit his account for all stopped days that were listed on his account. There is no response to the request for money to customer when a paper is delivered during a hold. Mr. [redacted] said that he had tried to contact the Revdex.com to change his response yesterday, but you were closed. He stated that he would try again today.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/11/11) */
Dear Mr. [redacted]:
We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the continued delivery and billing past the expire date of your newspaper delivery. We 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--including using Newspaper Subscription Services thru mileage partners.
Upon reviewing your account, we see you started a 13-week, 7-day print subscription on 6/15/2015 thru Newspaper Subscription Services using miles as payment at a low introductory rate. We sent renewal invoices on 8/30/15 (two weeks prior to the expire date), 10/4/15, and 11/1/15. All clearly indicated that subscriber needed to call to stop delivery (copies provide upon request). You contacted our customer service department after receiving the third renewal invoice to dispute the past due balance.
As a one-courtesy, we have written off the past due balance of $59.35. Your concerns regarding our marketing practices were passed on to the Marketing Department. We appreciate you trying the Star Tribune.
Sincerely,
Arden [redacted]
Senior Vice President, Circulation
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/11/17) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The invoice sent to me has an invoice date of November 1 is for the amount of $91.65. The response only indicates that the Star Tribune is willing to write off $59.35.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 11, 2015/12/01) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I agree with the resolution of this matter, but remain troubled with the aggressive collection efforts of the Star Tribune to collect what they asserted was a "debt", but for which there was no contractual obligation. I should not have had to file a Revdex.com complaint to resolve this issue.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/12/01) */
The $59.35 was the past due part of the bill. The rest was to pay for continuing the account and paying for the next 13 weeks. Your account is stopped and at zero.
Star Tribune Acct: # [redacted] Dear Mr. [redacted]: We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the continued autopay charges to your credit card and failure to stop your subscription. We apologize that you needed...
to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution. After reviewing your account, we see where you called in on 2/5/16, and the rep entered a transaction to stop the automatic, 4-week charge to your credit card for your Premium Digital Access subscription. Unfortunately, the rep missed checking the final box to stop the auto charge. Also, the rep did not do the perm stop transaction to stop the subscription, which would also have stopped any further charges to your credit card. I agree that you are entitled to the full refund of $197.00 that you requested. The customer service rep did issue you a credit of $45.13 that was refunded directly to your credit card. Enclosed is a check in the amount of $152.00 for the balance of the refund. Our Customer Service Manager will be following up with the customer service reps regarding the mistakes that were made on your account. Again, our apologies for the mistakes made on your account. Thank you for trying the Star Tribune’s Premium Digital Access subscription. Sincerely, Arden [redacted] Senior Vice President, Circulation
Initial Business Response /* (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 date. We 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, 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 12/28/2014 from a single copy insert by Bessie [redacted]. The subscription expire date was 6/28/2015. We also see that a renewal invoice was not sent to you until 8/16/2015, seven weeks past the expire date. You would not have known to call earlier to stop the subscription because you were not aware of the above process. The balance was written off on 10/5/2015, after your call to the customer service center. There was then an $8.00 payment noted on the account on 10/7/2015.
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 $8.00 that was paid on the account. We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you.
Sincerely,
Arden [redacted]
Senior Vice President, Circulation
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/09/11) */
Dear Ms. [redacted]:
We are in receipt of your complaint to the regarding the continued digital access/billing past the expire date and being sent to collections. We 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, email promotions, and website solicitations for new subscribers.
Upon reviewing your account, we see that you started a 26-week Premium Digital subscription on 8/11/2014 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 term. You would have had to check and agree to this statement when you signed up on the web prior to the subscription being accepted and started. You also received renewal invoices on 1/58/15 (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-payment. All 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 renew. We think the rep may have misunderstood and thought you were talking about not auto paying. All 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 /* (2000, 7, 2015/09/15) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Mr. [redacted]:First, our apologies for not getting back to you sooner, but with the holidays, there were several people unavailable to research your issue. Your subscription account was credited for the $3.00 past due amount, so there is no balance owing.Our gift card vendor shows that your gift...
card was sent to you promptly and redeemed in full on February 26, 2016. Sent to [redacted] at [redacted], St. Paul, MN 55125. If you have any further questions regarding the gift card, you can contact Jason [redacted] at ###-###-####.Sincerely,Arden [redacted]Senior Vice President, Circulation
According to our records, the StarTribune responded to this complaint on 8/31/17. Response attached. Please confirm receipt. Customer indicated he is satisfied with our response.
Thanks,
John
John [redacted]
Department Administrator, Circulation
StarTribune
I am rejecting this response because:
The response from the Startribune only addresses part of the complaint. It addresses the delivery placement issue. The other part of the complaint addresses the numerous requests to have a supervisor return my phone call. I requested many, many times to have a supervisor return my phone call and to date (20 March 2017) I still have not heard from them. Each time I requested a return phone call I was assured that the request would be forwarded and a supervisor in customer service or the department above customer service and I would receive a return call. Once when I called and actually got to talk to a supervisor he told me he would call me the next day , I'm still waiting for the return call. I am very frustrated and dissatisfied with their customer service and feel like I have been lied to. I would like to know why no supervisor in Customer Service or any supervisor above customer service will return my phone call requests.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/09/11) */
Dear Mr. [redacted]:
We are in receipt of your complaint regarding the continued delivery/billing past the expire date and being sent to collections. We 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.
Upon reviewing your account, we see that you have been a customer for periods of time since 1991. You utilized the above grace period more than once during this time. Your most recent subscription was a Sunday only subscription that started on 8/3/2014 at a low introductory rate from a direct mail offer that was sent to you. The form stated that delivery and billing would continue. You also received renewal invoices on 1/11/15 (three weeks prior to the expire date), 2/15/15, 5/15/15, and a final invoice on 5/2/15, when deliver was stopped for non-payment. All clearly indicated that subscriber needed to call to stop delivery (copies provide upon request). We also called and left a voicemail for you on 3/23/15 regarding your account being past due and did not hear back from you. Based on your account history, we would not have known that you wanted to stop without your calling.
You did not indicate that you did not receive the newspaper. The price had not increased on the invoices. We thank you for paying for the papers that you received.
Your concerns regarding our marketing practices were passed on to the Marketing Department.
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 /* (2000, 7, 2015/09/15) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
The purported voice mail was never received, and even if it was, by your own records that seems to be your only attempt in contacting us prior to submitting a $16 invoice to a collection agency. While I think that the renewal notice is rather misleading, we would have paid this bill without you resorting to the hard line tactics that your organization employed.
Your attempt to contact us was an extremely weak effort and we consider your follow up strategy to be extremely unsavory and unprofessional, akin to sending a hit man to bust your clients kneecaps for a debt rather than a more straight forward approach.
As a 23+ year customer, I would have expected better out of your organization and you would have had a much better possibility of retaining a customer in a market that is rapidly shrinking. We remain dissatisfied, however I'm marking your response as accepted.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/15) */
Dear Mr. [redacted]:
We are in receipt of your complaint regarding late and placement problems with the week day delivery. We apologize that you needed to take this to the Revdex.com for resolution.
Upon reviewing your account,...
we see many missed, late, and wrong location complaints since August. This is not acceptable and not the Premium Service that we want to give our customers. There are also many messages and notes to the Distributor regarding all these issues and responses that the Distributor was talking to the carrier
We contacted the Distributor directly about your continued poor service. The current carrier is doing two routes because of open routes and your route is the second one, which is the problem with the late delivery. The Distributor has proposed the following to resolve your issue:
- He will have a new carrier for your route within two weeks.
- He said that he will personally check your delivery until the time and placement are satisfactory.
Thank you for bringing your service issues to our attention and giving us the chance to correct them. Your account has been credited for two weeks of service.
Again, we are very sorry for the problems that you experienced. Thank you for being a long and loyal Star Tribune subscriber.
Sincerely,
Arden [redacted]
Senior Vice President, Circulation
I reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find the resolution is satisfactory to me.
October 16, 2017
[redacted]
[redacted]
Minneapolis, MN 55434
Re: Revdex.com Minnesota Case No: [redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted]:
We are in receipt of your Revdex.com complaint regarding...
StribExpress delivery dated October 16, 2017. I am sorry that you have had to contact us multiple times in an effort to receive this free, weekly publication.
StribExpress delivery was scheduled to start on July 16th. I’m pleased to learn that you find the publication to be of great value in your weekly shopping. I have contacted our Distributor in your area – he will work with your carrier to underscore the importance of delivering the publication to you each week.
Again, our apologies for the inconvenience you experienced. Thank you for bringing this to our attention and for being a StribExpress customer.
Sincerely,
Arden [redacted]
Senior Vice President, Circulation
cc: [redacted], Revdex.com Minnesota and North Dakota