Beware of GreatMagazines.co.uk Rolling Subscriptions

jingo_man

Having previously bought a 6-month (6 issue) subscription as a gift for a family member, I was surprised to see a payment going out of my bank account today.

Contacting the company, it turns out it was actually a direct debit that was setup and their default is to have this as an ongoing subscription, no matter how its presented to the customer on the website. I recall it looked like I was making a one-off payment for this at the time, not an on-going subscription.

They refused to make any refund on this, but they did cancel the subscription for future issues. Luckily I caught it in time at the bank, and they were able to block this.

If you use this company, please ENSURE YOU CANCEL THE SUBSCRIPTION BEFORE THE END OF THE TIME PERIOD YOU SPECIFY.

scottishperson2

jingo_man wrote: »

Having previously bought a 6-month (6 issue) subscription as a gift for a family member, I was surprised to see a payment going out of my bank account today.

Contacting the company, it turns out it was actually a direct debit that was setup and their default is to have this as an ongoing subscription, no matter how its presented to the customer on the website. I recall it looked like I was making a one-off payment for this at the time, not an on-going subscription.

They refused to make any refund on this, but they did cancel the subscription for future issues. Luckily I caught it in time at the bank, and they were able to block this.

If you use this company, please ENSURE YOU CANCEL THE SUBSCRIPTION BEFORE THE END OF THE TIME PERIOD YOU SPECIFY.

http://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/faq.html#4

How do I renew my magazine subscription?
Whether you are taking out a subscription for yourself or as a gift, we will send you a reminder before the end of your subscription. Nothing will be sent to the recipient unless the subscription expires. You can either subscribe at www.greatmagazines.co.uk/renew or complete and return the renewal form you receive with payment or call our Credit Card hotline on UK - 0844 543 8008, International - +44 (0) 1858 438866. Please note if you pay by Direct Debit you do not need to renew your subscription as your contract will continue until you cancel it with ourselves and your bank.


MY ADVICE IS TO READ THE T&Cs OF THE COMPANY YOU ARE SIGNING UP TO.

pmduk

I think you will find that this is pretty standard for magazine subecriptions.

Azari

scottishperson2 wrote: »

http://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/faq.html#4

How do I renew my magazine subscription?
Whether you are taking out a subscription for yourself or as a gift, we will send you a reminder before the end of your subscription. Nothing will be sent to the recipient unless the subscription expires. You can either subscribe at www.greatmagazines.co.uk/renew or complete and return the renewal form you receive with payment or call our Credit Card hotline on UK - 0844 543 8008, International - +44 (0) 1858 438866. Please note if you pay by Direct Debit you do not need to renew your subscription as your contract will continue until you cancel it with ourselves and your bank.


MY ADVICE IS TO READ THE T&Cs OF THE COMPANY YOU ARE SIGNING UP TO.

Reading the terms and conditions would not have helped since the piece you quoted was in the FAQ.

Jinx

Thats a very interesting thread - I am sure it is this company I signed up with for my daughters Cosmo subscription and I thought it was paid for a year as a one-off; shall need to check nearer xmas as I dont want it as a rolling subscription.

BigAndy_79

pmduk wrote: »

I think you will find that this is pretty standard for magazine subecriptions.

Absolutely. The vast majority of subscription-based products work in a similar vain...

Azari

pmduk wrote: »

I think you will find that this is pretty standard for magazine subecriptions.

BigAndy_79 wrote: »

Absolutely. The vast majority of subscription-based products work in a similar vain...

Which is what makes this such a useful thread.

Everyone who purchases one of these subscriptions must initially do it for the first time and it's useful for them to be made aware of this so they do not get caught out.

Sharon87

Well my brother got me a subscription for xmas using Tesco Clubcard points, which wasn't an automatic renewal, they just sent a few letters asking if I wanted to continue it. Probably because I don't think he provided his bank details.

DCFC79

pmduk wrote: »

I think you will find that this is pretty standard for magazine subecriptions.

For any magazine subscriptions ive taken out it continues until i request it cancelled and it is cancelled when i email them to say to cancel it, not had any problems yet using this method.

Moglex

DCFC79 wrote: »

For any magazine subscriptions ive taken out it continues until i request it cancelled and it is cancelled when i email them to say to cancel it, not had any problems yet using this method.

That's what I'd expect to happen if I took out a subscription for myself. That's what I would want to happen. On the other hand, 'Gift' subscriptions are usually sold as '12 months of xxx' and any competent, honest, company should make absolutely certain that you know that they are going to continually extend the subscription since this is probably not what you expect when buying a 12 month subscription as a present for someone. Putting something in the faq is not sufficient.

DVardysShadow

Great Magazines? They are muppets. I had a subscription to one of their magazines. I paid by cheque, because of this issue. I paid for the next year on their renewal notice and because they did not process my renewal quickly my cheque did not clear 10 days before the next issue date. So they punished me by missing one magazine.

When I rang them, they could not sort out the missing issue and blamed me for not having a DD. I et the subscription lapse the next year.

Several months later they rang me to offer me a renewal at a discount. When I explained the situation, they offered half price. I refused. Frankly, I found it insulting that they withheld one issue and were not even prepared to give me the benefit of the doubt over my cheque for just one issue when they were too slow to process, but they were prepared to offer me a half price subscription.