Courier Journal
reviews and complaints

My newspaper subscription with The Courier Journal has been pretty good until three months ago . We must have a new carrier because he throws my newspaper on the driveway . Who does that anymore ? I have a box under my mailbox just for the Courier Journal . By throwing the paper on the driveway , it either gets wet or stolen . I have called the Couier several times but the problem is never resolved . I enjoy my paper and look forward to reading it every morning but I will cancel if this problem isn't resolved.

I've had a digital access account for years. Starting in October when I log into my account it no longer shows my name and my account information. It shows Mr. *** and all of his information. I've made numerous phone calls to the customer service number and no one will help get this issue resolved. I've also sent several emails. All of Mr *** account information is somehow tied to my email. I'm wondering if this is a security breech on their end. I cannot even change any of this information under My Account on the app. I've also asked for someone to call me back and that I want a credit to my account. I cannot get anyone to call me.

The Courier-Journal sends me one to two unwanted email solicitations a day. I have called them three times in the last month to remove my email. I didn't sign up for the solicitations and I am already a subscriber to their paper. Every email is "My Last Chance to Get the Paper for $1". I emailed their Executive Editor, *** who responded she would have my name removed, but yet the emails keep coming. This is illegal to keep sending unwanted solicitations to a personal email after I have made multiple attempts to be removed from their promotional mailing list. Every Gannett rep that I have spoken to assures me I will no longer receive emails, but they keep coming. Can you help?

I received an email from the Courier Journal advertising a 72 hour flash sale offering unlimited digital access for one year for $39. I clicked on their link and to subscribe, it was $59 per year. I called and gave them the promo code of W-12 from the email and they said it must be an error. They would not honor the offer. I am copying and pasting some or all of the email so you can see it. Sale Ends Today Courier Journal 72 Hour Sale Get unlimited digital access for only $39 for one year. VIEW MY OFFER Display images to show real-time content Your subscription includes Award-winning local and national news Binge-worthy podcasts and newsletters Up-to-the-minute mobile news alerts Customer Service: *** Mention promo code W-12

I called January 7,2021 to cancel my subscription after I saw on January 7,2021 that they raised the price of my monthly subscription from $4.50 to $18.02. When I called I was told I'd receive a refund on the $18.02 since I canceled. I called back on January 12 because a refund still hadn't been processed on my credit card. I was told that $18.02 was January's charge. I replied I canceled and my paper delivery was already stopped by January 10 so I shouldn't pay for the whole month of January. I was then told they would refund me $13.51 since I did receive one paper in January. That was fine and the refund was supposed to be processed January 12. I just checked my credit card on January 18th and there still isn't a refund.

On July 20, I contacted the Courier Journal at *** about cancelling my subscription due to the recent addition of a $5 paper statement fee. In order to keep me as a customer, ***. offered to continue my current subscription at an all inclusive rate of $19.15 for 12 months. I accepted her offer and asked for an email confirming our agreement. The email I received stated my new monthly rate was $9.16 and it was only good for one month. When I called back to the Courier Journal on July 21,2021, *** said he could not find anything in my file from ***. and instead offered to continue my subscription at a much higher rate of $30.67 for the upcoming 12 months which included a $5 paper statement fee and $5 for the premium edition.

I have sent the 3 notifications that i didnt agree to a subscription. I agreed to a 1 time charge anything after that is fraudulent. The last three emails ive sent have requested that they stop charging my card and take the information out of their system. They keep sending a generic reply that they dont cancel accounts via email that i must call but I dont have the ability to call them during business hours due to my hours of employment and have explained that to them. I didnt call when i authorized the 1 time charge. I also want this done by email so I have records of my contacting them. I filed a dispute with my cardholder and they charged my card again after that dispute. I want all charges they have made to my card refunded to me as my cardholder is only able to return 2 charges because they only go back 60 days and i didnt notice the charges for months because i rarely use this card. Im attaching my repeated requests to stop charging me.

Hello ComplaintsBoard.com Louisville, I subscribed to the Courier-Journal newspaper for 40 years, but decided to cancel completely in March . Since then, I have instructed my bank to refuse auto-pay transactions with the CJ. Beginning in April and continuing to this week, I have received numerous invoices and other communication stating we owe them money. For April and going forward. I have called the CJ office in Louisville 3 times, and each time the lady who takes my call assures me that my account has been closed, we have a zero balance and we are no longer subscribers. I am tired of going back to them to reconcile this problem. Their communication is to me harassment and completely unnecessary. We always pay our bills as we have an excellent credit rating. I believe the fact that I wrote to the CJ editorial staff expressing my displeasure with their opinions may be causing them to try to damage my credit? Can you please help? Thank you for your kind consideration.

In April I received a letter from the Courier-Journal newspaper, signed by ***, that stated effective 5/3 my subscription was increasing to $34 per month plus applicable taxes. $34 + 6% tax = $36.04 per month. From May to December , I was routinely charged more than this amount although the amount varied each month. I called their customer service on 12/21 and was told the additional charges were for the premium edition. The letter I received in April made no mention of the additional charge for premium edition nor had I ever heard this term. I searched my online account with the CJ and the only place the premium edition is mentioned is in the FAQs. Even then, it doesn't mention how much the premium edition is. I can get no breakdown in my account for the monthly charges, only the total for each month. This is deceptive advertising and in my opinion unethical (and perhaps illegal). All charges need to be transparent to the consumer.

It has been nearly a week since I have received home delivery of the Courier-Journal (CJ). For the past five days I have reached out to the CJ, and each time have been assured that delivery will resume the following day. I have used all CJ customer service options--phone, email, chat, and their website to report this problem. Their standard suggestion is to view the newspaper online. But if that was my preference, why pay for delivery of a physical newspaper? It is quite apparent that the CJ has outsourced their customer service and are indifferent to subscriber complaints. I am not alone in reporting this type of problem to the ComplaintsBoard.com. I have subscribed to the CJ for twelve years and want to continue home delivery. But at present, the CJ is being dishonest and unethical in their business practices. I am hoping that you will be able to help resolve this issue. This is the first time I have ever made a complaint to the ComplaintsBoard.com. I appreciate your time and thank you for all you do for consumers.

I am complaining on the behalf of my *** who has been receiving the Courier Journal for over 50 years. I have spoken with CJ since April to reduce monthly rate due to limited income. Each encounter has ended in a different conversation about rates. Each individual has been professional but gives different information. Each return call (April,May, June x2) from me there has been no record of previous call. I was given a yearly subscription rate on 6/18 confirmation #***@ $231.24 which we agreed to pay. *** received a bill on 7/11 for $30.97. Called CJ today 7/13 and was told that there is not a yearly subscription rate but *** could pay $29.50 for the month of July/August for inconvenience and to call back in 2 months if rate goes up. ENOUGH! There are Senior Citizen who only outlet currently is the CJ and who are on limited incomes. CJ needs to resolve this and provide consistent info for their subscribers. Changing the amount every 2 months for home delivery for limited income individuals is WRONG! Regards!

In August, I enrolled in an online subscription to the Courier Journal, which I set up to be automatically deducted on my credit card. The first 3 months were 1.05 per month and then it went up to 9.53 a month. I noticed in December after reviewing my credit card in detail that they were billing me twice each month. When I called them they admitted that the account had been duplicated and assured me that I would receive a refund. My first call was around December 19th. After I did not receive my refund, I called again a couple of weeks later and they assured me that I would receive the credit to my credit card the next day. After 2 weeks I called again February 1. They assured me this time that it would be taken care of in 5-7 business days. The refund is still not on my account. I believe they owe me 22.21. Although this is not a large amount, at this point I believe that they intentionally made 2 account hoping that I would not notice and that they are likely doing the same to multiple customers. I believe that they are hoping that I will not notice that I have not received the refund. I told them during the last call that if I did not receive my money that I was going to contact ComplaintsBoard.com and if no response, I will go to the local news and social media to expose this scam.

In March, I called the Courier-Journal newspaper regarding charges on my business ***. I don't know when these charges started, but as a business, we were being separately charged for 3 subscriptions rather than 2. I was told from the man who answered the phone (obviously from home) that he couldn't help me. I called the customer service line and nobody answered or it rang and went to a dial tone. I then opened up a claim with *** and they contacted the Courier-Journal, who refunded the charges for the month to our 2 cards and attached documentation that was illegible because the font was too tiny to read. I called *** again and they reopened the claim. I again recieved the exact same refund from them with the same documentation. *** has reopened the case again. I tried to call the Courier again on Monday and still couldn't get through. I emailed them my complaint and they responded, but didn't address my questions. I responded to that email 6 days ago and have had no response. My question isn't that hard. Where is the newspaper charge on my card being delivered? I do not have a subscription. When did these charges start? This whole time I thought this charge was for boss' subscription to her home. She's paying for her own subscription. I have again emailed them today. I don't know what else to do but contact you guys.

In May I received a letter from ***, Senior Director Customer Service and Subscriptions for the Courier-Journal. It informed me that on June 3, my next billing date, "your subscription rate will be $48.00 per month, plus applicable taxes." I assumed this was about a rate increase but was rather sure I had been paying more than that for some time. As I am on "EZ-Pay", I only see a charge on my credit card. I went online and found my monthly rate was $44,18. I also found I had paid $52.46, $54.53, $57.02, $51.63 (credit for missed paper), $55.21, and $55.58 for the last 6 months. I then went online to a chat with a representative. After about an hour I was told I had a "premium" edition because I got some puzzles. They cost $4.35 per month and I do not believe I ever ordered them. I had received them very few times and assumed they were trying to get me to order them.I said I did not want the "premium" edition but wanted the regular edition. I was told there was no such thing. I was also told about the $3.00 charge for special issues such as on Thanksgiving. I was also told about a "Change in Del. Service, Rate, or Length". The only changes I have had in years was in the person delivering the paper. I said I was not that upset about the increase but was upset because I could not find out what I was paying for. Even my cable bill, which has bunches of "fees", lists all of the items that add up to my total bill each month. I don't like some of the charges but I like the transparency, something that the CJ seems to be missing. On May 16 I wrote to *** and described pretty much what I have here. I feel like there has been enough time that has passed to expect some sort of a response but have gotten none. I have taken the CJ for over 60 years and feel like I deserve to be treated better.

I have been a long time on and off subscriber to the courier for at least 16 years and had never had a major issue. I started my subscription again when I moved here last year. The paper was continually delivered at the end of our long drive in an open plastic bag where the paper got soaked often. I cancelled via email August 10th and received a reply from them noting my desire to cancel but said I had to call. At the time I was very ill and had been since the October before and did not feel well enough to call. I did call on Nov. 6th after I recovered. They sent me an email stating that they were sorry I was having service issues and would talk to the carrier. Then they called me on Nov 9th asking me to come back. They continued to charge me. I called my credit card people telling them of the issue and they refunded me for three charges. And the Card company put a block on their charges for Dec on. The Courier continued to try to charge me, and all this time they continue to deliver the often wet unwanted Sunday edition even this past Sunday. Jan. they sent me an email that said "We have identified an internal processing error. Your payment for The Courier-Journal subscription fee that was due in December was never processed through your bank." Then they promptly tried to charge me again which my card blocked. Then they sent me a solicitation and then another telling me I can opt out for those and if I have an active subscription to cancel it. I relied that I had cancelled it and then then sent another email stating I had a balance and then another saying that it had already been cancelled due to non pay on Nov 11th. I of course have all the credit card receipts and phone ledger copies supporting my information. I want them to quit sending me a paper and to quit trying to charge me and to acknowledge in writing either via letter or email that it has been cancelled and that I do not owe them anything and then to quit sending me those weird emails.