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I ordered a one year subscription to the daily SJ Mercury for home delivery. The purchase was made from a high school student earning 'commissions' for college savings (I like to believe this is true). Anyway, the paper started arriving on schedule and then the bills started arriving. I paid the student and was told the payment was for a one year subscription. I am now receiving calls from out of area locations that are asking if I am a subscriber to the SJ Mercury. This is annoying and is making me increasingly uncomfortable. I have not paid any bills that arrived in the mail. Paper is still coming daily. Next call is to the subscription department.
Some student came to my door asking me to subscribe so that he can get some commission towards his studies. I signed up for 16 Sunday deliveries for $20. That guy didn't tell me that I need to explicitly cancel the subscription otherwise it will keep extending. I signed the form without observing this fine text below the application form (which is hard to observe).
Then I never got a single issue. No paper was delivered. Not even a single issue. Around four months later, I received a call from them asking for payment. I said I never received any and then they told me that I should have informed them if I have never got the paper delivered. And also they told me that the bill is due as it got extended after the completion of 16 weeks. Then I got surprised and really felt that I got deceived.
As no issue was delivered and I never gave my credit card details, I forgot about the subscription also. Is there any way to sue them? Is it the consumer's responsibility to let them know if the issue is NOT delivered? I mean is the consumer legally bound to inform them?
Are any of your issues regarding collections still ongoing? http://sanjose.bbb.org/business-reviews/Newspaper-Publishers/San-Jose-Mercury-News-in-San-Jose-CA-197037 now shows a different story that denbois' post a year and a half ago?
I had some "students" approach me this evening. Thing is, I'm a teacher at the school they claimed to be from. Since I know for a fact they lied about their school, I was unwilling to help them. I did offer to take the girl's name, and look her up at school so we could talk over better alternatives for college fundraising. She then refused to give me her name, and started to argue that this wasn't a scam. Her response and tone gave me the impression that these are paid employees claiming to be high school students.
Please complain directly to San Jose Mercury News. SJMN claims they contract out door-to-door sales to a third party, but SJMN manages the third parties closely and they are well aware of these aggressive sales tactics. The sales people even exclusively sell SJMN. So, SJMN is liable for these people trespassing (ignoring no solicitation signs and refusing to leave the property when told) and questionable sales tactics.
I have a contact at SJMN that you can complain to directly. Please call and complain to Bart. He needs to here it!
L. Bart Beaulieu
Circulation Sales & Marketing Manager
Bay Area News Group
[protected]
bbeaulieu@Bayareanewsgroup.com
They will call you forever trying to get you to resubscribe. I have asked them so many times to remove me from their call list and leave me alone. I am a terminal cancer patient and frequently in bad shape and expecting calls from doctors / hospitals, and the many sales agencies hired by the SJMC keep calling me at all hours of the day and night. Sometimes they are polite and lie that they will remove me from their call list, sometimes they are extremely rude. Despite asking to not be called anymore, they keep waking me up and interrupting my life many times per week. This is not how I want to spend my last year alive.
There are more than a hundred complaints of false advertising, questionable or illegal sales practices, and more listed on the BBB and on yelp, yet the BBB has them still accredited. I recommend complaining to the BBB that their accreditation is apparently meaningless when one of the BBB accreditation requirements is "Advertise Honestly", yet with over 100 complaints of this company using false advertising and sales techniques, they are still accredited?
File a complaint with the BBB.
Leave them a review on yelp.
Tell everyone you know in the bay area to avoid the mercury news at all costs.
If they come to your house, get their name, and call the police immediately.
If anyone reading this is a lawyer who would be interested in suing them, I'm sure there are hundreds of us who would gladly give you tons of money to get any sort of retribution against this company...
My heart goes out to the person who wrote the previous comment. These telemarketers really have no heart! How can they prey on someone who has to deal with cancer?
I have been dealing with the same problem. I got FOUR phone calls today from [protected]. I just got a phone call yesterday asking them to remove me from their list and countless times before that. I told him I'd report him to the FTC and he quickly hung up the phone. These phone calls have been going on for over a year.
They have my name and address from being subscribed to San Jose Mercury after a boy came to my door to sell the SJ Mercury newspaper to pay for college. Boy did I learn my lesson. I never even got a subscription, but just a ton of phone calls.
This probably isn't even the San Jose Mercury news, but a bunch of scammers. If it is San Jose Mercury, that's pretty embarrassing for them to stoop this low.
The paper arrives too late, often not until 6:30 or 6:40.
Spar Ave. San Jose
did not receive for Saturday paper, 450 west Dunne Morgan Hill
On Thursday, August 16, I did not receive my paper at 1179 Audrey Ave, Campbell. In addition, could you please ask the delivery service to toss my paper as close to my porch as possible instead of dropping it at the end of the driveway? I love my paper!
The scam is now a bit different. I received a call a year ago to subscribe for a year. I called in an cancelled before the term was over. The call went fine. The paper is still being delvered, and they now want me to pay for the whole year saying that I did not cancel in time.
My paper is either not here or very late. Please figure out the problem. I'm tired of not getting my paper delivered on time.
My paper is either not here or very late. Please figure out the problem. I'm tired of not getting my paper delivered on time.
I used to get my paper between 5:15-5:30 am. This enabled for me to read the paper while eating my breakfast. For the last of several months I have not received my paper until 5:40-6:00 am.
Would you contact my driver to see if he can delivery my paper earlier. I would like appreciate it!
Thanks,
Danny Aulman
Company can't supply a simple receipt of payment. Call them and they lead you to a website. They have no ability to give you a receipt by email or fax. Now I can see why newspapers are disappearing.
as of 0951am still no paper!
no paper in driveway today mercury news has been good about delivery except today 3/3
I have contacted MN customer support at least 7 times to complain that the app is not working. I have been told that the problem is being worked but cannot get a date when it will be resolved. I have asked to talk to someone in the IT organization responsible for solving the problem and have been told that is not possible.
No delivery many times , some wet and everywhere but on my ramp as requested. Calls are not working…
I been taking the San Jose Mercury News 7-day delivery at this same house for over 30 years.
Now retired is essential and deserved at this price of over $ 600!