The Times Picayune New Orleans Advocate
Reviews and Complaints

I have made numerous calls requesting that my addresses be removed from your free Parker delivery service. I have no intention of ever subscribing to this outdated form of media! Kindly cease littering my yard with your unwanted materials, unless you are willing to cover the expenses for my yard worker and sanitation pick-up fees.

Dear ACC# ***,

Thank you for your payment of $7.62, which we received on 11.4.21. This payment covers the period from 10.9.21 through 10.9.22.

We would like to inform you that, unfortunately, the Times-Picayune / The New Orleans Advocate Retention Team discontinued their service after the second week in February 2022.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.

Sincerely,
The Times-Picayune / The New Orleans Advocate Retention Team

I am extremely frustrated and beyond angry with my pre-paid subscription to The Advocate newspaper. Despite paying for it, I have not received my paper for a total of four days in the last 10 days, including today. This is causing a significant hardship for me as I am handicapped and unable to easily go out and purchase a newspaper. I have repeatedly called to complain, but have received no response or resolution. It is particularly frustrating to see that other houses on my block have received their newspapers while I have not.

I have been experiencing ongoing problems with the Advocate newspaper. Approximately 50% of the time, I do not receive my newspaper during each month. It is worth mentioning that I am only subscribed to receive the weekend editions. The Advocate's proposed solution to this issue is to add credits to the end of my subscription. However, these credits are not in the form of monetary compensation for the inconvenience caused. If I were to cancel my subscription due to the consistent performance issues on their end, I would not receive any credit back to my account. This means that I would lose all the remaining monetary credits on my subscription. It is frustrating to think that the Advocate would not suffer any financial loss if they fail to deliver the newspaper.

Despite multiple calls to the customer service of the Times Picayune Advocate in May and again in October , they continue to deliver a daily paper to my balcony. These papers accumulate as I am away for weeks at a time. I did not subscribe to the service initially, as I knew I would be absent for months. My next course of action would have been to explore legal options. My only request is for someone to address the issue of the accumulating papers. I hope you can assist me with this matter.

There is an article on a certain website that is not accurate and should be removed. It contains my address, which is also associated with a business. I have experienced identity theft twice, and this is causing significant problems for me. Moreover, the personal information provided is incorrect. I have already reached out to the Advocate, but they have refused to take it down. They advised me to contact the website and stated that they have the authority to remove it. However, my personal identity is at risk, and with a business located at that address, it is easy for people in the area to find me. This article must be taken down. I kindly request the assistance of the ComplaintsBoard.com in resolving this matter, as it has been unresolved for several years.

I have been a subscriber of the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate for many years. However, starting on January 25, a new carrier was assigned to my route. Since that day, I have not received a newspaper on nine occasions. I have repeatedly called to complain and requested the circulation manager to call me back each time, but unfortunately, they have not done so. My last request was made on April 1, and I am still waiting for that return call. Their consistent response has been, "We'll extend your subscription," but I am not interested in that because there is no way for me to tell if it has been extended. To make matters worse, I did not receive a paper on April 18 or April 19. Once again, I called and made the same request. I am extremely frustrated with this newspaper. This was never a problem when it was just the Times-Picayune. I would greatly appreciate your assistance in resolving this ongoing issue.

On 12/05, I received a notification stating that my account was paid until 1/12. I promptly paid the amount mentioned on the bill, which was $45.75, for a 6-month renewal. However, on 5/28, I received another notice stating that my account was only paid until 7/6. Confused by this discrepancy, I called the newspaper on 6/26 and spoke to a representative named Corinne. I inquired about why my subscription ended on the 6th instead of the 12th. Corinne explained that there had been a cost increase after I made my payment, and as a result, the newspaper deducted the additional days from my initial 6-month subscription. She confirmed that they had indeed received my payment of $45.75 in January for 6 months. Curious about whether the newspaper had taken into account a vacation stop I had requested, I asked Corinne about it. She informed me that a vacation stop had been recorded from 1/28 to 2/11. When I renewed my subscription in January , I specifically asked if I would receive credit for any vacation stops, and I was assured that I would. However, Corinne now informed me that I would not receive any credit for vacation stops. Based on this information, I believe that The Morning Advocate owes me for the 21 days of delivery beyond 7/6. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

We went on vacation and asked the provider to temporarily stop our service. We agreed to keep paying our fee during this time. When we returned on March 29, we requested that our service be resumed. However, up to this date, we have not received a paper. We have made three phone calls to the provider, and during the first call, we were satisfied with the response. Unfortunately, we still did not receive the product. On the subsequent three calls, we requested to speak to a supervisor. However, every time our call was transferred, it got disconnected. Even when we called back, the call was interrupted during the transfer to the supervisor. We want to continue receiving the product, but it has not been delivered. We believe we should be compensated for the failure to deliver the product since March 29. Today, we received a letter from the Advocate/Times-Picayune informing us about a gasoline surcharge they are charging us. Please consider this situation carefully. We have not received the product, yet they expect us to pay a gasoline surcharge when they have not fulfilled their agreement with us.

When the newspaper is not delivered, you are informed that a credit for that paper will be added to your account to extend your subscription. In 11 months of 2020, I experienced 17 instances where the paper was not delivered, prompting me to call and complain. I called on 12/15 to cancel my subscription effective 12/20. However, I was informed that I had already paid through 12/27 without receiving the 17 credits for the missed papers. Since I would be leaving the city for an extended period and wouldn't be able to read the newspaper, I requested a refund. Unfortunately, I was told that they do not issue credits for undelivered papers and instead offered to deliver the newspaper for free in January for 17 days. It seems that the credits are only given to customers when their subscription ends, and unless you terminate your subscription, you won't receive credit for the missed papers that were promised. They do not provide cash credits, only newspaper deliveries. I spoke to a Supervisor in the customer service department who informed me that, in reality, the credits are wiped out each year when the paper is delivered. They do not keep track of the credits and have to run a report to count the number of missed deliveries. If you put your subscription on hold for a vacation and then restart it, you won't receive credit. However, if you cancel your subscription for an extended vacation of a month or more, they also won't give you credit for the undelivered papers. This situation is similar to buying a quart of milk every day from the same grocery store and them not having milk one day but still taking your money.

Since April , I have been contacting the circulation department of this newspaper company to request that they do not deliver their free edition, called SPOTLIGHT, to my residence on Sundays and Wednesdays. I made four calls between April and August, yet I still received the paper on September 6th and September 9th. The reason I do not want the paper left on our lawn is because it has become increasingly difficult for me to walk from my front door to the curbside to pick it up. I rely on a wheelchair or walker, and disposing of the paper has become a challenge. Occasionally, a neighbor brings the paper and leaves it at my door, but I never requested it and have no use for it. I am frustrated that the Advocate does not listen to my plea to stop delivering the paper. I have been receiving this free edition for the past 27 years without complaint, but this year, due to my limited mobility, it has become an issue. The male and female employees at the circulation department have taken down my message, including my name and address, stating that I do not want the paper. I am curious as to why this newspaper company does not honor my request. I apologize for bothering ComplaintsBoard.com with this minor complaint, but it is truly bothersome to me. Additionally, I believe that this unwanted newspaper being forced upon us will create further environmental hazards in the future. I hope that ComplaintsBoard.com can help resolve this ongoing problem and finally put an end to the unwanted newspaper delivery on my lawn, which is far away from my door. Thank you for your assistance in addressing this issue.

I subscribed to the service at a rate of [insert missing information] per month on Nov 9th. They took [insert missing information] from my account on Nov 10th, Dec 1st, and again on Dec 26th. I called and [insert missing information] very rudely told me I had to pay extra for special editions. When I asked her why I wasn't told about this, she told me I should have read a statement in the [insert missing information]. I told her to cancel the service immediately because of hidden charges. She told me I had to keep the service for another 4 days, it didn't matter that I didn't want to spend my money on their [insert missing information]. Then I requested a supervisor who advised she would cancel the service that day. I also requested not to be contacted again by the service because they were acting like hoodlums and not like a business. On January 5th, I was contacted again so I cursed the representative out and sent another letter to the editor advising I haven't received my refund but they were calling me despite the [insert missing information] that I asked not to be contacted. They responded with another supervisor call and advised me I would receive my refund soon (not yet received). My only means of contacting them without talking with people like [insert missing information] is sending a letter to the editor and even then I'm receiving ignorant responses from someone who has to have the last word. I don't care which department you send my letter to, just send it. They are very ignorant and acting like they have a right to continue contacting me, but I will get an attorney because I will not be harassed. If they are not calling about this complaint, don't call. This is the second time I canceled the service since the advocate took over and the representative tried to stop me from canceling. You say the calls are recorded, listen to the call on December 26 between myself and [insert missing information]. It should be used on how not to treat people.

I went online to make a one-year subscription payment of $383, but when I checked my credit card account, it showed $493. I called Advocate Billing and they informed me that there was a rate increase and they couldn't do anything about it. So, I contacted customer service and explained the situation. They apologized and promised that someone would call me back. However, despite calling every day for three days, I received the same response that someone would call me back, but they never did. Frustrated, I called again and decided to cancel my one-year subscription. We made the payment on April 7, and canceled on April 17. I'm not sure if I misheard or if the customer service representative misspoke, but I thought they said they would refund $381 to my credit card. This would be a difference of $112 for only 10 days of receiving papers. To confirm what was said, I called back and spoke to a different representative who couldn't provide me with the exact refund amount. As a result, I plan to contact my credit card company and dispute the charges.

On April 1, I contacted subscriber services via email to report multiple missed deliveries. Despite previously requesting that the carrier address the issue, no action was taken. It became a hassle to constantly call whenever we didn't receive the paper. There were instances when we realized later in the day that the paper hadn't been delivered, as our subscription only covered Wednesday and Sunday papers. Unfortunately, the email sent on April 1st received only an unhelpful auto-reply response. On April 16, my husband spoke to Katie over the phone, who assured him that someone would return his call within 48 hours. However, no one reached out within that timeframe. On April 18, he spoke to Health, followed by Tiffany on April 20, Sunny on April 22, and Darvis on April 28. During all these conversations, we were informed that the matter would be escalated to the finance department and that someone would contact us, but we never received any callbacks. On April 29, my husband spoke to Summer, who rudely claimed that we had cancelled the paper and therefore wouldn't be refunded. We cancelled our subscription because constantly calling and not getting any resolution had become a burden. We had given them multiple opportunities to address the delivery issues, but were told that they couldn't do anything since the carrier was contracted. It didn't make sense for us to continue paying for a newspaper that we weren't receiving as per our payment. This was our second year subscribing to the advocate, and we had already prepaid $65.75 on Jan 17, 2020 for a year-long subscription. I will also be disputing this charge with my credit card company.