The Athletic HQ Reviews 264

I thought I had cancelled the automatic renewal for my annual subscription but evidently had not - according to The Athletic. Less than 24 hours after the renewal, after I received a text message regarding the charge from my credit card bank, I sent an email to the Athletic's support staff explaining what happened and asking for a cancellation and refund. They refused. I sent another email saying I was disappointed with their response and I would let people know about their policy via social media channels. Then they changed their minds and issued me the reimbursement. Either way, its not very good customer service. Most top notch companies that really do care about customer satisfaction would have issued the refund on the first request.

This company cheated me. I signed up for a special and when it ran out they charged my credit card for a full year at 4 times the price! I wrote for a refund and they said I should have read the small print and refused to give me a refund. I'm furious they can get away with this. Any honorable and honest company would refund the money to unsatisfied customers. bmower, Utah

They take payments from your card without any notice whatsoever. When you bury this you receive a generic email outlining their no refunds policy. Shameful practice.

Charged £60 despite not agreeing to auto renewal. No way to contact them for a refund and no prior notice of renewal.

Don’t bother signing up, the content is average at best and they will eventually charge you full price with no notice.

Another victim of an autorenewal for £60 which is impossible to cancel and was not notified by email.
Clicking on cancel my subscription then confirms it wont renew again in 2024 - yet no way of cancelling for the year ahead.
Complaint made to an email address that replies to say there will be no response.

Been a subscriber for many years but that auto renew subscription with a £60 charge with no warning is just totally wrong. I have cancelled my membership for the following year. A shame because I enjoyed the writing.

As many have mentioned already, product auto-renews without warning and company refuse a refund, even when emailed on the same day to try and cancel the service.

Many other yearly subscriptions I have used have offered a refund once the product has auto-renewed if you get in touch in the first week, disappointing that the Athletic do not offer this.

Very disappointed. Unsubscribed so my subscription wouldn't autorenew. Then £60 went out of my bank. Been trying to contact them via social media and email and surprise surprise, no one wants to get back to me. Don't use The Athletic unless you like being ripped off guys!

Non-existent Customer Service. Service auto-renews at a hugely inflated price, and they offer no refunds even on the same day as the payment when the service has not been used.

The Athletic is supposed to be a sports channel but became more and more about Gay issues/Gay rights.Not interested in all that malarkey
so not renewed my subscription.

The auto renewal is legal robbery! I went to cancel last year as never ever use the site…it says stay on for a year and it’s 75% off, so I left it for another year…but when it comes to renew the following year they don’t tell you…first thing you know is they have taken a whole years full price subscription up front!!! Absolutely disgusting

Like so many others, signed up to a deal and now just had £60 taken with ZERO warning of the upcoming renewal. Now stuck in an email loop trying to cancel and get a refund

Like others below, cancelled sub but took payment anyway, have cancelled again. Beware!

Came onto this site out of interest to see if this was an isolated case, where I'd been charged for a subscription despite cancelling my account months ago. Seems like I'm just another person in a long line of former customers scammed out of money by this company.

I put in a cancellation request few days after last years sneaky auto renewal, to find that they have gone ahead and auto renewed me again!!!!

I also have screenshot to show my original cancellation.

Really is wild behaviour. Will be taking all steps to reclaim refund in charge backs.

Charged account 2 days after notifying that husband had passed away. Support@ email is unmonitored. Support online does not get back to you. It is an automated message. Not how to do business! August 14, 2023 Upgrading review because they were kind enough to refund payment after I found a way to contact them.

They charged me for a one year auto renewal for 59.99.
I had it for 1 month the year before for 9.99. I never had a one year contract so hw could there be an auto renewal. I have not been able to talk to a human. Just got a form e mail back saying no refunds. And no phione numbers work. Was apparently bought out by New York Times. Enough said.

I appreciate that people have had problems with auto renewal. I cancelled early once and then got a better deal. It took a day of pestering them but eventually I managed it. It's a shame because the content is really good and the app is very user friendly, it's well worth paying a small amount a year for such good journalism. They spoil themselves with the customer service though which doesn't make sense. The products good and if the price is right it shouldn't have to be that way.

They have a openly homophobic "pundit" writing Fantasy Premier League stuff on their payroll. The man in question is on Twitter @FPL_Salah

Terrible business practices. Charged me 3X what I paid the year before and wouldn't let me cancel. They don't care about loyalty, they just want to steal a few extra bucks out of you and move on to someone else.