The Chicago Tribune was reported to the Deceptive Design Tip Line over its subscription cancellation. According to the report, a subscription can be established online quite easily, and a subscriber can even manage their address, place vacation holds, and report missed papers online. However, the report states that cancelling a subscription cannot be done online and requires a phone call only when the customer service centre is open. It adds that staff will try to dissuade the subscriber from cancelling by not honouring the request, for example by saying they will leave the subscription active “for your convenience” so the subscriber can call again the next month, even when the subscriber is trying to prevent rebilling.
‹ All examples Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune: Difficult to cancel subscription by phone
“The Chicago Tribune allows you to establish a subscription online (quite easily) and even manage your subscription address, vacation holds, and report missed papers online. HOWEVER, they do not allow you to cancel your subscription online, this requires a phone call and only when their customer service center is open. They will also try to dissuade you from canceling by not honoring your request (eg. “I’m going to go ahead and leave this active for your convenience and then you can call next month to cancel”) even if trying to prevent rebilling.”