Barron'sReviews 53

I always thought of Barron's as a reputable company so when I came across an article from them I really wanted to read, I didn't hesitate to sign up for the $1 trial period, since I could "cancel at any time". Well good luck cancelling! There's no way to cancel online! They make you call them, and of course only during business hours. I've been on-hold 19 min. Now, listening to terrible hold music and repeated bouts of "Due to heavy call volume, you may experience longer hold times", blah blah. It's 2PM PST on Wed. So I don't know why it would be unusually heavy. So while I'm on hold waiting for my chance to speak to someone to cancel (20+ min. Now), what better way to spend my time than to write a negative review about how pissed-off I am? Since I'm still waiting (23 min.) I tried logging in to change my payment method to a debit Mastercard with no available balance so the next payment would fail, but of course there's no place to change my payment method. AVOID THIS COMPANY!

One would think a supposedly respectable company like Barron's would provide excellent customer service and make it as easy, as most sites do, to alter or cancel subscriptions. This is most definitely not the case with Barron's. They want to hook you in and make it terribly inconvenient to cancel.

I tried to cancel a 1-month trial using their website, where I discovered that they have obviously gone to great lengths to hide this option. So, I finally sent them an email and received a reply saying they only accepted cancelation if you phone them. Meanwhile, they sneakily charged my credit card for the first month, even though I canceled the free trial by email within the 30 days. They then refused to issue a refund.

This is not about a $20 charge for me. This is about the shocking lack of ethics this company has shown.

As a result of this horrific customer service, I also canceled my subscription to the Wall Street Journal (all part of the same company), as I have no desire to have any association with such a surprisingly sleazy company.

I have lured by their initial 3 months subscription for $13.20. Their articles are brief and easy to read on my mobile phone. I haven't try their stock recommendations yet. I don't mind paying for good content. But when I find out the only way you can cancel is by phone, it really turns me off. I live it Australia and their phone number is connected to a service centre in Hong Kong. I am surprised for a respected news site, they have to make it so hard to cancel. Now I am stuck with them for a year at US$52.

You have to call them to cancel subscription! The customer service guy was super rude sounded like an arrogant interviewer. Almost push me to stay in subscription. After the call when i tried to rate the call he just cut off the line. Will never go back

Transferred over the phone four times, waited 45 minutes in total to be told that the subscription renewal fee could not be refunded even though it was processed three days before the renewal date. I was very polite in my response and conveyed to them that it would not be acceptable for me to take on this charge with my credit card, and that I would dispute the charge. Somehow that worked and he put me on hold for another 20 minutes before telling me they will refund the ~$21 charge. Love the magazine, but the billing and customer service departments need some serious work.

I called to cancel my subscription on February 3rd. I was subsequently charged on February 15th, and again on March 15th. When I called to dispute this, the customer service rep said she could only refund me for one month but would have a manger call me back. One week later-- no call back. I called again. The customer service rep again said she could not do anything, but a manger would call me back. Finally a manager called me back and said she would have to go and listen to my recorded call from February 3rd to verify that I actually tried to cancel. Terrible customer service. Oh, and no surprise-- that manager also never called me back. Finally I gave up trying and submitted the claim to my credit card company and was instantly refunded for the months I was incorrectly charged. Shame on Barron's.

I traded airline points for a subscription, and the delivery of Saturday weekly has been poor the paper has arrived about 60%of the time. When calling customer service all I get is a credit, one person said they would stop delivering through the newspaper delivery service and begin mailing it to me, but that has not changed, so at the end of one of the most tumultuous weeks of the market I cannot access the info, because no deliver, and because I used airline points I cannot access it online when I put in my account number. It is poor that you expect me to subscribe after giving me such poor service

After being a subscriber for a few months I noted the following:
I was never sent an invoice or reminder that I was being charged.
I got a notification saying that my card had failed, so that let me know I was being charged.
I went to canel online but found that I was not able to cancel unless I called in.
So the phone number given for my country was invalid and the link to other phone numbers doesn't go anywhere useful. You can't even email them about cancellation, it can only be about renewal.
I cannot delete my payment information and so I have to cancel my card to stop being charged.
I wish I had read the other reviews before signing up and putting my card details into this website.

I first went online to report that I did not receive the paper. Did so the second week. When I tried the third week I got a message that I would have to call Customer Service. I have called them THREE weeks in a row and no paper. Didn't get a paper this past weekend either! I'm not calling this week because I have better things to do Christmas week. But, I will be calling to cancel my subscription in January when my PRE-PAID so-called "trial" period is up.
Gerushka in Michigan