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Comment by Swenrekcah | Hacker News Reader

I can fully attest to the quality of the Economist but I caution anyone to subscribe because they don’t provide any way to easily unsubscribe.

It’s either to call some phone number or attempt it via live chat. I tried the second option and the representative just went on with the script trying to fatigue me out of it, no matter what I said.

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My local library has a certain number of electronic subscriptions, so I am able to read The Economist on my iPad with the Libby app for "free" (i.e. paid for by by local taxes).

I would GLADLY pay for a print subscription, because I greatly prefer physical magazines over digital. But whether it's magazines, satellite radio, or whatever... I'm just not subscribing to anything known for not letting people go.

The economist cancellation process is an email last time I did it (I subscribe in spurts). Not as ideal as a button but not as egregious as requiring a phone call or something.

I sent them three separate emails over the course of three weeks in addition to the failed online chat cancellation.

Never a response.

I’ve actually had this experience with them before but thought they had gotten better, but I guessed I’ve learned.

Their email responsiveness to anything other than a cancellation is pretty good though.

When it comes to magazine subscriptions, I just cancel payment via credit card dispute, it auto-resolves itself. Generally I frown upon this kind of thing but yeah it's so hard to cancel that you sort of have to pick the nuclear option with them.

Same here, but I have no ethical qualms about going nuclear. I don’t have time to run the maze of bs dark patterns that companies concoct to try to force me into paying them.

Whenever I’m trying to cancel anything, if there isn’t an obvious and easy way to do so, I just send an email to whatever customer help/etc. mailbox I can find notifying them of the cancellation with 30 days notice. In the mail I tell them that after 30 days I will claw back any payment via my credit card.

I’ve only had to do it twice, and only had to claw back 1 payment, but I’ve never had an issue.

I've always subscribed through a third party (DiscountMags) and it's been painless. In fact I've had the opposite problem, where my Economist doesn't show up one week and I start cursing the USPS until I realize it's because I forgot to renew.

Hopefully the FTCs actions last year will put an end to the kind of cancellation hell you describe. At least for US customers anyway.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/10/ftc-r...

I also subscribe to The Economist through DiscountMags. They have a price lock feature now where they will auto-renew you at the same price as the previous term. I locked in a print+digital deal a couple years ago and now it's set and forget. Typically, they renew you about 2-3 months before the old expiration, so there's no risk of missing issues and any leftover time gets added onto the new subscription period.

No affiliation, just a very satisfied customer.

I subscribe to the Economist. My subscription lasts one year, and doesn't automatically renew. I get renewal reminders and renew at my leisure. None of that arguing with people on the phone.

My favorite Saturday night activity when I was living in Lausanne was to go to McDonalds with that week’s economist and just read it over a prolonged dinner. With was 2006, and both the magazine and meal cost me 10 CHF each! The Economist’s BigMac index was pretty accurate and, at the time, very ironic to me.

If I were going to subscribe to a print magazine, I'd pay via check, assuming they will allow that.

Be careful with that. There may very well be fine print that allows them to continue taking funds after the initial period, same as with a credit card. A personal check (in the US) contains all the info a company needs to debit your bank account.

Pay with a cashier check or money order.

That’s precisely what I do for the economist and WSJ.

Tell them you're moving to an unspecified international location. Usually that's a script flowchart path that actually allows them to cancel you.

Having a British accent is great for this. I just say ‘I’m moving back to England’ and it’s like a magic spell.

Makes up for being complemented on my English ‘for an immigrant’.

I cannot stand that dark pattern.

I just email to say I'm unsubscribing and then cancel the payment, if they want to send me free stuff, that's their problem

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