Their website is unusable. Let's talk about the ads. First, you get ads even if you paid for a subscription- they don't have an 'ad-free' tier. I would pay twice, maybe three times the normal subscription fee to not ads. Think of the models by companies like Netflix and Amazon prime- you pay for the baseline service and you get SOME ads; there are additional tiers where you will find no ads. Second, the ads make it impossible to read the articles. You'll spend more time scrolling past the ads than actually reading the article. The other issue is that the ads often load slower than the article. You'll be reading, an ad will finally load and push whatever you were currently reading off the screen, and you then have to go find your place again for it to happen all over again. It's infuriating. Third, it is often unclear what is a real article and what is going to send me to a website that is a scam or filled with malware. If the Record Searchlight used a reputable ad broker (meaning that it would show only verified, legitimate ads) I would be understanding (see point above about an ad-free subscription tier). I haven't had to be so diligent to avoid clicking on an ad since the late 90s. There aren't many options for finding out what's going on locally and it's really disappointing that this source of information is basically unusable. I hope they get their act together. I would be happy to talk to their IT or ad departments on how to better improve the experience, just reply to this comment. I hope they can get their act together. read more

Growing up i was always excited to read the paper. Sports, comics, and stocks. Year after year the paper kept getting thinner and more expensive. What was a fair and balanced paper has become politically motivated and does not reflect the views of most members of this community. They do very little local news as well. read more

This business doesn't even deserve 1 star but I had to get the review to the public this way. I would highly recommend to not waste your time or money to have anything to do with the Record Searchlight. As a 40+ year subscriber I have had it. Living in the same town as the business but having to talk to someone across the world about complaints is just what they want. Their bill get to us alright each month but we have to learn another language to talk to some one. I don't have a complaint to the content of the paper. My complaint is NO customer service and being billed for a product that I am not receiving daily. Save your money folks and watch the news on TV. read more

Started an on line subscription over two years ago. Then at the beginning of December the subscription price more then doubled to $29.97. Was told that the discounted subscription ended and now I had to pay full price! There was no notice that it would increase. I cancelled subscription and requested a full refund. No refund and it has been over 4 weeks. This news service is not the best. Often reporting stories that Inhave gotten from other online sources at no cost. I don't recommend it for a local news source. read more

This is the only real newspaper in Redding... ...but that doesn't make it worth subscribing to. The Record Searchlight has a pretty bad reputation with the l Redding locals, who've come to calling this paper the 'Wretched Searchlight'... The paper has a long and storied history. It's now, though, little more than a City Hall and McConnell Foundation back-patter. Very few journalists on staff to begin with, and most of those are biased heavily towards businesses in Redding as well as City of Redding politicians. Just read it for free online...don't waste money subscribing! read more

Try to contact them is a joke ,they put you on hold and say it could be up to 3 hours wait time...REALLY!!!!!! paper today had 28 pages to it, 6 pages consisted of news and sports, the rest was advertising ,are they competing with the TV stations now, more commercials that programs. read more

Terrible customer service. Calls routed to the Philippines, where representatives will lie to you and refuse to email you confirmations of changes. After 7 months of disputing charges for a "one dollar for three months" offer and subsequent monthly billings finally called news desk, who, obviously aware of the problem routed my call to US representative in Reno, Mindy, who was courteous, helpful and agreed to reverse all unauthorized charges. (I guess proof will be in the pudding). Online news is simply not worth $7/month and same news can be had at KRCR anyway for free. If you are in the same boat call the news desk for help. read more

Cancelled E-subscription today after trying to talk to a person supposedly from the RS office. Turned out to be a foreign call center. Kept trying to get a local number but unable to do that. Not worth the frustration. Biased news to start with. I really miss the "old Record Searchlight". I went to E- subscription because my home delivery became unreliable. read more

Terrible delivery service!!! Trying to get the paper delivered after a vacation hold is near to impossible! Regarding my telephone calls (offshore) they were apologetic but did not solve the delivery issue. My rating would be a zero read more

I would choose 0 starts if available. I'm currently in the waiting room of this funeral type environment attempting to submit a court order name change circulation. I was told it costs $228.40 to circulate my request for name change 4 times for 4 lines. SERIOUSLY!!!! $60 for a couple printed words on a nasty newspaper. Let's get together to close this place down. Who reads the damn paper version of the newspaper anymore anyways? They must have forgot about the World Wide Web when destroying thousands of trees when making newspapers. Called Intermountain News that publishes for Shasta County and was advised that I am able to circulate name change for $100 cheaper with them. Why Record Searchlight are you charging so much, ridiculous!!!! Call INTERMOUNTAIN NEWS FOR YOUR PUBLISHING NEEDS (530) 338-6265. They are super helpful and friendly. read more

I've called over a dozen times and never got a real human being. I keep leaving messages asking them respectfully to STOP dropping their garbage ads on my property. No one responds. I started driving by their office and throwing the junk on their lawn. Yesterday I went by to get someone in person and a notice said they'd moved. This business is irresponsible and negligent. After a year of this garbage I'm going to begin to get creative and do something they are really going to detest. They deserve 0 stars. read more

Record Searchlight morning delivery to local restaurants is a joke. I eat out on Sat and Sun and numerous restaurants all say sorry the delivery person is late again. It is 8:20AM Sunday Dec 3, I am in Sweeties and no newspapers yet. I asked the staff and they said not only is it late by several hours 50% to 60% of the time the newspaper is cutting back on the number of papers delivered because no one wants a morning paper in the afternoon. It looks like the Searchlight is driving customers away? The phone number on the web for deliveries does not work? Please Record Searchlight clean up your terrible delivery problems. If an employee can't deliver replace them. read more

The sports section is a plain joke. You will almost never get the previous day's sports news unless the event is played before 5:00 EST. Before USA Today took control you would at least have a small paragraph describing the highlights of the previous day's games. Another lame aspect of the paper is that they only have 12 comic strips where previously they had a full page of comics. I guess that having a few laughs to start out your morning isn't within their grasp. At times I have seen obits take up more space than comics. Additionally, they have brought in "gunslinger" columnists who throw the same hateful view at you and it really gets sick. I don't even read those people like Mary Sanchez-its the same old hateful line from her. And lastly, why am I paying $ 26 dollars a month while the subscription rate is $ 13.90 a month? Is this what I get for being a long time customer? Nice! read more

I'm adding a star. I dumped on the Record Searchlight in my earlier review, but I have to admit that I'm seriously addicted to our local newspaper -- I devour it every morning before heading off to work -- and also spend too much time on the paper's internet site, as the editor of the editorial page recently pointed out in a blog entry: http://blogs.redding.com/bross/archives/2009/12/who-is-buzz-fle.html That's right. Getting a little play from the editor of the editorial page is worth a star. I'm such a whore. But Bruce, you're not going to get 5 stars from me until you dump a couple of the most rabidly partisan and irrational of the über-conservative op-eds regulars (Thomas Sowell and Alana Marie Burke, I'm looking at you) in favor of a conservative or two who aren't raving lunatics, endlessly humping the same three or four notes on the keyboard. read more

I cancelled my subscription when they raised the price to $38 a month. Way too much for what you get with the Record Searchlight these days. They called me and offered a reduced price and I agreed. That was on December 12. I have NEVER received the paper since that time. When you call, the so called "customer service" you have to wait on hold (today I was on the phone for over 30 minutes) and then talk to some off shore call center in some East Indian country based on the heavy accent. I cancelled again today but they did not return the total amount even though I never received a single copy of the paper. Their explanation was that I had received "service". There are no local people you can talk to. Don't make my mistake... Do not subscribe... read more

Here we go again with the disgusting drop of a huge advertising newsprint dump thrown on our property. We have to go to great lengths to get the Record Searchlight to cease and desist their practice of littering our property because it keeps repeating. We don't want their newsprint defacing our property in any shape or form. I do believe there is a hefty fine for littering in the State of California. The Record Searchlight is not particularly easy to access, however I placed a call to their recorded menu, finally spoke to a person and can only hope my request to stop the littering on our property will be addressed and the practice will cease, but I am not holding my breath! read more

Having problems at least once or twice a month and not very good customer service either. News most often a couple days old......time to pull the plug?????? read more

Great place to work. Great newspaper. Since moving here a few months ago the Record Searchlight has lots of information about current events in the city. Also, there is a DATE paper that runs each week that shows the best restaurants, entertainment, shopping etc. and that was helpful when just moving into the city. read more

Wasted money. Their customer service is a joke and their home delivery service is horrible. One weekend a month for the past year I have not gotten the Sunday paper. When they send out a "courtesy copy" it usually doesn't arrive until mid-afternoon and is just the paper, none of the Sunday exteas. Finally giving up and cancelling because it is just not worth the bother. read more

Yeah I gave 'em two stars. First off, you have to pay for your online subscription and many times their reporting can be slow and inaccurate. I was told that it is because some of it has been divided out to East India. They also seem to have an axe to grind with some organizations in the area. I'm still going to view they just need to get their Ps and Qs straight. read more

Contacted their customer service number 844-900-7107 to cancel and get a receipt and/or proof of a subscription cancellation emailed to me. The response I received was less than adequate. Although they are perfectly capable of sending me an invoice for charging our credit card for the services, when the service is cancelled, they are not able to send a receipt, email, fax, anything verifying that the subscription was cancelled and the amount refunded to the card. We are an entity that needs backup for all charges and credits to credit cards and the answer was, I'm sorry, there is nothing we can do for you and when I asked to speak to a supervisor was told, "No there isn't a supervisor available for you to speak with and they will just tell you the same thing I just did." This is the epitome of horribly shameful customer service! Won't be re-subscribing anytime soon and now seriously considering cancelling my home subscription too. read more

I finally had to resort to posting a comment about the newspaper delivery to our home because when we contacted "Customer Service" it was someone in Asia who barely spoke or understood English. We have had issues for about 2 years with the delivery person. We may not get our newspaper for 2 days. When we do, we receive yesterday's paper and today's paper, or sometimes, none at all. We got $20.00 taken off of our bill last year but there was no resolution to the inconsistent delivery of the paper. We live 2 miles from the city limits of Red Bluff. Apparently that is waaaaayyyy too far for the delivery person. Or they are partying all night... I don't like to be judgemental or jump to conclusions, but when I have no explanation or no recourse for poor service, I get a little pissy. Why is the Record Searchlight still delivering the paper if they don't give a flying fig about the subscribers? We pay money for it, RIGHT?! read more

The price goes up 25% & try cancelling. A couple emails & written note but they insist that you call so they can badger you into keeping the subscription. They even hung up on me when they couldn't get me to keep it. Had to call in a second time to make sure that it was cancelled & it turns out the gal hadn't cancelled my subscription as requested. read more

I love the newspaper and the articles. My complaints are about the service and the app. Whenever I change my subscription, the info fails to be carried out by the delivery person. And the app on my smart phone closes repeatedly without reason or cause. And the push notifications I receive fail to link me to the referenced articles. read more

Their coverage of local sports was very good until they were bought by USA Today, now it's a joke! I bought the paper for local sports coverage, not for national sports news, which is readily available from many online services for no charge. Now, their "coverage" of local sports stories consists of 1 line scores and zero pictures. It's a shame because before USA Today the coverage was very good. Canceled my subscription. read more

I just received my renewal notice. WOW!!!!!!!! They are charging me $110.00 for California Transportation fee. I think I just cancelled my subscription. The paper is not worth $313.00 for a year. read more

Well, I don't know what happened but my paper was canceled the middle of December. They took my fees out of my checking account as usual but some how it was canceled. No notification, no Email no nothing. I live in Colorado so I had to restart the paper, pay a startup fee and not get credit for the papers we are missing. The lady on the phone was OK although I had a problem understanding her at times. Now I'll have to wait 4-5 days to receive our first paper. Their customer service is ridiculous. I was on hold for 35 minutes listening to a Wind instrument until I wanted to shoot myself in the face. After all of this, I have a bad feeling I'll never receive any papers ever again. read more

It is not the content of the paper that is the issue for me. It is the service or lack of service I have experienced. The delivery of my Sunday paper has left me with such distain for this company. I have called and spoke to 3 supervisors been on hold countless minutes and they STILL can't seem to get the job done. I don't believe anyone there knows what they are doing. I don't even care about the "paper" anymore its the principle of getting what you paid for. read more

if there was a 0 stars i would send that nothing ever works for more than a day then you have to wait on my way!! hold for a freakin hour , this town need another paper !!!!!!!!!!! read more

I am (was) a faithful reader of the newspaper. It was an important way for me to keep updated on local, national, and world events. I have been very satisfied. I am disabled and the Record Searchlight is an important way for me to stay connected. My big concern is the newest upgrade to the paper... it look more attractive, prettier; but it is far less readable, so much so that I no longer read it: at best I look at the headlines (but don't read the articles), check the weather, and do the Wonderword puzzel. It seems the font has changed and the size of the print in the articles is much smaller. I wear reading glasses and didn't have a problem before the big change. PLEASE make the paper at least as readable as before. Others I've talked to are having the same complaint. It is a shame to have such a valuable community resource no longer be available. Please contact me at glendamcgee@ymail.com. Thank you. read more