I was stationed in Sacramento for four years in the late 70s, during which time, almost every morning, I read the San Francisco Chronicle. The Sacramento Bee was my local paper, and I read that too, but I'd grown up in the Washington, DC area, and the Chronicle, the de facto "newspaper of record" in Northern California, was analogous to the Washington Post, the "real" paper that we'd read at home. So digging into the Chronicle over breakfast, for national and international news, was familiar to me. The Chronicle informed, educated, and entertained me. Also, those being my later formative years, I was, to some extent, taught to read and write by Chronicle reporters and columnists, including: Carl Nolte, Art Hoppe, Bruce Jenkins, and one of my lifelong favorites, humorist and journalist Herb Caen. Times have changed, as have we all. The internet offers access to news and information that would have been unimaginable when I read The Chronicle, and anyway, I moved away, so the paper isn't as necessary to me as it once was. More to the point, I subscribed to the Washington Post for years, but I cancelled my subscription this year, as the paper deeply integrated AI into its content creation; and I still read the New York Times, but if they go too far down that road, I'll drop them, as well. Notwithstanding these things, the Chronicle is an important part of who I am, of how I think and say what I think, and when think about that, I'm grateful. read more

Updated review. Last month I received my credit card statement that the San Francisco Chronicle charged me $39 for a newspaper subscription. I had to call the credit card company to dispute the charge. Why? I have canceled the subscription several years ago. I haven't received their newspaper after that cancelation. To this date, no newspaper has been delivered to my home. The credit card company sent me a letter, notifying me that the $39 has been credited to my account. Yesterday I received an invoice from the San Francisco Chronicle wanting to charge me $76 with a new paid through date of June 28, 2026. Okay, I don't know why they want to sweat on me for $76 since I did not ask for a renewal subscription and there is no newspaper delivered to my home. I don't want the damn newspaper even if it were free. I will have to call their number (415 777-7000) to pick a bone with them. It looks like they are trying to prey on a senior citizen with their nonsense. Enough said! read more

San Francisco Chronicle was my newspaper when I was living in San Francisco and Berkeley. I needed a place to live and a place to work. I found it was useful. Newspapers often get negative reviews. For the purpose I read the San Francisco Chronicle it was okay. read more

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Sadly no zero star option! Coverage is trash! Process to cancel a subscription EVEN WORSE! "Sam" was like a dog with a bone and WOULD NOT LISTEN to my repeated entreaties to cancel and when I threatened to lace into him with an expletive laden rant if he continued to try and "sell" me on the broken product and followed through with the threat...he hung up on me! Forced me to have to call those MoFos again to cancel! WOULD ABSOLUTELY NOT RECOMMEND!!! read more

Started digital subscription & have been charged for the service but CANNOT access it. Automated customer service is unable to assist me, by its own admission & I cannot cancel the subscription because it cannot even locate my account. I CANNOT CANCEL BECAUSE MY ACCOUNT DOESN'T EXIST BUT I'M BEING CHARGED INDEFINITELY! And I cannot contact anyone to help me! WORST SCAM EVER! read more

Beware of signing up for a subscription at a low rate that renews at $19.96/mo. I called to cancel my subscription before the expiration of the renewal. The agent tried to talk me into a new plan, much cheaper than $19.96. I told him that I no longer wanted the digital newspaper. However I was charged 2 additional months at $19.96 each. You can't cancel online. Customer service hours were difficult since I'm out east. I finally reached another agent and requested a refund. she said there was no record of my attempted cancellation. I asked for a confirmation number that it was cancelled this time but she said she can't provide one. Terrible customer service! read more

Can't find a way to stop subscription. On phone with them, insisted on answering list of questions before would help me and then hung up. So don't subscribe!! read more

I do NOT need another newspaper. I get the usual, the NYT and WaPo. It is all I can do to get through them. And my hometown paper, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette just ran a 6 months for 99 cents. Go Steelers. Now the Chronical is running a similar special. Do I need this as a part timer? Well certainly not at full price, but this paper has a good medley of interesting articles. Where else can I read about the Lorainne Powell Job's 71 million dollar mansion??!!! I know what my pg&e bill is with the heat off in a place likely smaller than her bathroom. But it was nice to get a peek inside. And the obits of strangers are fascinating reads of accomplishments of everyday Joes. The app is easy to use. Am I likely to keep 4 papers? No. But if the price is right, I may get the Chronicle again. I'm glad I tried it out. Just lowered to 4 stars after reading the difficulty in canceling. I put it on my calendar to cancel a month in advance of the end of my paid subscription. I am almost always courteous so hopefully will have a good experience. I understand offers come hoping you won't cancel. But I'll keep an eye on any charges after I have cancelled. Thank you yelpers for the alert. read more

The scam with subscription renewals needs to be investigated by agency that investigates fraud. If you get caught in their auto renewal bullshit you cannot get out of it. Their "customer service" people are a joke...they get you to a manager who makes promises to rectify and then nothing happens. It's a total waste of money especially since there is hardly any original content in this paper. The Sunday paper can be scanned in about 10 minutes because it's full of stories that have already been reported on. I'm filing a complaint with BBB read more

I don't know why anyone would subscribe to this complete and utter TURD. But if you do, do not sign up for auto-pay or give them your credit card information. Just mail them a check for the period that you want to subscribe to. And then you can renew it if you want to (although I don't think you'll want to). It seems clear that if you give them credit card or bank information, they will continue to charge you long after you canceled your subscription. So why take a chance? If you are so masochistic as to want to subscribe to this pathetic rag, send them a check, and then you can control whether it continues or not. You're welcome! read more

I just tried to cancel my digital subscription when my credit card notified me of the upcoming charge of $19.00 month (was 99 cents). I tried three different "customer service" numbers to cancel immediately. After listening to voicemail, there was no option to speak to a customer support representative and the option, #3, regarding canceling a subscription, was "not available" when I pressed it. I went on their website and requested an immediate cancellation. What I got was an email from the Chronicle stating that my subscription would end one month from now. I tried phoning every SF Chronicle telephone number I could find and was repeatedly transferred to the same voicemail system. This is not Customer Service, it is FRAUD. I wish I had checked Yelp before I ever subscribed to this pathetic excuse for a newspaper. read more

I called to cancel and was told that the customer service agent wasn't able to cancel at this time. They asked that I call back tomorrow. There is no way to "click-to-cancel" on the website. read more

Shoutout to SF Chronicle for providing horrendous service . Imagine the worst possible service ever but make it 10x worse. Customer service reps are basically useless. Won't let you cancel your membership or provides you some BS reason as to why you can't get a refund even if you're wrongfully charged. Such a shame because their articles are decent but the customer service is a huge turn off. They give off real scam vibes. Not worth purchasing IMO. Pro tip: if you were wrongfully charged from them and they won't issue you a refund, take it up with your credit card provider and they'll help you dispute it. :) Chris, Larry, and Joe were a few of the horrible customer reps I spoke to. Should've just talked to an AI bot instead. Would've been more helpful. read more

Today I realized that I had been charged simultaneously for two accounts with the Chronicle. I called them and told them that I was certain that I had closed one account when I opened another. They say I didn't. At any rate, they were very inflexible and offered no refund, even though it was clear That we had two digital accounts simultaneously. Not only that, but I was charged at a very high rate on an account that I was certain I had canceled for that reason. Be aware. They say this happens to people all the time! And yet they refused to refund the double charge. read more

Trying to get help from customer service is a nightmare and they make the DMV look great in comparison. My issue isn't canceling a subscription, but for renewing for three 1 year subscriptions ($4,200) for an institution I work for. Their renewal is automatically just for 8 weeks, and everyone I've spoken to gives me a different story on how to request an invoice for 1 year. I get empty promises of having the issue resolved in 72 hours but it never does. I'm hoping they go out of business so I don't have to deal with nightmare every year. Save yourself a headache by getting your news from somewhere else. read more

I was offered a trial digital subscription earlier this year. I cancelled the trial subscription in June and received an email confirmation of the cancellation. Yet, SF Chronicle continues to charge $15.96 a month to my credit card. I have called and emailed with no success. The charge continues to come every month. I am so sad that an established organization like the SF Chronicle has to use this unscrupulous tactic. There is no way to cancel the subscription! Please, do not take the bait. SF Chronic's trial subscription is a scam. Do not give them your credit card info. read more

If Yelp will allow it I offer a ZERO rating. I worked in journalism in the 70s and knew many Chron staffers. It was an offbeat NEWSpaper but had a lot of enjoyable reading. I subscribed since I got out of the service in 1967 and only continue because my wife is obsessed with keeping what little remains of the original Chron- sad all around. It pains me to say it but, YES, the print Chron is a lousy value without what used to make it special. BTW, the YELP headline reviews they feature are a disgrace. When did Slick Willie retire his column. How many years-decade at least- did Maiter & Ross dissolve? These harken back to the days when the Chron was a decent rag. YELP- please update your info here. read more

Scam scam scam. $0.99 for 6 months of digital subscription clearly states cancel any time. The only method I could find to cancel was to call. Then the agent said I couldn't cancel until 6 months from now. Clearly not "cancel anytime." So I forced her to cancel my account. Scam scam scam. read more

Good GRIEF! I took the bait on and 99-cent/month offer, and now can't find one place on the SF Chronicle website to cancel. No customer service. NO CUSTOMER SERVICE. Am close to reporting them to the Better Business Bureau. read more

Cancellation issue as many describe. Called for 2nd or 3rd time to cancel & is a complete hassle as they intend so you will continue the subscription. Make sure you have time to talk, at least 10 minutes bc they attempt to drag it out. When they "can't hear you," keep talking and tell them yes, they can hear & you are recording the call as well (is a different tactic of theirs to "lose" the call). As soon as I expl I know rep can hear me, but I will instead dispute charges with my bank , the rep could hear me perfectly fine. You'll need to repeat several times you want to cancel as I was told they have to tell me all their current deals. I had to say - I don't care if it is FREE, I have no need for this subscription. Please click all the deal boxes with "no" for me. Even then - not until I expl to rep that I have opened a chat with my bank as well, and he can cancel or I can dispute it, was the rep able to process my subscription. Finally, with my most recent charge having just happened, rep tried to tell me my last date of service AND CHARGE will be next month. Excuse me? Why the last charge next month? oh, he misspoke - last charge is the one that just happened. Always people - note the date, time, rep name. And then don't hesitate to dispute this w/ your bank. Ridiculous really. And this leaves folks w/ a bad experience w/ news sources - not really what's needed right now. read more

After the initial great offer, I was being charged the regular rate for the SF Chron. I wanted to cancel, but they would not send me a link to retrieve/reset my password. I phoned them this morning to cancel. The first guy would not let me speak. After spewing a fast-talking script ..... why are you cancelling, what can we do to keep you from cancelling ... we have these great offers. When I got a word in edgewise and said I wouldn't answer any more questions he hung up on me. Called again .... different guy .... same script ..... on and on. I finally was able to yell ... no more questions ... please cancel. He wouldn't send me an email confirmation, so if charges keep appearing on my cc I will contest them. I subscribed to support local journalism, but they really need to clean up their act. read more

If you want to receive tge sports news from 2-3 days ago. Great. If you want a smidgen of world news, great, if you want to pay rediculous price either delivery option, also great. If you are keenly interested in what Perkins or the mayor are doing, you get it here. But if you want a middle of the road print that does not favor D or R. You are completely out of luck. Journalism is dead at the Chron. even the grammar suffers from AI review! A ll of those great past journalist must be spinning in their graves every day! What a mess! read more

STAY AWAY from the SF Chronicle. I had a subscription I tried to cancel that I was not using. Had been charged for several months. Called to get the subscription cancelled and get a refund, and had a TERRIBLE experience. (1) The operator was rude, unprofessional and talked down to me. Made me the bad guy for cancelling and for not asking for a refund sooner. Terrible customer experience. (2) When I asked for a refund of the most recent charge, which hit my credit card 2 days ago, the operator said its non-refundable. And proceeded to say I should have looked at the notices and terms and conditions before signing up. I have never had this issue when calling modern companies with a great customer experience. I WILL NEVER SUBSCRIBE or recommend the Chronicle to anyone. They clearly don't care about their customer loyalty or experience. read more

I had a terrible experience. I wanted to cancel my subscription because I'm trying to tighten my budget and I have too many subscriptions. Business hours at the San Francisco Chronicle only go to 2:30pm. I'm a teacher. I'm in school with students until then. They don't let you cancel online. You have to speak to a human. I get that. I also get that they will attempt a resell. They're trying to retain business. I get it. But what I experienced was harassment. I called during my lunch break. Tried REPEATEDLY to cancel my subscription. Told them I was broke and could not afford it any longer so there was no point in reselling me. Listened to three resell attempts anyway because I know how it is and used to work a job like that in the old days. Then said I'd heard enough and wanted my cancellation and the rest of my lunch time. They wouldn't let me off the phone. When I said (three times) that I was a teacher on my lunch break with screaming kids outside the door, they ignored and... chastised me. Kept holding the cancellation over my head. Would not process it. Would not let me speak to a supervisor. The guy on the phone said he was the supervisor and attempted to keep reselling me with no end in sight. Again, I told him I was a teacher and my class was waiting. Finally, I took the phone outside the door and told the kids to scream as loud as they wanted and make lots of noise. The guy on the phone told me that was not his concern and I should have called earlier in order to give the SF Chronicle people more time to resell me on other plans. I was inconveniencing him and he scolded me for it. So I hung up. If I get charged again I'm going to scorch some earth with my ire. Note: I was more polite than the call deserved and I was on the phone for 6 minutes before I hung up. I tried to be reasonable and civil, but there was Remember, this is the profession that struggles to find time to pee. Meaning my profession, not his. Oh, I was also told I was a valued long-term, loyal customer. BEFORE I was berated! read more

My 1st review was not very nice. Hence this update. I have been working closely w/the DM to resolve this delivery issue. I'm happy to say we have arrived at a workable solution for the delivery of my Sunday paper. I appreciate the driver who now goes out of their way to deliver the paper to a safe spot, where NO ONE can steal it. Much gratitude. read more

Merlot Liberation Front Dispatch for 29.01.21 Our Demands Are The Following: Esther Mobley and Soleil Ho, the chief wine and food critics for The San Francisco Chronicle, should attend an unspecified number of unofficial yelp.com events in Santa Cruz , California starting in summer 2021 once outdoor and indoor dining options are available, and organized by multiple time Yelp Elite back badge holder, Bradley N., (yelpwhisperer.yelp.com) founding member #007 of the Merlot Liberation Front (January 20, 2020 - Present). Esther and Soleil also should cover these events in their respective columns in The San Francisco Chronicle and contribute posts on social media. The San Francisco Chronicle's editorial board should offer Bradley N. a freelance job covering the intersection of California hiking trips, wine tastings, and adventure travel. Elon Musk should deliver a brand new, black Tesla Model S to an undisclosed location hidden deep within the redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Personally deliver, we mean. Either Netflix, Amazon Studios or Apple TV+ should agree to option the screenplay, "Driving Miss Mobley," (sempervirens117.medium.com) for a mutually agreed upon sum. But at least six figures, we're thinking. And Alexander Payne should agree to direct it. For free. Matt Damon should be hired to play the character of Boke. And Shailene Woodley must agree to be Miss Mobley, and ideally Reese Witherspoon would be Penelope and Awkwafina would play Soleil. And each one of the women should receive at least three time more than what Damon gets. Also, we want jeroboam-sized bvottles of the most recent 10 vintages of Duckhorn Three Palms Merlot. Because we're really thirsty, and our numbers are growing. Daily. A framed and signed copy of Esther's award-winning Renaissance Winery article, and a free trip with her on the Napa Wine Train. A framed and signed copy of Soleil's review of La Calenda in Yountville, and a free meal with her at the French Laundry. Signed, first-edition copies of Rex Pickett's Sideways trilogy (Sideways, Vertical, Sideways 3: Chile). And an advanced copy of The Archivist. In case it's any good. A personal meeting with Governor Newsom at his winery. Well, at one of them, whichever he chooses. Tell Nancy and the VP that they can come, too. (a) If our demands are not met by February 1, 2021, we will hang the Jensen Pinot from an old-growth redwood, and we will let banana slugs consume its remains. (b) If our demands are not met by February 7, 2021, the 2014 Littorai Platt Vineyard Pinot will be shot, and we will bury its bottle somewhere in the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve that only we know about, because it's not on one of the main trails that casual visitors frequent. And that 2014 vintage is the last of its kind, because the vineyard has been sold. (c) If our demands are not met by February 14, 2021 (aka Valentine's Day), the 2015 Bedrock Wine Co. Hirsch Vineyard sparkling Pinot will be strapped with an explosive belt and detonated, and the juncos and jays will feast on its entrails. And that bottle of Under the Wire wine ain't all that cheap, neither. Resistance is futile. Delay is not advisable, unless you want to see more Pinots get hurt. And we haven't even gotten started on the Anderson Valley hostages, yet. Don't be responsible for a viniferous massacre. Don't. Signed, Commandate Paloma, founding member #001, on behalf of the Merlot Liberation Front. We will use this WordPress account for all future negotiations. Time is of the essence. Act now. Signed, Commandante Paloma, founding member #001, on behalf of the Merlot Liberation Front. MAKE MERLOT GREAT AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!! read more

San Francisco Chronicle - These are the hostages captured by the Merlot Liberation Front whose lives are under threat unless their demands are not met. - Print Media Near Me - San Francisco, California

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I signed up for a 6-month $.99/month trial subscription. After the 6th month, I would pay $14.99/month. A few days before my subscription was to end, I tried to cancel the subscription but there was no button to do so. I checked multiple times but there was no "cancel subscription" link. Odd. In any case, I thought everything was fine until about 2 months later (last week) when I saw I was charged for the last 2 months. I called in to try and get a refund but they were unprofessional, disrespectful, and kept hanging up on me after I started arguing with them about their service. They also said because the credit card had already processed they couldn't give out a refund. What the heck? Other companies do that all the time. I WILL NEVER USE the sfchronicle.com website again, and neither should you. They seem to scam people for their credit card info and charge you whether you want them to or not. read more

lousy paper unless you want to read headlines about the latest burrito place opening , way expensive

Most bizarre and unbelievable customer service experience of my life. I don't have an SF Chronicle subscription or account, but I saw there was a charge on my bank account for 19.99 at SF Chronicle. I called customer service to explain that this wasn't me and I want to cancel this and request a refund. A lady was moaning when she answered and was clearly not sober. She also kept reading the wrong lines of her script followed by "oh sorry" and then changing the sentence. After I would speak, the other end would become silent until I would ask, "Hello? Are you there" and then she would respond "yeesss" with an attitude. Ok did you hear everything I just said? No response, completely ignored. I explained that I was charged 2 weeks ago, and she responded that I should have called sooner even though it hadn't been one billing cycle and it was a fraudulent charge on my card. I then told her I was out of the country and she literally yelled (or screamed) back "weeelllll you should have called us! You should have emailed us!" No matter how many times I repeated that I never made a subscription and wanted to cancel she would just respond that they don't want to lose me as a customer. I had to spend 20 min saying that I just want a refund ($19.99) and cancellation. She responded that they will process a $2 refund and "escalate" the rest and I will hear back in 10 business days. Then she said "ok byeee" and hung up on me. Well it's been 30 days and I have yet to receive a refund or any form of contact from SF Chronicle. TLDR: super shady subscription strategy, don't subscribe if you don't want to spend weeks on the phone with customer service. read more

I mostly like and appreciate the San Francisco Chronicle and believe it continues to perform a vital, indispensable public service. I miss Willie Brown's column but really like Heather Knight's. Some of the other columnists, like John King for Architecture, Carl Nolte for local color, and investigative reporters like Kevin Fagan, are really outstanding. Offshore, non-responsive subscription "customer service" is, by contrast, atrocious. Big room for improvement there. read more

I took a 99 cent offer to access an old article about my grandmother. Turns out I could not access it because it was from 1922 and that required a different subscription, something that was not mentioned when I subscribed. When I tried to cancel, I got every manner of nonsense about renewing for only $4 a month. I live in NJ. I wanted one article. Eventually, I had to yell to get the rep to stop talking at me. On and on she went. Finally, after five minutes, she finally agreed to cancel the renewal of my subscription. It was torturous and a huge pain. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. read more

after 40+ years as a subscriber to the Chronicle I called to cancel for various reasons, such as price, lack of stopping paper when on vacation hold (nothing says "I'm out of town" like 7 days worth of papers on the driveway), numerous errors in copy and more. I was shocked when the person i spoke to said I was paying their highest price and he would be happy to lower it. Why should I be forced to complain in order to be offered a discount. I found this insulting. I was also told that the following day would be my last paper, which was paid for. Tomorrow came and no paper. No wonder they have lost so many customers. read more

One sided, politically biased far left click bait articles. It's almost like chronicle is getting paid under the table by our city's board of supervisors or something. Sad and needs to go out of business. I cancelled my $1.00 online subscription scam and they literallyyyyyyyyyyy call me twice a week to try to sign back up, after they charged me this $25 fee. I also had to call back twice to cancel after the first agent DID NOT cancel as directed. They must get dinged for cancellations. Very anti law enforcement undertones. Such a shame. Is this really what they think the native San Franciscans want? Their headquarters on Mission street/Minna needs to be cleaned as well. read more

They are crooks for auto renewal without any notification after initial promotion subscription

Chronicle stands for CHRONIC delivery problems! Love getting the print version of the paper, but oftentimes I do not get the paper, it is wet, or I get the SJ Mercury instead. I call the customer service number and it says the paper will be redelivered in 2 hours, which never happens. Have managed to the get the phone numbers of a couple of supervisors, which hardly ever answer the phone. Chronicle folks - How do we fix this chronic product. The the amount of money we pay for a subscription these days I expect a higher level of service. read more

Horrible customer service. I have contacted them at least ten times. No response. Wait on the phone, and then the system hangs up on you.

Well, A's pitcher Sean Manaea throws a 3-0 No Hitter on April 21, 2018 against a hot Boston Red Sox team that was 17-2. I went to buy a paper to read up on this historic event and look at the box scores, crap, the print on the box score was partially blanked out. Lousy luck and printing. read more

San Francisco Chronicle - A's pitcher Sean Manaea throws a 3-0 No Hitter against the 17-3 Boston Red Sox on Saturday, April 21, 2018. Partial box score. - Print Media Near Me - San Francisco, California

The E edition is a joke.... it's ok if your like yesterday's news - or even older. Current news, sports scores etc. are non-existent and poorly written lackomg any detail. There was a time when the e edition was current and a good paper- not anymore. Thankfully I have the NY Times. read more

Scumbag customer service! Had a digital subscription at $99/yr and the price went to $149/year after the introductory offer; (OK, I decided to continue to subscribe to support them in this changing news environment. I rarely actually access the service, I do not live in the bay area. My reward? They just jacked up the annual price to $311 dollars a year for digital only! There is no notice sent to you of any kind that the price is increasing. It's on you to go online in advance (as if I remember my annual renewal date!) to see what it's going to be. I found out when my credit card alerted me the the charge. Called them immediately and guess what? They say that if you're on Autopay you have agreed to have your card charged with no refunds allowed. Dishonest and nasty, not trustworthy, is that what you want in your news source? If had been a reasonable increase, or if there had been at least a notice, I would not be so completely and permanently through with them. Don't subscribe. Save yourself the money and annoyance. read more

Once upon a time i bought the S.F. Chron daily and always the Sunday edition. no longer doing either. the internet one reason, the reasons being a lost of interest in the Sunday sections (Pink sheet, sports, travel, comics, etc.) online edition has also become lackluster: dated news, stories mostly from AP, UP, etc. little local investigative content, other newsite have more original content. only thing useful is the weather forecast. doubtful i will subscribe. read more