NOTE: This is a review of the newspaper's monthly Business for Breakfast series…read more San Antonio, unlike larger cities, is not a big networking town -- like New York, where I moved from 3+ years ago. It's hard to meet like-minded businesspeople in places other than the office. However, the San Antonio Business Journal's Business for Breakfast event series does an outstanding job of bringing people together from various companies for networking and learning. I strongly encourage you to consider attending one of these monthly Business for Breakfast events. It's a great way to meet local business people and understand the pulse of San Antonio. (And you get a free issue of the paper, too.) Kudos to Donna T. of the San Antonio Business Journal for coordinating these and serving as a host/moderator -- she's an incredible resource.

A great publication for anyone who does business in San Antonio!…read more It's the best way to find out what's going on around town, who the movers and the shakers are, and what they're up to. As far as real estate, they're the best source for info on what's transpiring in the San Antonio area. It's a great way to keep on top of the facts. They put out an annual Book of Lists which is a great resource for finding out who the key players in any given industry are. It's a huge book, and gives you all kinds of juicy data on all the listees. They've got a great editor, give relevant studies on what's going on. None of the articles are incredibly in-depth with little reporting going on. Usually the only sources of information is the corporate-released press releases. The glossy inserts are usually useful and full of good facts and data. I wish they could just add something funny to it. It's a rather dry publication at times. How about a San Antonio political cartoon? Someone local who writes jokes? A local advice columnist?

On Sep 12, 2022, I knowingly purchased an automatically renewing "all-digital" access subscription…read moreto the San Antonio Express News ("SAEN") for a quarterly recurring fee of $19.96 charged to my credit card on file. I knowingly paid for a digital subscription to provide me one-time access to an article. I was not deceived about the automatically renewing nature of the subscription. I have no quarrel for paying $19.96 for one-time access to content that had sufficient value to me to purchase a subscription. I did; however, have the intention to cancel the subscription before the first 90-day term expired. I was not prepared for the rest. Indeed I made two half-hearted attempts to cancel the following two quarters, but one must have strong resolve, a flexible schedule, an much patience to cancel a SAEN subscription. You must cancel when it's convenient for SAEN. Never mind your own busy schedule. After the first two auto-renewal dates passed due to my being unable to alter my business schedule to align with SAEN's customer service hours, I noticed the latest $19.96 credit card charge today--Aug 19, 2023. I attempted to cancel the subscription. I discovered that cancelling was far more difficult than subscribing. You make a phone call during SAEN business hours. Wait for long holds. Be disconnect. Speak with multiple persons. State your reason for cancelling. No alternative cancellation options are provided. Today, I made my THIRD (and finally successful) attempt to cancel my subscription after noticing another charge of $19.96 had posted to my credit card. This process required a half-hour with three attempts, including hold times and disconnects. I twice heard this recorded message between disconnects and long holds: "We appreciate your patience and value your time". I am quite certain that the Federal Trade Commission had me in mind when proposing its "Click to Cancel" legislation in March 2023, aimed at protecting consumer victims from bad corporate actors. The legislation aims to address numerous common consumer grievances. Lack of transparency SAEN does not disclose that they will limit the hours and methods by which you may unsubscribe until after a subscription is purchased. Time-consuming cancellation processes: Auto-renewal Some companies only offer automatically renewing subscriptions unless customers take specific steps to cancel. SAEN, for example, doesn't offer a temporary subscription or "single access" option. If they do, then I missed it. If you're considering a subscription, check options not requiring auto-renewal. Financial incentives Some companies offer pay or other financial incentives to CSR's, "Account Specialists" and "Retention Specialists" to make it difficult to cancel subscriptions. I suspect that SAEN requires an explanation from its customers to cancel, so they could place me on hold and transfer me to an individual who is receiving financial compensation for persuading me not to cancel my subscription. Limited options Some companies, like SAEN may only offer a limited number of cancellation options, such as canceling via phone. This can make it difficult for customers who wish to cancel when its convenient and possible for them--an not be required to cancel by phone during SAEN business hours. SAEN discloses a phone call is required. Undisclosed is phones are answered only during business hours, that hold times are long, disconnects are common, and multiple conversations are required. Summary SAEN's tactics are intolerable at best, and soon may be illegal if regulations are passed. These business practices are intentional and serve only to make it easy to sign up and difficult to leave. I am not a strong proponent of government regulation in most cases, but in certain circumstances, like abusive, selfish business practices such as the ones described here, the more regulation the merrier. I hope SAEN puts my wasted money to good use, like donating it to the San Antonio food bank. Simplified, here's the bottom line of the proposed FTC rules that would force SAEN and others to behave like human beings if they cannot find it within themselves to do the right thing just because its the right thing: +If you can sign up online, you must be able to cancel on the same website, in the same number of steps. +A publisher must immediately implement the cancellation process unless the consumer states a desire to hear a retention pitch. +Sellers are required to provide a reminder to consumers before automatic renewal. By my reading and interpretation of the rules, SAEN would be in violation of all three of the above if enacted. In preparing this review/complain, I have spent LESS than the amount of time required to unsubscribe to a SAEN digital subscription.

I signed up for a $0.99 promotional digital subscription and made sure to call customer service…read moreduring the trial period to cancel before I would be charged. The representative told me I was still within the promotional period and that I didn't need to do anything else because the subscription would automatically expire. I relied on that information. Months later, I started receiving repeated phone calls and emails claiming I owed about $24 because my subscription had never been canceled. When I called customer service, the supervisor told me there was no record of my cancellation request and insisted I pay the balance before they would cancel the subscription. I asked whether customer service calls are recorded, and she confirmed they are. However, she admitted she never reviewed the recording of my original cancellation call before denying my dispute. Instead, she relied only on the notes in my account. If your company records customer service calls, those recordings should be reviewed when a customer disputes what they were told. Customers shouldn't be held responsible for an employee's failure to properly document a cancellation request. I also asked to speak with a higher-level supervisor, but that request was denied. I wasn't trying to avoid paying a legitimate charge--I canceled during the trial period exactly as instructed. This entire situation could have been resolved by reviewing the recorded call instead of assuming I was at fault. Very disappointing customer service and dispute resolution process.