I have visited Charlotte three times on business this month. An avid reader, I enjoy buying the local paper. Unbelievably, i have yet to find one for sale on the newsstand. This is even on Wed and Sundays , when they publish. Today, a Wednesday, I visited multiple 7-11s , Kwik Trips, independent gas stations, and even CVS. No newspapers. Nothing in CLT Airport, which is unbelievable. I've visited over a dozen stores there, in every terminal and no papers EVER. Nothing local, nothing national. I have spent so much time trying to give you money. What an insult to people who want to read and who want to support journalism. Every review here demonstrates you have a serious distribution problem. If you can't even get your own product to the airport, you deserve to go out of business. Sad what has happened to this paper (I remember it fondly when i went to Davidson College in the early 00's) read more

The Charlotte Observer - Barren airport newsstand. no newspapers in the entire airport - Print Media Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

I had an excellent experience with a representative named Allen. Not sure if I spelled that correctly it could BALAN but he handled my account and subscription today very professionally and thoughtfully. I got everything done that I needed without any trouble. Thank you. I tried to find a Google review to leave as well but I couldn't find the Charlotte observer under Google reviews so I'm leaving it here on Yelp. read more

Once again, my mail came & there was no Observer. Th postal service says they often do not get the paper in time to deliver it. The Charlotte Observer runs a deplorable organization with poor service and a product that is overpriced for what it is. read more

My elderly parents have tried to cancel multiple times. They are elderly, they are told their subscription is canceled, but then receive a new bill. The paper finally stopped, but I'm furious. This overpriced paper is taking advantage. No one should have to struggle this much to cancel an expensive, 4 page printout. My father even canceled the card that was getting charged to make it stop. The bills started coming because they couldn't charge the canceled card the paper he canceled multiple times was still charging his card. read more

Do NOT subscribe to this paper. You have to pay in advance and if you move you do not get a refund.

I got duped into a cancel anytime subscription in August. I got billed $24. I NEVER EVEN received a paper. Called multiple times and just got the runaround and they promised I would get my paper. Next thing I know I'm getting another charge on my credit card! I called 12x in a matter of a week, different times, days, etc. and I couldn't even get a live person! I reported them to my bank for fraudulently charging me for a service I never received. It's now December and I just got charged another $28! May I remind you, I HAVE YET TO RECEIVE 1 NEWSPAPER!!! I'm about to take legal action against them for scamming me out of almost $100 so far and I have yet to get through to a live person who will help me. DO NOT get this paper or you will surely regret it. read more

They sent me a bogus bill for $17. I thought it was junk mail, so I ignored it. About 3 weeks later I received a collection noticed for the $17. I will pay it under protect so my credit won't be dinged. The collection notice didn't say what the charge was about. Incidentally, my suspicion expired about six months ago. There was no reason for this charge. read more

ZERO Stars. The Charlotte Observer should be re-named the Columbia, South America Non-Observer. They have no offices or customer service in the USA anymore, per the person I spoke to today at their 800-532-5350 number. I have subscribed for approximately a decade for Sunday (and some years also Wednesday) paper DELIVERY. I have always paid annually in advance. For the past five years or so it has been absolutely terrible customer service and an extreme lack of deliveries. I used to receive my paper about half of time, then less and less each year. This past year I MAY have received 12 (being generous to them) papers in total for Sundays. Each time I tried to call in for a missed delivery, the phone # says either, "Let us know if this happens again...we monitor your carrier's performance...we will credit your account..." OR it says "Our offices are closed, goodbye" and hangs up on you. Customer service will then tell you "Well, you did not complain, there is no record of you doing so, therefore we cannot refund you, assist you in any way, etc...I also tried to send them emails to the email they gave me : customerservice@charlotteobserver.com I sent them 28 emails that I can see on my "sent " file. I then get back an automatic reply from customerservice+noreply@charlotteobserver.com The guy I talked to today claimed "Well, you never emailed us" and I sent him a test email on the phone, which he agreed that he got and I still got the no reply email. He maintained the claim that despite them NOT DELIVERING about 40 out of my 52 weeks of papers, that they owe me nothing "because you did not complain". I told him I am complaining NOW and that I affirm to have called and emailed. He said he believed me, but still closed my account. He then acted like he was doing me a favor by telling me he would strike a NEW bill they emailed to me (funny how they DO receive emails for payment, but DO NOT receive our emails to complain) encrypted that said I owe for the past few weeks, of papers NOT delivered and AFTER my account was closed by THEM. The Customer service employee also stated to me today that they use a third party vendor to monitor complaints for non-delivery and that he cannot access their data. Well, that explains why he says "you did not complain" since the complaints, if allowed to be made, go SOMEWHERE ELSE/a 3rd PARTY VENDOR that does NOT share information with the Charlotte Observer. This company is an absolute MESS. Then he stated that I could PAY them more and begin/open a new subscription now, at a much inflated price of $528.69 (and that delivery is still not guaranteed). He claimed that he guarantees that all of the subscribers who pay that much DEFINITELY receive all of their papers, "because they don't complain"... Him being in SOUTH AMERICA , I am sure he sees with his own eyes....knows...SMH. At no time was there any apology, any attempt to do right by their loyal customers, NOTHING but lies and excuses. They have it set up so that you cannot get any of your "complaints" recorded and then they can say they owe you nothing. WORST CUSTOMER "SERVICE" EVER. Do NOT pay them anything. They DO NOT deliver the paper over 3/4 of the time you paid for. read more

I emailed customerservice@mcclatchy.com as requested and have received no answer. It appears no one is interested in or cares about their subscriber base. read more

This company is a scam. If you subscribe to their digital service you won't be able to cancel your subscription online or via chat. you will need to call and wait for hours on the phone to be able to cancel it. Stay away from them! read more

The Charlotte Observer has charged me $400 more for an annual subscription than agreed and will not cancel or refund subscription. I agreed to purchase the paper for $145. Actual Master Card Bank of America Transactions are below. 07/17- 07/16 THE CHARLOTTE OBSVR SU 7043585645 NC 145.00 After no authorization the Charlotte Observer charged my credit card in a different MONTH $523.11. 06/30 06/29 THE CHARLOTTE OBSVR SU SACRAMENTO CA 523.11 I called on 7/12/2023 and demanded a refund. the answer was NO. I escalated the call to a supervisor, and after 35 minutes the supervisor said NO REFUND AND NO CANCELATION until 8/2024. Lawful? We will find out. read more

Be very careful cancelling subscriptions. When they posted a $60 charge for a monthly digital subscription, I immediately went online to cancel. Lesson learned, call and speak directly to them as they have no record of the account being cancelled online. This paper is a huge ripoff. read more

I think you have finally figured out half of my issue. Last week was the first week I received most of my daily papers. The Herald was delivered 6 out of seven days. As of yesterday, I have received 10 correct papers since April. I still have not received one copy of the Fort Mill Times. You are making some progress. Update: I did not receive a paper yesterday but received my Wednesday and Thursday paper today..........I give up read more

Absolutely Do. Not. Subscribe. to this newspaper. Worst customer service experience of my life! I have had issues with deliveries for months. I have even told customer service that I did not feel comfortable with their staff delivering to my house anymore and that I had reason to believe they were stealing parts, if not all, of my papers. I always received the same generic responses from customer service. I also believe they just forward your exact complaint to the delivery person, because I could tell the person got spiteful with my deliveries. I couldn't get a response from anyone so I just went on with my papers and things were okay for a moment, then towards the end of my subscription - parts of my papers were missing again. I wrote to customer service and told them what happened and that I wanted my subscription cancelled since it was the end of my term. Another generic response from Customer Service and they did not acknowledge any of my complaints. I sent a complaint to the BBB, they responded once again not addressing anything I said and gave generic excuses about their company being effected by the pandemic. I have now asked them through BBB, once again, to cancel my account and make sure that I was not charged again in the future. For the past two days, I have noticed missed calls from a strange number. Today it called and immediately hung up before I could answer. Later they called again and when I answered, a woman begins reading a script and telling me I'm a "valued customer" and that I should extend my subscription with them. I told her that I absolutely DO NOT want to extend and that I have asked them through BBB to cancel my subscription on it's expiration date and that I didn't want them to keep contacting me. You know what that lady did? She hung up on me. I was extremely angry, but I never once raised my voice at this woman. All I wanted was for my subscription to be over and the assurance that they would not bill me any longer, yet now I'm still receiving harassing scripted call center calls telling me how "valued" I am before they hang up on me. Ridiculous. Run for the hills. Subscribe to ANY other newspaper, but this place is a legitimate scam operation and it's astounding to me that they're still as big of a newspaper company as they are. EDIT: Its been two weeks since I've cancelled. Last week I got another paper and I told them, once again, to stop and they said they would notify the delivery person not to deliver here anymore. Yet this morning I wake up to newspapers ALL OVER mine and my neighbors yards. What is wrong with this company??! This is unreal! read more

The Charlotte Observer - Charlotte Observer covering my yard in newspapers because I cancelled my subscription and have told them repeatedly to stop harassing me. - Print Media Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

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Key word, harassment. Hide your children, hide your families, the Charlotte observer is coming for it all. This company will harass and haunt you until the end of time! I opened a free trial subscription in April 2020 at a food lion. Harmless right? WRONG. I deleted the subscription after three days. Like a swarm of hungry seagulls, the calls and house visits started to flow in. I first received two calls a day from them to re-open the account. I had a man and a woman come to my house in a broken down Versa with smashed window trash overflowing, asking me why I left the Observer and telling me to rejoin the Observer. Uhhhhh, I THINK NOT! I can not make this up. I mean, if the two calls a day wasn't going to get your customer back, sending in a duo team may scare them into it... About two months later things had settled down after removing myself from the call list. Don't hold your breath, the newspaper started to show up at my door again, three at a time. After reminding the observer my account was deleted in April the news papers stopped but the phone calls started up again. I could not win. So finally after the 6th month the observer was quiet. In November they turned me over to the collections for $60. After fighting on the phone for an hour with a man, they cleared the account AGAIN, deleted it AGAIN. My lovely people, It is now January 2021. I have received another collection notice for 20$. I called the company threatened to sue for harassments and fraudulent charges. The account has been permanently deleted (again again again). My advice, please run from the man at food lion trying to sell the charlotte observer. Do not delete any of your confirmation emails. Keep all of your "subscription Cancel" emails. read more

I've lived in Charlotte for about ten years and while I've never been a subscriber of the Charlotte Observer, it is my first online stop for local news ahead of the TV and radio station web sites. Plus they have a terrific comics section and they cover local sports well. I do wish that they were an independent news outlet, but they're owned by the large McClatchy Company that operates two dozen or so newspapers. At least they're still not owned by the Gannett bunch. But it's not enough to get me to subscribe. My big complaint with the Observer is the constant litter in my neighborhood that can't be unsubscribed. I don't want their "free" paper but I can't make it stop. And when I'm not home, it advertises that fact to anyone going past. This nonsense needs to stop. read more

I wanted to support local journalism and I like receiving a print newspaper. With 5 contacts to customer service and 3 months, I have never received the print newspaper. They don't care that they are billing for something that you never receive. Do NOT recommend. read more

**BUYER BEWARE** I wish I could leave 0 stars. This is the absolute worst 'business' I have ever come across. And the worst 'customer service' I have ever experienced, if you can even call it that. I purchased a Charlotte Observer Hornet's sweatshirt and a blanket at a Hornet's game last year. They told me if I wanted to purchase both items, I would have to pay for them separately with two different credit cards. I thought this was strange. I paid for my items with separate cards, and then three months later I noticed that they randomly charged both of my cards $15.02. I called and asked what these were for, said I never signed up to be a monthly subscriber, then they supposedly cancelled my accounts and both cards on file. I then received sales calls EVERY SINGLE DAY for a week asking me why I was cancelling. I told them I never signed up and to stop calling me and remove me from their lists. Then the next month rolls around and they charged both cards AGAIN! I called again and told them to STOP FRAUDULENTLY CHARGING MY CREDIT CARDS. I never signed up for their services. I bought a sweatshirt and blanket and they literally used my credit card information to put me in TWO separate subscriptions. I told them to completely remove me from their system and to stop charging me. I then received more sales calls EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. for another week asking me why I was cancelling and if I would consider staying on as a subscriber. I was very heated and told them to stop calling and charging my cards AGAIN. They have charged my cards $15.02 SEVEN TIMES in three months. Can't get anyone in the actual Charlotte office on the phone. Always a call center. Nobody actionable. Ask to speak to a manager and they say no. All I wanted was a Hornet's sweatshirt and blanket. This is an absolute scam of a company. read more

This used to be a decent paper a decade or two ago- then something changed. Ignoring the fact that most of their paying readers are probably over 40 they decided to go "hip-hop" or something like that, starting running tons of crap that had nothing to do with the news. Their subscribers ran for the hills, they lost revenue and thus began the shrinking paper. It's now about a third of what it used to be and you'd think they'd learn. Instead a month or so ago they decided to go with a new "anything but news" front page. That, topped off with the worst outsourced customer service ever, makes it pretty much garbage. read more

My wife cancelled this subscription over a month ago via email. It was confirmed received by their customer service. However, we continued to receive the paper. I called to inquire and was told that the email was not good enough, that we had to double confirm the cancellation before they would cancel entirely. Now they are billing us for the papers they sent after cancelling. Money grab load of crap! This paper is worthless and the customer service is as well. read more

We have signed up in May to get the Sunday paper for 9 weeks. We have NOT received one paper delivered to our house. We told the sales person we want an actual paper we don't do digital or we won't sign up. He guaranteed that it will be delivered. First Sunday it was not delivered no biggie we let them know and they apologized and said You will get the paper next Sunday. The next Sunday no paper, made another call, more apologies and promises. Begging us to give them one more chance to prove to us they will get our paper. The person on the phone told me if we didn't get our paper they will refund us .Long story short, after numerous calls they still have not delivered one paper and failed to give our refund after they promised. I give them ZERO STARS. read more

This is not about the content put out by the paper but about the business as it is ran. I have had several issues with this company over the years like issues with the home delivery of my paper, customer service, and their billing practices. 1. At home delivery. Despite my neighbors getting the CLT Observer paper delivered regularly, after my delivery suddenly stopped coming to my house I called to complain. I was told that the paper delivery was not available where I was (then explain how my neighbor gets it and I used to get it). So I called a again and I was told that there is someone who delivers to my area and to give it a couple of weeks for that paper to cycle into their route. Which that failed too. So after 6 months of back and forth I gave up. Which takes me to my next complaint. 2. Their customer service is terrible. The agent on the end has zero power to resolve anything and zero idea about what's actually going on. All they do is send a message up to their supervisor or next tier of CS agent and then they (or their supervisor) never follow up on resolving any issues, leading me to call back over, and over, and over again to find out what the status of the resolution is. The only thing they do is extend the term of my subscription however many weeks I have been complaining. Which leads me to my next complaint. 3. Shady billing practices. Once you sign up for your specific term lengthe you would expect either a notification that the term is ending and an offer to renew or cancel. Well they don't tell you when your term is ending and instead continue to allow you access, not charging your original billing method on file, then call you and tell you that your bill is overdue and you must pay. This is not utilities where they will allow you to keep the lights on even if you haven't paid in a month, this is subscription service! If they wanted to get paid for what they provide then either automatically renew or stop access after my term has ended! read more

Worst customer service I have ever experienced. There were weeks that I did not receive the paper. They assured me this was due to not having a delivery person for our route, although I continued to get charged. They then offered me a 2 month extension on my subscription. Deliveries were still a big problem. Now they raised my rate from $10 a month to $24 ... even though my subscription wasn't up and I still did not receive papers on a weekly basis nor did I receive the inserts periodically. Called customer service for what I'm sure was the 30th time. They were argumentative about me cancelling my wanting to cancel the paper and offered me a deal ... $5.00 a week. Uh, $5 × 4 is $20 ... twice as much as I was paying. Don't think so, especially for a paper that was not delivered on a daily basis. Don't believe them. read more

Very deceptive subscription practices. I did not renew subscription but i did not cancel subscription. As a result. I now owe the Observer another $32.12. I purposely did not renew using a debit/credit card since it would be on file and they would automatically renew. Always paid with a check. Since i did not cancel, they renewed me anyway and i now have balance due. I will never subscribe to the Observer again due to this deceptive practuce. read more

It appears that the Charlotte Observer is doing everything to go out of business. I switched 3 years ago to the digital subscription since with the Extra section it provide an exceklent product. I travel so it was great to get the paper out of town. The format was easy to navigate in any browser and it was like reading a real paper. It was so good I got my wife, sister-in-law, and neighbor hooked. No they changed the format and it is crap. Everyone hates it. I sent an email to customer service saying " did they not run focus groups on the change before roll out?"In trying to become digital with a more friendly interphase, they went the other way. I won't even try to reach out to customer service, since it is terrible, having experienced it when zi was getting the home delivery. So goodby Charlotte Observer, you were good once. read more

4 missed deliveries in 1 week. My morning routine has become walking to my neighbor's driveway to see if he received a paper since he also subscribes. Sometimes he gets one and I don't, sometimes we both have missed deliveries. It's hard to support local journalism when they can't deliver what the customer paid them to deliver. read more

Charlotte Observer print delivery continues to be unreliable. Missing deliveries have been continuing since May 1 and missing at least one delivery per week. Customer service is based in South America and are only taking calls and "putting in requests" for management to call you which never happens. If I could rate "zero stars", that would be my selection. Local management or managers in the USA seem to avoid any contact with their customers. I do not recommend any new subscriptions for print delivery if you are considering since it appears the Observer is not interested in those customers. read more

This is the fifth week with no home delivery. one excuse after another. had a delivery on Sunday the 4th. that's is. one paper in five weeks. customer service truly sucks. call center are all from another country. they all read the same script. I've called and written every single day. and they won't issue a refund. funny how they will take your money and not provide the service they contracted to provide but won't refund your money. filed complaint with BBB. they closed it after two stock replies from the observer and said the business did their best. total bs. guess the BBB is in the pocket of big businesses and not to help consumers. Am I supposed to believe that sending a direct message to the person at the Observer who responded to this review is going to do anything? I did it but I've called and emailed daily for five weeks with no result. Still no paper today. 9/7 read more

The Observer has a severe delivery problem. For the past two weeks I have only received two papers. I paid for weekly deliveries but on an average I only get two papers a week. You have a severe delivery problem and it seems as if you are not taking any actions to resolve the delivery problems. John H. read more

Like many others, I signed up for a 2-month promotion, was told my card wouldn't be charged at the end of the promotion period UNLESS I called to re-subscribe, but they kept charging me anyway. Customer service is useless. Called twice during my promotion period stating that I wasn't receiving my paper but still only got my weekly paper one time in 8 weeks. When I called today to get a refund, they claimed they had no record of me calling customer service and initially tried to offer me a discounted rate (on a newspaper subscription that I'm not receiving, LOL). Eventually spoke to a supervisor and explained the promotion and that I never authorized additional monthly charges but was told they can't "guarantee" that it will be approved, we'll see. What a joke. I can "guarantee" that I'll never deal with the Charlotte Observer again and that I'll make sure all of my friends/family don't give them a dime. Their product isn't worth half of what they charge and they are trying to survive by hoping you don't notice they are charging you for a service you aren't receiving. I say let them fail and give someone else a chance. Good riddance! read more

On June 27 2022, the Observer stopped delivering my paper. I still had two and one half months left on my yearly subscription. Calls, e-mails and written letters have all been ignored. Have received over 40 phone calls from the Observer since September, asking for renewal.(Got to be a joke) Just received a Past-Due notice for a renewal request. I can't get them to understand that they cancelled my subscription with out any explanation. D T read more

We have been long time Clt Observer customers. The delivery service is horrible!! When I call customer service to report a delivery issue all you get is the automated service. Did manage to get in a text chat with our latest no delivery issue but all the Observer can say is sorry for the issue. They seem perfectly content with sorry delivery and customer service. My advice to anyone reading this is do not subscribe!!! read more

I would give zero stars if I could. I (reluctantly) signed up to receive the Charlotte Observer (never actually received one paper). I received a confirmation email that I would be charged $21.40 every 8 weeks. I was charge $38.61 after 4 weeks. When I called to cancel and told them I was charged too soon AND overcharged, I was told that "they cannot do refunds" and that they would extend my subscription for the extra money that I was charged...for a paper, I have yet to receive...that I want to cancel. This is a deceitful sales practice for an apparently non-existent product. I feel sorry for the "customer service representatives" that have to field the calls and let people know they aren't getting their money back for a product they never got. Terrible business! read more

Same story, delivery issues. Missed paper last week and now two straight days this week. I pay for a physical paper copy Mon thru Fri and Sun. I don't want to read it digitally only when I am paying for an actual paper copy. Been a customer since 2005. Moved to my current address in 2014 where I've had nothing but ongoing missed paper issues. Every time I cancel, they draw me back in with promises of no more missed deliveries. It's already a tiny newspaper barely worth the cost for the print copy but I paid for it and expect it. They also never extend my subscription for the missed deliveries. Seriously about to cancel for the last and final time! read more

ZERO STARS THE WORST EVER COMPANY !!!!!!!!!! After Numerous calls I told them I wanted my Sunday paper or a refund. They are nothing but a bunch of liars and scammers. There customer service sucks and I always get someone from India promising I'm going to get my paper or a credit. Still nothing!! I can understand if you can't get no one to deliver papers in my area, then don't send your lying sales people to Union county at my local Harris Teeter trying to sell papers WHEN YOU KNOW YOU DON'T HAVE NO ONE TO DELIVER! I told the salesman upfront I will not subscribe if I don't get an actual paper, he promised me a delivery. NOTHING BUT LIES!!!! read more

We have not received a paper since 8/2021. When I call (weekly) they say they are sorry and working hard on the issue. I even opened a better business bureau complaint. The resolution promised was a call from their distribution team. That never happened, I even tried to contact the person named. No way to make that happen. BBB was also not able to hold the charlotte observer accountable. read more

Called to cancel my subscription 2 weeks ago. Caller tried to get me to not cancel but I was very adamant that I wanted to cancel because I never ended up reading the newspaper. She said okay and then basically just hung up on me. Get a call the next day asking why I am cancelling and trying to get me not to. Again I am adamant I want to cancel. Next day after that I get a call from one number twice that I don't answer. Google number and website says it's Charlotte Observer. NEXT DAY another call from them that I do answer and I am sorry to say but I let her have it PLEASE CANCEL AND PLEASE STOP CALLING. Guess what I see a week later at my house (this Sunday)? The Charlotte Observer! Oh and Monday I got two phone calls from the same numbers they been using to call me. Try calling back and all it says is this is caller ID forwarding number. I called the customer service # today and told them the whole story. She gave me a confirmation # and a cancellation date. She said she would put on the do not call list. And lastly after that she asks me "So why are you cancelling?" REALLY!!!!!!!????? I just hung up, read more

The Charlotte Observer is AWFUL. I signed up for a 1 month trial subscription for the Sunday newspaper. I never once received a paper. I called and canceled my subscription. I got verbal confirmation that my account was closed. After canceling, I have been harassed by The Charlotte Observer 1-5 times per week. They say I owe them $39.55 although I have never received a product or service from them. They also constantly asked me to renew my subscription. I have asked to be removed from the system at least 5 times. I was told that my account would be updated to reflect a zero balance and closed. I assumed that would be the end of the harassing calls. Now they have reported me to collections!!! read more

Do NOT sign up for one of the Observer's promotions! They are definitely a scam. Customer service tells you you can cancel by X date and your card will no longer be charged. Then they bill you full price a few days before your cancelation date and say "sorry, our policy is no refunds after you've been billed." I have an email showing my registration date, but customer service says that's not proof, basically because the Observer doesn't include the date in the email. The paper isn't even worth the $1/month promotion. Articles are filled with typos, bad grammar, etc. I read better articles in our college newspaper. read more

Terrible customer service. I recently moved and put in a change of address. I was told delivery would start the next day. Well here I am five days later without a paper. Each call or email is response to with "we have escalated this to the manager." Really, if so the manager should be fired if they can't solve a simple delivery issue. It's a shame this paper has deteriorated to this point. read more