Lowlights, a children’s magazine

A certain children’s magazine appears to be notorious for renewing subscriptions without a customer’s approval. Ask me how I know this.

Okay, I’ll tell you.

Last year I ordered a one-year subscription for a kiddo. (More than a year doesn’t make sense: kids outgrow this stuff pretty quickly). Last night I noticed an unauthorized renewal charge in my bank statement. Very sneaky: the subscription doesn’t expire until January, and the charge was made one day before my then-current card expired. I filed a fraud report with my bank, and I’m watching now for the refund that the magazine’s customer rep promised (though not before trying to get me to renew anyway).

Nasty company. Friends of children, beware.

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October 9: Subscription canceled, money returned, no fraud investigation required. But still, it’s unconscionable for a company to push through a renewal without the customer’s consent, and to do so months in advance so as to catch a card before it expired. Think of the automation that must go into making that happen.