Magazines.com Reviews 53

After my credit card was hacked, it was re-issued with a different number. Magazines.com somehow acquired the new number without contacting me. I did not realize they were autorenewing a subscription to RealSimple magazine, much less with the new credit card number. They appear to operate out of Iowa, but that seems to be a shell operation. All interactions from the website are "AI" and an utterly useless waste of time. The only way to reach a human being was to call the number from the credit card transaction. The call center for that clearly is off-shored. Even with human interaction, I was charged for a future issue not yet received and refunded only the remainder of the subscription. Magazines.com is ruining the reputations of otherwise possibly legitimate magazines.

I had ordered 2 subscriptions for a friend. They were fine until my friend moved. Magazines.com kept renewing the subscription even though they were undeliverable.
When I contacted them, the subscriptions were cancelled, but no refund or credit was issued. I inquired about this, but did not get a response.
Auto renewal has gotten to be a scam and a moneymaker for this company.

Update- 3/28/26:after posting here, I finally received an email response that the magazine would be arriving and that processing sometimes takes a while-a week or so after receiving that email, a first issue of my subscription finally arrived.
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Would give a zero if I could! No issues of my subscription have arrived and even though I’ve sent multiple requests for subscription fulfillment or refund of subscription price, I’ve heard nothing! Canceling my credit card info, but am concerned it will continue to be charged. Do NOT subscribe with them! They are not responsive and as far as my experience has been, they operate like a scam.

No magazines, you'll have to report charges as fraud to get your money back.

Never received magazine despite numerous follow up with company . I asked for a refund; hopefully I will see it. Would not recommend

Shady….Beware! Never signed up for auto renewal but was charged anyway, I had to call numerous times to get refunded. Go directly to the actual magazine to subscribe.

Even though I was assured that I would receive notification before People magazine was renewed, that did NOT happen. I checked my emails and no such notification came through. I suspect this is their racket. Get you in for a cheap price and then sock it to you with a renewal you DID NOT expect. The cancellation process is a nightmare of pushing buttons and speaking into the phone. Of course, when you finally get a human being she is speaking to you from some call center in India. She said that she cancelled the subscription and issued a refund. Fingers crossed this is the case!

Absolutely a terrible company to deal with.
Rude customer service.
They talk to you like they're they're doing you a favor.
Don't waste your time or money. If you go to their site. Of course they have great reviews.
But if you check anywhere else, they're just a third party and every time something wrong happens it's just an excuse.
I waited 8 weeks for nothing and then they charged me. I asked why wasn't I refunded in full? They said it was the time they spent on the phone.

Slow tech. Borderline fraud. Payment took days to process. Cancellation difficult.

I made the HUGE mistake of ordering before checking here to see if it is a scam site.
Strictly speaking, not a true scam but they say on their website that "you can cancel anytime and be refunded for the issues not received."
They also sent NO email to verify purchase. The only record I have is Paypal, where they took the $ under another biz name Meredith Operation Corporation.
Ppl here are 100% right that you cant get through to a customer service agent and they make it VERY VERY hard to cancel orders/subscriptions.

I would give it a Zero. SCAM. impossible to get in touch with anyone. IMPOSSIBLE TO CANCEL. No ability to get through the automated menu. It takes you in circles. Any information you enter - name, zip code, order #, etc. they claim not to be able to find. But they sure know how to bill your credit card.

⭐ 1 Star — Magazines.com (Order #2905508848)

I placed an order with Magazines.com back in August 2025 and, to this day, have not received a single issue — digital or physical. I was charged immediately, but have had zero communication or confirmation of activation.

The order included:

Allrecipes Magazine – 5 issues

Real Simple – 6 issues

Better Homes & Gardens – 10 issues

It’s now been over two months with nothing delivered and no updates. Very disappointing experience, and I won’t be shopping with Magazines.com again unless this is made right.

Mike in FL 🐾 — Verified Purchase, August 2025

Website is not allowing me to cancel auto renew subscriptions I do not wish to have and advertises a phone number supposedly available 7 days a week but that does not work when you call it

Absolute scam. I cancelled auto renew within a month of receiving the subscriptions, and received confirmation number.
Then 8 months later I received an email telling me I would be charged $35 unless I cancelled. But link was dead, my saved password no longer worked and couldn’t be reset, and the phone number automatically disconnected when called.

No one responded to emails so I had to just report it as fraudulent charge to PayPal, and ask my bank to put a note in my file to flag them if they ever tried to charge me again.

They just stopped sending my magazine even though it said I was covered until next April. Somewhere they saw 7/17/25 so they stopped it. Then blamed it on the vendor. This is on top of their automated system ( which is almost impossible to get out of) when you do talk to a human they are from some foreign country. I had been a long time customer but not anymore. Done with them.

I purchased two separate subscriptions for my nieces last Christmas and they never got them. I called customer service and they gave me 3rd party numbers. Not happy and neither are the girls.

Do not purchase from them. Bad news. Ordered Golf Magazine. Was to get a umbrella & gear bag. despite many phone calls and promised to send them. NEVER RECEIVED. Took a long time to get first magazine. Charged credit card for renewal. Had to fight to get my money back. Stay away

Very hateful customer service rep. After submitting a change of address for four magazine subscriptions over 8 weeks ago, I called after 6 weeks and advised only one of the four were being delivered. The CS rep. said it took 6 weeks before the change of address would take effect, so I called at 8 weeks and was again dealing with the hateful CS rep. I ended up just canceling all subscriptions. Run, don't walk from these folks!!!

I ended up NOT ordering from Magazine.com after I saw the advertised price for People Magazine($48 for 48 weeks)was NOT the total you would be charged and renewed yearly! It was $107. Really? You gotta really pay attention because it also had an auto yearly renewal you’ll be charged for! Shame on yall I give “0” for such deceit

I subscribed to Real Simple last year 2024. When I got an email saying they were going to renew this year 2025 I tried to cancel online but couldn’t. Called and cancelled on May22. On July 4th they charged my credit card. I emailed customer service and they sent me a refund check in the mail and said they cancelled the auto renewal. Today I got an email again saying it was going to renew and charge my account on the 31st of August if I didn’t cancel. I emailed them today August 14th and received a email back saying they are going to refund money that I haven’t paid yet and stopped auto renewal. I think I am going to have to get a new credit card number just to get this to stop.