Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/29/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have subscribed to the Virginian Pilot for a number of years with relatively few delivery problems. However, beginning in April of this year, I have received my morning paper at the prescribed time of before 6:30 during the week and before 7:30 on the week ends less than 10 times. It is now 7 months with my "morning" paper arriving as late 1:00 PM and semi-regularly between 9:30 and 11:00 AM. I have registered numerous concerns directly with the newspaper, they have always been courteous but they have yet to correct the problem. I fully realize getting someone to deliver newspapers is not the most desirable job, but there just has to be someone out there that will take the job. In my opinion, the newspaper people seem content with having a delivery person take on a second route (which it appears that is what is happening in my delivery area) rather than actively pursue hiring a person to deliver the paper at the prescribed time. I am frustrated.
  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/30/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2022/11/14) */
  November 14, 2022
  
  Please accept our sincere apologies for any ongoing frustration or inconvenience associated with your Virginian Pilot subscription.
  
  Your delivery concern concerning your late deliveries is being reviewed with your local Distributor for resolution. They will contact your local Delivery Contractor to check on your account to ensure that your newspaper arrives as expected on your scheduled delivery days. They have responded that as there are delivery delays in the area at this time that your deliveries may be missed or received after standard delivery times.
  
  Due to the information you provided and reviewing your account, credits have been applied to your account which has extended your paid thru date until December 4, 2022. Also, Customer Service spoke with on October 25th and processed a one-time lower rate for your subscription and will be contacting you directly within the next 7-10 business days to confirm your deliveries have been received to your satisfaction.
  
  Again, we apologize any inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your patience as we work in getting this matter resolved. If you need any further assistance with your home delivery subscription, please contact our Customer Service Department at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
  
  Thank you,
  ******
  Executive Resolution Center

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/20/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  A six month subscription for paper deliveries each Sunday was paid for in September of 2022. One paper was delivered to our address and we have received nothing since. I have filed two complaints of missing papers and requests for re-delivery. An email response was given saying that the matter would be handled. Yet another missed delivery occurred and we have had no updates following the complaints so we have requested a full refund. This request was made approximately two weeks ago and the matter has still not been resolved.
  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/22/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/28) */
  October 28, 2022
  
  Please accept our sincere apologies for any ongoing frustration or inconvenience associated with your Virginian Pilot subscription.
  
  Your delivery concern concerning your missed Sunday deliveries is being reviewed with your local Distributor for resolution. They will contact your local Delivery Contractor to check on your account to ensure that your newspaper arrives as expected on your scheduled delivery day. They have responded that as there are delivery delays in the area at this time that your deliveries may be missed or received after standard delivery times.
  Credits have been applied to your account due to no redeliveries being received. Due to the additional credits processed your subscription has been extended to paid thru date April 23, 2023. Customer Service will be contacting you directly within the next 7-10 business days to confirm your deliveries have been received to your satisfaction.
  Again, we apologize any inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your patience as we work in getting this matter resolved. If you need any further assistance with your home delivery subscription, please contact our Customer Service Department at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
  
  Thank you,
  ******
  Executive Resolution Center

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/12/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My paper was suddenly stopped in June 2022 and I learned that customer service charged the wrong credit card. I promptly corrected this and my subscription restarted. I have now been overcharged for my subscription and paid ******* on March 11, ******* on June 11, ****** on June 24, ******* on June 28, and
  ******* on Sept 13.
  Called customer service on Sept 5 and got a response on Sept 6 asking for more detail, which I provided on Sept 7. I received an e-mail on Sept 18 saying that the billing department had my case. Calling customer service is fruitless.
  I want to continue to receive the paper and there must be someone at this business that can see that I was clearly overcharged.
  Account # XXXXXXXXX. Ref: XXXXXXXXX

  Business Response

  Date: 11/29/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/20) */
  October 20, 2022
  
  Our sincere apologies for any frustration or inconvenience with your current Virginian Pilot subscription.
  
  After reviewing your home delivery account and information you provided within this *** Complaint, it seems the credit card payment dated declined for the March 11, 2022 ******* payment which was from bill dates 3/01/22 thru 5/31/22. The June 11, 2022 scheduled payment of ******* was returned back to your credit card company which was applied back to the credit card charged. This credit card was charged back whereas cancelled your account due to the standard procedure in place for this circumstance effective June 23, 2022. There is no record or transaction of any payment ****** dated June 24th. The payment charged in the amount of ******* was from bill date June 1, 2022 thru September 10, 2022. The current payment in the amount of ******* processed on September 11, 2022 is for the bill dates September 11, 2022 thru December 11, 2022. Please be advised there was a rate change on your subscription which increased the 13-week bill cycle. Due to this circumstance, I was able to authorize a one-time rate adjustment which extended your paid thru date until December 25, 2022. As per our discussion today, you will email me directly the credit card statements for proof of payments in order to make any further adjustments, if needed.
  
  Should you have any further questions or delivery concerns regarding your home delivery subscription, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Service Department at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
  
  Thank you,
  ******
  Executive Resolution Center

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/05/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We have subscribed to the Pilot for many years. This year we are beset with missed deliveries of our newspapers. Today, Wednesday, October 5 is the latest problem with a missed delivery. Each time we register our complaints by phone with the company and are told that the Pilot will take it up with their distributor and a paper will be delivered to us. Replacement papers never arrive. Would like the Pilot give us the phone number for the distributor so we may contact them when papers are missing. Contacting a call center located outside of the USA gets us nowhere, and Pilot management obviously does not care about its print customers.
  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/26/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/11) */
  October 11, 2022
  
  Please accept our sincere apologies for any ongoing frustration or inconvenience associated with your Virginian Pilot subscription.
  
  Your delivery concern concerning your missed Wednesday, October 5th delivery is being reviewed with your local Distributor for resolution. They will contact your local Delivery Contractor to check on your account to ensure that your newspaper arrives as expected on your scheduled delivery days. They have responded that as there are delivery delays in the area at this time that your deliveries may be missed or received after standard delivery times.
  
  Credits have been applied to your account due to no redeliveries being received. Due to the additional credits processed your subscription has been extended to paid thru date April 11, 2023. Customer Service will be contacting you directly within the next 7-10 business days to confirm your deliveries have been received to your satisfaction.
  
  Again, we apologize any inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your patience as we work in getting this matter resolved. If you need any further assistance with your home delivery subscription, please contact our Customer Service Department at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
  
  Thank you,
  ******
  Executive Resolution Center

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/19/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Today is Sept 19, on sept 7 I called and canceled all services w va pilot.the rep tried to keep me w cheaper prices, I let her know I lost my job and can't afford it. She then asked if I wanted online services, email services and I said I didn't want anything because I don't have the money. She then told me she canceled it and I asked about my credit card on file and she said it would be removed from va pilots system. Today 9-19-22 I see a pending charge of ****** which will cause my bank account to go into overdraft charging me *** extra from my bank. I called va pilot to find out what was going on and a rep told me they would cancel my online account and issue a refund in 5-7 business days. I let her know I canceled everything on 9-7. She apologized but had no way of stopping the charge. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was transferred. She was extremely rude and admitted it was the employees fault that I talked to on 9-7, but there was nothing she could do about me getting 2 overdraft charges coming out due to this hitting my account. How can they hold onto my bank account info after they showed I canceled on 9-7??? How can they have such rude and unprofessional supervisors working for them?? Definitely will never use their paper again and will tell every person I know in person and on all my social media platforms about how they operate unprofessionally and their mishandling of customers bank account information.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/12/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/28) */
  September 28, 2022
  
  Please accept our sincere apologies for any ongoing frustration or misunderstanding associated with your Virginian Pilot subscription.
  
  After reviewing the information you provided, as well as your former subscriptions, it seems you had two Virginian Pilot accounts. Multiple accounts are not uncommon as we have Schools, Libraries and Government Agencies having several accounts and managed by one person. Please be advised that to create another account you would need to submit another digital order, with a discounted offer, along with your credit card information. If you are logging into an active account, all you would need is your log-in credentials.
  
  Both accounts have been cancelled at this time and a full refund of your second account in the amount of ****** has been processed back to your credit card charged. Please allow 14 business days for this refund to be applied. Also, it seems Customer Service processed another refund in the amount of ****** on September 19th during your contact regarding this concern. The total of both refunds processed would be *******
  
  Once again our sincere apologies for any misunderstanding. If you need any further assistance or would like to restart your subscription, please contact our Customer Service Department at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
  
  Thank you,
  ******
  Executive Resolution Center

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/17/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On two separate occasions (9/12/2022 & 9/16/2022) I have attempted to subscribe to the Virginian Pilot through an online site *************************************** for a one year daily subscription to the Virginian Pilot for ******** Both times I have received confirmations of the order from what appears to be the Virginian Pilot. In neither case has my credit card been charged nor has delivery started. On the most recent confirmation I received a warning from Google/G Mail that the site was suspect.
  Calls to the customer service number have resulted in being told that I do not have a subscription and they have no record of my attempts to subscribe.
  To date neither online order has been charged to the credit card used.
  I am very concerned that the site I used is an effort obtain personal and credit card information fraudulently.
  Attached are copies of the confirmations and the Gmail message warning of the site being suspect.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/07/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/27) */
  September 27, 2022
  
  Please accept our sincere apologies for any ongoing frustration or misunderstanding associated with your attempt to start a Virginian Pilot subscription. The online site *************************************** is valid if a potential subscriber would like to start a subscription.
  
  Unfortunately at this time, the Virginian Pilot does not have available delivery service for your home address. The only option would be for digital only service. A refund was processed for the stopped Account# XXXXXXXXXX on September 20th in the amount of ******* which was applied back to credit card charges. It seems this was discussed with you during your Customer Service contact on September 20th. For the first order, this subscription was cancelled, and the credit card charge did not process therefore no refund was applied.
  
  I will follow up with you directly to see if any further assistance is needed.
  Once again our sincere apologies for any misunderstanding. If you need any further assistance or would like to restart a digital subscription, please contact our Customer Service Department at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
  
  Thank you,
  ******
  Executive Resolution Center
  
  
  Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2022/09/30) */
  (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/01/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  August 31, 2022. Va. Pilot was not delivered. I called 3 times. They said it would be delivered today, September 1, 2022. Still not delivered. I have paid for delivery until December, 2022 when it's due again.
  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/22/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/12) */
  September 12, 2022
  
  Please accept our sincere apologies for any ongoing frustration or inconvenience associated with your Virginian Pilot subscription.
  
  Your delivery concern concerning your missed Wednesday, August 31st delivery is being reviewed with your local Distributor for resolution. They will contact your local Delivery Contractor to check on your account to ensure that your newspaper arrives as expected on your scheduled delivery days. They have responded that as there are delivery delays in the area at this time that your deliveries may be missed or received after standard delivery times.
  
  Credit has been applied to your account due to no redelivery being received for the August 31st issue. Due to this credit, and along with an authorized a one-time rate adjustment, your subscription has been extended to December 30, 2022. Your prior paid thru date was December 9, 2022. I have tried to contact you by phone but reached your voicemail. Customer Service will be contacting you directly within the next 7-10 business days.
  Again, we apologize any inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your patience as we work in getting this matter resolved. If you need any further assistance with your home delivery subscription, please contact our Customer Service Department at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
  
  Thank you,
  ******
  Executive Resolution Center

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/31/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  This is about our delivery person. We have had the news paper delivered for over 45 years and never had a problem. I don't know what happened to the man that had been delivering the paper but I never had any issues with him or anyone else until this person took the route over. Our paper has always been put on our porch. This woman refuses to put it on the porch. It's either at the end of the driveway or the middle of the yard, in my flower bed. There are other neighbors that have complained to me about the delivery of their papers. I have made numerous reports about this but nothing has changed except I didn't even get a paper today. I delivered papers for the pilot years ago and I know how important it is to have the paper put on the porch or wherever it's requested to be. This person doesn't care. She rides down the street just tossing the paper out the car window. If this problem can not be resolved then I'm going to have to cancel my subscription and I really don't want it to come to that. Thank you **** ****

  Business Response

  Date: 09/21/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/08) */
  September 8, 2022
  
  Please accept our sincere apologies for any ongoing frustration or inconvenience associated with your Virginian Pilot subscription.
  
  Your delivery concerns and feedback regarding your Virginian Pilot deliveries are being reviewed with your local Distributor for resolution. They will contact your local Delivery Contractor to check on your account to ensure that your newspaper arrives as expected on your scheduled delivery days. They have responded that as there are delivery delays in the area at this time that your deliveries may be missed or received after standard delivery times.
  
  Your product placement request for porch delivery will be reviewed as this is considered a special request which is only accommodated under specific circumstances. Our standard delivery location is to the driveway therefore your request will be reviewed. Any feedback will be forwarded to you and Customer Service will be contacting you directly within the next 7-10 business days.
  Again, we apologize any inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your patience as we work in getting this matter resolved. If you need any further assistance with your home delivery subscription, please contact our Customer Service Department at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
  
  Thank you,
  ******
  Executive Resolution Center

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/26/2022

  Type:Delivery Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  For nearly a year I have had delivery problems with the paper, mostly very late deliveries. In the past month the problem has worsened and I am not getting a paper even though my neighbors are getting the usual late deliveries. I have called numerous times regarding this issue and I keep being told it will be resolved. I spoke with a supervisor regarding the delivery of my paper the other day and was assured I would be getting my paper and it would be delivered on time. Well, that has not happened. What does it take to get a paper that I have paid for?. I have been a subscriber of the Virginian Pilot for 45 years and had never had prolonged delivery problems.
  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/21/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/09) */
  September 9, 2022
  
  Please accept our sincere apologies for any ongoing frustration or inconvenience associated with your Virginian Pilot subscription. Thank you for continuing to be a valued long-time Virginian Pilot subscriber.
  
  Your delivery concerns and feedback regarding your Virginian Pilot deliveries are being reviewed with your local Distributor for resolution. They are contacting the Delivery Contractor to check on your account to ensure that your newspaper arrives as expected on your scheduled delivery days. They have responded that as there are delivery delays in the area at this time that your deliveries may be missed or received after standard delivery times due to this concern.
  Customer Service has been in contact with you for a Service Check and will continue for the next week to confirm you have received the home deliveries to your satisfaction.
  Again, we apologize any inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your patience as we work in getting this matter resolved. If you need any further assistance with your home delivery subscription, please contact our Customer Service Department at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
  
  Thank you,
  ******
  Executive Resolution Center

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/23/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Ongoing delivery issue with Virginian Pilot. I have contacted customer service numerous times about this and the delivery is getting worse. The paper has not been delivered in a timely fashion for nearly a year. It gets delivered later and later - sometimes not until mid afternoon.and now I am not getting a paper some days.. I have been a loyal subscriber for 45 years. I pay my bill promptly and in return I expect a paper everyday and on time.
  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/21/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/01) */
  September 1, 2022
  
  Please accept our sincere apologies for any ongoing frustration or inconvenience associated with your Virginian Pilot subscription. Thank you for continuing to be a valued long-time Virginian Pilot subscriber.
  
  Your delivery concerns and feedback regarding your Virginian Pilot deliveries are being reviewed with your local Distributor for resolution. They are contacting the Delivery Contractor to check on your account to ensure that your newspaper arrives as expected on your scheduled delivery days. They have responded that as there are delivery delays in the area at this time that your deliveries may be missed or received after standard delivery times due to this concern.
  
  Customer Service will contact you for a Service Check next week to confirm you have received the home deliveries to your satisfaction.
  Again, we apologize any inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your patience as we work in getting this matter resolved. If you need any further assistance with your home delivery subscription, please contact our Customer Service Department at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
  
  Thank you,
  ******
  Executive Resolution Center
  
  
  Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/09/02) */
  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  I understand that there are delivery issues in this area but this has been going on for about a year. It seems as though a new carrier service should be considered since the current one has done little to nothing to resolve this issue. I appreciate your efforts to resolve this issue and I am happy to say that I have received my paper for the last 5 days but late every day.
  
  
  Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/09/12) */
  September 12, 2022
  
  Please accept our sincere apologies for any ongoing frustration or inconvenience associated with your Virginian Pilot subscription. Thank you for continuing to be a valued long-time Virginian Pilot subscriber.
  
  Your delivery concerns and feedback regarding your Virginian Pilot deliveries are being reviewed with your local Distributor for resolution. They are contacting the Delivery Contractor to check on your account to ensure that your newspaper arrives as expected on your scheduled delivery days. They have responded that as there are delivery delays in the area at this time that your deliveries may be missed or received after standard delivery times due to this concern.
  Customer Service has been in contact with you for a Service Check and will continue for the next week to confirm you have received the home deliveries to your satisfaction.
  Again, we apologize any inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your patience as we work in getting this matter resolved. If you need any further assistance with your home delivery subscription, please contact our Customer Service Department at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
  Thank you,
  ******
  Executive Resolution Center