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:02/27/2023

  Type:Billing 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.

  Trying to concact the Roanoke Times to submit a change in my credit card for payment ! No one ever answeres the phone ,been trying to contact the # they have listed !

  Business Response

  Date: 02/28/2023

  I am sorry you are having a problem contacting someone. I will have someone contact you in the next 48 hours.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/01/2022

  Type:Service or Repair 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.

  I WANT TO DISCONTINUE MY PAPER!!!! I HAVE TRIED ALL WEEK TO GET IN TOUCH WITH SOMEBODY-ANYBODY!!! NOBODY ANSWERS ANY PHONE AND N0 PLACE ON COMPUTER TO STOP PAPER! SO IN MEANTIME, THE TIMES HAS TAKEN NEXT MONTHS PAYMENT AND GUESS WHAT? THE PAYMENT HAS INCREASED!!!! PLEASE, SOMEBODY, DISCONTINUE THE ROANOKE TIMES, AND NOW-I NEED MY MONEY BACK! I AM LIVING ON SOCIAL SECURITY. I CANNOT AFFORD $90.00 MONTH ON THE NEWSPAPER. I'VE HAD THE PAPER ALL MY LIFE-THIS IS A BIG CHANGE. SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!!

  Business Response

  Date: 12/09/2022

  A Roanoke Times customer service rep. will stop the paper and issue a refund today. The rep will call Ms. ******* and let them know this has been done.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/10/2022

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/01/2022

  Type:Delivery Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore 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 not received a newspaper since November 19, 2022. I have tried to contact their customer support
  with no response. I have called and emailed. I did once speak with a person who did not speak very much English but still have not heard from anyone regarding this problem.
  
  My account is on auto pay and they do not hesitate to continue receiving payment. When I have had problem in the past, they say they will credit my account, but I have not seen any evidence of that being true.
  
  Please help me resolve this issue.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/09/2022

  This address is an area we recently converted to mail and it appears this was overlooked. The subscription is being moved to mail plus the account is being credited for 2 weeks due to not receiving papers during this time.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/09/2022

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.  Regards,
  
  ****** ****
  
  There was no notification that this area was going to mail.  I have not received a paper by mail EVER!  I would like to have a human being call and talk with me about this issue.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/12/2022

  I'm sorry this does not work. I will have your newspaper stopped and refund your balance.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/13/2022

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.  Regards,
  
  ****** ****
  
  What do mean that you will stop my paper?  Do you not understand that I haven't received a paper since November 19th?  I guess you are too busy taking advantage of people to pick up the phone and call someone who has been taking the paper for 30+ years.    

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/21/2022

  Type:Delivery Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore 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 had a subscription with Roanoke Times often on for years…… wow they have always had delivery issues and their customer service is terrible it is reached a new level of bad.
  
  I’ve been receiving the paper seven days a week for at least the last 12 to 18 months and suddenly I stopped receiving the paper on Sundays for the last three weeks and missed a couple other days in between as well.
  When I called to either get a refund on my remaining subscription or actually get the paper delivered I was told I did not have a weekend subscription? News to me since I’ve been getting the newspaper for seven days a week the last 12 or 18 months at least…… my experience with the customer service representative was so frustrating I finally just asked for a refund of my remaining subscription which she refused to provide and then finally said she would need a credit card number from me to give me a refund which of course I refused
  I asked for her name and she refused to give me her name …… she also refused to give me her supervisor and said there was no supervisor and finally hung up on me
  
  I either want my paper delivered seven days a week or a refund
  
  In other words provide the service as per our agreement or give me my money back

  Business Response

  Date: 11/21/2022

  I am sorry that the subscribers had a bad experience with the call center. I looked at the account and the subscription is a Monday through Friday but can change to a 7 day subscription to ensure 7 day delivery.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/21/2022

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. First of all the customer service agent spoke very poor broken English so it was very difficult to understand at least part of what she was saying. Secondly she refused to give me her full name thirdly she refused my request to speak to a supervisor and finally she refused my request for a refund and hung up on meFurthermore I’ve been getting the paper seven days a week for well over a year and suddenly they say it’s a five day subscription??perhaps that’s why the customer service agent wanted me to give her a credit card number instead of simply refunding the balance of my subscription meanwhile never addressing the fact that not only did I not get the paper the last three Sundays in a row but I also missed at least two other days in the last three weeks and yet continue to get a Saturday paper???This is one of the worst customer service departments for a business I have ever seen in my life
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* ******** 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/28/2022

  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.

  We placed a classified ad for House For Sale By Owner with color pic of house, placed via phone and e-mail, for newspaper and on line, for 3 Sundays, 10-9-22, 10-16-22 and 10-30-22, for the amount of $ 246.84. The first ad was in the newspaper but not on line. After contacting them about this, several hours later we received a call that they could not download the pic, no offers to re try or anything. Only a $10.00 refund was offered, I said just add pics available. We never received one call and since a pic is the main draw to the ad, we feel we didn't get what we paid for. So cancelled the last ad. We were told no refund, asked to talk to supervisor. After multiple calls no return call. We feel we should be refunded for half of these expensive non productive no call ads. We were not told of any ad policies nor did we see anything on line about it. We feel this is very poor business, we should have have had the courtesy of a return call explaining their action.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/28/2022

  This customer concerns belong to another department that I cannot respond for. I will contact our classified depart next week and turn this information over to them to handle.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/31/2022

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *** ***** ********* 
  no resolution to issue was offered in the time limit

  Business Response

  Date: 11/01/2022

  I am sorry they do not accept my solution but this is not a circulation issue. I have forwarded this to the correct department asking them to contact you.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/15/2022

  Our Advertising manager said this has been resolved. They reached out directly to the customer and gave them some credit and she says all is well on their end now. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/16/2022

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  We have not been contacted by anyone from the business and have not received any credit.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *** ***** ********* 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/28/2022

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *** ***** *********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/04/2022

  Type:Delivery 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.

  We subscribe to the Roanoke Times and WSJ for home delivery daily. We have not received the papers for days, On Monday only got the Times. No WSJ. My neighbor is getting her WSJ delivered. Other than for Monday, no papers delivered for several weeks. We just want this delivery issue corrected.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/05/2022

  Mr. ******,I am sorry for the lack of service you have been receiving from us. I have spoken to the manager over the area where you live to make sure both papers are delivered. They should be calling you to check on service but if they fail to check on you then please call me at ###-###-#### anytime.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/11/2022

   I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
  
  Regards,
  
  **** ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/04/2022

  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.

  Although always spotty, in the last weeks no paper is delivered. There is no human customer support unless you wait hours and then it’s an overseas call center . That didn’t help either. Since this is also how I get *** **** ****** ******* I’m losing money on both

  Business Response

  Date: 09/06/2022

  As Mr. ****** sated the service in his are has been sub-par and we pulled the carrier off the route in hope of giving better service. The company will be delivering for the next few days until we can put another carrier on and show them the route.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/11/2022

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  The response has not resolved the issue, no Sundsay paper Sundsy Sept 11. There are no options to speak to some drone other then a call center. This is not a serious news company 
  Regards,
  
  ***** ******

  Business Response

  Date: 09/12/2022

  I'm sorry that our delivery was not satisfactory and you missed you paper this Sunday. I will continue working on getting delivery up to expectations.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/30/2022

  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.

  We often do not receive our paper, either from Rke Times and/or the ******** **** **** ** ***** *** **. Both of these newspapers have lousy customer service, when you can even reach someone. Which is rare. The customer service is not even in VA for the Rke times and they say they can't send us replacement papers on the days we don't get them. How do I know for sure if my accounts were even credited for a week and 1/2 of August 14 through about the August 24th? The ******** **** **** has closed their office. They have papers all over the doors with telephone numbers. I need to place an ad in the ******** **** ****? now I am having a "go round" trying to get someone to call me back because their "email" comes back to me as saying invalid? Not getting our paper WHICH WE HAVE ALREADY PAID FOR" is a normal thing. We pay about $3,000 dollars a year? I think for a subscription? It is unacceptable to not be able to speak to someone who can do something about this situation. Obviously, this is an ongoing issue with tons of people looking at the complaint

  Business Response

  Date: 08/31/2022

  I have looked over the account of Mr. ***** and he does receive credit each time he calls and does not get a newspaper. Mr. ***** is correct we no longer redeliver a newspaper when missed and instead credit that days delivery which extends his expiration date. We did close our office in ***** ***** due to company directives. The phone number and email listed below is a direct line to a person that works in Roanoke and Mr. ***** can report any issues as well as they can connect him to a person that could help with advertising.Customer Service ******** *******###-###-#### or ******************* ********************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/01/2022

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** ***** ***

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/22/2022

  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.

  Over the past months we did not get a newspaper on the day it suppose to arrive. We wouldl get two papers the next day. We did not get a paper Sunday or Monday. I called the Roanoke times and was put on hold over an hour and I hung up. I went on line to use their chat system with no response either. This was today 8/22/2022. I called the newspaper delivery person who said she delivered the paper Sunday at 8:00am but that was not correct because I checked at the mailbox at 9:30am, 11;00am, 1:30pm and no newspaper. She said she had personal delivery issues over the months. I tried to speak with the customer person at the Roanoke Times to report the poor delivery service but I can't get through to them. I paid the annual subscription $546 on 1/31/2022 and they are not living up to their commitment to deliver a daily service that I paid for,. I would appreciate any help that you can give in resolving this problem. Thank you, ***** ******

  Business Response

  Date: 08/22/2022

  The carrier that delivered this route also had another route too, and was having issues with many customers so to make sure service improved we took one of the routes from the carrier . The carriers is on trial to improve service and if service does not improve soon she will not be able to continue as a carrier delivering our paper. I will make contact in a few days to see if service has improved.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/23/2022

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  From: ******************* ********************* Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2022 12:06 PM To: Info **********************Subject: Complaint ID********I rejected the response from the Roanoke Times because I would like to speak with the person in charge to provide additional details about the delivery issues. My number is ###-###-#### or provide with a Roanoke Times person's name and direct phone number to call and I will call them. They have responded to you as the Better Business Bureau but they don' t seem to want to talk directly with a customer of 22 years. Please let me know how to proceed. Sincerely,***** ******

  Business Response

  Date: 08/24/2022

  I will contact the customer and see if I can help with the issue.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/25/2022

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** ******

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/20/2022

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  I am writing for some help again. I issued a complaint #ID ******** about not receiving newspaper delivery from the Roanoke Times. **** ***** helped me back in August when she was in contact with the  ***** **** at the Roanoke Times. He called me and corrected the delivery issue. The problem is happening again. We received a partial paper on Sunday 10/16, no paper on Monday 10/17, and no paper on Wed 10/19. I called ***** **** twice who did not return my calls. I called the newspaper delivery person who said she does not know who is delivering our paper due to her having a family emergency. I called the Roanoke Times today 10/19 and spoke to ******* in customer service who told me she had received numerous calls about delivery issues and would pass on my concerns to the people in charge at the Roanoke Times. I paid an annual subscription to receive the daily newspaper. They are not honoring the contract for delivery. I paid them $546 on January 24, 2022 and the delivery has been sporadic. Can you please help in obtaining a resolution that includes a daily newspaper delivery. Thank you so much. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** ******

  Business Response

  Date: 10/20/2022

  The carrier who delivered the newspaper left abruptly leaving us to find some to deliver without accurate information. The carrier is back now and hopefully the delivery will settle down to a paper delvered everyday.