Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

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GS
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Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by GS »

WSJ renewed my subscription at a rate of double the original rate today. I called and they would not budge on lowering the new rate so I cancelled the subscription. They did not even notify me of the increase by email or snail mail. I found it upon checking my credit card charges online. I do not understand why some businesses can not be upfront with you.
hlfo718
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by hlfo718 »

Were you paying the intro price of $39 and is now around $79 or $119? I dropped it two years ago and don't miss it. Now they constantly email me with offers, no thanks.
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abuss368
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by abuss368 »

Wait a couple of weeks. You are probably going to get introductory offers!
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livesoft
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by livesoft »

You weren't using your Goldman Sachs office for the delivery address, were you?
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abuss368
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by abuss368 »

livesoft wrote:You weren't using your Goldman Sachs office for the delivery address, were you?
Priceless. Try Omaha, Nebraska as your next address!
John C. Bogle: “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."
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Rob5TCP
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by Rob5TCP »

If you read the fine print, it almost always says you will automatically be renewed at the prevailing rate.
I did not have the WSJ for years, when I found how to get a free subscription from a posting on Bogleheads.
I stopped my subscription for most of the summer.
If the renewal rate is reasonable, i will go so I get the online edition. If not, I will just pass.
Last edited by Rob5TCP on Fri Jul 25, 2014 3:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.
dolphinsaremammals
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by dolphinsaremammals »

Usually if you have an introductory rate for something, it says the rate will increase after that period is over. You may have missed the fine print.
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macaroon
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by macaroon »

If you have some stray expiring airline miles that you'll never use, you can get 304 issues of the WSJ for around 3200 miles. Sure beats wasting the FF miles! I think the website to do this is magsformiles.com
DetroitRed
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by DetroitRed »

After dealing with this problem a number of times I now pay all my subscriptions by check (I don't do direct debit).

It's a little bit more trouble because I have to write a check, get a stamp and mail it. But it put an end to my problem of getting automatically renewed at a much higher rate.
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abuss368
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by abuss368 »

I will admit however, I really do enjoy reading the print publication. I have not used the online version. I guess the fact that I am on a computer all day it is refreshing to hold a newspaper in your hands!

I have found that if one reads The Wall Street Journal, there really is not a need for any other business publications such as Barron's, BusinessWeek, etc. unless one has a personal preference.

Best.
John C. Bogle: “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."
Calm Man
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by Calm Man »

I got the WSJ for about 20 years. I stopped 5 years ago. I have never missed it. When you think about it, unless you have specific business needs requiring you to keep up with something (in which case the business would pay for it), what do you actually lose from your quality or pleasure of life by not reading it at all?
fareastwarriors
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by fareastwarriors »

RewardsGold.
free.
communipaw
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by communipaw »

unless you have specific business needs requiring you to keep up with something (in which case the business would pay for it), what do you actually lose from your quality or pleasure of life by not reading it at all?
I think you lose the theater reviews, book reviews, the analyses of works of art, the weekend essays, local news about NYC, comments on social issues, etc.
ralph124cf
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by ralph124cf »

I was a WSJ subscriber for over 40 years. I miss my WSJ subscription, but not enough to pay the current rates. I switched to the online edition completely about ten years ago, at a very attractive rate, but about four years ago they raised the online rate to a point that was close to the delivery rate, and I canceled my subscription.

Ralph
Calm Man
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by Calm Man »

communipaw wrote:
unless you have specific business needs requiring you to keep up with something (in which case the business would pay for it), what do you actually lose from your quality or pleasure of life by not reading it at all?
I think you lose the theater reviews, book reviews, the analyses of works of art, the weekend essays, local news about NYC, comments on social issues, etc.
yes you do. I find it elsewhere but yes, if these items are important to you and not replaceable, then they "got ya" and you'll need to keep up your subscription. I think there are a million or so people who do pay to subscribe. Enjoy.
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joe8d
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by joe8d »

Murdock needs the money to buy Time Warner :happy
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Toons
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by Toons »

Haven't missed the journal in 10 years :happy
"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity" –Bruce Lee
banjo
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by banjo »

I have had my WSJ subscription for more than 20 years. I originally signed up because the stock prices were printed in a larger font than they were in the Boston Globe LOL. That was a while ago.

The cost of this most recent signup was significantly more than the previous year. They used to sell the print and online subscriptions separately. They are now both sold at the same time, with no price reduction for the package and no way to split them up.

I find that the WSJ web site is about the slowest web site on the net. When I try to log into it on my tablet in the morning for a quick update, I finish my breakfast and leave before it gets around to signing me in. Very slow server. So I installed the WSJ app on the tablet, and every time I try to use it, the app just hangs. It locks the whole tablet up until Mr. Android pops up a box saying "This App is not responding. Would you like to terminate it?".

I say, "You bet". I have not tried it for a couple of months now. Maybe they have fixed it.

After I renewed, I spent two months not being able to log into the web page at all. It would just pop up adds advising me to subscribe in order to get access. Every time I called tech support, that is what they told me as well. I finally threatened to cancel the whole subscription and demand a refund, and they managed to get me activated.

Calling their tech support is especially frustrating. I don't think any of them understand much of English much less the technology they are supposed to help with. They just kept referring me to the online instructions that didn't work in the first place.

I keep getting the WSJ because I am an old dog, and I like to read the print edition in the morning with my coffee. But I am rethinking whether or not I will sign up again for the next renewal.
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BlueEars
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by BlueEars »

macaroon wrote:If you have some stray expiring airline miles that you'll never use, you can get 304 issues of the WSJ for around 3200 miles. Sure beats wasting the FF miles! I think the website to do this is magsformiles.com
Just did this a few days ago.
jlawrence01
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by jlawrence01 »

I get the Wall Street Journal free through E rewards or through unused airline miles.

It is one of the few well written newspapers and I read it over lunch each day.
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yatesd
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by yatesd »

WSJ is one of the few news sources worth reading. I stay in hotels regularly and always baffled why they would think that offering a comic book for a news source (USA Today) provides any value.

[OT comment removed by admin LadyGeek]
gd
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by gd »

When paying for a subscription or enrollment, I use my BofA credit card with ShopSafe, a service that provides a unique, one-vendor CC number with a limit and expiration of your choosing. Most companies rig enrollments with an autorenewal default. They run a charge a year later and the number is long invalid. I don't know if anyone else has this kind of feature, but I try to use it any time I make online purchases of any type.
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SecretAsianMan
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by SecretAsianMan »

yatesd wrote:[OT comment removed by admin LadyGeek]
???

[OT comments removed by admin LadyGeek]

I agree. [OT comments removed by admin LadyGeek]. Regardless of political persuasion, it boggles my mind that someone rational enough to be a Boglehead would consider him a credible "news source." Wow.

SAM
Snapper
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by Snapper »

Market data can be had for free with Bloomberg et al. Most of the rest of WSJ is the financial porn We should avoid. Cancel the subscription and stay the course.
Diogenes
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by Diogenes »

DetroitRed wrote:After dealing with this problem a number of times I now pay all my subscriptions by check (I don't do direct debit).

It's a little bit more trouble because I have to write a check, get a stamp and mail it. But it put an end to my problem of getting automatically renewed at a much higher rate.
The WSJ is really the only print newspaper out there still worthwhile to read. However, their subscription renewals are infamous. Auto charging your CC a vastly inflated rate ($495 for 1 year in one case), auto-debiting checking accounts, etc., I decided to 'cut the cards' this last time. I wanted to pay a fair price but not game the system with a subscription in my dog's name (if I had a dog) but also had no time for auto renewal concerns. Because of the complaints on various sites about this issue, I decided to use a prepaid Amex I bought with the exact amount loaded on the card to make the four payments of $29 for a year of delivery and online access. For some reason at that rate I could not prepay the entire 12 months.

As a side note, as I travel many months each year, I am constantly stopping delivery for 4-6 weeks. Their online system for doing this has worked without fail. That extends the print delivery and I can still use the online access when away!

_D_
spankasmurf
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by spankasmurf »

fareastwarriors wrote:RewardsGold.
free.
This.

I'm going on a year of free WSJ and just re-upped again. Used a fake name and toss away email. Get access to online premium content. Sometimes get the paper version a day late. Never had a problem with online - quick access on my smartphone or website.
shawcroft
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by shawcroft »

I do enjoy reading the Wall Street Journal and particularly the weekend edition. I jet wander over tour local library and read ( scan) the past week's issues in the course of an hour.... but I do have fond memories of perusing the print version over morning coffee....
I, too, am amazed that hotels offer USA Today when the WSJ is the same cover price......must be a deal on comic books.
Shawcroft
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mcrunyan
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by mcrunyan »

Someone posted this a while ago and I don't know why the WSJ does this, but if you don't need to read the paper first thing in the morning you can read PDFs of the paper late in the day with the following link syntax:
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/ ... 140802.pdf

Change the "A" to whatever section your'e interested in and the number after that is the page number (it needs to be a three digit number). The date should be obvious how to format. I admit this is a bit tedious to change pages in the url, so I just pay for weekend edition paper delivery and if I'm in the mood will check out the online PDFs.
communipaw
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by communipaw »

I have found that if one reads The Wall Street Journal, there really is not a need for any other business publications such as Barron's, BusinessWeek, etc. unless one has a personal preference.
It just struck me [and I should be embarrassed since this is Bogleheads with a focus on finances] but I hadn't realized that most people apparently read the WSJ for business/money/financial reasons. I don't.

I read/skim the market place and money-finance sections because I've paid for them. But it's the OTHER sections like technology, background politics, international affairs, local New York news, theater, music, unaffordable real estate, book reviews, etc. that are the real reasons I subscribe. Apparently I'm out of step with the Boglehead philosophy.
BillyG
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Re: Wall Street Journal Subscription Increase

Post by BillyG »

communipaw wrote:
I have found that if one reads The Wall Street Journal, there really is not a need for any other business publications such as Barron's, BusinessWeek, etc. unless one has a personal preference.
It just struck me [and I should be embarrassed since this is Bogleheads with a focus on finances] but I hadn't realized that most people apparently read the WSJ for business/money/financial reasons. I don't.

I read/skim the market place and money-finance sections because I've paid for them. But it's the OTHER sections like technology, background politics, international affairs, local New York news, theater, music, unaffordable real estate, book reviews, etc. that are the real reasons I subscribe. Apparently I'm out of step with the Boglehead philosophy.
Me too.

Billy
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