WSJ Subscription at $4/month

[sad2]

https://store.wsj.com/shop/us/us/wsjuel ... 1=APCc9OU1


Rarely do I see a monthly subscription rate from the WSJ (directly from WSJ.com) at this price point.

$4/month for 12 months.

The fine print reads:

When can I cancel?

You may change or cancel your subscription at any time. To change or cancel your subscription, please contact Customer Service at 1-(800)-JOURNAL (568-7625) or 609-514-0870. We do not accept cancellations by mail, email, or by any other means.



My question for the group: How difficult is it to cancel by phone at the end of the one year term?

[EHEngineer]

You can use a disposable card with a limited amount of money. the subscription will stop when the charges fail.

[sad2]

You can use a disposable card with a limited amount of money. the subscription will stop when the charges fail.

I like that idea. Do you know how to obtain a disposable card? Researching online options to purchase a one-time $48 Visa Gift card entails a $2.95 activation fee.

Is there any way to purchase a disposable card without incurring a fee?

[mjs111]

I have subscriptions to WSJ and Barron's. I canceled my Barron's subscription once for a while, using the phone method. There were no problems. They did ask why I was cancelling it and I told them why (price went up too much in one year). After that they went ahead and cancelled it. No hard sell or dragging it out at all.

Mike

[testing321]

Some people on another site said that it is difficult to cancel over the phone due to very long waits. But it is supposed to be easy to cancel if you use Paypal because you can cancel it on Paypal's website without speaking to anyone.

[oldcomputerguy]

This topic is now in the Personal Consumer Issues forum.

[Jagger]

It's not difficult at all to cancel. Just mark your calendar to call WSJ at 11 months, 3 weeks. 800-568-7625. Tell 'em you don't really use it or read it anymore. They'll try to coax you to continue with another discounted offer, but just say, "Please cancel at the end of my subscription period." That's it.

By the way, wait a couple of days after your subscription ends, Google "cheap WSJ subscriptions," and you'll find even better deals, like $1/month for 3 months, etc. You can sign up again...and again...using this method. No need to pay $39/month!

[oldlongbeard]

It's not difficult at all to cancel. Just mark your calendar to call WSJ at 11 months, 3 weeks. 800-568-7625. Tell 'em you don't really use it or read it anymore. They'll try to coax you to continue with another discounted offer, but just say, "Please cancel at the end of my subscription period." That's it.

By the way, wait a couple of days after your subscription ends, Google "cheap WSJ subscriptions," and you'll find even better deals, like $1/month for 3 months, etc. You can sign up again...and again...using this method. No need to pay $39/month!

Don't wait that long... you better call 2 months in advance. Last time they changed the game a bit and charged my card the full-boat price over 6 weeks prior to my subscription ending. I called, they said nothing they could do. I challenged the charge on my CC, and I won. On top of that, after the 1st week, I never got the paper on the correct day. It was ALWAYS a day late. I decided not to complain too loudly, since it was about the time Covid started. NEVER AGAIN. NOT a good way to retain customers.
YMMV. My experience.

[heartwood]

https://store.wsj.com/shop/us/us/wsjuel ... 1=APCc9OU1


Rarely do I see a monthly subscription rate from the WSJ (directly from WSJ.com) at this price point.

$4/month for 12 months.

The fine print reads:

When can I cancel?

You may change or cancel your subscription at any time. To change or cancel your subscription, please contact Customer Service at 1-(800)-JOURNAL (568-7625) or 609-514-0870. We do not accept cancellations by mail, email, or by any other means.



My question for the group: How difficult is it to cancel by phone at the end of the one year term?

@ 5:30 Saturday, using the link the price I see is $19.50/month for digital access. No $4/month offer.

[Broken Man 1999]

FWIW, my paper edition that is mailed is sometimes a day late. That is on the USPS, not the WSJ.

Maybe since the USPS isn't delivering ballots any longer things will return to normal.

At any rate I have digital access also, so no harm.

Broken Man 1999

[Firemenot]

That’s an amazing deal. Thanks for sharing!

[TdF fan]

https://store.wsj.com/shop/us/us/wsjuel ... 1=APCc9OU1


Rarely do I see a monthly subscription rate from the WSJ (directly from WSJ.com) at this price point.

$4/month for 12 months.

Is it $4/month for 12 months or $4/month for 12 weeks?

[heartwood]

https://store.wsj.com/shop/us/us/wsjuel ... 1=APCc9OU1


Rarely do I see a monthly subscription rate from the WSJ (directly from WSJ.com) at this price point.

$4/month for 12 months.

The fine print reads:

When can I cancel?

You may change or cancel your subscription at any time. To change or cancel your subscription, please contact Customer Service at 1-(800)-JOURNAL (568-7625) or 609-514-0870. We do not accept cancellations by mail, email, or by any other means.



My question for the group: How difficult is it to cancel by phone at the end of the one year term?

@ 5:30 Saturday, using the link the price I see is $19.50/month for digital access. No $4/month offer.

6:39 Saturday. If I click on the link, I get $19.50/month. If I click the link in an incognito window I get the $4/month offer. Strange,

Great offer!

[Magruder]

Have one of your kids or grandkids that have an .edu address subscribe at $4 per month!

[Artful Dodger]

I’m seeing the $4 per month offer. Shows as all access digital no local delivery. Black Friday offer. Doubt I’ll take them up. I’ve got more reading than time.

[Stinky]

My question for the group: How difficult is it to cancel by phone at the end of the one year term?

When I cancelled WSJ on the phone, I had to get borderline ugly with them.

The operator kept going on and on about how great the WSJ was, and asking why I didn’t want it now when I wanted it at time of subscription. I reverted to answering every question with “Please cancel my subscription now”. I think I said that about 8 times before the operator finally gave up.

Canceling was an entirely unpleasant experience.

[BroIceCream]

You can use a disposable card with a limited amount of money. the subscription will stop when the charges fail.

I like that idea. Do you know how to obtain a disposable card?
Is there any way to purchase a disposable card without incurring a fee?

Consider ]privacy.com. You can create [several] virtual credit card number, linked to your debit account.
The nice thing is that you can pause/kill the generated card at any time, limit it to a certain $ amount per use/per month/per forever -- and it automatically gets locked to the first merchant that uses it, therefore the card number can't get used elsewhere. you can review all transactions on their website.

It is free to you, and privacy.com gets their slice from the "credit card fees" the merchant pays from the purchase. (that is why it links to your "debit" account).

I use it for some recurring web purchases (ex, ooma, tivo, ring, magazine), or of someone wants a credit card# over the phone - if the card number is hijacked, then my accounts are safe, and can't be used by an eavesdropper. The biggest downside from my perspective is the loss of revenue on my 2% cash back credit card.

[diabelli]

I'd be interested in a study with the aim of determining whether this common tactic -- easy to sign up online, but to cancel requires a phone call and usually an irritating conversation -- leads to more or less subscribers year to year.

Personally I'd be FAR more likely to sign up for things like the WSJ, knowing that I could cancel easily. The thought of needing to make a phone call and explain myself in order to cancel, parting with 5-10 minutes of time on a probably-busy day, is a powerful deterrent and does keep me from signing up in the first place.

[txaggie]

Just change your address to somewhere in California. Then you will be able to cancel your subscription online easily. Online services are required by law in California to offer the ability to cancel subscriptions online. I used this trick to cancel my WSJ subscription last year.

[sad2]

https://store.wsj.com/shop/us/us/wsjuel ... 1=APCc9OU1


Rarely do I see a monthly subscription rate from the WSJ (directly from WSJ.com) at this price point.

$4/month for 12 months.

Is it $4/month for 12 months or $4/month for 12 weeks?

$4/month for 12 months.

[sad2]

Thank you all for the suggestions.
I went ahead and purchased the subscription with my normal credit card.

12 months at $4/month


I'm going to give the company a chance to do right at the time I call to cancel.
If I have any issues with cancelling this time next year, I will keep that in mind for future purchases with this vendor.

[Da5id]

[ quoted post and response removed by admin LadyGeek]

I also took the $4/month offer, and have a gcal entry to cancel. Not sure exactly what it is worth to me, $38/month isn't, $4 is.

[truenorth418]

Years ago I bought a subscription to the paper edition of WSJ - they offered "online included free of charge" - which was great because I was more interested in the online version anyway. This was when they charged over $100/year for a subscription.

Well surprise surprise after a few weeks they ended the "free online" piece and demanded I pay for that separately.

I will never buy a subscription to WSJ again - even at the pathetic $4 rate. They were dishonest with me and I will never forget that.

[LadyGeek]

Discussions of dishonest behavior or bypassing the law is totally unacceptable.

I removed a post which suggested bypassing the WSJ paywall.

[bondsr4me]

Discussions of dishonest behavior or bypassing the law is totally unacceptable.

I removed a post which suggested bypassing the WSJ paywall.

+1
totally agree.

[Da5id]

[Quoted post removed by Flyer24]

If you value the content enough to jump through hoops, why not pay to support its production? Frugality is one thing, but this seems kinda cheap. And "if everyone does it" the service you value will vanish.

[Flyer24]

As noted, please stay focused on subscription deals. Do not discuss ways to bypass the paywall.

[abuss368]

So this is for new members. I may need to cancel and come back for $4!

I have mixed feelings regarding this. I don’t want the printed newspaper industry to go away.

[MDfan]

Thank you all for the suggestions.
I went ahead and purchased the subscription with my normal credit card.

12 months at $4/month


I'm going to give the company a chance to do right at the time I call to cancel.
If I have any issues with cancelling this time next year, I will keep that in mind for future purchases with this vendor.

It's really not that hard. I did a trial subscription and then canceled a few months ago. Just had to say no a couple of times when they tried to get me to re-up. Just like canceling a credit card. No big deal.

[William Million]

Honestly, that's a very good deal. I enjoy Barron's. I've been paranoid about not being able to cancel (having heard horror stories), so I use virtual credit cards.

By the way, I take a course each semester at my local community college (personal enrichment). That part-time status qualifies me as a student for subscriptions, which can also be a good deal. Amazon also offered me the student rate for two years (unsolicited). I don't use the student ID for cheaper museum admissions, however, as I want to support those institutions.