A South Florida woman was charged hundreds of dollars even after she canceled a subscription with a local newspaper. So she reached out to NBC6 Responds for help.
It’s not always easy to cancel a subscription. That’s why the Federal Trade Commission recently implemented a rule forcing companies to simplify the process.
But what happens when you cancel a subscription but are still charged? It’s what Silvia Garcia Sierra says happened to her when she canceled her newspaper delivery.
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WATCH HERESilvia says she likes to stay informed, which is why she was an avid El Nuevo Herald reader for years.
“I had a newspaper the Nuevo Herald for a long time. But one day I got tired of it because I didn't really have a lot of time and so I only had the subscription on Sundays,” she said.
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A year and a half ago, she decided to cancel her subscription altogether.
“And of course, the newspaper stopped coming. Which I think is fine because I stopped paying,” Silvia said.
She said she thought that ended her relationship with El Nuevo Herald, but a year and a half later, while checking her bank statements, she realized it hadn’t.
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“They had been taking money from my bank account without me knowing,” she said.
When Silvia reviewed her bill, she said she found that from May of 2023 until November of 2024, the Miami Herald had been charging her monthly amounts ranging between $27.82 and $94.84, totaling more than $900, according to her calculations.
She said she immediately began calling the newspaper and after much insistence, got someone on the line.
“They said well, we investigated, but we found out that you were responsible because you should have called us before and let us know,” she said.
Silvia said that when the paper denied her claim, she disputed the charges with her bank, which investigated and credited her around $300. She then reached out to the NBC6 Responds team for help with the rest of the money.
“It was very fast,” she said, describing our response.
After our team reached out to El Nuevo Herald, a customer experience manager with the paper’s publisher McClatchy told us: “…the customer Silvia Garcia Sierra has been contacted. The account has been discussed and resolved with an agreed upon refund of $699.91.”
“She called me to say we're gonna give back the money," Silvia said.
And they did.
“Two days ago, they put the money in my account… I'm very happy. I'm very grateful to you,” Silvia said.
If you have a problem you haven’t been able to solve on your own, you can reach out to the NBC6 Responds team by filling out this form: www.nbcmiami.com/consumer-form/
In Silvia’s case, the fact that she had all her documents in order made the resolution easier.
