The Spectator Reviews 

Read my review further down from January. I was promised a refund which I still have not received. I emailed, phoned and wrote letters again and again but they have stopped responding after promising they would sort it out. Avoid at all costs. I will do a chargeback through my bank and I advise you all to do the same. Trash customer service.

Its just an online trash-mag with articles by third-rate journalists. Don't bother. You won't get a refund anyway as their customer service is awful.

Excellent event, well presented interesting wines and accompanying good lunch

I have been trying to unsubscribe and it’s impossible. I just want them to leave me alone and refund any monies taken after the trial period ended

Wonderful Burns Night Whisky tasting in The Spectator boardroom with The Glenturret. Johnny is such a welcoming host, the whiskys were incredible - so lovely to hear the stories behind them from Private Client Manager (and ex Scottish rugby player) Ruaridh Jackson.

Like many others took out the free trial. Emailed and phoned to cancel the subscription but was charged 12.99 at end of January. Have emailed again but no response and the phone number no longer works. Complete nightmare avoid at all costs

I already reviewed below and they say to every comment on here to "write to the help@ Spectator e-mail". Forget that too. You're just wasting your time. The Press Ombudsman has to be the next port of call.

I have had exactly the same experience. Signed up for the 3 month trial. Asked for an immediate cancellation and was told that my subscription has been cancelled and still got charged for it. And now no one is responding to my multiple emails, there is no way to call! Please don't subscribe. Cheaters!

I took out a 3 month Free Trial, and after 3 or 4 weeks decided it wasn't for me, so attempted to cancel. I have sent numerous emails, made numerous calls, to no avail. Today I find I have been billed for the subscription. I've had to resort to contacting my Credit Card company to dispute the payment. Who needs this level of hassle for a Trial subscription. If you're thinking of taking out a free trial, don't!

Was given a free subscription, and it wasn't for me (half the writers getting offended by the idea that not everyone looks like them got a bit repetitive). After several rounds of calls, emails, and unsubscribe buttons, I STILL get spammed by these absolute flamingoes.

Signed up to a free subscription - then double charged within days? Cannot even now cancel online, no one answers calls. Had to raise a complaint and dispute charge on credit cards. Absolutely shocking experience puts me off the magazine which I have actually enjoyed in the past. How can they lecture politicians when they can't organise a basic subscription service?

Ridiculous card handling procedures and days even weeks to handle a transaction that others do in an hour.

The magazine is wonderful - I have subscribed for 40 years but the admin is a disgrace.

Sadly the 1 star review Spectator magazine has is justified. Customer support simply never reply.

I had hoped to change subscription options but that's proving impossible.

They keep charging me with no way of me stopping it.

I may actually have to close my bank account as the only way of preventing further charges.

Like others have written, I would be vary cautious about signing up for a subscription. The magazine is great but their subscription service is bordering on fraudulent. I have a chain of emails dating back to August wherein I am requesting the termination of my subscription. They use every trick in the book to avoid doing so. They keep telling me they can’t find me in their system. Then they tell me to contact their US office. Then their US office says they’ve just inherited the subscriptions from another company but they don’t have all the information so I need to contact the UK office and around we go again.

I’m having to contact my credit card company and file a fraudulent charge report. Otherwise, there’s just no way to make it stop. Hours of my life wasted. I would have expected so much more from this magazine.

Poor website, i have been charged various amounts but for what i do not know, it's impossible to fathom, be very wary of any offers, they are complicated and designed to trick you into long term subscriptions you may not want.
I enjoy the magazine but the customer service experience, subscription management and website are way way behind where they should be

I suggest they change the entire management team in"Customer Service". I have had a Kafkaesque experience with several attempts to renew my subscription. Per their web site I tried complaining to the editor, but just got sent back to "Customer Services".

I recently fell into this trap unfortunately, having missed the auto renewal deadline by a few days. £170 annual renewal! I told them I accepted I had made a small admin error but they are refusing to offer any refund. This is the action you would expect from a dodgy double glazing company and the like. I’m absolutely furious with them!!

I took out a subscription and enjoyed reading the articles. I particularly liked the daily round-up by Katy Balls. I never had the problems cancelling my subs, that was straightforward, but reading other experiences I will now check my bank balance!! I do, however, have a problem with how they run their comments sections on the website which are toxic and abusive. This is a real shame because the magazine is a good read. It's a shame they don't realize the trolls on their website are tarnishing their brand and driving readers that want to engage away.

Beware of the auto-renew trap. Asked for the overlooked auto renew to be cancelled but was told it would not be under any circumstances. They are total hypocrites as they recently ran an article about being aware of auto-renew traps. Yet they are very keen to to implement this themselves. They have an extremely poor and arrogant attitude towards potential long-term subscribers.
BEWARE!