The Athletic UK Reviews 53

Most the content is very good and you can get great deals that make it superb value for money.

After a 1 month trial that a friend gave to me, I had decided to cancel the subscription when the month ended. However, they do not give you any notification that the trial is ending and just charge for an entire year. I immediately cancelled and messaged to complain only to receive an automated message saying "no refunds".

Avoid!

After using the site for 18 months, the monthly fee increased from £1 to £7.99 without any notification from The Athletic. I find this approach to pricing pretty disappointing.

Terrible company. Not worth the money. Shady business practices. Never using them again. Non-existent customer service.

I strongly believe their business practices should be brought to the attention of consumer rights watchdog. They are a bunch of thieves in the midst of a cost of living crisis. They shouldn't be able to get away this!

I was confident I had cancelled my free subscription, then like many, got charged £59.99. I came onto Trip Advisor and thought, oh no, I'm never going to see that money.
Happy to report I was refunded within 2 days. I filled in the contact form and had a response next day confirming I'd be refunded. (I spoke with a Hailey).

Charged £60 despite not agreeing to auto renewal. No way to contact them for a refund and no prior notice of renewal.

Shallow articles with nothing insightful. Additionally, they will entice u with a $1 a month offer and add in an automatic full subscription after 12 months. With articles that are so pointless, you would forget about your subscription and get charged fully after 12 months. They will then refuse to refund even if u have immediately informed them of your decision not to utilise the subscription.

I've been a subscriber for approx 5 years, and they really do provide great content. However, my current deal is £1 per month that I signed up for in July, which is a great deal. What is not so great is every single month the DD payment has failed at their side and I have had to re-input the exact same accont details over and over again. I raised this with customer service and Hailey was initially providing a response and asking for extra info, then nothing. This keeps on happening every month, with no similar issues with any other DD / standing orders I have. So, beware dealing with them as their customer service is dreadful.

Update 2025!

This has continued to happen every single month and is utterly infuriating. Plus since the New York Times buyout the quality of coverage has dropped significantly. I don't mind it for £1 per month (despite every month having to input the same details over and over again), but compared to what it was a few years ago it is a real shame.

Non-existent customer service. Service auto-renews at an overly inflated price and the company offers no refunds no matter the scenario.

I've just had the same experience - had confirmation that my sub was cancelled on Monday... Tuesday they take 59.99 again. As others note there's no genuine customer services to contact

Lack of customer service channels after a £59.99 payment that had no upcoming payment email alongside it, which is usual business etiquette. When you try to cancel subscription through the app it doesn't work.

Easy to book, just try n cancel... Nightmare.
why would they make it difficult, lost me for ever.

Terrible!!!

Purchased via apple - can’t access content. The Athletic puts every barrier they can in the way to stop you cancelling whilst doing nothing to help resolve issues.

It's not particularly expensive if you can get a deal from them but the football coverage is pretty boring and the comments section full of know it all's who have probably never been to a live football match in their lives..

Poor coverage. They've removed all coverage of Scottish football. Very sun-par coverage. Save your money and go elsewhere

Took £59.99 from my account for a yearly subscription that auto renewed. After I tried to cancel offered me a reduced rate to stay and wont honour that either. So now they won’t provide a refund or the reduced rate.

Terrible company

Massive fan of the Athletic. I pay £25 a year and it’s the best money I spend on sports journalism every year. The best content and writers around. Sign up for one of their deals and don’t miss out.

Same as many others. Took the money and asked for a refund on the same day.

After a few automated emails I spoke to someone through email and was refunded.
Think you need to be persistent and get on it the same day for a refund.

As others have already stated, took money for a renewal with zero notice or communication and then won’t honour a request for a refund. You just get automated replies from them and no actual human contact. I’ve opened a dispute via PayPal to see if I can get my money back. They seem to have contempt for customers.

Would be zero. No notification of renewal and stung for £60. Impossible to contact and zero customer service.
Disgusted with them. A joke and I am sure won’t be around for long with such a lack of principles