Immediate Media Reviews 139

The worst company and customer service.
I bought a years magazine subscription however was told due to an error on the system it had been cancelled by them, yet no refund was provided and they were unable to undo the error. Over 30 contacts later and I am still no closer to receiving a refund. Often my emails get ignored or I am told it has been escalated to higher managers although this is just lies. Truly the worst company to buy from. My difficulties have been going on for several months.

I cancelled Good Food at the end of January to change to Olive.
I am still awaiting a refund after over 2 months despite many phone calls and emails - Nothing received!
At the same time I paid a 5 monthly subscription for Olive and after waiting for over 2 months no magazines have been received.
Terrible customer service all round and not to be trusted.

The people you speak to at customer services try to do their best and are helpful. However basically they could do nothing regarding my refund issue. They said all the right things using their 'flow charts' but were unable to put me through to the Finance Dept. or even a Manager! This started back in October 2025 and it is only after raising a dispute with my bank that I have just received the refund for a year's subscription of Radio Times which I did not receive. Even the bank did not get a reply from them. In effect they still have not refunded my money as it came from my bank!! How can this be right? I actually think that this company is running some sort of scam cheating people out of their money. I will now do the sensible thing and buy directly from a shop. STEER CLEAR OF IMMEDIATE MEDIA !!

Been chasing for a refund since December 25. Spoke to about 8 different people all who tell me will be done and to wait 10 to 14 days and it never arrives. Rang today and definitely been promised another as they have a new system and will work this time. My elderly mother hasn't had copies of the radio times since early December and had paid a full subscription which we cancelled mid December. This company lies and holds onto funds and is terrible to deal with do not sign up for anything with them.

THREE payments for a gift subscription for HistoryExtra magazine were taken, with none of them resulting in subscriptions being confirmed or delivered.
I've sent at least 12 emails, called four times (I'm in New Zealand so the UK timezone isn't great), and nothing has happened at all. They have stolen $501.36 NZD from me with no goods sent. This was from 2 x payments taken 12 Dec 26 and 1 x payment on 25 Feb 26. I was told the web portal has been 'having issues'.
The worst customer service I have experienced in my life - and I'm still no closer to getting my money back.
They did manage to sign me up for a new sub over the phone on 25 Feb 26 - they took the money from my credit card, send me a subscription number but no magazine has turned up! So even when it's a manual process i.e. not through the portal, it's a scam. They also charged me $30 more for that subscription than what they quoted me over the phone.
If I could give a zero star rating, I would.

Whatever you do, don’t buy magazines with this company. It’s that simple, 2 reasons….

1. You probably won’t get it on time because they use Royal Mail, which is now effectively defunct as a reliable service. We ordered Radio Times, but often received it after the TV programs had been broadcast.

2. When we cancelled a new subscription last October for £112 they agreed to refund it but we are still waiting. We have had dozens of emails and phone calls. They are always friendly and helpful but no money ever turns up. We are investigating using the small claims court or employing bailiffs ….anything.

Other reviews say it all really. Pay for a subscription and it arrives half the time. No replies to emails or phone.

Immediate Media steals money from pensioners. Having signed up for a subscription where only half of the magazines were delivered I had £59 taken early from my account before the cancellation date. Since 3rd March I have tried to get this returned through emails and phone calls. I am on a low income and feel helpless. One man called David Hodges at the Radio Times said he'd look into this and then proceeded to ignore my follow up emails. Nobody is taking accountability or ownership. My friend tried to follow up for me and was questioned about her gender!

EDIT: Have reported Immediate (haha) Media to Trading Standards. Let's see what happens next. Nothing good for them I would hope.

I've been a subscriber to BBC History magazine (now called History Extra) for decades. In the past few years I've also enjoyed content (history videos, courses and articles) on the History Extra website which you are supposed to be able to access when you subscribe to the magazine. Ever since my subscription was renewed in Nov 25 I've been unable to get subscriber website access because of IT problems following the migration of subscription renewal from BuySubscriptions to Immediate Media. I've been contacting the Immediate Media helpdesk on a regular basis for the last 4 months. They now admit there's a problem and that it also affects other Immediate Media magazines but so far the IT team seem unable to rectify the situation, or indeed tell the helpdesk how long this will take to sort. Meanwhile HistoryExtra will lose subscribers as those who've just renewed their subscriptions find they can't access the website content. They really need to contract some IT experts with the right capabilities to solve this problem. What a way to run a business ! (Rob Attar, Editor of HistoryExtra please note this situation - your product is being let down)

I had a subscription for Radio Times. Suddenly they stopped being delivered. Despite several calls to their call centre, the issue was not resolved. I decided to cancel my subscription and demanded a full refund. Despite several more calls this was not received. After writing to the CEO informing them the I was going to sue them through the Small Claims Court, they coughed up. This company should be shut down.

Terrible, expensive and poor service
Took 30 mins to get two addresses changed as I could not get onto my subscription management page. so had to ring.
I have also cancelled these subscriptions as they are at least a third more expensive.

Took out subscription in Deccemer 2025. In mid January, after many phone calls and no magazine they agreed to cancel the subscription and make a refund. It's now mid March and 14 or more phone calls, still no refund.

This company took two separate payments from my account. It was not my quarterly subscription. They cannot tell me why they took it. Yes, they happily refunded it… Only to take away again the next day. Refunded again… And yes, took it away again the next day! They don’t answer emails, and phoning them up has achieved nothing. I don’t understand how they can continue to operate with such dubious integrity. Just looking at these reviews I don’t think I’ve ever seen a company garner so many negative reviews. Shouldn’t they be regulated somehow?

I wish I had read these reviews before asking a relative for HistoryExtra as a gift. Haven't been able to log in since December 2025. HistoryExtra is a great magazine but immediate media's support has been appalling - I am supposed to have an escalated case and nothing back in a week so rang again (for about the 8th time) only to be told my subscription is print only - this is not actually true! One responder started going on about Gardeners World to me! Go direct through their app if you want digital access.

If i could give zero stars for immediate media, I would. Shocking customer service. Paid for a gardeners world subscription as a gift back in November but recipient has never received anything. Despite repeated emails to them, no resolution, This is a scam. BBC Gardeners world should resolve this asap

In common with other posts I have had a bad experience with this company since November 2025 following an email notifying me of a huge price increase for a 6 month renewal for Radio Times. To cut a long story short, two subscriptions (one cancelled by them with no explanation), 3 December direct debit amounts, 8 phone calls, 4 emails and 3 online complaints later I finally have a refund (it's now late February 2026).
No stars would be my preference.
Avoid at all costs is my advice.

Having taken out a digital subscription in November 2025 I have been unable to log in since January 2026. I keep being told my login details belong to another subscriber. A telephone call achieved nothing and an email didn’t even get a response. A shame because the magazine itself has always been good.

After cancelling my subscription, I was still charged multiple times. I was charged three times and only partially refunded, leaving my account unbalanced. I had to dispute the transactions through my bank and even replace my card due to the repeated charges.
The company later admitted they had a system migration issue that caused incorrect charges affecting multiple customers. However, the issue is still not fully resolved, and I remain overcharged.
It is particularly disappointing that services connected to the BBC brand are handled in this way. Customers expect a higher standard of reliability and accountability.
This situation has caused months of stress and inconvenience. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this company.

What is wrong with them. It took 4 months to sort out a renewal for Match of the Day magazine which they still set up incorrectly. Now I have the same problem with History magazine. I renewed but they set up a new account. They wont recognise the remaining issues on the old subscription so for the next three months I will get two issues. They dont reply to their contact from or emails. I resolved the first issue by contacting the CEO.

This company is an absolute scam! Do not pay for their subscription services! I paid a subscription as Christmas present for a family member and it has still not arrived. Customer services are useless. They say they have escalated the case and I would hear back in 72 hours. Surprise surprise it's been a week and I haven't heard anything. BBC should be ashamed to associate with a company like this. At this point I want a refund but I am not hopeful based on other people's reviews