It has come to my attention in recent days that there is currently an offer for Autosport+ with the digital magazine for £11.99 with a recurring annual fee of £39.99. Would someone have the courtesy to respond on this board, (it is not an option to discuss elsewhere which I will explain later), to explain to me why this very package auto-renewed for me on 5th August for €135.00. Loyal customers, in my case 30 years as a subsciber, beware being charged a premium of 1000%.
It was not my intention to post anything here, I was hoping to have been able to come to a resolution by telephone, I phoned yesterday, and again today, a total of 20 times, the only number provided in this website, namely, 0044 203 405 8100. On every occasion I get through to an automated message asking me to leave my name and telephone number and that someone will get back to me. This, of course, never happens. Courtesy appears to be an historic thing in this virtual world.
Undeterred, I found a number on-line for Autosport subscriptions. 0044 1604 828 743, on which yesterday, I spoke with Elizabeth 3 times, after listening to 3 automated messages about coronavirus, motorsport news, and the current pause in magazine production which should resume in July. There was a technical issue with the computer system which didn't allow access, presumably, this was resolved overnight. This morning I spent 45 minutes on the telephone with Arina, whilst she tried to help, she was unable to as my subscription does not exist on her system.
Arina tells me that my subscription had been cancelled in 2015, news to me, particularly so as my subscription payment has continued to be made in ensuing years. I am led to believe that my account has been adopted by, Autosport Network. She has assured me that she will bring my case to the attention of her manager, who will make contact with the Autosport Network team on a phone number which is not available to plebeians, and get back to me in due course. I am not holding my breath.
My subscription was paid via PayPal. Looking at the details of this, PayPal suggests that if there is a dispute, contact with the recipient of the payment should be made in the first instance. They even supply an email for the recipient linked to their account. autosport.paypal@haymarket.com for this purpose. Guess the outcome, Bounced back as undeliverable because the email does not exist.
I have little alternative available to me other than to open a dispute with PayPal due to Autosport’s inaccessibility. Is this really how loyalty is rewarded?
Edited by milestone 11, 12 August 2020 - 20:04.