Magazines Direct - www.magazinesdirect.com

Took out a gift subscription for Ideal Home magazine for my mum. The first year was without problem...

Then I received a letter saying my debit card had expired (which it had, to be fair.) So I rang customer services to update my card and while on the phone they said did I want to make the payment for the upcoming subscription year, which I did (£36.98)

Unbeknownst to me, a couple of weeks later they took out a direct debit from my account, a further £36.98 which I only spotted when looking through my online bank statement for something unrelated. I rang and emailed, and was told this would be looked into.

Fast forward 2 weeks later, and chasing the issue up I was only then asked to send screen shots of the payments so it could be "investigated further". I was FLABBERGASTED to see a third payment of £36.98 had been taken out (running total over £110!) I sent the requested screenshot before Xmas and was told it would be resolved between Xmas and new year. Heard nothing so emailed again, indicating my dissatisfaction and that I would be looking for compensation as well as the refund. On 6th Jan I received an email... finally, I thought! But no, jus a terse response saying they don't offer financial recompense, just an extension to any subscription!

So I rang again, and was assured that the operative would "escalate this to finance as a priority and would call back in 24 hours". Of course, I heard nothing, so rang again, told basically the same thing, that finance would resolve this in 48-72 (working) hours and I will hear back then. The icing on the cake? When I asked how long after this mythical time I could expect to get MY money back, I was told "14 days"!!!

Do not touch this company with a barge pole.

It is a struggle to find anyone that has had a good experience with Magazines Direct. Visit any review site and it is full of comments from unhappy customers who have been let down by this company. I ordered a 12 month subscription to Homes & Gardens Magazine in May 2020 and 7 months later still have not received a single magazine. Far from being helpful Customer Services have wasted my time by requesting the same information over and over. Don't waste your time and money with this company.