Rolling Stone Subscriptions

Rock and roll will never die. And neither will your Rolling Stone subscription if you are relying on a cancellation method that is as easy as signing up.

While you can sign up on the Rolling Stone website to receive the magazine, get access to RollingStone.com, or both, in order to cancel your subscription, you either have to call or email the company, according to disclosures in the “Automatic Renewal Terms” on sign-up pages.

How effective are these cancellation methods?

After receiving a tip from a reader who said she was unable to cancel her digital subscription on the Rolling Stone website, TINA.org purchased an annual print subscription for $59.88, a process that took only a few minutes on the site.

A few months later, we sent an email to the address provided by Rolling Stone to cancel our subscription. After five days, we had yet to hear back so we sent another email. Two more days passed. Then we called customer service and were told that our subscription had been canceled the previous day, six days after our original request to cancel, and that we would be receiving a refund for the remaining portion of our print subscription.

While we did ultimately cancel our subscription and receive a partial refund, the process was not as streamlined as the process to sign up. The FTC’s new “click to cancel” rule provision says sellers must make it as easy to cancel subscriptions and memberships as it is to sign up, or else they can be liable for civil penalties. Companies have until May 14 to comply.

Rolling Stone responds

In response to TINA.org’s request for comment, a Rolling Stone spokesperson sent the following statement:

Rolling Stone magazine subscribers always have the right to cancel at any time by visiting rollingstone.com/customerservice and selecting “CANCEL.” We appreciate feedback on your subscription experience and are reviewing automated communications to further minimize customer confusion around this process.

The spokesperson also provided this screenshot showing where, according to the company, consumers can cancel their Rolling Stone subscription by signing into their account.

Following TINA.org’s inquiry, Rolling Stone now informs consumers who sign up for its print subscription that, in addition to calling or emailing the company to cancel, they can “contact our online Customer Service center rollingstone.com/customerservice.” The spokesperson said this language will also be added to the terms of the digital-only and digital and print combo subscriptions, but as of this writing it has not been added to either sign-up page.

The bottom line

Consumers should try to learn as much as possible about a company’s cancellation policies before signing up in order to potentially avoid some headaches – and future charges for unwanted products or services – down the road.

Find more of our coverage on subscriptions.