The Atlantic is a fraud

I never thought this highly respected publication would resort to monetary fraud

I have known The Atlantic as an important magazine my whole life - it started in 1857, its glossy magazines frequently gracing the coffee table at my parents’ home. As I wanted access to more of their articles this past year to keep abreast of the craziness of US Politics, I opened up a subscription at $85/year. I purposely signed up for only one year, not a recurring payment. I know that the major mainstream media is struggling, but I never in my life thought that this highly respected publication would resort to fraud. I should have checked online, because it seems like this has been happening for a while now. 

When I received this email on August 8 I thought to myself - this is good. I don’t have renewal turned on, I can just let the subscription expire.

Originally I missed the next email on August 28 in my deluge of emails. I only noticed that my US bank account was now in a negative balance after this charge. I was shocked because a) I wasn’t expecting to be charged and b) I knew I had a small amount of money there, but I also knew that it was going to be okay because I wasn’t expecting any more charges. Now, I ran the risk of being charged money by my bank because my account was in the red. I had to scramble to transfer from another account.

Immediately I contacted support via email and got an automatic response that it had been received but that it was understaffed and would be answered soon. It never was. I ended up writing four emails, each one getting angrier and angrier as the non-communication was infuriating. 

I tried contacting customer support on the phone - and it was picked up by an automated system which said that they don’t have enough staff to answer the phone at the moment and I should call back later. I called several times during business hours and they never picked up, just the same automated supremely unhelpful message. 

Finally, I contacted the fraud department at my bank and got them to open up an investigation into the charge and explained that I never authorized it and that I had tried contacting support for over a week to no avail. The bank got the money back and I received a support email from The Atlantic that my subscription had been canceled and that I had a refund. I thought I would write up an online review, but life got very busy with family obligations including emergency travel half-way across the globe and I left it.

I thought I was done. Much to my surprise I received an email yesterday “Thank you for purchasing a subscription to The Atlantic” Ahhhh hell no. I once again called my bank and initiated yet ANOTHER fraud investigation. I ended up canceling my debit card and having a new one with a new number reissued so that The Atlantic will no longer have my card on file. This is a major inconvenience to me. I am livid and as their customer support is useless, I have resorted to publicly bashing their fraudulent practices online. This recurring fraud in itself is news-worthy as this is ongoing fraud, but as it is being perpetrated by a reputable mainstream publication, I highly doubt anyone will expose this any more than I have, but I want it on record, so here it is.

Today, I wrote another LIVID email to support and got back another automated response saying : “Thank you for contacting The Atlantic. Our Customer Care team is based in Florida and are experiencing a weather event that is currently disrupting our service. We’ll be back online as soon as services are restored. Please re-submit your request next week and thanks for your patience and your support of The Atlantic.” If true, I hope their team is okay, but on their own website they say their customer care team is in Iowa. Things just don’t add up, another way they are not trustworthy.

All this to say, DO NOT subscribe to The Atlantic unless you can afford to be charged every year whether you want to be or not, or if you can afford to waste your time dealing with their fraudulent tactics. Again, do NOT subscribe.