OT: Caution on Seeking Alpha Premium Charges

Investment Analysis Clubs Macro Economic Trends and Risks
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Heads up to those of you who subscribe to Seeking Alpha premium. They will process a renewal and charge your credit card without notice. You are unable to sign up for the premium service without checking the box that allows auto renewal, and have to go back in to find it SOMEHOW. Not easy to find. I still have yet to find it, (though customer service maintains they took auto renewal off my account.) They did send me a late notice 5 days after my account “renewed”, thanking me for my payment, but of course by then it is too late to take action, and since I had used my account in those 5 days between renewal and charging me, they will not issue a refund.

IMO it wasn’t worth the half price I paid to sign up, and it sure won’t be worth twice as much this year. Stay vigilant on your auto subscriptions, and realize you will not always receive an email in advance of being charged. This obfuscation should not be necessary with a product that can stand on it’s own two feet, IMO, and indicates to me poor customer service and trickery.

FWIW,

IP

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Click on Username icon on upper far right of page, account settings, on Left side middle of page, Paid Subscription tab.

Andy

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I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything on Seeking Alpha that would be worth paying a “junk fee” to read.

intercst

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Ask to cancel.

Most companies then cut their prices and ask you to stay.

What is it the NYT wants? $20 per month? I am paying $4 like most people. I ask to cancel everything.

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I called immediately and voiced my displeasure at their charging without notice. They refused to budge on refunding the charge and happily placed a cancellation that is to take place in 366 days. Horrible customer service in addition to what I view as predatory renewal. I don’t know of another subscription service that does not alert you a few days in advance of renewal.

YMMV. Be aware.

IP

I am with Intercst on the value of paying for this site, which is why I was not intending to renew. The best part of the articles, IMO, are the comments…at least when they stay on topic to debate what is presented in the article, but there can be a lot of noise to wade through there as well.

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I had the very same experience this past April with Bert Hochfield’s Ticker Target. It has instantly converted me into a detractor.

Pete

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IP I have not joined for another reason.

I have enough arguments with people who have no education in econ and are easily swayed with just the mention of cutting taxes.

I am not going to pay Alpha for blowhards to do that as well.

As for the stock advice or whatever that is here or there…garbage by people who know only a little. Yet who say they know so much. Again no reason to pay for bloviating.

If you can not do it for yourself hire a professional. But as Roseann Barr said to her lawyer when he said he could not do the job, “you are the only lawyer I can afford”. LOL