Hearst Magazines UK Reviews 

BUYER BEWARE - I took out a subscription for Good Housekeeping which was duly delivered. However my issue came when I spotted payment on my account, at over twice the price of the original "discounted" subscription. When I contacted them I had apparently taken out auto-renew which admittedly I'd missed when I signed up. Sadly Hearst, unlike reputable companies, do not contact you to advise that your subscription is due to renew and that they will be taking payment so, although you can cancel the subscription, they will not give you a refund. All in all a very disappointing experience so avoid!!

In response to my review and following more tooing and froing via Email, Hearst eventually processed a full refund, but this should have been their response in the first place so if you do take out a review, check the small print so you don't get caught unawares!!

Avoid Hearst Magazines UK at All Costs. Worst Subscription Experience Ever.
I deeply regret ever taking out a subscription with Hearst Magazines UK. After renewing my subscription and paying in full, I was shocked to receive a cancellation invoice as if I hadn’t paid at all. I contacted customer service, and was told to ignore the invoice because my account was paid and active.

That should have been the end of it but instead, things got worse.

Since then, I’ve been receiving a flood of menacing, automated emails threatening further fees and chasing a balance that does not exist. Every time I think it's resolved, another email shows up. It feels like harassment over something that is entirely their mistake. And what’s worse there’s no accountability. Trying to speak to a real person who can actually resolve the issue is near impossible.

This experience has completely put me off Hearst and all of its publications. The magazines may be glossy, but the customer service is an absolute nightmare, and their billing system is either broken or deliberately aggressive.

Stay far away. It’s not worth the stress, the confusion, or the time wasted trying to fix problems they create.

Be very careful when ordering subscriptions through this company. The subscription will auto renew, this isn’t optional, but their defence is it’s their policy (it is in the VERY small print at the end of their confirmation email and is certainly not very clear). The email states you can cancel via your online account but you can’t. Also, I took out a 12 month subscription but the renewal was taken after 11½ months. The new subscription is expensive and there is no way they will give a refund. What a devious, underhand way to make money. Obviously all done deliberately to deceive customers into paying over priced fees for subscriptions they don’t necessarily want. Shame on you!

I purchased the beauty gift box, was told it would arrive 7-10 working days later. Still nothing. I have contacted them 3 times… nothing. I’m am now worried I won’t receive the gift box and they have my money!!
Just to added further they are a total con. Customer service is totally crap. I would advise anyone to NEVER BUY A BEAUTY BOX from these people

TLDR: Do not let your account auto-renew! They will charge you extortionate prices compared to their promotional deals and do not give you any reminders near the renewal date - they rely on you forgetting!

Checked my account 3 weeks ago, as I believed that the renewal was nearby, however, they account said the renewal wasn't due to January. Fast forward to last week, the payment was taken without any notification. The very next day they sent a vouched for 5 issues for £5 (over £30) in savings. Attempted to cancel the account out of principle, but apparently not possible even in a 14 day cooling off period of subscription Renewals.

The only upside is that the person I've gifted the magazine subscription to enjoys reading them.

I bought Good Housekeeping magazine as a one off gift. I emailed to cancel my subscription and surprise surprise an auto renew amount of £54.99 was taken off my credit card the very next day. I wrote to cancel, not remind you to take more money.

I made a mistake and placed 3 order on this website. After few days 2 of them were canceled. And after 9 days no news from another order which I was charged for!
I’m doing follow ups to get my money back but still that’s not a proper way to run a business.

I have a subscription for a weekly magazine but I have not received the last 3 issues. When I have emailed to let them know the reply takes a few days and is very unhelpful because they don't seem to have actually read the email I sent and just give a standard reply.

They did not let me know that my subscription is about to expire and when I tried to renew it I got an email saying my order had failed. As the magazine hasn't been delivered for the last 3 weeks anyway I think this is a sign not to bother with them anymore.

I would definitely not recommend using this company.

Wowzer, they have just told me I can purchase missing issues from the newsagent. I would have never thought of that without their patronising advice.

Do not use this company! They will renew your subscription with no notification, take your money early. I couldn't set up an account (it wouldn't let me), so there's no way of cancelling online. Go out and buy your magazines.

I have 2 subscriptions with Hearst (Runners World and Good Housekeeping) which have risen in price hugely and the direct debit is taken without notice. I’ve followed a complicated process on the website to ask to cancel the NEXT subscription payment, only to receive a delaying email saying they will “get back to me”. Now they have cancelled both subscriptions with immediate effect, despite that fact that they took payment of £29.99 on 23.01.25 and 30.06.25. Surely they should honour delivery of the magazines until the anniversary date?
I would contact them but I cant find a way of doing so.

This is sharp practice and an expensive scam. Don’t sign up unless you want to be duped into ever increasing costs that you can’t easily amend or cancel

I sent an email to Hearst mags cancelling my trial 6 month subscription of Prima magazine on 29/5/25 yet I have just been charged £29.99 by them to continue this unwanted subscription. Why say you can cancel at anytime when emails will just be ignored.

If I could give negative stars, I would. This company is shameful and disgusting. I've been consistently charged (quarterly) for almost a year, despite emailing them cancelling the subscription. I am so appalled by this and I implore anyone reading this to NEVER subscribe because you'll never be able to get out of it. Trying to block this merchant from my bank so they can't take anymore.

Most months i don't get my copy of Elle Magazine and when i do get it its always almost half way through the month.

I didn’t even want to give them one star!! approx 18 months ago I took out subscription on 2 magazines for a one time only gift.I found I was still paying subscriptions and rang up and cancelled all future subscriptions.I only recently discovered I was still paying for one of these subscriptions,I phoned again telling them I already cancelled last year and they said I was paid up until 2026. I absolutely refused to accept that nothing could be done.Ifelt sorry for the person on the other end of the phone, but I stood my ground until finally it was agreed to refund the next 5 subscriptions.I will never ever subscribe to any of their magazines again .BEWARE when you are signing for a one off. Watch out on your bank statements that you’re not automatically charged.

They will try and take the money out of your account even after you cancel it.

Avoid this company

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! They intentionally don't send renewal reminders, so it's a shock that you have an amount come out of your bank. The website is appalling! I have requested a direct debit refund via my bank, which was approved immediately.

Unable to get in touch to cancel my subscription

My subscription did not show up on Hearst's website until I found that it had been renewed by auto renew. I have previously paid by Direct Debit so this was a total surprise. I rang Hearst and was told I could not cancel this enforced auto renew until 2 months before renewal. I find this a most dishonest way to keep subscribers and wonder if it is even legal?
I have the date when I can cancel clearly marked on my calender!

Signed up for a promotion via Tesco clubcard, little did I know they setup an auto-renewal (which you can't cancel online) and got charged the full amount when the promotion ended which was very expensive. When I called to cancel they refused to refund saying my 14 day "change of mind" right only applies to the start of the contract. Fortunately new laws come in affect in 2026 to give 14 days grace on subscription renewals.

02/06/2025 - UPDATE
They have since contacted me to give a full refund and cancelled my subscription.

Shocking behaviour !!!!
I wish I had thought to read reviews before dealing with this company.
Total scam !
I tried a magazine for 6 months at a promotional price of £9.99.
It was due to renew in July so I phoned at the beginning of May to cancel, only to be told my automatic renewal payment had been taken in April (£29.99)
This is such a rip off, taking payment months before it’s needed.
They said it’s in the small print (took me ages to find it eventually in one of their emails) and you are not notified that a payment is going to be taken.
They refuse to let me cancel or offer a refund, customer services are dreadful (I phoned and got someone in the Philippines who wouldn’t help)
Warn everyone you know. I hope my review can stop someone making the mistake of dealing with Hearst Magazines (Good Housekeeping, Runner’s Club, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Country Living, Harper’s, Red etc etc)
Do NOT be fooled by promotional offers, offers with free gifts etc