Newspapers Reviews 293

I have used Newspapers.com before and found some interesting content (however because my research is mostly European and Canadian, not as great as it could be).
I gave one star because I recently signed up for Ancestry.com "All Access" subscription which included Newspapers.com.
However when trying to search Newspapers.com, every single article I tried to access, including ones I had viewed before when I first subscribed, required another level of access called "Publisher Extra". Thinking this must be an error I went to the Ancestry support page for the All Access subscription to see what it included. Under Newspapers.com, "Publisher Extra" was listed. However when I contacted Ancestry support, they told me it wasn't. The person agreed the support page on "All Access" was misleading.
This is completely false advertising. Ancestry.com should update this page.

When you sign up for "All Access", apparently it does say this includes "Basic" Newspaper.com access, but it is not clear that "basic" is pretty much useless. From my search results I did not find one single article I could view so the additional cost of "All Access" was worthless to me.

I cancelled my ancestry All Access subscription, even though I got it "on sale", it wasn't worth it.

In 2021 I got Newspapers.com and loved it. I just renewed and now I do not have access to the Altoona Mirror in Altoona PA unless I pay extra....Bait And Switch! My ancestors all come from this area and I found very good info before and now I cannot even get a single item or obituary? Do not buy this...I am going to demand my money back and try somewhere else!

This is an absolute Bait and Switch. I upgraded to all access Ancestry that includes newpaper.com and fold3. Now, any Ancestry hint that includes newspaper.com requires additional "Publisher Extra" premium to actually view information of importance. Have yet to find and access an obituary that wasn't behind a paywall.

If I could give a zero, I would.
I subscribe to Ancestry.com and my membership comes with "free" access to Newspapers.com.

I got billed by Newspapers.com for 3 months. I asked for a refund & they gave it to me. Now, I got billed for the 4th month in a row. (I do not even USE newspapers.com) and I asked for a refund. An email response gave me the following bait & switch nonsense:

As outlined on the subscription details page on Ancestry.com, you ....are also paying for the upgraded Publisher Extra add-on subscription directly from us."

What a CROCK! I never asked for or approved ANYthing from Newspapers.com

I will dispute the charge and complain to my Attorney General about their fraudulent practices.

Newspapers.com Customer Service is the WORST.

I'm not sure when it happened, but it used to be able to provide some benefit. Now almost everything is requiring an additional payment. Worthless

Disappointed. Money is taken in 1/2 a second but once I cancel from newspapers.com it takes days and days for a refund. Phone call and message left for them. Email and support message sent with no reply at all. Any refund I've asked for I've received it back in 1 day in the last year. That's from probly 10 refunds and I literally mean 10/10 24 hours not a week. To be clear I still am waiting.

I am trying to resolve why I have purchased an Ancestry.com All Access subscription and can't get the Newspapers.com access resolved. I have tried both Ancestry (who points me back to Newspapers.com) and Newspapers.com that won't respond to email (option 1) or to calling into the phone line (option 2). The phone got me to being able to leave a voice mail with no indication of when I can expect any response.

SUPPORT IS NON EXISTENT.

I cannot see how people of an older generation are suppose to get their technical issues resolved because the documentation for when something doesn't work is only to reset your password.

I cannot at this time recommend anyone to use this and expect it to connect to their Ancestry Tree as promoted.

Total Scam. Total Fraud.
"Ancestry" today me at the end of August that my subscription had been canceled as I requested.
They take your money but provide No Support "*Anc...newspapers.com*" is as it appears on my bank statement, fully implies Ancestry is responsible but Ancestry gives you noo help at all beyond providing a phone # that has Never been answered, Never returned a call.
USELESS! Don't waste your time.
Just contact your State Attorney General and let them handle it.
Thas what I just finally did after weeks of this crap!

this is a total rip off. i want my money refunded.

Newspaper.com has been a true blessing to me and a number of others who I have shared various news articles regarding family and friends. So many questions of the past have been addressed after years of not knowing.

Is Newspapers.com perfect. No. Who is. A real must for those who are attempting to fill in the blanks regarding the past of family members and others.

Thank you.

Garbage I joined for the free trial but canceled the next day after i got to see what they offered compared to how much you pay only to have them start trying to charge my account immediately after canceling luckily I keep all my money in my savings until I'm ready to use it so the charges didn't work. ANYONE that got charged should Contact the company or bank that issued their credit card or debit card. Tell them it was a fraudulent charge. Ask them to reverse the transaction and give you your money back. ... Tell them it was used in a scam and ask if they can refund your money

Apparently, their claim to "world class customer service" and "excellent" customer relations is pretty much universal lies by the reviews they get here. I also am into my 9th day of trying to receive a refund of my publishers extra upgrade with no effort to actually return my payment. It took me days to get any response . Then i got a request for my email and last four digits of my card with no action. Don't give them your money or it will be an expensive lesson learned.

I signed up for a monthly subscription for $19.80 per month and received 3 separate bills in October 2021 totaling $59.70.
Numerous emails and calls (1-877-519-0129) and never received a reponse except, will get back with you
I cannot recommend this site to anyone because of the poor customer service. I want to be reimbursed for the over charging and the subscription cancelled immediated. Frank Drenik

Newspapers.com is impossible to work with. I spend way too much time waiting for a page to load. Canceled my Ancestry and Newspapers.com subscriptions. They are not near as good as they used to be years ago. Too many system problems with both of them. It's NOT my computer.

Thoroughly irate. This is a Bait and Switch. I upgraded to all access Ancestry that includes newpaper.com and fold3. Now any Ancestry hint that includes newspaper.com requires additional "Publisher Extra" premium to actually view information of importance.

I mistakenly signed on twice. The first time I was able to cancel during the 7 day free trial. The second time I could not cancel on line so I sent an email wellwithin the 7 day free trial. They went ahead and charged my account $75 for the upgrade. I never even wanted the basic subscription. I have left voicemails and sent emails for a refund. No response from them. Ancestry should do better.

Where do I send my email addresses? You have several emails from me that have been ignored so there is no point in sending it to your support email

Thank you for your response. I have emailed you.

Like others I found out after paying for a basic subscription that all I get is their page selling the upgrade. I can not even access a St Louis Dispatch article from 1945 unless I upgrade. I requested a refund as this is a total waste of money. Shame on ancestry.com for their part in promoting newspapers.com.

I cancelled my 7-Day Free Trial after only one day. I found their site nearly impossible to navigate and the “Help” pages and video tutorials confusing and overly complicated. After reading other bad experiences here I thought it wise to cancel before they could charge my credit card. I received confirmation which stated that my cc would not be charged. (I saved a screenshot.) I’m disappointed because they had 2 newspapers I needed but I worried they might pull a bait&switch after they had my $ and make those 2 only available for a premium. Sadly it seems that corporate greed is driving a potentially great service into the ground.

As an author, blogger and podcaster with a focus on local history, this used to be an incredibly useful resource. However, the site's recent redesign has made it virtually useless to those who wish to do serious research.

It seems the purpose of the redesign was for the benefit of casual users viewing newspapers.com on mobile devices; this much is obvious from the redesigned search filters and display options. Great, if you're only on this site a few times a year looking for your great-grandma's obituary, or scrolling through back issues of your local paper during a TV commercial break. But most authors and professional historians (at least the ones I work with) are viewing this site on a PC, not a mobile device. In other words, newspapers.com has gone from a valuable and powerful tool for serious researchers to a child's toy.

Up until a few weeks ago, the site permitted you to go back to a "legacy mode", but now all users are stuck with the new-and-not-so-improved mobile-friendly version, which, to be frank, is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. But, alas, I suppose that's what they call "progress".

As for me, I won't be renewing my subscription. It seems the price of this service increases year after year, while its value decreases.