Times Literary Supplement Reviews 4

Do not waste your time and money with a subscription. In theory it's a great resource, but I'm yet to be convinced it even works. After taking up a trial offer: a) I received no email confirmation that I had paid anything; b) I was giving literally no instructions whatsoever on how to find, let alone use the archive; c) when I finally worked it out for myself, I couldn't log in to the pre-2016 archive, getting a dodgy-looking error report that made me suspect I was being scammed; d) it took two days to get a reply from customer service; e) through their reply I was able to deduce (because they assumed I already knew) that I needed an app and couldn't access the archive through a browser, but it was the first I'd heard of it; f) there is apparently no compatible app for a Mac desktop, so I had to use my phone, which is less than convenient for browsing archives; g) there were still no instructions on how to use the app; h) after finally actually logging into my account (hurray!) and finding the archive, for some unknown reason I was told I had to enter my details again and - guess what? i) this time the password (which I had only used, minutes before) was incorrect.
Conclusion: for a title as prestigious as the TLS, they offer an embarrassingly bad service, bordering on the downright amateurish.
Wish me luck getting a refund.

To cancel a subscription I need to send an email. Problem is their email adresses do not work. I got 4 emails back. Now how do I cancel? This is a nightmare.

Was due to receive £50 cashback for subscribing to the times literary supplement. Even though I stayed subscribed for multiple months I never, ever got my voucher. I met the conditions perfectly. I escalated through to the highest I could on the cashback website and 1 year later I'm still waiting on this useless retailer. Scammers!

Pros:
1. The TLS content is top notch. They publish excellent articles.
2. The subscription rate is reasonable (I opted for the digital format). Although, do note that they take payment for the quarter up front, rather than on a week-by-week basis (currently £20). It does state this in the smaller text beneath ‘Just £1.70 / week’.
3. It is also – contrastingly – a very simple process to subscribe and pay via their website.

Cons summary:
1. Phone call cancellation heavily emphasised, even for cancellations within 14 days. No method via the website directly.
2. Refund to be sent by cheque.

More detail (apparently I went down a rabbit hole):

I decided to cancel as I personally didn’t find interacting with the online account/app/email correspondence the most streamlined or helpful. I cited a couple of website glitches to them as one example, but they explained the website worked normally on their end so it was likely my browser cache/cookies. So I am sure those particular frustrations could have been remedied had I decided to continue.

Anyway, I emailed as per their 14-day cancellation window policy (a method okayed in the terms and conditions they link your account’s ‘how do I cancel my subscription?’’).

An email reply requested that I phone so that they would be able to process it - I was working in a library, so this was not convenient - however I requested that it be done via email.

She agreed to do so, which was great, but detailed that they request phone call cancellations to ensure the process took place ‘time-sensitively’, as well as to gain some feedback. So that’s a characteristic to consider, even if you’re cancelling within the 14-day window (do note that the customer doesn’t need to give a reason for cancelling during the cooling off period).

She stated the refund would be sent via cheque. I was surprised as it seemed a bit archaic (probably being too harsh, i'm sure) and this didn’t seem to me the ‘same method of payment’ refund mentioned in their ‘how do I cancel’ info.

I have emailed to ask why as I’m genuinely curious and it isn’t the most convenient method to be honest. I’m probably missing something and a cheque falls within the umbrella of the ‘same method’, and fair enough if that’s how they do things for the time being. And/or maybe they’d have processed it differently if I was able to telephone - which might explain the ‘time sensitive’ element she mentioned?

Overall, I found the customer service polite and quick to respond, but the process was pretty awkward in comparison to other subscriptions. Nothing major in the grand scheme of things but it stood out to me compared to my typical digital user experience. Perhaps this is something that will improve in the future though!

(accurate as of 09/08/2022)