azcentral.com and The Arizona Republic — Local services in Phoenix

This is such a dishonest company that it makes me sick. I had an ASU student come to my door and explain that AZ Republic was giving them a $500 gift card toward textbooks for signing people up for a free 3 month trial. I thought, 'Oh cool, why not help out a fellow college student?' I was specifically told that after the 3 months there was no renewal or automatic subscription. Then I see that I was charged 2 subscription renewal charges. I called to request a refund and was told that they would only return half. The representative told me that I don't get a full refund because the fine print on the receipt informs me of the renewal. Wow, sounds like a company I want to trust with my account information and my business. Apparently what you’re told and what’s written on the paperwork can now ethically be two different things now, according to the AZ Republic.

When I asked to speak to a supervisor, I was told they were out of the office, so I left my information for a callback. I was told they would refund what they could and I could discuss the rest with the supervisor. An ENTIRE MONTH went by with no call AND no refund. When I called back to request a refund AGAIN and told them about their lack of follow-through, I was told they could still only refund one of the charges and given a lackluster 'sorry for the inconvenience'. Inconvenience? Try complete disregard, and lack of real concern for customers. When someone confronts you about your shady business practices, at least have the decency to apologize rather than trying to cover your own ass with your fine print. Didn't anyone ever teach you that customer loyalty makes more money than cheating people? I'll definitely be spreading the word about your blatantly unethical...

The AZ Republic's classified ads online self-service system is the WORST I've ever encountered. When I first tried to place an ad, it didn't work at all. It wouldn't let me place an ad, despite my trying with three browsers: Firefox, Chrome, and IE. I called their customer service department and left messages, and sent emails, and didn't hear back.

Three days from my first call I got an email where they admitted that the system was, indeed, broken and that they were working on it.

By Wednesday of the following week (six days later), the system seemed to be working. But when I placed an ad, I wasn't sent a confirmation email. When I called the Republic, the (very helpful and friendly) person who answered couldn't access my ad by the confirmation code I was given, and when she transferred me to customer service, I got their answering machine again.

So my credit card has been charged, I can't access my online ad to add more photos, and their customer service department is gone and won't return my phone calls. My only option now is to call my credit card company, cancel payment, and be done with it.

My recommendation: Don't EVER use the AZ Republic to place an ad. Despite the fact that their phone people are very friendly and helpful (Really. They are.), their automated system is a the biggest piece of junk you'll ever have to deal with, and you won't hear from their customer service department to rectify...

This is in regard to AZ Central #Here To Help. I was the victim of fraud through my Wells Fargo credit card and checking accounts. After many months of correspondence and meetings with various bank staff and officials, all communication simply stopped w/o my issues being resolved. I came across an ad for the #Here To Help team in the Republic. I e-mailed my concerns with the bank to Rebekah S, who in turn assigned Vina and Susan to be my case managers. Through their efforts I was connected with a bank manager who worked with me to bring my fraud related issues to a satisfactory conclusion. I am very grateful to the AZ Central #Here To Help team for its resourcefulness, persistence and patience during a very distressful and frustrating period of me. I also thank the team for being empathetic, compassionate and keeping...