by Robert Renner, Peoria, IL

If you are a subscriber to the Journal Star and participate in its Easy Pay Plus program with automatic monthly deductions from your credit card or bank account, you are being charged a hidden cost of $15.60 per year for something you may not want.

I received a letter around the first of September from Bruce Nielsen, Circulation Manager of the Journal Star dated August 18 stating that “effective September 19, your new rate will be $22.75 per month, which includes 4 cents per day for unlimited access to our website.”

The letter does not say anywhere that you can opt out of this cost. It does tell you how to begin receiving the unlimited access on September 19.

I called the Journal Star customer service department when I received the letter to explain the letter to me. A female representative named Nicky said although the letter didn’t state it, I could opt out of the unlimited access by calling them and asking to do it.

This “sneaky” unnecessary cost irritated me so I sent an email to Bruce about it on September 7 asking him why the letter was written so deceptively and asked him to call me to explain. He hasn’t as of September 21.

So I called the customer service department on September 21 and talked to a different female representative named Renee. I asked her to generally explain the access to the pjstar.com website. She said if I was a 7-day subscriber on Easy Pay, it was “included in my subscription.” So I asked if it was “free.” She said, yes, it was “included.” I asked “so am I paying for something I don’t really want?” She repeated that it was “automatically included.” I rephrased my question and asked if I could opt out of the unlimited access. She said no. I said that didn’t seem right. She asked for my address. I asked why. She said so she could look up to see if I was eligible to opt out of the unlimited access. I said, so then I can opt out? She said if people call and request it, yes they can. But the whole conversation was very frustrating because it took several repeated and reworded questions for her to admit that I could opt out of the hidden cost.

I then asked her if there was any free access to the website. She said that any “metered sites” could be accessed 15 times per calendar month for free. I asked her what a “metered site” was and she gave me the definition but it was hard to clearly determine what information in the Journal Star was and wasn’t included. But it is free for 15 times per month.

So, if you don’t want unlimited access to the pjstar.com website and you want to save $15.60 per month, call 309-686-3161 and ask to opt out of the unlimited access.  And good luck in getting a straight answer.

Has the Journal Star stooped to charging hidden unwanted fees to its subscribers to make more profits for it’s out of town owner? It sure seems so to me.