Class Action: Gannett Increases Promotional Subscription Rates Before Deadline

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Gannett Co.—which operates numerous print and online publications, including USA Today—is the defendant in a proposed class action that claims the company has overcharged thousands of customers for promotional subscriptions.

The lawsuit, which has been removed from state to federal court in Kentucky, explains that Gannett markets both its print and online publication subscriptions to new customers by offering a discounted subscription rate for a certain period of time, usually ranging from three to 12 months. In its terms and conditions, Gannett, the case says, promises it won’t raise a subscriber’s monthly rate until “[a]fter the promotional period ends,” yet allegedly bumps up prices before reaching this deadline.

Behind the case is a Kentucky customer who says she purchased a one-year promotional subscription for a local newspaper in November 2017 at a rate of $11.48 plus tax per month. The following July, the plaintiff noticed Gannett had charged her $21.19 for that month—nearly double her agreed-upon subscription rate, the suit says. When the woman called the company’s billing representatives, the case continues, they allegedly admitted that she was overcharged and promised to follow up on the problem, yet never contacted her again. The plaintiff says she followed up with the defendant several more times, including by email, and was eventually told that “the company was so far behind that it had stopped responding to complaints submitted via email.”

The complaint points out that numerous subscribers across several states have complained about the same issue on the Better Business Bureau’s website.