Hearst Magazines UK Reviews 

1,068
TrustScore 1.5 out of 5

1.3

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Looking at 145 reviews, most reviewers were let down by their experience overall. Many people faced significant difficulties with subscriptions, frequently reporting unexpected auto-renewals and charges for services they no longer wanted or had tried to cancel. Customers also found the cancellation process intentionally difficult, often unable to complete it online, and widely criticized the customer service as poor, unresponsive, and unhelpful. Emails and phone calls to resolve issues were often ignored, prompting some consumers to cancel bank cards or initiate chargebacks. Additionally, some reviewers mentioned not receiving promised vouchers, and felt company policies, like strict cancellation windows or lack of renewal notifications, were designed to disadvantage them.

What people talk about most

Subscription

Customers consistently note negative experiences with subscription, primarily due to issues with auto-renewal... See more

Payment

Reviewers highlight negative aspects of payment, with many customers reporting unauthorized charges and... See more

Cancellation

Reviewers express significant frustration with the cancellation process, finding it extremely difficult to... See more

Customer service

Consumers find customer service to be consistently negative, with many reviewers describing it as appalling,... See more

Customer communications

People report negative experiences with contact, frequently mentioning difficulties reaching the company via... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I took out a subscription for Good Housekeeping in April 2026, which offered a £10 M & S voucher. Despite numerous requests I have still not received it. I have been given various excuses and have bee... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Just the most appalling underhand business. So much of their business must be from auto-renewing subscriptions that they make it far harder than needs be to cancel. Absolutely no reason why you should... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

My wife has a subscription to Red and Good Housekeeping. The July issue of the latter magazine failed to materialise and after waiting a few weeks she e-mailed to request a replacement. Keshia from c... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I placed a subscription for Red magazine which offered a £10.00 M&S voucher. Voucher never arrived. Have called their customer service on 3 occasions and was promised it was being dealt with and I w... See more

Company replied


Company details

  1. Publisher

Written by the company

Shop Hearst UK's official store for latest magazine subscriptions from titles such as Good Housekeeping, ELLE and Cosmopolitan, to beauty boxes and magazine gift subscriptions.


Contact info

1.3

Bad

TrustScore 1.5 out of 5

1K reviews

5-star
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1-star

No recent history of asking for reviews

This company hasn't invited customers recently, so reviews may not be representative

Replied to 98% of negative reviews

Typically replies within 1 month

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1.3

All reviews

(1,068)

144 reviews in the last 12 months

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I wish I had read the comments before…

I wish I had read the comments before purchasing anything from the website. I've been hit with autor-reneval with no heads up. I contacted the customer service straight away only to find out that it's impossible to get the refund. I haven't received any magazines from the subscription yet so why can't it be refunded since I informed you that I do not wish to get any of your magazines?! Are you trying to force people into receiving unwanted copies?

18 June 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us.

We have emailed you to address this matter and find a resolution.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Joke of a company who never delivery!!

I joined Hearst to receive Mens Health magazine however after several attempts I still did not receive my magazine.

To rub salt in the wounds they then thanked me for reading the magazine (that NEVER arrived)!!!

This company is an absolute joke and I would AVOID at all costs!!

17 June 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience and frustration this matter may have caused. We appreciate your patience and understanding while we investigated and worked towards a resolution.

We are pleased to confirm that a full refund has already been processed and no further action is required on your part.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

IN attempting to redeem Tesco vouchers…

IN attempting to redeem Tesco vouchers for an annual subscription for PRIMA, something I have done for some years, I had extremely bad customer service from Hearst Magazines. That was on line and particularly on the phone.
Tescos Customer Service was excellent and the people I dealt with went over and above in an attempt to complete the order. The outcome was no order and extremely bad vibes about ever using Hearst Magazines again.

12 June 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

We requested further details via Trustpilot to help us provide further assistance however, we didn't receive a response. Please may we request that you contact us directly via email here: contacthearst@subscription.co.uk to allow us to look into the matter further and help resolve this for you.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Money taken after subscription cancelled

Cancelled my subscription to Runners World and after much back and forth was emailed to say the subscription had been successfully cancelled and no further payments would be taken. I’ve now been charged £25.99 this month and despite requesting a full refund and that my details be removed from their system I’ve still not had a response. This is absolutely poor. I’m going to continue to pursue getting my refund but would warn others to stay away, it’s not worth the hassle.

8 June 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

We requested further details via Trustpilot to help us provide further assistance however, we didn't receive a response. Please may we request that you contact us directly via email here: contacthearst@subscription.co.uk to allow us to look into the matter further and help resolve this for you

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I'm unable to cancel my subscription - the company is taking my money every month

I am trying to cancel my subscription to House Beautiful magazine, as the company is taking money off my debit card each month - this makes it impossible to cancel via the bank. The customer service phone on the website shows incorrect hours, and I've emailed but not had a response. I don't know how to cancel this subscription as the company makes it impossible to do online - there is no way to do this.

28 May 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

Thank you for leaving a review.
We requested further details via Trustpilot to help us provide further assistance however, we didn't receive a response. Please may we request that you contact us directly via email here: contacthearst@subscription.co.uk to allow us to look into the matter further and help resolve this for you.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Misleading offers

They offer you to renew your subscription at a reduced price along with a £10 gift voucher - they then renew your subscription and fail to provide the gift voucher. Once 14 days have passed you can't get your money back. This has happened to me twice now. It's false marketing and misleading. They don't respond to messages sent via their website or via email. Disgusting.

Update 15/06/26
The customer service team responded to my review and did indeed ensure I received the voucher as advertised with the annual subscription that I took out. The adviser said that gift vouchers are only issued with annual subscriptions, however I sent them a copy of the emails I have received which indicate that the vouchers are available for 6 month subscriptions - it seems there is something wrong with their marketing. The adviser agreed that I had been offered the vouchers and said that they would issue one as per the email I sent.

9 May 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback, Sonia.
We're very sorry to hear about the difficulties you experienced receiving your free gifts and apologise for the delay in getting this resolved. We understand how disappointing this must have been.
I'm pleased to confirm that our support team was able to resolve your query on 11th June, and both of your vouchers have been issued and should either be with you already or arriving shortly.
Thank you for your patience while we worked to put things right. We appreciate the opportunity to resolve this matter for you and hope you enjoy spending your vouchers.
If you would like to update your review, you can do so at any time through your Trustpilot account. We would also welcome any additional feedback you may wish to share, as it helps us continue to improve our service.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Dreadful wish I had the reviews first

Dreadful wish I had the reviews first
Unable to access any digital magazines keep getting told my customer number is incorrect when it isn't
No one is responding to emails ,call centre no answer .Very disa feel like I have been scammed

1 June 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

We requested further details via Trustpilot to help us provide further assistance however, we didn't receive a response. Please may we request that you contact us directly via email here: contacthearst@subscription.co.uk to allow us to look into the matter further and help resolve this for you

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Terrible customer service

Be very wary of setting up any sort of automatic renewal if you buy a magazine subscription - you can't cancel online and the "customer care line" doesn't answer the phone.

1 June 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

Thank you for your review Kathy and I am sorry that you have had trouble contacting our customer service team. At the time that you tried to make contact we were seeing unexpectedly high volumes which led to longer call wait times than we would like.
A member of our team is now in contact with you by email and will be able to resolve any queries for you.
Many thanks and we hope you enjoy your magazine

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Awful …

Impossible to get through to this company to cancel a subscription. Orders are missing from your account page so you can’t cancel online. Pretty much a scam and they should be reported!

1 June 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

I am sorry that you had trouble contacting our customer service team and were not able to view your subscription within your online account.
A member of our team has been in contact and will process your cancellation. A confirmation of this will be sent to you in the coming days.
We do produce a number of magazines so if this one was not to your liking, please take a look at what else we have to offer at www.hearstmagazines.co.uk

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

No email advising that auto renewal is…

No email advising that auto renewal is coming up. I would never use this company again. They obviously make their money from auto renewal which is why they offer the first one at a reduced price. My own fault for not putting it in my calendar but you still have to give 8 weeks notice. I hope consumer rights get onto this as I really don't think companies should be allowed to do this. Lesson learned. Dont touch this company again.

1 June 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

Thank you for sharing your feedback with us.

Our subscriptions are typically set to renew automatically at the end of each period, this is detailed during the ordering process and reiterated in all order confirmations. We strive for transparency, but should an automatic renewal occur unexpectedly, we offer a refund if notified within two days of the payment.

While current legislation does not require us to issue advance notifications before a recurring payment is taken, we appreciate that this is an area of increasing focus. We are actively reviewing our processes and preparing for anticipated changes under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act.

Thank you again for takin the time to leave a review and should you have any further enquiries, please do contact us.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Signed up for a magazine subscription

Signed up for a magazine subscription.
They make it very hard to cancel. Their phone number they direct you to on thier website doesn't work. Bad online account system with no clear way to cancel, even though their email says get in touch via your online account.

29 May 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review Mark. I am sorry that you had trouble with cancelling your subscription.
A member of our team has contacted you by email to try and assist with the cancellation. Please respond to this email and we will be able to process the cancellation for you.
It would also be helpful to know where on our site you obtained the telephone number that was not working so that we can check this and make any changes.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

First problem, renewal taken without courtesy email.

First problem is they took the renewal without any courtesy email. That sent bells ringing.

So I now decided to cancel and its starting to be a palaver.
In the online account you can update delivery address and payment card but no cancellation.

The FAQs state you'd need to ring or customer account, with a link to it. However no chat nor messaging system.
It also states lines open Mon-Fri 9am-8pm.
I just rang (17:00) and lines are closed. They close at 5pm.
If it wasnt for looking for a way to cancel/contact them in the account it would've been 15 minutes ago.
Now need to remember to contact them tuesday now before I can try to cancel.

Ive been a Mens Health buyer from the shops for years, and subscribed in the past for a long time, but this is not right.

---- Edit
30 minutes later, found links from the original sub creation emails, but these don't work.
I did find email addresses for correspondence for each magazine in the web site, eventually.
I contacted them to disable the subscription. Now, lets see how it goes.
Note: some email addresses are mixed up in the table. Including the Mens Health I had sub-bed.

Not the best experience by a mile. And at £10/month... unacceptable really.

---- Edit 2
After, this review, and a few more emails, My 2 subs are now set to not renew. Finally.
The first magazine was sorted within minutes. Which shows they can be responsive. The other, unfortunately only today (day 6), after a number of further contacts...

Overall, its sad to report that their system and information is patchy and a little all over the place as mentioned earlier in review. Down to the content on their website.

22 May 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

Thank you for your feedback and I am sorry to read that your experience was not what it should have been.
Our customer service operating hours have recently changed, thank you for bringing to our attention that this has not been updated in all areas of our website.
I am pleased to read that we have now stopped the auto renewal on your subscriptions as requested, though it did take more effort on your part than it should have done. Your comments are valuable and we will use these in order to help improve our service moving forwards,

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I wish I'd read these reviews before@

I wish I'd read these reviews before I took advantage of Women's Health special deal of 3 months for £3. I emailed and told them that the magazine was too intense for me so i was cancelling but they charged me £59.99 and, several emails later, they are still sending the magazines. I can't see how to cancel it on the app so I reported a fraud activity and my card provider refunded the £59.99 but I still received this month's copy.

24 April 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.

Our team has since been in to confirm that the subscription has not renewed and you will no longer be receiving any further publication.

I am sorry that Women's Health was not to your liking, the trial offer that you took advantage of was a great way for you to test the magazine to see if it was suitable. We have many other publications available at www.hearstmagazines.co.uk should wish to try another title.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Exceptional service

Operator who assisted was considerate, companionate , understanding and very quickly assessed the situation and reacted with necessary assistance. Excellent service always from Hearst Magazine.

16 May 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. It is great to read of your experience and I hope you continue to enjoy your membership with us.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Avoid at all costs

Avoid at all costs
I renewed at a special price offered by Hearst .Two months later and seven emails later to customer services there is no magazine despite one reply promising to resolve this
I would not open a subscription with this company in future and I will be checking with my bank so as not to continue in the future Please avoid them to avoid unnecessary expense and disappointment
*EDIT*27/5
So I was asked by HEARST to send my details after this review so they could sort out my magazine Despite me replying immediately over a week ago with my customer number email and telephone number so far I have NO magazine (still) and no response from them
What a SHODDY company,don’t use them
!EDIT!
Yes finally contacted by Hearst a full two months after my initial complaint…hoping that this is resolved and will wait to see if they fulfil their promise However it shouldn’t take this long and this amount of time to sort out a problem when they ask you to use your customer number through customer servivesI did and it go no where and only by using Trustpilot did I get a response

13 May 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review and I am sorry to read of your experience. Since your last review update, our team has been in contact and resolved the situation for you.

Should there be anything further that the team can help with, please respond to the email sent to you on 28th May 2026.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Very Bad Experience With Hearst Magazines

I took a subscription out in March 2026 for 5 issues for £5 this was to include a £10 John Lewis Voucher. I received the first magazine at the end of May but no JL voucher. I tried to log in to my account but it logged me into an old account with an old address. I tried to delete this account to set up a new one but there was nowhere on the website to delete the account so I was unable to create a new account.

I phoned Hearst Magazine last week (call centre in South Africa), it took me over 40 minutes to get through. The lady told me she would delete the old account and get my voucher sent to me within 48 hours (still not arrived 5 days later) and cancel my auto renew subscription (I am not convinced this has happened).

The whole thing has been very stressful. The Good Housekeeping Magazine comes across as very wholesome and embracing but the experience of subscribing to their magazine falls short of their image.

I will try and call again next week when the call centre is open and will report back. I would NOT take a subscription out with them ever again.

Update: I phoned my bank and they have put a stop of any more payments going to Hearst Magazines and as a precaution I cancelled my Debit Card and requested a new one.

5 May 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

We requested further details via Trustpilot to help us provide further assistance however, we didn't receive a response. Please may we request that you contact us directly via email here: contacthearst@subscription.co.uk to allow us to look into the matter further and help resolve this for you

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Sadly scammed by this poor company-…

Sadly scammed by this poor company- renewal was due very end of May , diary note made by me to cancel as last 2 editions not received anyway - 1st May they claimed the money ! Can’t have a refund even though I am being debited for future services - very poor & will not buy any in future as a protest - scammers !
I disagree with their deadline dates as it was not 6 months after expiry they were some 20 days early - very clever - lesson to be learnt by me

1 May 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

Thank you for sharing your feedback with us.

Our subscriptions are typically set to renew automatically at the end of each period, this is detailed during the ordering process and reiterated in all order confirmations.

The final issue included within your trial was the June 2026 issue (on sale 30th April 2026) and recurring payments are always collected 2 days after the on sale date of the final trial issue, to ensure uninterrupted service. This also allows for a grace period should a payment fail so we can reinstate the subscription before the next issue has been despatched.

As we did not receive a cancellation request prior to this payment being collected on 1st May, or within our 2 day grace period, we are unable to process a refund at this time. Our full terms and conditions can be found here; https://www.hearstmagazines.co.uk/terms-and-conditions

Please rest assured your automatic renewal has been cancelled and no further payments will be collected. The final issue you will receive is the December 2026 issue (on sale 22nd October 2026).

If you would prefer to receive an alternative magazine for the remainder of your subscription, it is possible to change to another title of your choice. It is also possible to change the delivery and/or recipient details should you find a gift subscription option more suitable. You can view a full list of our titles at www.hearstmagazines.co.uk.

An email has been sent to you containing all of this information. Should you wish to receive an alternative publication for the remainder of the subscription, please reply to the email and we will be happy to arrange this for you.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Not even one star !

Not even one star !
Just had to cancel my Visa debit card to try and stop future payments being taken from my account. I have also lost money from a credit card.
My bank has advised to cancel both cards as the only way to stop future payments being stolen from me.
Absolute crooks. Avoid !

4 May 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

Thank you for sharing your feedback.
I am sorry that you felt that you needed to cancel your cards in order to cancel this subscription. Upon review the subscription has automatically renewed as part of the initial agreement.
The cancellation has now been processed and no further payments will be claimed, A confirmation of this has been sent by email.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Fraudulent company beware

They have taken money from my elderly Mum’s credit card and they won’t give it back. They say that I have to cancel as it’s in my name and yet I haven’t ordered a magazine or received any magazines… this is fraud!

30 April 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

I am sorry to hear of your experience. The payment claimed was done in line with the original offer that was taken out. However this has since been refunded.
Our team have emailed you to confirm all of the details. Hopefully this has now clarified the situation and your mother has received her money back. Should you need any further assistance, please contact us.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

They make it impossible to cancel

29 April 2026
Unprompted review
Hearst Magazines UK logo

Reply from Hearst Magazines UK

We requested further details via Trustpilot to help us provide further assistance however, we didn't receive a response. Please may we request that you contact us directly via email here: contacthearst@subscription.co.uk to allow us to look into the matter further and help resolve this for you

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