How Do I Cancel My Hearst Magazine Subscription and Get a Refund?

Hearst Magazines is one of the world's largest publishing companies of monthly magazines. In total, the organization owns more than 25 American magazines and over 300 international editions. The company was founded in 1887 and the headquarters are in New York. Some of their more popular magazines include Country Living, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Popular Mechanics, and Bazaar.

If you have received a subscription to one of the Hearst Magazines subscriptions and wish to cancel, that is totally possible. And depending on your reasons for canceling, you may be eligible to receive a refund. If you have received a subscription without signing up, or accidentally signing up, you are eligible for a full refund (as long as you haven't waited too long!) Follow these step-by-step instructions to cancel a Heart Magazine subscription and get a refund.

Accidentally Subscribed

Many of the Hearst Magazine subscriptions offer sweepstake contests. It is illegal for these contests to require you to purchase a magazine or a subscription to enter. However, while filling out a form to enter a contest, you may have accidentally checked the box asking you to subscribe to the magazine.

1. The first step to canceling is to confirm that you are subscribed in the first place. Check your email to see if you received a confirmation about subscribing to the magazine.

2. You can also check the Hearst Customer Service Page to see if there is a subscription under your account. Go to https://w1.buysub.com/pubs/HR/ZCD/help_SERV.jsp?cds_page_id=164140&cds_mag_code=ZCD

3. Follow the instructions under 'Accessing Your Account' to see if you have a subscription.

4. If you find a subscription, you can call the Hearst Magazine Customer Service Team and ask for your subscription to be canceled and for you to be refunded. Explain that you did not intentionally subscribe and you can return any magazines that you receive.

5. Ensure that you receive an email confirming the issue of a refund and the cancelation of the subscription. Ask the customer service representative to stay on the line until you can confirm that you've received the email.

Unwanted Magazine Shows Up in the Mail

1. If an unwanted magazine shows up in the mail, that you never subscribed for, you will need to act immediately.

2. There should be contact information in the magazine that you can use to unsubscribe. You can also choose to cross out your address, write 'Cancel' and 'Return to Sender' and drop the magazine in a mailbox. Note that this will not get you a guaranteed refund, so it is better to communicate with a customer service representative.

3. If the magazine hasn't been collecting payment from you, you should still not ignore an unwanted magazine subscription. In the United States, it's illegal for companies to collect payment on a subscription that you never signed up for. However, if you continued to collect the magazines without reaching out to them, it can be argued that you started to use the subscription, and the company can try to collect outstanding fees.

Call the Hearst Magazine Team

No matter how the subscription occurs, your best option is to speak with the Hearst Customer Service Team. A customer service representative will be able to deactivate your account, approve refunds, send you confirmation emails, and even tell you how the subscription occurred according to their records. This is useful information so you can ensure that it doesn't happen again in the future.

This option is also the best route if you intentionally signed up for a subscription but have now changed your mind. If this is the case, you may be subjected to cancellation fees or paying outstanding charges for the magazines that were collected.

Note that the Hearst Magazine Customer Service team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The average wait time to speak to someone is 14 minutes.