# Local paper after me for $ 30 for lapsed subscription. Do I owe this money? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 1, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673 "2016-03-01T19:01:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/1 "2016-03-01T19:01:11Z")
I had a local newspaper subscription. The credit card it was billed to expired last fall and I really wasn’t all that interested in continuing the subscription so I did nothing and let it go. The newspaper is now chasing me for $ 30 and has been calling me twice daily for this bill. I told them I intended the subscription to end when the card expired, but they say they extended the subscription for 2 months as a courtesy when they card expired so if I do not want further service (now) I still owe them for 2 months 15x2=$30. Do I? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/2 "2016-03-01T19:05:18Z")
Did you continue to receive the papers? If so, why didn’t you notify the company you had cancelled? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/3 "2016-03-01T19:10:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Did you continue to receive the papers? If so, why didn’t you notify the company you had cancelled? I had assumed the service would have terminated as soon as the card died as it is billed prior to receiving the service. I did not reach out and tell them to terminate the service. They kept it going for 2 more months after the card expired. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/4 "2016-03-01T19:11:51Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I had assumed the service would have terminated as soon as the card died as it is billed prior to receiving the service. I did not reach out and tell them to terminate the service. Then yes, you owe them the money. ---
**Author:** ![ElderSign](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eldersign/32/8263_2.png) [@ElderSign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElderSign)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/5 "2016-03-01T19:41:18Z")
Yes, you must pay up. Same thing happened to a neighbor of mine. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/6 "2016-03-01T20:28:56Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I had assumed the service would have terminated as soon as the card died as it is billed prior to receiving the service. I did not reach out and tell them to terminate the service. They kept it going for 2 more months after the card expired. Then I think it’s on you. You should have called when you received that first paper after the card expired. I don’t get newspaper delivery, but I’m sure they’ve received lots of angry “WHERE’S MY PAPER???” calls when something similar has happened, so it’s easier to keep delivering, in case it was just an oversight by the customer. Cough up the $30, dude. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/7 "2016-03-01T20:42:10Z")
Ok - COUGH ! ----- ------- ----$ 30 ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/8 "2016-03-01T20:43:47Z")
Do you have a contract for your delivery that specified the terms of renewal and payment? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/9 "2016-03-01T20:48:42Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Do you have a contract for your delivery that specified the terms of renewal and payment? The subscription had expired over a year ago and they called me and asked me to re-up and offered a slightly better price so I did and gave them my (now expired) CC # over the phone for an online access account at the time. I don’t recall getting the details of the agreement. It’s probably (if it exists) attached to my online user account somewhere on the website. ---
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/10 "2016-03-01T20:57:01Z")
I’m not so sure. It sounds as if the paper acknowledged that the subscription had lapsed, but they extended it “as a courtesy.” OP didn’t ask them to do it; they did it on their own. Why should he now have to pay for the fact they they took it on themselves to continue sending the papers even though the sub was up? If they sent the papers as a courtesy, it seems to me that’s on them, unless there was some specific term of the original subscription agreement that states otherwise or that specifies some kind of auto-renewal in the absence of a specific cancellation. Personally, I’d refuse to pay it. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/11 "2016-03-01T21:01:05Z")
> [@astro](#): > > they extended the subscription for 2 months as a courtesy You don’t owe for courtesy. Tell them to pound sand. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/12 "2016-03-01T21:25:31Z")
I wouldn’t pay them either. Too much leeway for companies to just send you stuff as a courtesy and then ask you to pay for it. For about 4 months out of the blue our local paper started dropping off the Sunday edition at my door. I never asked for it and I never notified them to stop it. If they had asked me to pay for those I received I would have told them to take a hike. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/13 "2016-03-01T21:59:37Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I wouldn’t pay them either. Too much leeway for companies to just send you stuff as a courtesy and then ask you to pay for it. > For about 4 months out of the blue our local paper started dropping off the Sunday edition at my door. I never asked for it and I never notified them to stop it. If they had asked me to pay for those I received I would have told them to take a hike. But the OP did request this subscription to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/14 "2016-03-01T22:09:12Z")
> [@astro](#): > > The subscription had expired over a year ago and they called me and asked me to re-up and offered a slightly better price so I did and gave them my (now expired) CC # over the phone for an online access account at the time. I don’t recall getting the details of the agreement. It’s probably (if it exists) attached to my online user account somewhere on the website. As a start, I’d probably ask the paper where you agreed to the charges and if they can produce the agreement. If they cannot or decline, then I’d tell them to pound sand. Yes you re-upped for a specific period, for which you paid for. No more, no less. The courtesy is their business model for which they should expect some level of non-payment. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/15 "2016-03-01T22:11:25Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Yes you re-upped for a specific period, for which you paid for. No more, no less. That’s not how newspaper delivery typically works, IME. It’s an ongoing service until you explicitly cancel. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/16 "2016-03-01T22:35:01Z")
> [@astro](#): > > The subscription had expired over a year ago and they called me and asked me to re-up and offered a slightly better price so I did and gave them my (now expired) CC # over the phone for an online access account at the time. I don’t recall getting the details of the agreement. It’s probably (if it exists) attached to my online user account somewhere on the website. I would try to find out what your contract was or what it was that you agreed to. Because if it was a special offer, it might have been $X amount per month for 6 months or whatever, in which case I would assume that you are paying for the 6 months unless explicitly canceled. But if it was just $X per month indefinitely, then I would think you have a stronger case of you were meaning for it to expire. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/17 "2016-03-01T22:37:15Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > That’s not how newspaper delivery typically works, IME. It’s an ongoing service until you explicitly cancel. I’ve never got paper delivery so I don’t know. That’s why I’d ask them to produce the contract or part where the OP agreed to the charges. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/18 "2016-03-01T22:39:15Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > That’s not how newspaper delivery typically works, IME. It’s an ongoing service until you explicitly cancel. Once the OP’s subscription was up for renewal, they attempted to re-bill his credit card on file. It was rejected for expiration. At that point, the paper could have suspended his delivery for non-payment. They chose to continue to deliver his paper _out of courtesy_ and sent him a paper invoice. He chose to not pay it, as he wasn’t interested in renewing his subscription. He doesn’t owe them for the continued delivery _out of courtesy_. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/19 "2016-03-01T22:42:28Z")
Legally they probably can’t collect. Morally, you owe them the money if you received the papers. Your Morals May Vary ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673/20 "2016-03-01T23:21:43Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Legally they probably can’t collect. Morally, you owe them the money if you received the papers. > > Your Morals May Vary Interesting business model. I’ll drop a product at your door that you didn’t agree to, and charge you…$1 million dollars. Pay me or you are being immoral. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-paper-after-me-for-30-for-lapsed-subscription-do-i-owe-this-money/747673.md?page=2)