Consumer Reports

One year after subscribing they charged me $39 for renewal. Then I cancelled that same day and they told me I only got partial credit because next month was the earliest my cancellation could take effect. Also they email you with tricky/enticing donation requests throughout the year and worst of all navigating their website for product research is quite frustrating/difficult!

I used to subscribe back in the 1980s and was pleased. But the magazine these days is a shadow of its past self. Here are specifics:
First, I subscribed and only received three issues over a year. I called after ten months and was told the back issues would be sent to me, but that was two months ago and I never received them.
Second, the wait times for customer service are very long.
Third, they only review about three products in a category. If you reviews of more products in that category (e.g. Irons, vacuums, etc.) there is an up-charge.
Fourth, their articles are general information one can easily find on the internet -- no need to spend money on a Consumer Reports subscription.
Fifth and finally, Consumer Union has become a political advocacy group to institute ever more rules and regulations.

This would be a great service if it was available regarding Canadian products since I am tired of fake reviews on every site. Even if I found great reviewed products in the consumer report app I cannot buy them here in Canada so basically the subscription I bought is useless. Lesson learned.

After all these years of claiming to be neutral Consumer Reports has sold out and is now allowing Subaru Auto to use CR's review in their ads. That, for me, is the last straw. The quality of their magazine and most especially, the ability to locate products, has become a confused mess! I can no longer trust a magazine who allows companies to use their product name while professing to be non biased.

Beware of auto-renewal. Like most sites, once you sign up and give them your credit card or bank info, this company will auto renew your subscription every year and probably not at the introductory rating you signed up with but their normal annual rating. If you do sign up with the company, make sure to turn off your auto renewal. Or better yet, just don't sign up at all.

I been getting their magazine over thirty years and i always look at them when i am going to make a large purchase. The last few years the quality of their reviews are not what they used to be and i can see them trying to cut corners to save some money. When they built their new testing fiscality in New York i was against it, too much overhead in the city. Now i know your sorry. Try to keep your heads above water in these trying times, Good Luck.

Consumer Reports used to be a reputable company, with extensive research and information on the products they evaluated. Unfortunately an apprently new "business model" changed all that. Information is scant and what motivates them most is charging for everything and anything, even including "auto charge" for subscriptions. Luckily there is a way to go around that by calling customer service for an adjustment, which usually works. It is a pity what happened to this company.

I find their review of the tesla interface flawed. Inexplicably, they seem to find an interface method that is widely used on the internet flawed (which uses logical design features), while, at the same time, concluding that a series of buttons on another car is easier to learn. This is regressive thinking on the part of consumer reports.

While I have a lot of complaints with built in consumer reports biases, this is one of the most illogical comments they have made about a product.

Craig

I have been a subscriber for several months now. Along with my monthly magazine, I was supposed to receive the Yearly Buying Guide. Still haven't received it. I received the August issue today. The front covers title is "Your Scam Protection Guide". How appropriate... they certainly SCAMMED me! They apparently are having financial difficulties. The monthly magazine is no where near as good as it was many years ago. And SEVERAL times they sent me requests to send them money for automobile raffle tickets. NO THANKS!

I went to cardenelly way car dealer in Santa Rosa I bought a car in cash they told me something wrong so had to keep little bit then said they would call me when done 3 weeks later I call they said well we can't sell you car they got my money they show me some very poor ars as trade I said no want money back well I've been waiting for refund it's been almost 2weeks no refund I gone over there few times only excuses

I've been a member since 1993 and renew the subscription every year. Last year I renewed it again and paid through Aug. 2023. I haven't received a paper copy since last November, attributing it to postal delays. Today I decided to check my account.
It turns out they silently canceled my account and appropriated the remaining balance. I had to call customer service a few times because they hang up after 5 minutes of waiting. They couldn't tell me
Who canceled my account and why, and reluctantly agreed to refund the balance.
They should report this in their magazine on the "Selling It" page.

After continue interruption, changing channels, ads etc WHILE i trying on have a conversation I have to to just give up and call my party back. Googleis determined to have me play a game (I don't play games)
Or they want to keep up with my calls,,etc. I paid my bill by phone every month but one when I was in the hospital with a heart attack and surgery. I called and explained what happened but was change late fee. Next month 2 months were paid on time. In Feb I tried to pay by phone & informed that I would need pin#. I called & got # but they still would not accept my phone payment without some other # I mailed a check which would have made my payt 3 days late. They cut my service. Am trying to get service with another company but Consumer wiill not release my old info. DO NOT use this company.

I recently renewed Consumer Reports online to look for central AC brands. There was one page with information about how Air conditioners worked and what efficiency means. The ratings were based on reliability with very little info. I could have found this information from any other website. It is clear that little effort was put in by consume reports.

I have looked at many online options to review several products over the years (20 give or take) and in the end, I feel like I am getting more detail that I trust from Consumer Reports. No report, from any reviewing company is perfect and all leave out details but Consumer Reports gives enough to make me feel that I am less likely to get screwed in reading their reviews and using it as a guide to my next purchase. Sometimes I am looking at a specific product and the review is clearly written as if they only had a very small handful of reviews to draw from. Its difficult to cover the large scope of products that they do and have a very detailed report when only a few provide their experiences. But overall, I am pleased with the information I get in order to avoid going in completely blind. Other groups who provide competing reviews are too often lacking any real detail, clearly showing they don't have enough reviews to be of substance. No one is perfect but in the end, I feel like Consumer Reports is the best choice and less likely being paid off to provide a jaded review.

Was looking for reviews on luggage. While on Google, I saw an ad for consumer reports. I get online and pay the $30 only to find that there is absolutely nothing about luggage on their website. Immediately call back requesting a refund only to be told that I would get $27 back.
Was told my refund is pro-rated.
That's $3.00 for about 20 minutes.
If consumerreports.com is that desperate for money, it makes me wonder how much the ad dollars they receive from various manufacturers impacts their "professional and objective opinion."
Looks more to me like deceit disguised as a defender.

We requested the Free Books on specific topics + general health concerns. Your promotion clearly stated in several places these were free. I ordered a set of the two paperback books which were supposedly FREE.
We received a bill today for $25 for these books. This was deceitful advertising, and that it occurred at a generally well-known publication such as yours.

3 years ago, we relied on consumer reports to help us on our appliance purchases. We bought Samsung French door refrigerator and a Samsung waterfall dishwasher. What a nightmare. Dishwasher stopped working just under a year. Their service could not fix. The fridge started making water ponds inside of fridge and mold smell. Again service could not fix. We ended up buying a non consumer reports recommended appliances with no problem. Either consumer reports doesn't know how to evaluate appliances or Samsung is one of their major sponsors. Checked with a few other people with Samsung and same problem for this top rated consumer reports product.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U7_e6FVbvs Before you buy a new Nissan at the Bowser Nissan Dealership, Pleasant Hills, PA, please check out my new review video. You might think twice about dealing with these unethical liars. School is out for these folks at the Bowser Nissan Dealership, no class. When the service department couldn't fix my 2019 Rogue, the service manager told me to take it to nother dealership. For 6 months they tried to fix my Rogue and couldn't, ongoing frontend noise and steering wheel issues that almost got me killed, when the steering wheel locked up on me while I was driving. I couldn't get anyone and that includes the owner to return my phone calls. Stress, anxiety and mental anguish became my friend while fooling around with the good folks at the Bowser Nissan Dealership. I was treated better by the Viet Cong than by the good folks at the Bowser Nissan Dealership. So much for "thank you for your service".

Very useful, in my case in particular, for all kinds of appliances/electronics, large and small. I never want to break the bank when I'm purchasing an appliance, or god forbid, outfitting a whole new kitchen - who does? Consumer reports has been extremely useful in helping me find the best balance between price and performance, combined with a few other useful sites.

Fairly cheap for a year's subscription, and will save you money and headaches in the long-run. I recommend.

1 star off for a lack of user input on many items - it seems that not many users actually rate all but the most popular models, which is a real shame. However, the score, pros and cons of the site itself are quite trustworthy, even sans reviews.