ZEIT ONLINE GmbH

‼️Watch out for subscription traps‼️ Shady scheme with a “free” trial subscription and unauthorized charges! What ZEIT is doing here is about as brazen as it gets. I tested a “5 weeks free” trial that, according to the order confirmation, could be canceled “at any time during the trial period.” I canceled online two days before the deadline and received a written confirmation. So I thought that was the end of it. Despite canceling on time, ZEIT went ahead and cheekily charged me €158.60 for a full half-year! When I called customer service, the audacity really took it to another level: I was flat-out lied to that you can’t cancel online at all (which is absolutely illegal under § 312k of the German Civil Code), and that I now had to pay for a monthly issue. Only after I threatened the Consumer Advice Center in writing did they suddenly back down—but then they tried the next scam on customers right away: instead of the full €158.60, they promised in writing to reimburse only €122.00! ZEIT simply invented a hidden clause in a later welcome letter and wanted to charge me for the weeks after my lawful cancellation anyway—coldly and without shame. Bottom line: It seems they’re deliberately counting on customers not checking their bank statements, getting intimidated on the phone, or failing to recalculate the incorrect partial reimbursement. An absolutely shady and deceptive approach for a so-called quality publication. Stay away!

Even though he’s listed in the Robinson register, publisher De Masio still sends out advertising letters to my senile father-in-law. It’s a really nasty trick.

Debating it really isn’t much fun. First they have something posted get reviewed by ZEIT. Then it’s approved only with a 50% chance. And depending on how they feel, they’ll take it down again—even though it’s already been approved. As justification, they usually come up with something about “polemics.”

The subscriptions are nothing but annoying. You’re already paying for the streaming service, and then you’re supposed to pay extra on top for bonus episodes—that’s honestly pretty frustrating. And personally, I just can’t stand Sabine Rückert’s voice. Couldn’t you at least introduce an option to switch speakers? Or at the very least make sure she doesn’t talk so often? For me, it’s really almost unbearable.

In my opinion, this outlet would benefit from better research. ... The first version, dated March 20, stated: “Actress Collien Fernandes has made serious allegations against her ex-husband Christian Ulmen. He is alleged to have created deepfake porn and fake profiles of her over the course of several years.” The later version, dated March 30, simply stated: “He is alleged to have created fake profiles of her over the course of several years.” ...

A media outlet like ZEIT ONLINE, where the statement "Nazis out" is censored and suppressed in the online reader forum in connection with Maga and the AfD, is no longer tolerable or acceptable.

Since when has Spotlight/Business Spotlight been part of the "Die ZEIT" publishing house? The prices are outrageously high, the topics and focus have remained the same for years, and it’s very AI-heavy. The order pages run on foreign servers. It looks like a copy of the original editions. I’m not ordering.