The New York Times 14 dollar settlement for failing to refund canceled subscriptions

The New York Times Co. reached a settlement with the New York Attorney General after the AG’s office alleged the company failed to give refunds to subscribers who canceled digital or home delivery subscriptions. The deal covers New York-billed customers who were directly billed by the Times (not through a third party) and who canceled digital subscriptions between Jan. 19, 2018 and June 30, 2022 or home delivery subscriptions through Aug. 9, 2023; eligible class members may claim a one-time $14 payment (via PayPal, Venmo, ACH, virtual Mastercard, or check) by the March 3, 2026 claims deadline. The Times has not admitted wrongdoing but agreed to resolve the claims in In re: New York Times Subscription Cancellation Litigation, Case No. 1:22-cv-00615-VEC, and earlier procedural dates included an exclusion/objection deadline of Nov. 20, 2023 and a final-approval hearing on Dec. 12, 2023. This lawsuit reflects broader consumer-protection concerns about subscription and “negative option” billing—where services automatically renew or fail to issue promised refunds—and fits a pattern of enforcement actions by state attorneys general and federal regulators. Suits like this commonly invoke state deceptive-practices statutes (for example, New York’s General Business Law consumer protections) and federal rules governing negative-option marketing (e.g., ROSCA), and they signal scrutiny across industries that rely on recurring billing (streaming, software, home delivery, and news subscriptions). For consumers, the settlement is modest per person but important as part of a trend pushing companies to clarify cancellation and refund practices and for regulators to reinforce transparency and fair billing standards.