New Scientist Avis 

Really awful magazine should not contain the word scientist in their name

Based on unconfirmed, untested, incomplete information that is dangerous and misleading, disregarding and damaging to human rights advocates

My periodic dose of facts, trends and implications of living in a modern technological society, in my California mail box, every week! While retired, I still get to keep up on evolutions, original ideas, and new trends in science...and, often, beyond. It is my anchor, in my belief that human beings CAN be honorable, and considerate, and inventive, despite the nightly news, or the bleatings of some wanna-be politician. And, I have neighbors who beg me for my back copies; they get passed around from house to house on my street in this rural California community, since I retired here from Silicon Valley.

Keep it up, and I'll keep ponying up. Maintain that same attention to important detail...in both the science, and the proficient use of our common language. And, with my forefathers having migrated from the UK, it's often a dose of connection to my ancestral roots.

I have been a subscriber for over a decade and have just cancelled my subscription. The target audience has shifted I think - it's now aimed at a school audience, and seems to be obsessed with targeting girls.
It has become a 'zine' aimed at entertaining rather than challenging.
So I've voted with my feet. Scientific American or Science look like better options, or Nature at a push.

If you would like a balanced view, you’re not gonna find it here. It’s a shame cause I actually enjoy most of the content. At every possibility they have to mention Trump in a negative way. I get it, he wasn’t supposed to win. Also in the comment section, the journalist? was rabbiting on about how the right wingers were ruining Twitter for her. In my experience it’s from both sides, but hey that must make me a Nazi.

I would just like to comment in the hope that NS take seriously the amount of poor reviews. I had an old and now seemingly outdated view and respect for the magazine. Please make it be known when a boardroom meeting has been had and acted upon in view of getting 99.9% science content back and its branded characteristics. Until then I am inclined to search your competitors.

I've been a New Scientist subscriber for literally decades and have generally thoroughly enjoyed the magazine every week. The quality and breath of articles was very good.

In the last few years I've noticed that the non-scientific content has increased and the quality of the articles decreased. Silly mistakes and ambiguities have crept in that should never have made it past the editorial staff (e.g. confusion with power & energy!) Such instances made me question continuing with paying a significant amount of money just to read an ever decreasing number of good articles, which are still to be found. However I did continue in the hope of seeing an improvement.

Then there was the revamp and change of editor last year! This ushered in only more detrimental aspects. Now we have "Games", "Culture" sections, constant adverts for NS events and rather simplistic cooking/hands on experiment sections. Other, dedicated publications exist for these things. This is NOT what I pay good money for in a NS subscription.

So, reluctantly, I have decided not renew my MS subscription in 2020.

Terrible app. I constantly struggle to get my login recognised, and have been locked out each time I come back to the app a few days later. I have had to give up many times. It is no user friendly. The help phoneline does not seem capable of giving sensible advice either.

The magazine is ok but I'm sick and tired of its sending spam emails asking me to subscribe literally every single day of the year.

I gave them my email address and now the emails from them are endless and don't seem to stop after telling them to fork off.
For example it's 12:20pm and I have allready recieved 3 emails from them today.

**Update 2**
Now the digital subscription has disappeared from my subscription, leaving me only with print. Or actually without print as the magazines are no longer arriving.
**Update**
Subscription email address still not updated.
Neither replacement nor subsequent issue have arrived.
The magazine is really very good, it's light enough to read easily but still informative. Of course, nothing is covered in any depth but there's certainly enough to whet an appetite.
And that's where the good bit ends, the subscription service is flawed. My subscription was started at the wrong date, and then on the correct starting date - well the magazine just didn't arrive and I have no faith in the replacement or subsequent issues turning up.
Customer Service was surly and uncooperative, implying that I had failed as a customer because I hadn't reported their errors earlier.
If you want to change your email address, you may as well put a note in a bottle and sling it in the sea.
On the whole, what a shame. Its not a cheap rag, but they treat it as such. Please don't cheapen yourselves NS by replying with the customer care email address, everyone complaining have clearly been in touch previously and the reviews are the result.

Tried for the second time to order this magazine; issues never turned up, customer service claimed Canada Post was losing them (seriously?), and have not cancelled my sub despite multiple requests to do so. And what kind of online subscription service doesn't let you cancel online? I am never, ever, dealing with NS again.

Have been a subscriber for years. Quite disappointed with the lack of response to problems regarding downloading magazines after Re-subscribing, even though my subscription remains current. I can’t recommend the service and will consider unsubscribing.

I have been a subscriber since March, having bought a one year web and ap subscription. I tried several times to access the "Manage my Account" page. The reason for wanting to was to check if there is any auto-renewal flag set. Several people have told me New Scientist is well know for ignoring cancellation requests, take the money for renewal, and not returning it. After some exchange of emails I received the final reply from Mr Arnold Spencer (how much more English can you get?). Arnold told there are technical issues with that page, trying to fix...

DO NOT GIVE THIS RAG YOUR MONEY.

Buyer beware - they cannot fix online issues promptly. I've been unable to activate a subscription that my card has already been charged for. No refund and now I must get a new card issued to prevent recurring billings. It's not "New Scientist" - its just "Old Fraud".

Absolutely will not deal with these incompetent people again they have stuffed up our subscription so completely. We cannot believe the lack of customer service you should be ashamed.
Dr Werner Fabian

Awful politicised rubbish. Took £125 without my knowledge, sent receipt to the wrong address, no refund.

Recently, I have been going through a pile of New Scientist magazines from 2017/early 2018. The decline between then and now in terms of the breadth and the quality of content is quite striking. As an inveterate magazine reader, I don't think I have ever witnessed such a sudden nosedive in standards.

Under the editor, Emily Wilson, who was appointed, I believe in April or May, 2018, New Scientist has fallen prey to entropy, regressing to a superficial shadow of its former self; a lifestyle magazine, heavy on op-ed; not above using dogma as a means of crow-barring-in various fashionable progressive social agendas (many of which I do support). This is science on the same level as posting a picture of the Crab Nebula on your social media, accompanied by a quote from the movie 'Interstellar'. It's all posture; the lazy pretence of knowledge.

The new format of the magazine is clearly intended to cast a wider net and engage with new readers from new demographics, which is both admirable and sensible from a commercial standpoint. Sadly, a periodical this slender on meaningful content is unlikely to hold the attention of these potential readers, who are certainly intelligent enough to know when they are pandered to.

Bought an online subscription for family member who is seriously ill. It didn’t give him access so I emailed. Got some generic list of obvious things to try which was completely unhelpful. Phoned them and some guy sent a link that worked for one issue. Family member emailed. They ignored him. He sent another. Got another unhelpful list of questions back. I rang again and was told that they don’t do refunds so even though he hasn’t been able to access something that I’ve paid for, they won’t give me my money back. Appalling service. Never touching this magazine again.

Ordered a one off copy that was a compilation of several issues online which said would take 3-5days.
I paid for the postage and the magazine for it not to have arrived over a month later, several phone calls and emails later and I’m still waiting. I’ve constantly been told they are very sorry but I had to wait over 28 days before they would do anything. Then they apparently resent the magazine which again hasn’t arrived and now they have escalated it to another team but can not say how long this will take.
Certainly would not recommend purchasing online with them or there customer service.
Unable to review the magazine as still waiting!