It pains me to write another review of the Economist subscription department but the staff there are plainly not up to the job . Today I wanted to upgrade a digital subscription purchased for my son on 7 December to a print plus digital subscription but it took for ever to sort this out. At my first attempt their agent maintained that they had not received my payment via PayPal. As she was clearly floundering I asked to be put in touch with her supervisor but there was no reply although I waited for some time. After checking with PayPal I was able to go back to the subscription department with details of my payment. The second agent, Karen, was marginally more helpful but seemed to be unaware that London is in the UK. I asked to change my gift digital subscription to a digital plus print subscription, but she said this was not possible despite the fact that an Economist email said I could alter my subscription by going to “My account” on the Econlmist web page. . I then asked to cancel my digital subscription but she said this was not possible, even though cooling off periods are allowed by law for card payments.The subscription department staff need substantially more training
