Frequently asked questions

Why can’t I view an article even though I am logged in?

If you are definitely a current subscriber and are logged in, but are still being blocked from seeing an article by the paywall, this is usually solved by refreshing the page.

This problem is usually caused by your web browser’s caching, where your web browser displays the same version of a page that you have previously visited before you were logged in.

Sometimes you may need to do a hard refresh, by pressing Ctrl + Shift + R on Windows, or Command +Shift + R on Mac, while on the page.

If the problem persists, please contact us with the details of the problem.

How do I subscribe?

Visit our Subscriptions page, choose your preferred subscription, and follow the steps on the checkout page.

Can I purchase a subscription by phone?

Yes, see our contact page for more.

I have received an ‘Automatic payment failed’/’Your order at Worlds Fair was unsuccessful’ email. What do I do?

Both of these emails are a result of an order or subscription payment not being completed successfully. With a subscription, they usually relate to automatic renewal attempts. These issues are usually caused by a problem with your payment method (such as your card having expired):

An ‘Automatic payment failed’ email means that an automatic attempt to renew your subscription has failed, and at least one more automatic retry is scheduled.
A ‘Failed order’ email means that either an automatic subscription renewal attempt failed, and there are no more retries scheduled, or an attempt to purchase a non-subscription product failed.

If you still want to renew your subscription or complete your product order, then the process for doing so is similar in either case.

Firstly, make sure you have a different payment method available to the one that failed (this can include a new in-date card):

For an ‘Automatic payment failed’ email, you can click the ‘Pay Now’ button in the email you received. Follow the checkout process, and once completed your order will be completed. In the case of a subscription, your subscription will be reactivated.

If this button is not available, or you wish to use a different method, then you can do so through your website account (this applies to either email type):

login in to your World’s Fair website account at https://worldsfair.co.uk/my-account/
Go to My Account > Orders
Find the failed renewal order (it will show as “Failed” status)
Click the “Pay” button next to that specific order
Complete the checkout process

If you do not wish to renew your subscription, then you do not need to do anything, as any renewal payment attempts will continue to fail. You may receive a few more emails about failed retries – if you wish to prevent these, then you can cancel your subscription inside your account.

How do I renew my subscription?

For website subscriptions, your subscription will renew automatically – as long as the credit card in your subscription details is still valid.

To make sure your renewal goes through, you could check that your card is still valid. To do this, log into your account on the My account page, then go to ‘Payment methods’. You will see whether your card has reached it’s expiry date.

For phone subscriptions, please phone us in order to renew. Alternatively, you could purchase a subscription on the website.

What if I don’t want to renew my subscription?

If you don’t wish to renew, you can cancel your subscription.

How do I cancel my subscription?

Log in to your account on the My account page. Then go to ‘Subscriptions’ – your subscription will be listed on that page. Select ‘View’ for that subscription. Then click the ‘Cancel’ option on the resulting page.

Alternatively, you can contact us and we can do it for you.

How do I know when my subscription is due for renewal?

For website subscriptions, we will send you an email 7 to 8 days before your subscription renewal payment is due to go through.

To check yourself, log in to your account on the My account page. Then go to ‘Subscriptions’. Your subscription will be listed on the page. Your subscription will be due for renewal on the date listed under ‘Next payment’.

For phone orders, you can contact us.

How will World’s Fair contact me with notices about my subscription?

We will contact you via email using the email address that is in the account within the World’s Fair website that is attached to your subscription.

For most people, this will be the email that was used when purchasing the subscription. The exceptions are for those who have changed their email address within their account on the World’s Fair website since signing up.

Will the price of the subscriptions or renewal payments be increased?

We try to keep our prices as low as possible. However, due to the reality of rising costs, we reserve the right to periodically increase the prices of our subscriptions, including renewal payments.

In the event of renewal payments being increased, we will contact you via email to inform of the increase. We will contact you at least twice, and at least 14 days before any increase. You will also be entitled to a refund within 14 days of any such payment for renewal payment periods of 12 months or more – see below for more.

Can I get a refund?

We currently offer a 30-day Money-Back Guarantee on our print subscription products. This aplies to first-time buyers only. We reserve the right to change this.
For our digital-only subscription, and for renewal payments with a period of 12 months or more, you are entitled to a refund within 14 days of payment. We reserve the right to request the return of an newspapers you have received in this period.

To receive a refund, please contact us.

How do I update my payment details?

Log in to your account on the My account page. Then go to ‘Payment methods’. You can then click ‘Add payment method’ to add any payment method. To delete a payment method, simply click ‘Delete’ next to the listed payment method.

I accidentally ordered more than one subscription. What do I do?

Can I buy a subscription for somebody else?

Yes. To do this, when you fill out the details on the Checkout page, make sure you put the other person’s address into the ‘Shipping address’ section.

Can I change the type of subscription?

Yes. Contact us and we will sort it.

How often is World’s Fair published?

World’s Fair is published monthly.

Does World’s Fair store financial information?

No. Any credit card or bank details that you use with us for a subscription are stored either by PayPal or Stripe (depending on which payment method you use), not by World’s Fair.

Automatic payments for subscription renewals are processed using a method called tokenization, which allows us to process renewals without storing credit card details.

If you wish, you can read more about tokenization on this page.

Is World’s Fair’s website secure enough for me to purchase on?

Yes. Our checkout process is designed in such a way that your payment details will never pass through our website or servers.

When you enter your payment details, even though it appears as though you are on our website, you will actually be on the servers of the payment processor being used for that payment method (PayPal or Stripe).