Magazine Subscription Rant!

[LizFM]

My mother (who is elderly and has memory problems) loves to subscribe to magazines for gifts for family members. It's nice because for each person she picks a magazine on a topic that both she and the recipient enjoy, and she subscribes as well.

Unfortunately, it seems that current magazine subscription policy is that, before the recipient ever gets the first issue, both the gift giver and the recipient start getting renewal notices!! As she is easily confused, she is convinced she Owes the money again and sends in yet another check!!

The worst offender seems to be Birds and Blooms, which is in the family of magazines that Farm Wife News (which my MIL subscribed to for decades when it was still actually for farm wives! But that's another rant). I swear they send renewal notices for that every single month! Since she subscribes to both that and Birds and Blooms Extra for both of us, she is constantly receiving renewal notices.

Because of her dementia problems, every time she gets one of these stupid things she gets all upset that she has to send a check RIGHT AWAY or our subscriptions will run out. When my aunt was alive and mom was paying for subscriptions for all of us I am sure she sent multiple checks a year to that company! Then when she tried to call to explain the situation, she got some customer service person from a foreign country and couldn't communicate with them.

She cannot be the only older person with this issue. Cynic that I am, I am sure those magazines who have a high percentage of elderly subscribers are aware of this and take advantage of it on purpose!!!

Plus, since the recipient gets a 'bill' too...I'm sure they have many subscriptions for which they are getting $$ from both a gift giver and the recipient too!

But almost every magazine seems to do it now. Even the academic journals my boss gets...he keeps giving me renewal notices saying "I told you to renew this!" and I respond "I did! It's not due for another year!"

And don't start me on the NRA memberships that, a month after you join, you start getting mail saying "if you don't renew your membership, you hate America"

There. I feel better. Sort of. Does anyone else have this problem?

 

[Bluemoon420]

I was given a magazine subscription for christmas the year before last from my brother. I never recieved a magazine. I let my brother know since I know he paid for it. After a few calls from his girlfriend, they found out the magazine company went bankrupt sometime late Oct./ early Nov. They had bought me the magazine as a gift in early December.

That's kind of cheesy if you ask me. Anyway, They ended up getting me a different magazine subscription, but I only recieved two of those before they wanted me to "renew" my 1yr subscription before it was up. I'm done with magazine subscription after that nonsense. If I want one bad enough, I'll buy it from Border Bookstore.

Bluemoon

 

[Ms.FuzzyButts]

I haven't had this problem, yet. I am only posting so Bluemoon420 doesn't kill this thread per the signature line!!

 

[CedarRidgeChicks]

I have had the same problem with Country and Country Extra..I do love these magazines but..the renewal hassel is too much!!

 

[thechickenchick]

Yes! I thought I was the only one that gets frustrated by this. I can't tell you how many times DH has said "I thought you said you paid this" me, "I did". I used to question whether I had renewed it or not. So now I write it down when I pay it. You are right it seems like after only 2 or 3 issues you get a notice. I am sure there are many people that double pay and do not realize it!

 

[ranchhand]

I no longer get Birds and Blooms for that very reason. My mom gave me a subscription the Southern Living in 2002 - I am STILL getting "The Invoice You Requested" notices, despite have sent the invoices back marked cancelled many times.

Those are only 2 of the many who just keep wasting money sending things to me, even though I have cancelled them all.

 

[rainplace]

My rant is that when you get a subscription they send you the last months as your first one. It wouldn't be bad for a monthly magazine but for those that come at 6 or 4 times a year, it sucks.

I'm actually quite sick of all the fluff in magazines these days. Not nearly enough in depth information that's useful.

 

[schmije]

When we moved my grandmother into a nursing home because of her dimentia, we found out that she had been renewing her TV guide subscription over and over for years. She had about FIVE YEARS paid ahead! We let her receive them until she stopped being able to read them, and then my mother transferred them to herself.

I also had a friend order a magazine subscription, and they sent her several old issues (like 3 or 4 months old) as her first few months. She received them all really close together, and she already owned them, because she had bought them at the store - which was why she decided to order a subscription. She called the company and complained, and they updated her subscription so she'd get what she really wanted.

I also had a magazine subscription where they stopped making the magazine, and they were going to send out a sister magazine as a replacement. The problem was that they didn't notify me about this, and DH already had a subscription to the sister magazine. It was posted on their website, but I never went there, because I GOT THE MAGAZINE. I got lucky because a friend just happened to go to the website and see the note, so she told me. I was able to cancel my subscription and get reimbursed before I began receiving duplicate copies.

Now I pay really close attention to when subscriptions expire and what I'm paying for.

 

[LizFM]

Quote:
That's the same company that puts out Birds and Blooms! Reiman Publications! Here's a list of the magazines they print:

http://www.reimanpub.com/Revise/Magazines.asp?RefURL=&KeyCode=&tdate=&PMCode=&OrgURL=

So there's a Country "Extra" just like the Birds and Blooms "Extra" huh?

I wonder if there is a Country Woman (what used to be Farm Wife News) "Extra" too?

Yet another profit increasing strategy...instead of having a monthly magazine, the main magazine comes out six times a year...then they offer you the "_(Magazine name)__ Extra"....a whole 'nuther magazine that comes out those OTHER six months!

You know...looking at their website...you see *nothing* about the "Extra" magazines. They don't bring that up, apparently, til you already subscribe to the original.

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Quote:
This happened to my father-in-law, who is in his 70s, with Reader's Digest. Fortunately, he doesn't have any memory problems and went to his check register to verify that he had paid the renewal. He called and explained that it had been renewed. When he got yet another renewal notice he called them and told them to shove his subscription!