Magazine subscription mailing labels

KathyPet · ‎03-09-2010

Has anyone noticed how sneaky magazine subscription service is getting to be. My husband received some subscriptions that I am not interested in continuing. Two arrived today. I looked at the label to see when they expire thinking that if there is only a couple of months left I would just let them expire otherwise I would cancel them. Neither label had any indication of the expiration date of the subscription. I think they do this to be sneaky. Then you start getting renewal notices months and months prior to the expiration date and you don't know what that date is. They are hoping ro get you to renew and get your $ far in advance of providing the magazine. I think it is very underhanded.

MaggieMack · ‎10-01-2014

@KathyPet, I was recently appointed by the court to settle the estate of an elderly gentleman who passed. He had to have been the most prolific magazine reader on earth! I, too, noticed that not all labels had expiration dates on them. I called every magazine to cancel, about 80 in all. Some were set to expire soon, some three years out. When it was all said and done, I collected about $2,200 in refunds for the estate, much more than my time cost. Just keep plugging away, it will be worth it.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. - Aesop

chickenbutt · ‎03-09-2010

You can also access the magazine account information online. All of mine have the expiration on the labels, except my husband's 'Dolphin Digest' which only says how many issues he has left.

Anyway, there is an account number that's usually right above your name on the mailing label and when you go to the magazine website it will have you put that in and maybe your zip code or something - whatever it requires will get you to your account and show your expiration. HTH

DoneTryin · ‎03-09-2010

Interesting. I haven't experienced that, but I only have 4 subscriptions. Two are monthly, one is bi-monthly, & one is quarterly. All of them show the exp date on the label.

Krimpette · ‎03-09-2010

Oft times, the renewal notices contain the expiration date, from what I've found.

chickenbutt · ‎03-09-2010

Another thing - what I do is keep a thing that has one label from each magazine and a log that has the account number, the current expiration date, etc, for each one. I had to do that a while back because I wanted all the info in one place (I get several mags) and was watching the sales on places like Discount Mags, where I get magazine renewals. Save a bundle, BTW.

I just renewed one mag for TWO YEARS for $25. That one, if renewed through the magazine would be over $80 PER year. I've used Discount Mags for some time now. No forced 'auto-renewals', BTW. That is very important to know.

scotnovel · ‎12-31-2013

I understand it is easier if the expiration date is on the magazine label. However, just like all the rest of our finances, it is OUR responsibility to know when our obligations are due. For anything that is a once a year or multi year item, I simply keep a list (currently takes up less than a page of paper) that hangs on the inside door of my home office closet. That way when I get a notice, I can just look to see when it is really due, and can make an informed decision in about 5 seconds.

It isn't sneaky it is just a marketing technique.