Community Chat

[LisaMofSLC]

I'm an avid reader but rarely read books much, old eyes. I love magazines though. Travel, home, cooking, etc.... I subscribe to several magazines and never had trouble except for a few missing issues. Lately though, it has been a mess. I have TWO magazines that never sent me May/June issues, so I'm having to write them multiple times. Yesterday was the worst. I was balancing my checkbook online and found I had been debited from Country Living for $35!!!. I never authorized that, and they never had passive renewals before. Luckily I had just received my tax refund so had the money to cover but I wrote them, demanding a refund. It could have been a bouncing check disaster as I had just paid a bunch of bills Friday.

Have any other magazines subscribers noticed terrible service lately? I'm ready to stop subscribing and just make bi monthly visits to the bookstore.

[patbz]

I used to subscribe to many magazines but now I have none!  I read 3 papers online (Washington Post, NYT, and LA Times) and very occasionally an online article.  My 8" Fire is my constant companion.

[BlueFinch]

I only subscribe to two magazines now, that still aren't on auto renewal. If they eventually are, they will be cancelled. I hate that subscription trap. 

[ALRATIBA]

I recently cancelled my subscription to New York Magazine .... I had been a subscriber for more than 20 years - bi-weekly.  Then - missing issues.  I got tired of calling and emailing - so I cancelled just a few months ago. It had a good crossword puzzle, but the rest of the mag was turning out to be really crappy.  So - no loss!

I only get a couple of season mags (four issues a year).  No missed-issue problems.

Several magazines that I used to get get stopped publishing - a couple were English versions of German magazines and stopped the English issues.  They were knitting magazines that I absolutely loved.

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I'm a book reader - I have two Kindles full of books.  Kindles are great for me - I can carry several hundred books in my handbag ... and read whatever I'm in the mood to read, whenever, wherever!

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BIG PRINT .... With the Kindle - you can easily adjust type size and font.  Easy on "old eyes."

[ECBG]

I was canceling my subscriptions, because even fashion magazines had gotten so political they barely covered the topic they were purchsed for!

I did find by going to the site with the I.D. numbers on your mailing label you can get in to request a refund.

[Spurt]

@LisaMofSLC 

Your problem regarding not receiving magazine issues may not lie with the magazine publisher at all----I have two issues of two different neighbor's magazines sitting on my desk that USPS put in the wrong mailbox that I will have to re-deliver!!! 😫

I dont like the pre-renewal of subscriptions....Good Housekeeping was famous for this, I got tired of them and their content became less and less in what I was interested in and liked about the magazine in the past (new editor) I finally canceled  it! My aunt had wanted a gift subcription to Good Housekeeping magazine and after my aunt died and I tried to cancel her gift subscription they made that transaction such a hassle and an emotional situation even more so thanks to trying to even reach someone to process the cancelation NEVER AGAIN!!! 

The ony magazines I subscribe to now Sports Spectrum, Catster, and Guideposts which I have had no problems with and will continue to subscribe.

[Krimpette]

I only subscribe to Consumer Reports.

[Sooner]

I used to love Victoria and Southern Lady but cancelled them about 4 months ago.  Victoria is nothing I'm interested in now--it seems so horribly out of date and tune with today's world.

Same with Southern Lady and Tea Time.  Also, I'm not interested in women entrepreneurs at all and there is too much of that.  I'm sick of everything being touted as specific to some sub-group of people.  And I quit Architectural Digest because of nothing I would ever be interested in.

I look forward to Martha Stewart Living because there are lots of good topics in it.  

[Venezia]

I stopped all my magazine subscriptions at least two years ago and the other day I got an offer in the mail.  "Good Housekeeping", "Woman's Day" and "Food Network" - all three for a year:  $9.99.

I think they're desperate to get readers back, but it had gotten to the point where the magazines were so thin and at least half was just advertising.  Plus, they made the print so small.  I don't want to have to use a magnifying glass.

Easy pass for me.  Every once in a while I get a free copy of GH and it just reaffirms my decision.

[judianne]

I always pay by check for magazine subscription , that way they don't get ahold of your credit card information . That's how they do the auto renewal , they even offer a discount if you renew on line , they want your cc number . I only get renewal notice by mail . No auto renewal for me , it can be difficult to remove .