| Back to Home > Bulletin Board > MB Suggestion Box > Topic: The WIRED and NEW YORK refunds |
Topic: The WIRED and NEW YORK refunds
| Author | Message |
| lenagrove | Posted – 2/9/2008 7:26:35 PM | show profile So, I just re-upped my avant guild subscription. I had heard that you could opt out of the subscriptions to WIRED and NEW YORK magazines and thus save a little money. I decide to do this. However, it is a little slice of hell to get your money back. I have to write letters and mail them to both magazines, along with a receipt. Here's the lovely irony: in writing these letters to ask for my money back, I'm getting the worst per-word rate of my life. All this for 20 bucks? Not counting the postage involved? I guess they know that most of us won't bother. MB, why not just let me click a box that says I don't want these magazines when I renew? It's not just the cost--NEW YORK comes every week, and I don't have time to read it, and I don't live anywhere near New York, so much of it is useless to me. Environmentally speaking, what a waste. |
| maphop | Posted – 2/10/2008 11:05:17 AM | show profile When I renewed my AG subscription, I simply said don't send me any magazines...that the choices they offered were of no interest and a waste of paper and mailing expense. I've been trying to get rid of Wired for more than three years now (I can't tell you how many "cancel" notices I've sent and "unsubscribe" emails) but it's like the plague. You just can't get it to stop. |
| foodlit | Posted – 2/10/2008 11:46:37 AM | show profile I couldn't agree more. I can't keep up with the New York and wired mags. They pile up unread until I toss them in the trash. I don't live in NYC, so that mag just isn't of interest. |
| mb_pip | Posted – 2/11/2008 6:44:34 PM | show profile | email poster opt-out box Hey folks. We think you're completely right about an opt-out check box an the AvantGuild subscription page. In fact, we've gotten a lot of feedback in that direction and we're trying to implement an opt-out feature. |
| lenagrove | Posted – 2/12/2008 7:41:56 PM | show profile Hooray! Thanks, MB! |
| wander lust | Posted – 2/15/2008 10:22:47 PM | show profile Thank heavens! So I'm not the only one who wants to get rid of her subscriptions. MediaBistro, pleeeease figure out a way for people to opt-out of this. Or offer a free subscription to a mag of choice. |
| roxannekkb | Posted – 2/16/2008 7:25:11 PM | show profile Let me chime in here as well. When I renewed my AG, I looked around the site to figure out how to avoid getting a subscription to New York. While I wanted Wired, which I read anyway, I most certainly did not want New York. But trying to get out of the subscription and getting a refund required writing a letter, sending a receipt---in the end, it just seemed easier to get New York and then bring them to my public library (which has a box to leave and take used magazines). Or drop them at a neighborhood cafe, laundromat, or anywhere I saw magazines lying around. So please please, have an opt out box. Let us choose which magazines we want/don't want at the time we sign up for AG. I am really surprised that you don't already have this feature in place. ------ www.nabeepchen.com |
| kristendkirk | Posted – 2/19/2008 11:13:58 AM | show profile | email poster My problem seems to be the opposite. I paid for a two-year membership. Around my one-year membership anniversary, the magazines stopped coming. Didn't the two-year membership fee include two-year subscriptions? Please let me know, and if so, what should I do to get NEW YORK again? Even though I don't live there, I love the magazine. |
| mb_greg | Posted – 2/19/2008 1:31:34 PM | show profile | email poster Manual fixes, for now If you want to opt out from receiving any or all magazines, and don't care about the refunds, you can just shoot us an email before Friday of the week you sign up, and we'll remove your name from the file we send to the magazines. Similarly, you can do the same thing to get the second year's worth of magazines if you have a two-year membership. We're hoping to have longer-term fixes to these problems, but it may take a little while. Also, just FYI, we know the refund process is annoying. Unfortunately, we have no control over it. The refunds come directly from the magazines, and they therefore have an interest in making you jump through hoops to get your refund. Hopefully the Audit Bureau of Circulations will one day revise its refund guidelines to require online redemption options, but until then, you're going to have to use snail mail. On the bright side, at least you don't have to cut up proofs-of-purchase from the side of a box, the way you do for manufacturer's rebates. :-) Thanks. ------ Greg Membership Director mediabistro.com |
| alizuchowski | Posted – 4/1/2008 3:17:09 PM | show profile | email poster How do we get it if we want it now?? I just joined AG and opted out of the magazines because I didn't think it was clear if you had to pay extra or not. But I would love to get copies of each of them...as a copy writer, I love to look at all the ads and get ideas and/or critique them! Should we just email you with our account information? |
| rhino writer | Posted – 4/1/2008 4:35:48 PM | show profile getting refunds ... ... is really not so hard. I printed out a copy of my membership with the date (which only had my first name on it, but whatever) and wrote a three-sentence note saying that I wanted a refund. Dropped it in the mail, got my refunds. Took about 5 minutes, tops. Better than losing 20 bucks. |
| GGG | Posted – 4/1/2008 5:12:21 PM | show profile Solves the Mystery Obviously, I don't pay as much attention to the fine print as I ought. I was so excited to sign up for AV and gain access to the "Content" features, it completely slipped under my radar that subscriptions came with it. "Why," I kept asking myself, "have I suddenly be targeted by New York magazine?" Mystery solved. Oops! ------ Check out the blog! www.girlgoesglobal.com |
| mb_greg | Posted – 4/1/2008 6:00:39 PM | show profile | email poster I hate to hear from people such as alizuchowski who aren't sure if they're going to be charged. Unfortunately, we're not allowed to use the word "free" anywhere in the offer. But the answer is, yes, you will not be charged anything for choosing to receive the magazines. If you change your mind after signing up, drop us an email as soon as you can and we'll make the change manually. Obviously, in the meantime you shouldn't apply for refunds, since then you won't be eligible for the subscriptions. Hope this was helpful. ------ Greg Membership Director mediabistro.com |
