magazine subs

I have the same problem and not just with wood magazines – car mags do the same thing. I almost always wait until 1 or 2 issues to go, and many times that is when the best offer comes in, too.

-- cut it twice and it's still too short...

Man, you have really touched on a pet peeve of mine.
I get the same monkey business, and I intentionally renewed my subscriptions (same as you, 4 or 5 at least) for two years to avoid this stuff.
I’ve called them up & told them to check their subscription records and I get a “so what” attitude and a suggestion to discard the renewal notices.
With as much really good content on the internet and other sources available, I’m considering letting them expire and not renew them.
A TON of it is all just repeats anyway.

Thanks for the post Howie.
You are right on the money!

-- Eric

If it comes with a postage paid card or envelope, I usually write “No Thank You” on it and mail it back so they pay the price for harassing me early.

-- I am responsible for how I respond to everything in my life - - Katy TX

I too have a pet peeve with this problem. I subscribed to several wood and other mags and I got so tired of the renewal deals I now only subscribe to 3 mags. What’s worse is when you subscribe and pay for it via internet. They just charge you again when the subscription is up. One of these mags is a sponsor of this sight. It totally screwed up my checking account and on top of that it was at the beginning of December! The month I need the money more than anything. Like Woodwrecker said above, we woodworkers can get just about anything we want on the internet for free.

-- Allison, Northeastern Ca. Remember, Amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic!

Yup … this is annoying, Especially the ones that don’t put the expiration date on the mailing label.

I keep an Excel sheet that lists the magazine, subscription expiration date, etc.

-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"

IME, the renewal “offers” they mail TO you—the subscriber—are rarely a better deal than the stupid insert subscription cards—the annoying ones that fall out of the magazine, while you flip through the pages.

-- -- Neil

This is the very reason I decided to NOT renew any of my 5 magazine subscriptions!!!!!

I wonder if any of the magazine publishers are reading this and maybe taking a hint? They could save a lot of money on postage and paper not to mention the trees that made the paper.

-- Don't rollerskate in a buffalo herd

Wood Magazine sent me a renewal notice, and I returned it with a check for payment. When my check still had not cleared two months later I sent them an email, to which they never responded. I wasn’t going to go through the trouble sand expense of stopping payment 0n a $20 check, so I just added it back to my balance and forgot about it.

2nd pet peeve: When you can’t figure out from the label just when your subscription expires.

3rd pet peeve: Most woodworking magazines only come out every other month, but yet they all hit my mailbox within a few days of each other.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

‘nother thing I’ve seen … though … not in ww mags, that I can recall:

My wife will frequently get an issue or two of a magazine to which she never subscribed. In the 2nd or 3rd month, she’ll get an “urgent” renewal notice—implying that HER subscription was running out.

I’ve actually contacted an Attorney General or two, about this.

Yes, I DO have that much time on my hands, but … it’s not really that. I just … don’t like this sort of white-collar criminal any more than the idiot who breaks into my car and steals my stereo ;-)

-- -- Neil

Don’t subscribe to any. Info is on the internet or go to Barnes and Noble and read them there.

-- Bill - If I knew GRANDKIDS were so much fun I would have had them first.

Neil
Got news for you, today’s mode of business promotes white collar criminals – this is America bud! :-)

To sign up or inquire about almost anything brings you a flood of products and services that annoy you.
Magazine subscriptions make me sick, you can’t get them off your back, so mine are all cancelled, but still the publishers keep sending me deals on mags and books. :-(
If a mag was worth its salt, it would sell on its merit, so you can only conclude that the fervor of pressure subscriptions is because they are not that good. Besides I don’t want to pay to see mostly advertisements.

But as I said, this is the way business seems to be done today. How many of you guys out there have ended up with crap you were coerced into buying?

-- Roger-R, Republic of Texas. "Always look on the Bright Side of Life" - An eyeball to eyeball confrontation with a blind person is as complete waste of Time.

I’m with Otto! Stuff junk mail into their return envelope. Bog them down so their empolyee having to sift thru junk just like we have to.

-- Tom, MI, SC

When I get a bill in the mail, I used to pay it with out thinking about it. I am now paid up to somewhere into 2018-19 on 4 WW mags. lol When I realized this, I called them and told them to not send me any more bills until the last issue. This works. I now only receive 1 or 2 unsolicited bills a month in the mail, with Consumers Report being the worst.

Makes me mad as heck! I think I’ll ditch a couple of the WW mags next time they come due. After about 10 years of subscriptions, they have all started repeating themselves.

Am thinking that I just need to stop them all and only buy ones I see as interesting at the store.