Beyond the trashing of the mastehad of The Age newspaper today with another of their home delivery subscription offers is the frustration of this type of campaign for a retail newsagent. They are prepared to give their home delivery customers a 50% discount yet their regular retail customers, who have a lower distribution cost, no reward for loyalty. And they wonder why I will not actively promote their online businesses or subscription offers in-store.
This is not just newspapers, did anyone else catch the Time magazine offer for 53% off newsstand price for subscriptions.
It is a slap in the face for retailers that the publisher offers such discounts but offers retailers little to hold titles on the shelf. We got out of newspaper delivery because all our customers were shifting to direct subscriptions, I can’t blame the customers because they are getting the same service from me at a reduced rate, but what it does it cuts the newsagent out of the loop. Customers do not come in to pay bills and shop, we lose that personal touch, I can see mags going the same way.
I remove any flyer that is protruding from mags that offers/promotes or otherwise any deal for subscription, before it hits the shelf
what are your terms for home delivery?if i have paid a subscription until the end of the month,then this is when the delivery should cease.i have been told that i will continue to get the subscription for an extra 3 months,then an account then the debt collectors will be around.why?? i didn’t want the extra 3 months,was never ordered but i am expected to pay for an unwanted delivery.you should only get what you pay for.all subscriptions are prepaid to a finishing date.not 3 months after this date.any thoughts particularily as the cost of deliveries are so high and the bottom line so low.
Subscriptions are automatically renewing. That is explicit generally in all offers I have seen. The only ones that seem to have a problem in making it explicit are the telemarketers for the discounted Australian offers. They will go on indefinitely if you don’t get stopped for non-payment.
Not to be snide but the whole three months you where receiving papers you didn’t want you never thought once to call up and cancel? Yet you can spend the time to find a blog thread that mentions subscription deliveries and chime in how ‘wrong’ it is.
sa paperboy,thanks for your comment. to clear up a not so snide comment.i did not receive delivers for three months without payment.the local newsagent said that this is what would happen if i did receive ongoing unauthorised deliveries,as was written.please read again…the local newspaper website states that all subscriptions are PREPAID, not as you mention..automatically renewing.this delivery subscription was done through a local newsagent not a telemarketer.to put your mind at ease,i was away for three weeks,in this time my subscription ran out.deliveries continued,that is when and why i enquired as to the meaning of PREPAYING for subscriptions. i have paid for the unauthorised deliveries in that time .i have also renewed the subscription for 6 months. i accept your apoligies in advance. so once again thanks for your educated comments…..i still beleive that subscriptions are all prepaid,and should be ceased on the date paid to.
We accidentally typed in the wrong address for a Herald Sun subscription. When the customer got the bill he called up to complain saying why should he pay. I asked him why he didn’t call and let us know that he was getting a paper he didn’t order. He said he didn’t where it came from.
This same customer also received an Age subscription from us, so he knew exactly where it came from. Like Ron, he thought he was getting something for nothing and took full advantage.
dean,how did i know i was getting something for nothing if i wasn’t there to receive this something for nothing you are going on about.read my reply to sa paperboy,all has been paid for,even though it was not required.seems like there are no clear and defined rules to the terms and conditions of delivered subsubscriptions that were only paid until a definite date.once again….all was paid for in full….good to see some comments but please don’t assume to presume anything
I can’t take advantage of Monday to Friday offers as I leave for work before home deliveries reach my neighbourhood, further, The Age’s frequent lateness to newsagents means unreliability of supply.
What I would like would be a subscription where I can collect the paper from my local newsagent (in lower case so it not part of a marketing group called “Your Local Newsagent”) at a discounted rate.
The newsagent gets an everyday customer and a handling fee from the publisher and I get a reduced price
Fred the newsagent makes nothing as it is why not offer to pay the newsagent a few more cents for putting up with all the bull that goes on in the industry ……just a thought