Wired subscription concerns

    I normally don't delve into my day job here, but I'll make an exception today for expediency's sake. On Friday, the SF Chronicle's consumer-rights columnist ran a piece about complaints from Wired subscribers that they were getting threatening letters from a collection agency when they let their subscription lapse.

    The reason turned out to be that they were among the small fraction of our subscribers who signed up for an automatically-renewing subscription under the bill-me option, rather than the usual credit card option, and then didn't send in a $12 check at the end of their billing cycle. They thought, quite reasonably, they were just letting their subscription lapse and were not aware that they had signed up for the auto-renew plan, probably because the details of the subscription plans are not marked as clearly as they could be.

    This was really distressing to hear for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is that sending letters from a collection agency for $12 is a poor way to treat customers. But the good news is that it has clarified a problem that we can fix, and for that we're grateful to the Chronicle.

    Circulation is one of those tangled parts of the magazine industry that's dependent on all sorts of third parties, ranging from the US Postal Service to independent subscription agents, each of which add a layer of uncertain customer service between us and our subscribers. And as a subscriber to loads of other magazines, I know how frustrating that can be. But in this case the problem turns out to be in our own policies, which we're going to change.

    As Joe Timko, the circulation manager, said in the piece, we're going to stop turning over accounts to collection agencies (although these agencies weren't authorized to do anything other than send badgering letters, the wording sounded pretty serious). Although I had heard these complaints before, I had always assumed it was bad behavior from third-party agents, which are a declining fraction of our subscription business. The bad news was finding out that this was actually our own doing (even if it affected just a small percentage of our subscribers); the good news is that this means we can stop it immediately, as we've now done.

    Second, we're going to make it much clearer which subscriptions are automatically renewing and which aren't. We're not going to eliminate the option of an automatically-renewing subscription, because many subscriber prefer those, especially with credit card billing (the only checks I write these days are to renew magazine subscriptions, which always seems like an anachronistic hassle), but what's important is that we ensure that the unsubscribing procedure be quick, simple and painless. No AO-Hell run-arounds.

    Right now, it's not nearly clear enough how to do that (or even to find out if you have an automatically-renewing subscription or not). This week, I'll start working with the Conde Nast circulation department on improving that. Transparency is the key.

    Finally, I'd like to hear directly from anyone who is experiencing problems with their subscription. Although I can't promise a personal reply, I can promise that I'll be forwarding each email to the circulation managers personally and will ensure that they all get reviewed and resolved to the best of our ability. Email me at this address: ca@wiredmag.com.

Comments

[Vaz]

What a great post. I wasn't personally affected by this, and, as can happen with stories of this kind, I had only heard parts of the story so therefore thought Wired was turning over people who just weren't re-upping. Glad to hear that's not the case and glad to see your personal attention to the matter.

I hope people who don't read your Long Tail blog get a chance to read your statement.

- Vaz

[Patrick Di Justo]

I haven't had a single problem with my subscription. No collection agencies, no badgering letters, nothing.

Sometimes I get three copies of the same issue, but I don't count that as a problem.

[Ian Ozsvald]

Good story - nice to see someone who cares. I'm not a subscriber so this doesn't affect me - but I'd like to be. Every time I go to the site I see "Subscribe - save over 80% and get a FREE Gift!" and I think 'cool!'. I see it'll cost $10 for 1 year - great! Then I notice that this is the US price and I live in England.

Instead it is $70 for me, basically the same price as I can buy it for in the store with no 12 month lock-in. Is there any chance of cheaper subscription for UK residents?

[Michael Parekh]

As a reader of Wired from its infancy, I must say the way you've handled this issue is excellent. It should be a model for other magazine companies.

Thanks.

[G P]

this isn't enough, why hasn't the collection agency been fired? If they are serious that would be the first step!

[chris anderson]

GP,

It has been. Pls see the Chronicle story, which discusses this.

[Jane]

That's very reassuring. I'm a fairly new Wired subscriber and I was concerned when I heard about the subscription renewal issues.

[Nick Fessel]

I was one of the subscribers who was inundated by threatening letters from Conde Nast Collection agency. I am glad the agency was fired, but this entire problem should have been avoided to begin with.

Those letters caused me much stress. My subscription expires in a couple of months, and I have no plans of renewing. Ever.

[Doug]

I'm in the same boat as Ian O. Reader since issue 1.01, subscriber for a while when I lived in the States (service was bad back then, but it was a long time ago), but now a resident in Germany.

The prices on overseas subscriptions have always seemed like discouragers, rather than any real reflection of the costs involved. Amazon can send me US and UK books at not much above cover price. Why is a Wired subscription more than six times the US price? And surface mail? That's like saying magazines will arrive at random intervals. (Actually, this was a problem when I was a US subscriber in 97-98 and the main reason I let it lapse.)

Anyway, the prices seem to me like a signal that the magazines aren't seriously interested in overseas sales (fow whatever reasons). It's actually a long-tail-like market. There are probably, in aggregate, a significant number of people outside the US who would like to read Wired in print form. But reaching them is not easy, and so far the magazine has not made it easy for us to come to it. So the money is left on the table.

[Roland Kofler]

When I changed Credid Card the customer service told me, i should fax them my new numbers. Living in Austria I'm not going to fax my CC to the U.S., no way sirs!
but asking for an alternative didn't help. Do you going to have a secure form for things like that (don't get me wrong, but its not rocket science)?

[Gitesh]

I'm an international subscriber in the UK and logged on today to renew my subscription. I'm shocked that the renewal price has risen to $120! The way loyal international customers are treated is outrageous, how about a discount for our loyalty? Considering that I can get a 'new' international subscription for $70 (using another link on the website), and that US residents get a whopping 12 issues for only $20 the price difference is unreasonable. In fact the current offer allows US residents to give a free wired subscription to anyone they want making that $10 for 12 issues. It's fair to say that international subscribers are being ripped off.

I've been a subscriber since issue 2.01 and will probably no longer buy Wired.

[foreign pharmacy]

Canadian medications offers a convenient, private, affordable alternative to conventional pharmacies and other costly online services. We enable those patients with transportation issues,limited access to quality medical care and privacy needs to have their medications safely delivered directly to their door, without the hassle and time constraint of visiting a doctor's office.