Thanks for not being like these guys, GRM

Last year I ordered a subscription to Motorcyclist magazine. I was new to the sport and it seemed like the only mag that wasn't exclusively about ridiculous sportbikes or chromed out Harleys. Anyhow, at the end of the year, I was kind of tired of their editorial attitude, and very unimpressed with some of the things one of their writers, Mike Seate, had written in his other job as a newspaper columnist. In other words, I don't want to get this magazine any more. I have never had a subscription that was more relentless in demanding that I re-up. I started getting "expiration notices" in the mail about 3 months after I signed up, and every few weeks after that. I have been getting regular "bills" for the next year's subscription ever since it stopped coming in October or so, and just today I got a letter from a collection agency demanding $10. These idiots must have spent at least that on harassing me over the past year. The agency that I got the letter from is currently the subject of one of more lawsuits relating to their practice of sending scary letters to people demanding payment for magazines they never wanted.

At this point, especially after they killed their only decent magazine, Sport Compact Car, I will NEVER buy or subscribe to a Primedia/Source Interlink magazine again. And I want to say, sincerely, thanks to the folks at GRM for not abusing your customers in an industry that seems to think it's acceptable standard practice. I can't imagine you guys doing anything remotely like this to your readers, since you seem to understand deeply that they are the true focus of your business, and you should know that is definitely appreciated.

Dang. Talk about some sleeze. Someone needs a Big Box Store Poof .

I also want to thank the GRM folks for not having cruddy ads like Road and Track, I think. As I wait in the alergist's office to make sure they didn't kill me after my alergy shot, I look through the R&T's there and the mags are loaded with various mail order pharmacuetical companies pushing little blue pills, fake steroids, etc. I think it really trashes the mag and I'm glad that GRM doesn't stoop to that to try to bring in a couple extra bucks.

I notice the same thing at the Dentist's office. It left me thinking "The only people who must read this mag are guys with weiner problems."

Once I got a "deal" from Hotrod. Here's this nice DVD about the history of Hotrod magazine. And in real small, small print "if you do not want this DVD, put it in the envelope and return it. If you keep it, we will charge you $14.95."

Bull E36 M3! YOU sent it to ME and now I have to go out and send it back to YOU?

It takes a lot to piss me off as far as editorials go. Jeff Smith turned CarCraft into ChevyCraft. How many Red 67-69 Camaros can you possibly put on the cover in a year? (nine I guess) And James Tate of the late Sport Compact Car irritated the hell out of me. Complain about poser Harleys and their "lame" sounding, un muffled pipes, but in the same breath wax poetically about Hondas and STis with uncorked exhaust. That guy sucked.

Hey, thanks for the appreciation--good timing, because I just got off the phone with a Classic subscriber who wanted to make me sorry that we send out renewal notices before people get their final issue in a subscription:

Him: "Hello? Yes, I paid in April, and now I got a thing telling me it's time to pay again."

Me: "Oh, yeah, we do send notices ahead of time telling you it's coming up on time to renew. That way you have time to respond before you miss an issue. Let me look you up... okay, your subscription started with the May '08 issue and ends with the March '09 issue, which we're mailing this week. That's why you got that notice telling you we're about to mail your last issue, and it's time to renew."

Him: "Yes, but I paid in April. I shouldn't have to pay again until April. I paid for a year and it hasn't been a year."

Me: "Well, I know it seems that way--heh heh, time does fly!--but actually you paid for six issues, and as of this week we will have sent six issues. But yes, if you could time it exactly--we got your check originally right on the final day for the supplemental mailing of that first issue--then yes, if you could do that again, you COULD wait until April. But you'd probably miss an issue. Which is why we let you know it's time to renew when we're getting ready to mail your last issue. Because people get upset when they miss issues."

Him: "But that's not a whole year. I just think it's not very honest. You could give us a more accurate timetable."

Me: "It isn't a time thing, it's an issue thing. We tell you it's time to renew when we're sending the last issue, to give you a chance to renew and not miss any. And of course, it seems to be shorter because there's a 2-month gap between issues, so you start in May but end in March... the next issue would be May again, and that would be more than a year."

Him: "I just think you could give people a better way, with dates so they could calculate when they need to send in their payment."

Me: "You're right, sir. We SHOULD send out some kind of complicated table so people can perform date calculations to determine when they should renew! SOOOO much easier than just sending a notice that says, 'Your next issue will be your last unless you renew'!!"

I'm really not so good at the customer service.

Margie

Xceler8x wrote: I notice the same thing at the Dentist's office. It left me thinking "The only people who must read this mag are guys with weiner problems."

For the record, we've had the "manliness enhancer" companies approach us offering to buy full page ads at top dollar. Although we are a small company, and are always working hard for that next ad contract, both Margie and Tim decided it would be inappropriate and not worth the $$ to run those ads.

The lack of those ads in GRM/ CMS isn't because they didn't try though. It's because some things are more important than a quick buck.

Really, my head was warm this morning as a result of your customer service... BTW Tanner has taken over my beanie and left me wearing the mask again...

Joe Gearin wrote: For the record, we've had the "manliness enhancer" companies approach us offering to buy full page ads at top dollar. Although we are a small company, and are always working hard for that next ad contract, both Margie and Tim decided it would be inappropriate and not worth the $$ to run those ads.

I applaud you for your respect of your readership. Thank you.

Marjorie Suddard wrote: ... Him: "I just think you could give people a better way, with dates so they could calculate when they need to send in their payment." Me: "You're right, sir. We SHOULD send out some kind of complicated table so people can perform date calculations to determine when they should renew! SOOOO much easier than just sending a notice that says, 'Your next issue will be your last unless you renew'!!" ...

Him: "Is there someone there with a dick I can talk to?

Salanis wrote:

Joe Gearin wrote: For the record, we've had the "manliness enhancer" companies approach us offering to buy full page ads at top dollar. Although we are a small company, and are always working hard for that next ad contract, both Margie and Tim decided it would be inappropriate and not worth the $$ to run those ads.

I applaud you for your respect of your readership. Thank you.

Thank you from here as well. I also appreciate your not running booze and etc ads.

Dr. Hess wrote:

Marjorie Suddard wrote: ... Him: "I just think you could give people a better way, with dates so they could calculate when they need to send in their payment." Me: "You're right, sir. We SHOULD send out some kind of complicated table so people can perform date calculations to determine when they should renew! SOOOO much easier than just sending a notice that says, 'Your next issue will be your last unless you renew'!!" ...

Him: "Is there someone there with a dick I can talk to?

He probably got wind of the proposed patio enlargement project and wisely decided to shut his trap.

I suck at being diplomatic to idiots also Marj, or were you trying to avoid that comment....oops

Wait, I thought red 69 Camaros ARE male enhancers. Seems like other mags have a built in redundancy.

I agree with John Brown Got my renewal . Will be taking care of that very soon. Its cold here in the Great White North. keep up the good work GRM & CM.

Appleseed wrote: Once I got a "deal" from Hotrod. Here's this nice DVD about the history of Hotrod magazine. And in real small, small print "if you do not want this DVD, put it in the envelope and return it. If you keep it, we will charge you $14.95." Bull E36 M3! YOU sent it to ME and now I have to go out and send it back to YOU?

Read the fine print. You don't actually have to return the DVD. They request it, and they dance around it - but you're not required to return it or do anything. It was unsolicited.

The reason I know this is because I just got one of these DVDs from Hot Rod, and I pored over the paperwork to see just what I was obligated to do. Answer: nothing. I have agreed to pay nothing, I am not obligated to return the DVD ("so this offer can be shared with another subscriber..."), nada. But you've gotta read every word to figure that out. If they start to chase me and harass me, I'll put that DVD through a shredder along with a couple of copies of Hot Rod and mail it back with a subscription cancellation.

Here's the best thing to do with that Hot Rod DVD! Awesome.

Rodale, on the other hand, pisses me off. They do the instant "it's time to renew!" thing, starting about your second month of subscription. And they offer you all sorts of special deals all the time. As interesting as it was to read the same 6 articles over and over again in Bicycling, I canceled my subscription before the first year was up to make them leave me alone.

And Motorsport Marketing? Love 'em

Joe Gearin wrote: For the record, we've had the "manliness enhancer" companies approach us offering to buy full page ads at top dollar. Although we are a small company, and are always working hard for that next ad contract, both Margie and Tim decided it would be inappropriate and not worth the $$ to run those ads. The lack of those ads in GRM/ CMS isn't because they didn't try though. It's because some things are more important than a quick buck.

It is so hard to find companies with that kind of dedication to their principals. I bought a lifetime subscription. Should I be worried if Margie sends me a renewal notice?

FWIW - What did Mike Seate write that you objected to? I tend to read his stuff in motorcycle magazines because he is a local Pittsburgh boy. He only has a Motorcycle licence, no cars at all. That is dedication living around here!

My favorite is the free mags sent to my business. They show up unsolicited and the articles are all just VERY thinly disguised advertisements. After about 2 issues show every issue starts to come with the "You have to sign up now to keep in touch with the Industry" and "Sign up now or we will stop sending you our wonderful magazine". Unfortunately they never stop sending them. Hell, One of them even called me once with the same lines-I told them to never send me any magazine ever again. Didn't work.

pinchvalve wrote: FWIW - What did Mike Seate write that you objected to? I tend to read his stuff in motorcycle magazines because he is a local Pittsburgh boy. He only has a Motorcycle licence, no cars at all. That is dedication living around here!

Well, the first thing was this idiotic piece of race-baiting that got linked to on one of the sports blogs I read, probably Deadspin. But that led me to his uninformed rant on adoption, which is analyzed pretty well here. I was mostly ambivalent to his writing in Motorcyclist, but I just don't want to read the guy anymore if he truly believes some of the things he's said.

Dr. Hess wrote: Him: "Is there someone there with a dick I can talk to?

Margie: "Put yourself on speaker, sir."

If he had called R&T or C/D, apparently only people with small, unexcitable dicks would have been available to talk to...

Appleseed wrote: Once I got a "deal" from Hotrod. Here's this nice DVD about the history of Hotrod magazine. And in real small, small print "if you do not want this DVD, put it in the envelope and return it. If you keep it, we will charge you $14.95."

Hot Rod sent me a DVD as well, called Dream Build Drive. I've received several requests for payment; it is pretty annoying but I just toss them in the trash. There's nothing they can do about it legally.

As far as ChevyCraft goes, that was a long, long time ago....Frieburger remade Car Craft (and Hot Rod) several years ago before he left the company, and it's a LOT better than it used to be.

For bike mags, Cycle World is my choice - they have Peter Egan and Kevin Cameron, and it's worth it just for those two guys.

I got tired of all of the renewal notices. I signed up for ten years.

Jeff Smith turned it back into ChevyCraft about five or six years ago. At least the new ed Glad has an AMC. I do loves me some Cycle World, too.

I had plenty of problems with Primedia a few years back, never got half the issues I paid for, etc..

Made me pretty much swear off subscriptions entirely.

Now I just browse at the newsstand and buy the issues that have an article I'd like to have a copy of.

There's quite a few mags that I buy and I can't afford a subscription to all of them.

Rodder's Journal - Fantastic, get one, read it, then find youself buying them all. It's like the GRM/CM of traditional hotrods.

Hot Rod Deluxe

Rod and Custom

GRM

High Performance Pontiac

Pontiac Enthusiast

Hemmings Muscle Machines

I really miss Motortrend Classic, it's too bad they cancelled it.

Shawn

I got HotRod for a year on a super-cheap subscription. My sub ran out about the same time Frieburger announced he was leaving. I thought that worked out well.

I find GRM's ads generally useful, and can't help but notice they are carefully placed to match up with a story that may reference the product or service advertised. Kinda handy.

Perhaps for the April edition GRM could make some faux ads lampooning some of those ads-we-can-do-without. I think we put Marjorie in charge of that project.