Covid19 - Overseas Subscriptions

Apologies if this is covered elsewhere but I can’t find the thread.

A conversation over on the MEM forum touched on the delay those of us overseas are experiencing with the delivery of our copies of ME and MEW. I had just expected them to be delayed and at some point they would arrive.

Jason pointed me to Neil’s post on Forum and Martins editorial in ME which seems to indicate that although the magazines are being printed and delivered in the UK any overseas subscriptions will be suspended the magazines won’t be shipped.

If that is the case extremely disappointing, these magazines have ongoing articles that people could be following, others have complete sets of the magazines going back years, there will now be a gap in those collections, which may never be filled.

Suspending our subscriptions isn’t the solution. Overseas mail services may be delayed but they haven’t been suspended so why can’t the back issues be bulk shipped at some point?

In the meantime, please give all the overseas subscribers free access to the digital issues, back dated to March. It not going to cost you anything and you’ve already got our money.

Pete

Pete, you should have already been given free access, suggest you check your spam folder, see last paragraph of Neil's opening post here

There is also the 3 digital issues for £1 offer that gives people access to the digital archive which is idea for the casual buyer from Newsagents who can't get out to the shops.

Also note from the previous link I gave you that it is not just the shipping but the printers themselves who are working at reduced capacity so not as many mags can be printed.

Edited By JasonB on 26/05/2020 10:08:34

Jason

Thanks. Emails checked, including Spam, and I don't have anything from Mytime. My last email from them was in February.

Pete

I've gone through the instuctions to find we don't have pocketmags access only the archive. Temporary access to the archive is not much help I'm afraid. Nothing can be printed which makes it just about useless if you want paper copies for the workshop.

As we've paid for magazines that it seems we are not going to get we really should be given access to the pocketmags so we can obtain copies of the issues in a form that is usefull to us.

Pete

I can access them but I don't as I don't like reading them on a screen. It is no substitute at all for a paper magazine in your hands. I will be waiting for paper copies to turn up, whenever that may be. I'm not convinced complete cessation of international posting is justified. Post is working OK at this end.

Exactly, I really can't see what the issue is with not shipping them as expected. Quoting "issues with customs" it certainly isn't

Pete, read what I said again, there are not enough people at the printers to do full runs so nothing to post. Also no staff in the office to try and arrange storing etc if there was.

"Also note from the previous link I gave you that it is not just the shipping but the printers themselves who are working at reduced capacity"

You have also said over on MEM that you are having problems getting e-bay purchases delivered so must be postage problems so why don't you think there should be problems for Mytimemedia?

Although not a click of the button simple it is still easy enough to print pages from The recent archive mags, here is one printed to pdf as I'm not going to waste ink so easy enough if you want a few pages to take into the workshop.

Edited By JasonB on 26/05/2020 13:22:09

Edited By JasonB on 26/05/2020 13:35:20

Oh dear!

Does this mean that my (Oz) newsagent won't recieve my monthly favourite magazine?

I really prefer the 'hard copy' for my library and do not subsrcibe as I like to keep my local newsagent in business!

Failing all that, is anybody who does not collect their magazines whom is prepared to send any missing issues to Australia for fair recompence? PM me please..

* Danny M *

Can we have an update please?

What is the solution for us overseas subscribers who want complete runs of the paper magazines so that we can get them professionally bound? Nothing received here in NZ (where international post seems to be received OK) for ages. Will there be stocks of the missing back issues available from MTM?

Click " back issues" along the black bar to see whats available.Though not sure if they are only posting to certain locations.

The problem we have is our international distribution network seems to have stopped completely.

<edit> I should add I think the issue is partly that we use one distributor for all overseas issues and because every country is a different situation the practicalities of sorting something simple out have proved elusive.

Anyone in the UK browsing magazine shelves will see that many magazines have completely suspended production.

I've PM'd doubletop a week ago and Kiwi Bloke today about options.

Neil

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 04/06/2020 15:29:47

Thanks Neil; email coming. I can't even begin to imagine the difficulties you and the rest of the crew must be facing, trying to keep the ship afloat. Difficult times...

Things are picking up here and I'm receiving mail from the UK, albeit sent in April. A neighbour of mine has just told me that they have just had an order from the UK delivered in 5 days of ordering. But that no doubt that is dependent on the shipping method. Organisations like, say DHL, have an end to end service and aren’t reliant on others for the first and last mile.

I've had almost immediate refunds from Ebay when I’ve lodged a ‘dispute’ for items from China haven’t arrived within the specified timeframe. The tracking appears to show the items never left China even though they had allegedly arrived at the point of exit.

It seems to be dependent on the capabilities of the shipping service provider to deal with the situation.

Pete

Edited By Doubletop on 05/06/2020 02:43:32

Well, I would really like to eventually receive the issues that my article was in. (Building Dancer, in Model Engineer.) I'd also like to keep my collection complete, since it runs from 1944 to about April this year at present.

Some mail services are running a bit slow. I'm tracking one from the states that has taken a month to get from Florida to Los Angeles, but it does seem to be moving. I've also had a package from China a couple of weeks back, that did not seem excessively slow.

John

I keep my paper copies of ME for about a year, then scan the interesting bits and bin the rest. I used to keep them all and collect others, but the loft started to give way! If anyone wants missing issues of ME send me a PM and I'll gladly send them for the cost of postage. Clearly there will be a time lag, I do sometimes re-read the a couple of months down the track

No doubt someone out there gets MEW but doesn't keep it. A note in ME and MEW explaining the situation would help

The problem with that (for me) is that today's uninteresting bits are tomorrow's interesting bits.

I was checking the status of items being shipped from China and came across a link to USPS "International Service Alerts" which made me wonder if there is anything similar from the UK Post Office. There is, International Incident Bulletin

This indicates only delays at the destination for all the main destinations .e.g. USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc. So is it time to get our copies of ME and MEW moving again?

Pete

Dear All, I have been trying to track where my M.E. and M.E.W. magazines have gone since I've not had any for a long time now, over here in the Netherlands where I live as an ex-pat. Now I found my way onto this forum and I se that there's indeed a serious problem with overseas deliveries etc.

Does this mean that I'll never see the magazine issues that I've missed in the meantime, and will the delivery actually resume when/if this virus crisis abates a little? During the virus spread and the various regulations imposed I have still successfully received items from U.K. companies and also Amazon u.k. and ebay u.k. without any remarkable delay...

- Trevor Gale.

Edited By Trevor on 07/06/2020 00:24:01

Is this problem back again? The last issue of ME I've received was 4648 Sept/Oct, that's 5 issues ago.

Pete

I'm just about to send some off to a chap in NZ, if you let me now which ones are missing at your end I'll see if I've still got them and add them to the package. I just scan the good bit and dump the paper, gives me somethig to do around Xmas. Will be very quiet this year with the dreaded lurgy, won't be seeing friends or relatives.

regards

Edited By duncan webster on 15/12/2020 00:48:42