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N.A. Subscriptions in Disarray

Non-delivery of Subscribers' M.E.

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Robert Thomas 2	06/01/2010 01:14:34
19 forum posts	The situation regarding late delivery of the Model Enginert is out of control. No. 4362 (23 October) was received in Eastern Pennsylvania on 26 December. Number 4365 is now on local newsstands, but even the previous issue has not been delivered to me, a subscriber of over forty years. Tracing the newly-appointed North American delivery service (not listed on the M.E. masthead) finally revealed a telephone number in Montreal. I was assured by a representative there that, "The magazines are in the mail". None less than The Editor himself has posted a similar, so-called assurance on this forum that, "The magazines are in the post." How can we believe that? A comparison of several 1938 M.E. cover dates to dates actually recieved by a subscriber near me shows a transit interval no longer than three weeks, and that is when it was sent across the Atlantic Ocean on a STEAM SHIP! We are fed up with your aloof, inept corporate management. When will it stop? Robert G. Thomas
Robert Thomas 2	06/01/2010 03:55:31
19 forum posts	Correction to my previous post: The 23 October issue is No.4363, not 4362 as stated. That change does not affect my view or the realities of the sad state of affairs with North American delivery of M.E. (and my Model Boats subscription, I might add). If a new re-mailing agent was contracted by the publisher, it is incumbent upon the publisher to then ensure that the new agent is performing to professional standards. The remailing agent is obviously incapable of that, yet the publisher does nothing -- not even a letter of explanation (or apology!) after three months of frustration among readers who were here decades before the new corporate whiz kids took over. Robert Thomas
David Clark 1	06/01/2010 15:23:47
3357 forum posts 112 photos 10 articles	Hi There I have asked and have been told they are in the post. What more can I do? regards david
Circlip	06/01/2010 15:49:07
1723 forum posts	Robert, I was a subscriber to both M/E and MEW for a large number of years and when the deliveries started going haywire even HERE in the UK a few years ago despite extra copies being "despatched" which didn't arrive, my only recourse was to NOT subscribe any more. Frustrating as it may be, although DC1 can only pass on your complaints and give a reply based on what HE is being told, your point of contact with subscription issues HAS to be with the agents/distributors on your side of the pond in the first instance and the Directors on our side of the pond. In previous employments, when customers have rung firms I have worked at and asked to speak to me personally cos "He gives answers and doesn't bullsh*t" one can only do as much as the Directors/owners will allow, DESPITE trying to keep all the balls in the air doing ones "Own" job. Don't shoot the messenger. Regards Ian. NO, I have no connection with the mags, but have been in Daves position in the past.
Robert Thomas 2	06/01/2010 21:26:03
19 forum posts	David, Thank you for responding to my posts. You produce an incredible amount of highly skilled effort to make Model Engineer the stellar publication it is. I regret those efforts are diverted by a situation completely beyond the scope of your formal responsibility. Your upper management has put you in an untenable position where you are patient recipient of subscriber complaints, yet you (and the subscribers) are obviously receiving no support whatever from Rebecca Blighton, Subscriptions Director or her subordinate, Heather Morrison, Manager of Subscriptions and Marketing. That situation exists, in part, because your email address and telephone number are conveniently published on the magazine's masthead while the ones who could and should intervene to control their foreign distribution agents bask sublimely behind corporate annoniminity. To illustrate how little ExpressMag, the Canadian agent, understands what they are doing, a letter dated 8 December welcomed me as a new subscriber to MODEL ENGINEERS [sic], a misnomer repeated three times in that letter, and overlooking the fact that I have been a subscriber since the mid-'sixties. Ian, whose comments I also value, has asserted that I should contact the Canadian agent (again?) to expedite delivery of M.E. and Model Boats. I heartily disagree; my contract is with the firm to which I gave approximately 120 Pounds. It is the responsibility of MyHobbyStore Ltd to ensure the magazines covered by subscription (our contract) are delivered in a prompt, businesslike manner and if they are not, to institute appropriate corrective action. Neither Blighton nor Morrison seem to know what is going on around the world or, if they do, they are ineffectual in changing it I might add, the previous re-mail agent, EWA performed with excellent reliability before they were terminated. I am in no way "shooting the messenger". To quote David is cerainly not to assinate him. In fact, I am sorry that forces beyond his control -- and apparently anybody's -- to implement the routine process of mailing the results of his efforts has failed for the past three, going on four months. How regretable for him and his N.A. readers. Robert Thomas
David Clark 1	07/01/2010 11:21:01
3357 forum posts 112 photos 10 articles	Hi there Subscription problem update. Express Mags have just finished sending out the back log as of this week. They have been waiting on 3 different couriers who didnt turn up to transfer the magazines from EWA to Express mags and then they have to get a postal permit for each mag to be approved by their postal system before they could send anything out. There is no wonder that there has been a long delay. All should be ok now and readers should be receiving their back issues imminently. regards David
Robert Thomas 2	07/01/2010 13:21:25
19 forum posts	David, Thank you very much for diverting your attention from editing M.E. to following-up delivery and providing us with the current delivery status. If nothing else, the strong reaction to the delay in receipt is an indication of the high value your readers place upon the Model Engineer! Robert Thomas
FREDERICK Townroe	20/01/2010 00:30:06
1 forum posts	I have a different problem with my subscription. I ordered from EWA through your web site back in October. At the time the price was $59.00. I still have not received any issues and my requests to EWA have gone un-answered. Thanks to many helpful members of my machinists newsgroups I now understand that the subscription renewal has changed to Express Mags, but I still do not know if I have a subscription or not and if so when I will get my magazines. I subscribed through Express Mags this evening ( hopefully not a mistake ) because I really want to receive the magazine., but what about the monies that I sent to EWA?? Hopefully the moderator can unravel this mess for me. Fred Townroe Habana Del Norte (Miami) Florida
Robert Thomas 2	20/01/2010 03:38:28
19 forum posts	Fred, To provide you with a perspective on delivery of M.E. in the U.S. I can report that No. 4364 (19 November) was finally delivered to Eastern PA on 15 January and 4365 (20 November) on the next day. None since. If you entered a new subscription you might have to count on the tradidional "Six to eight weeks for your subscription to begin." in this modern computer age, compared to fifty years ago when it took two weeks at most. I see that arrival of 4369 is presently being discussed among English subscribers. That's four issues past the most recent one received here. Lucky, lucky English subscribers to not have your M.E. moldering in a New York warehouse! A number of us are so fed with this ongoing circus we are on the verge of reporting MyHobbyStore Ltd and Express Mag to the U.S. Postal Inspector General for investigation of non-fulfillment of subscriptions. No. 4366's masthead finally listed the telephone number and email address of the U.S. agent but, curiously, does not mention the name of the firm: Tel. 877-363-1310. email address: [email protected] Although not revealed by MyHobbyStore Ltd in any issues received to date, we have learned the company is Express Mag, P.O. Box 2769 Plattsburgh, NY 12901-0239. Is your subscription for a six month term? I ask because the price you mentioned is substantially less that the Sterling equiivalent for a British resident's one-year subscription. One year is approxiately $100 in the U.S. Fred, I hope your subscription woes are settled soon and you begin to receive The Model Engineer. It is an absorbing, unique, wonderful journal that I'm sure will benefit you. If only delivery were as good as its content! Bob Thomas Blue Bell, PA
Robert Blackson	22/01/2010 17:29:23
2 forum posts	Abuse of USA subscribers continues, and it appears that Express Mag misinformed David Clark when, based on information from Express Mag, he wrote on 7 January, "Express Mags have just finished sending out the back log as of this week." As of 21 January, M.E. No. 4365, 20 Nov.--3 Dec., is the last issue that I received, and it arrived on 15 January with No. 4364, 6-19 Nov. Meanwhile, No. 4366, 4-17 Dec., appeared on the shelves of the local Barnes & Noble Booksellers on 7 January, the same date that David wrote that the back log was mailed to subscribers and a full week before I received the previous issue No. 4365. I am still waiting for No. 4366. Because Plattsburgh, New York, the mailing location for M.E. in the USA, is approximately 500 miles, virtually the whole distance by Interstate Highway, from Reading, Pennsylvania, I should have received No. 4366, for which I am still waiting, before 21 January if it had been mailed on 7 January as Express Mag claimed. UK subscribers have received No. 4369, and I have yet to receive Nos. 4366, 4367, 4368, and 4369! After telephoning Express Mag on 23 November to complain about the delayed delivery of M.E. and receiving no satisfaction, I wrote on 2 January to Ms. Blighton, with copies of my letter to Messrs. Harkness, Davies, and Clark as well as Ms. Morrison, to report the delayed delivery of M.E. in my mailbox while issues for which I was waiting appeared on the shelves at Barnes & Noble. In that context, No. 4364 appeared at Barnes & Noble on 17 December, but I did not receive No. 4363 until 24 December, and No. 4364 did not appear in my mailbox until 15 January, virtually a month after it appeared at Barnes & Noble on 17 December. I have yet to receive a reply to my letter of 2 January. Why is it that subscribers do not receive issues until at least two weeks after they appear for sale to the public? This treatment of subscribers is absolutely outrageous. I paid for all the missing back log of issues in advance when I subscribed. Periodicals, such as magazines, are time sensitive, and I have not been receiving my issues in a timely manner. I agree with Mr. Robert Thomas that it is time to consult the postal authorities. When my subscription expires, I shall consider purchasing M.E. at Barnes & Noble where I can peruse the magazine and pass on issues of marginal interest. Robert M. Blackson, Reading, Pennsylvania, USA
Joseph Ramon	25/01/2010 11:34:11
107 forum posts	I have to express sympathy for Dave Clark, whilst understanding the frustration felt by US subscribers. When the subscriptions changed from Wise Owl, it seems a poor choice of distributor was made, and attempts to remedy that situation are running into the sand. I have dealt with mailing houses, and know just how much is gained from a trusting relationship with the manager of the mailing house. Now ME just hasn't got the staff, budget or time to pop across and meet with its US mailing house. Perhaps the ultimate solution would be if Magicalia could stretch to appointing someone external to the mailing houses to be their US Agent on behalf of all their publications (I know others have been affected). Perhaps 2 or 3 days work to straighten the current mess out, then an hour or two a month keeping in contact by phone and a half day visit every few months. It might seem a poison chalice to pick up right now, but it could be rewarding if they were sufficiently interested in the magazine. Surely someone who lives within 30 miles of the mailing house and occasionally visits the UK on other business wouldn't be that hard to find?
Heather Morrison 4	25/01/2010 16:12:45
3 forum posts	Dear Mr Blackson, I received your letter on Friday the 22^nd of January; I immediately replied and sent your missing issues in the post so I’m sure you will be receiving them in a few days. I apologise for the delays in receiving your issues of the magazines. Unfortunately when we changed subscription bureau to Express Mags this created a back log for them to send out our magazine which were previously scheduled to be sent from EWA before they went into administration. The following magazine Issues were distributed from Express Mags on these dates and should take another 5-7 working days when entering the North American postal system. MODEL ENGINEERS WORKSHOP Issue 157 08/12/2009 Issue 158 04/01/2010 Issue 159 08/01/2010 MODEL ENGINEERS Issue 4363 08/12/2009 Issue 4364 17/12/2009 Issue 4365 30/12/2009 Issue 4366 05/01/2010 Issue 4367 08/01/2010 Issue 4368 14/01/2010 Issue 4369 19/01/2010 Please be sure to let me know if you have any further problems after receiving these issues. Kind regards Heather Morrison
Michael Gray	25/01/2010 19:05:10
45 forum posts 6 photos	Efforts are being made you know. ME4364 and 4365 arrived in British Columbia well after New Year. Then finally 4366 arrived in an ExpressMag package from Quebec. As advised by David it was at this point I emailed that the only issue missing was ME4363. I had an email straight back from Heather Morrison telling me she'd put the missing issue in the mail and that I should receive it shortly. It arrived on the following Friday, 22nd January 2010, together with 4367 from ExpressMags! Considering that thte mags have to be shipped to New York, forwarded to Quebec then put into the tender care of Canada Post, I don't feel too badly done by at all. regards, Mike in NorthCentral British Columbia.
David Clark 1	25/01/2010 20:03:36
3357 forum posts 112 photos 10 articles	Hi There The posting above solves the problem why we changed subscription houses. EWA called in the administrators. Wish someone had told me earlier. regards David
Robert Blackson	25/01/2010 20:48:21
2 forum posts	MyHobbyStore delivers to lace w:st="on">USAlace>, and kudos to Ms. Heather Morrison. I received in the mail this afternoon, 25 January, a packet direct from the lace w:st="on">U.K.lace> containing M.E. Nos. 4367, 4368, and 4369 as well as a very kind and gracious note from Ms. Heather Morrison who personally gathered the magazines and addressed them to me. As her note indicated, I also received in the post today M.E. No. 4366 from Express Mag via lace w:st="on">Plattsburgh, tate w:st="on">N.Y.tate>lace> I am most grateful for this service and thank you, Ms. Morrison.>> >> Because on 22 January I mailed a copy of my post of 22 January to Ms. Blighton and the other four individuals named in my post of 22 January, I am mailing to all of them a copy of this post acknowledging and applauding Ms. Morrison's efforts on my behalf. I look forward, starting this evening, to enjoying the contents of these issues of M.E.>> Robert M. Blackson, lace w:st="on">Reading, tate w:st="on">Pennsylvaniatate>, USAlace>.>> > >
nodaker	25/01/2010 22:24:28
12 forum posts	David and Heather, As of today, January 25th, I am still in arrears magazine numbers as follows: Model Engineer all numbers beyond issue 4363 and Model Engineer Workshop all numbers beyond issue 157. Please forward to me Heather's email or postal address so I may process a formal request for delivery of back numbers to my subscriptions. I must concur with Mr. Blackson's comments regarding Express Mags apparently misleading David as my mailing address is also a USA address. I also recently subscribed to RCM&E and have received 2 issues of that magazine which have been delivered from Express Mag's USA branch. I can understand some of the delivery issues relating to issues involved with the transition from EWA to Express Mags but there should have been NO issues relating to delivery of magazines in a timely manner published after the effective date of the transition from EWA to Express Mags. Please any help with delivery of back issues and delivery of subsequent issues of your magazines will be sincerely appreciated.
Stub Mandrel	25/01/2010 22:36:33
4318 forum posts 291 photos 1 articles	Posted by David Clark 1 on 25/01/2010 20:03:36: Hi There The posting above solves the problem why we changed subscription houses. EWA called in the administrators. Wish someone had told me earlier. regards David Ever feel like as mushroom? they keep us in teh dark and feed us b******t! Neil
Robert Thomas 2	26/01/2010 02:11:56
19 forum posts	David, The unfortunate aspect of this entire thread is, it would have been unnecessary if ExpressMag had initially stated there would be up to three months delay in delivery of subscribers' magazines during the transition period following acquisition of their distribution contract.. I could forgive them for a delay, but not for the evasive way they contilually issued misleading statements and broken promises. Let's hope ExpressMag and the MyHobbyStore Ltd Subscription Department have learned from this episode. We loyal subscribers look forwqrd to on-time delivery of our magazines, and a prompt, forthright explanation when that is not possible. The mechanics of delivery should be as excellent as the magazines themselves. Regards, Bob Thomas
David Clark 1	26/01/2010 09:43:31
3357 forum posts 112 photos 10 articles	Hi Bob If Express had said there would be a 3 month delay in delivery, do you think they would have got the job? regards David
David Clark 1	26/01/2010 09:45:48
3357 forum posts 112 photos 10 articles	Hi Nodaker Please email me direct with missing issue details. [email protected] Add your name and address and subs number if known. regards David

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