My newspaper subscribing problem

[SF_Express]

My bill says my newspaper subscription ends today, and although the carrier might be slow on the uptake by a few days, I have to assume I'll stop getting a daily paper delivered for the first time in many years soon.

I'm struggling with this. I'm a newspaper guy, despite my job of the past 14 years. And I use the paper for Facebook critiques that a few people find amusing.

I always try to make these critiques more about management calls than anything personal, although I suppose since managers are people, they're personal to them.

But Tribune Co. policies and specifically how they relate to my local paper have ground me down. My business section on any given day might include more stories from the neighboring county than they do from mine (this is not rare), and same with the local section.

And because they're trying to "program" two sports sections for the price of one, there are days where the decisions are incomprehensible.

For example, this Tribune paper put every single game of the World Series on an inside page. Every one. Best World Series in years. Some days, they didn't even bother with the photo/tease. 5C, 7C, whatever.

Thursday night, the Blackhawks visited the Panthers. They advanced the game on 1C, because of a lot of connections now here came from the Blackhawks.

Game story: 5C. A shootout loss for a team that's 6-4-2 that they ADVANCED ON 1C, if I didn't make that clear.

This is all about section decisions being made remotely; not wanting to tear up inside pages; modules; production efficiency; corporate chaos ... and I understand the problems they're having. But it's not about putting out a good paper.

So unless they call and say, "We'll cut the re-up cost in half," I'm making the very sad decision to drop my daily paper. When I separated, my kids started me on that subscription because they couldn't seem me living without the paper every day. I doubt they'll bat an eye this time.

But I can't keep validating a crappy product, so without some serious cost-to-me concessions on the paper's part, the end of an era is likely

 

[Matt1735]

My thought is that if you called them up and said, I'll pay half or I won't pay at all... They'd take the half just to have you among their count and not as part of their ever-declining circulation number.

 

[LongTimeListener]

We just made that call and indeed cut our bill in half. We are now paying $1.50 a week to get seven-day delivery. Even at that, we were seriously thinking about cutting it. The only reason we didn't is my oldest son likes the comics. I figure at that price, and especially if my wife finds a couple of $1 coupons every week, it's worth it.

But at least five days out of seven, the paper sits unread on the kitchen table until bedtime, then goes into recycling. Even the writers I know and like to read, I go to their blogs where they get into greater detail than they ever can in a 15-inch game story or column.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

When I canceled my subscription, I got it for free for at least a year before it stopped showing up. I never saw a bill. I guess the delivery guy wasn't going to change his routine.

 

[SF_Express]

My thought is that if you called them up and said, I'll pay half or I won't pay at all... They'd take the half just to have you among their count and not as part of their ever-declining circulation number.

Last time I did that, I got a call center in India or someplace, and they cut exactly $3 off my bill -- and then sent this bill asking for $3 more. I'm not kidding.

I'll bide my time. I'm not canceling. Just not volunteering money.

And LTL, believe it or not, the comics are one of the main reasons I haven't canceled previously.

 

[gravehunter]

I'm still receiving renewal calls from the paper I used to subscribe to (and write for)...and I don't live in the delivery area anymore. I've told that several times to the flunky on the other end of the phone but I guess it doesn't matter. I recognize the number when they try to call and don't even bother to answer now.
The paper even owes me money for not delivering the paper for a couple of months when I was subscribing to it. They said the check is in the mail but I don't expect to see it.

 

[sgreenwell]

When I canceled my subscription, I got it for free for at least a year before it stopped showing up. I never saw a bill. I guess the delivery guy wasn't going to change his routine.

I never paid for The Providence Journal for 13 months when I was living in another town. I got it every day except Sunday. Never had a subscription before, and my landlord said he wasn't paying either, so I don't know what the deal was.

 

[Roscablo]

The last hard copy delivery I got ended when they put a note on my paper that said my subscription is out and unless I renew I'll stop getting the paper at the end of the week. The next day, no paper. Problem was I was up to date on my subscription as far as I knew. But they changed the way they billed from something like paying for the current quarter to paying for a quarter a head of time. But with online payments and such I didn't change how I did it, and they never sent me anything to let me know and never gave me a call. So they just ended it. A loyal subscriber.

I called and sent an email saying I was a long-time customer and enjoyed the paper but also knew they needed every subscriber they could get, so what was up with the miscommunication? They apologized for the that but did nothing else to get my business back -- no credits, no discounts, not even an option to get the account up to date -- so I just left it. I'm a newspaper guy, too, and in a way I was sad to make the decision. But surprisingly I haven't missed it at all and that was three years ago.

 

[Dyno]

I subscribe to an out of town paper at work. It gets delivered by mail, usually 2 days after it comes out. I pay more than double the local subscriber price. I'm totally fine with this, because I need it. Every year, there's a problem when renewal time comes. They never send me any kind of renewal mail or email. A couple of times when I've called to renew, the woman on the phone can't find my account or has some other problem. I'm trying to give them money and it's never as easy or seamless as it should be. I'd be more than happy to renew online but they're not set up for that. This is a major metro paper. Mind-boggling.

 

[flexmaster33]

We just made that call and indeed cut our bill in half. We are now paying $1.50 a week to get seven-day delivery. Even at that, we were seriously thinking about cutting it. The only reason we didn't is my oldest son likes the comics. I figure at that price, and especially if my wife finds a couple of $1 coupons every week, it's worth it.

But at least five days out of seven, the paper sits unread on the kitchen table until bedtime, then goes into recycling. Even the writers I know and like to read, I go to their blogs where they get into greater detail than they ever can in a 15-inch game story or column.

Seems like if you can get a few coupons out of the mix, it would be worth paying the full price of $3/week. This also points to the problem of how newspapers treat the web. The sites/blogs should be used to enhance the print product, not make it obsolete. Newspapers need to figure that one out quick.

 

[Clerk Typist]

I had subscribed to two daily papers, mine and The Wall Street Journal. I go on vacation, call or do the online thing to stop each paper for a week.

My paper never stopped coming. I come back and there are a bunch of papers at the top of the driveway, an invitation for a burglary. (Happily, no burglar.) I called, not mentioning I worked for the paper, and asked why and they had no idea. I let the subscription run out.

The Wall Street Journal stopped, and didn't restart. After a couple of days, I call and ask why. They apologize and say it'll be there the next morning. It wasn't. I call again, they promise again. A WSJ is at my door, but the back door, the next morning. After that, nothing for a week. I call again, they promise again. Nothing. I wait another few days and cancel. The lady on the other end of the line asks for another chance. I said, "M'am, it's three strikes and you're out."

They were quick to send a refund check, I'll say that.

The only paper I get at home now is the local weekly, delivered by mail. It covers my town far better than the daily I work for.

Great business to be in except for the business part of it.

 

[Stitch]

Readers don't want print. Eventually, most consumers in industrialized countries are going to have a tablet of some form. Digital news products have to be more than just the newspaper online, or a few blog and Twitter feeds, to make customers pay for subscriptions rather than visiting news websites that likely will never have to charge.

 

[slappy4428]

My local paper kept delivering for a month after my subscription ran out. The last time I renewed, I was told I had to take the month out that they delivered before -- I told them I wanted a fresh 6 months or forget it.
The price to renew was 15 bucks more for 6 months than it was last time. I declined.
A month after that, I get a call from a collection agency wanting money for the month. I explain they kept delivering, I never asked them to continue after the sub expired. The woman sounded annoyed -- like I wasn't the first time she'd heard this -- thanked me and hung up. Never heard from them again.

 

[John]

I've had a USA Today at my doorstep each weekday for the two years I've lived in my place. I don't know who's paying for it, if anyone, but it's not me. I open it maybe twice a week.

 

[playthrough]

Different kind of problem...my area qualifies for Sunday home delivery of the NYTimes, but not everyday. We're not in the boonies, and I'm sure daily NYT editions are delivered to a few spots around us. We're more than willing to pay the buck a day, but can't.

 

[black dude with pompano]

It's been years since I've had a print subscription. That's something I used to feel very guilty about. Heck, I'd feel guilty if I didn't read the paper from cover to cover every day. I liked being able to have intelligent conversations with my friends on the news side about what they were covering and the like.

Part of the reason is just time. I work a lot harder than I used to, and I've always worked hard. But now I'm online reading news in some form or fashion just about every waking hour of the day and getting a print paper just seems inconvenient and superfluous. Like I said, I'm a print guy. I used to buy a newspaper in every town I passed through. At the end of long trips, I'd have 20 papers in my car. But that feels sort of anachronistic now...and so does the printed paper.

 

[T&C]

Last fall when my annual subscription came due in late October, I decided to see how long it would be before they stopped delivering the paper. I also was upset that they had cut publication from seven days a week to six. I think it took until about February when they finally were going to cut me off. Because I didn't want the delivery person to take the hit, which apparently was going to happen, I paid the full invoice. This year my subscription ran out on Oct. 18 so I figured I would see what would happen. I received a second notice within two weeks and the other day a carrier left a nice note in my mailbox asking me to pay as he was responsible. So I did. I should add that I freelance for the larger company that owns the paper. I did freelance for another daily paper for several years and part of the deal for all employees, fulltime or freelance, was that they had to subscribe to the paper and were charged half price. I'm still being billed at 50% of the regular rate even though I haven't done any work for that paper for about 10 years. Obviously want to keep the paid subsciption numbers up. If I wanted to walk a couple of blocks early every morning, I could pick up a free copy out of a box. That paper claims the copies that it gives away at its more remote box locations are paid for by sponsors and count as paid circulation. My annual invoice for that subscription is sitting on my desk waiting to be paid and I'm debating if I will pay it.