Mark:
Man, you got to feel better after all of that. Whew! I feel sorry for
the guy who asked the question though. It seemed like a normal question.
Happy motoring.
David Wilson
Coconut Grove, FL 33133
69-2000
71-510
>Date: Sat, 06 Feb 1999 16:08:22 -0800
>From: Marc Sayer <msayer1@concentric.net>
>CC: datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net
>Subject: Re: Z car & Classic Datsun mag.
>Reply-To: Marc Sayer <msayer1@concentric.net>
>
>Gary Boone wrote:
>>
>> I sent in $40 in September and still have not received any issues.
>
>> >
>> > > << Got to give a big round of applause to Marc Sayer for THE BEST
coverage
>> > > of classic Datsuns in his magazine, Z car & Classic Datsun. >>
>> >
>> > I will reserve judgement. I sent in $40 for a subscription in
December and
>> > have yet to see my first issue.
>
>You know I get really tired of this stuff. I do not know why or how
>people come to the conclusion that within days of mailing in their
>subscription they should see a copy in their mailbox. Industry standard
>for shipping orders is 4-6 weeks and some operations quote 6-8 weeks.
>
>We are bi-monthly, not monthly or weekly, or whatever. That means that
>our timeline can often be the top end or longer of the industry
>standard. And when, as just happened, we have production problems and
>miss an issue (the fate of a the really small publishing company) then
>it can take a loooong time for us to get you your first issue. There is
>no duplicity involved, no rip offs, no lack of concern. Its just life
>folks. I am really disgusted when I work as hard as I do on this and
>then I hear this kind of thing. Instead of assuming that you got burned
>or ripped off, why don't you guys assume that the company had some
>problems, or the post office screwed up, or your neighbor stole your
>magazine (not all that uncommon from what I hear) or you didn't
>understand how soon you were going to receive something. When did we as
>a society get to the point where our first assumption is that the
>company must have burned us or ripped us off? And when did we assume it
>was OK to accuse the company of that publicly just cause we wonder if
it
>might be the case?
>
>For those of you who care, here is the relevant info. The mailing list
>for a given issue has to be made up and sent to the company that
handles
>the mailing 6 to 8 weeks in advance of the printing of the issue.
>Printing takes place 3 to 4 weeks before people actually get their copy
>in the mail. That means that in the best of cases, your copy will only
>be in the regular mailout if we got your subscription and entered it
>into the database *at least* 9 weeks prior to delivery, and a worst
case
>scenario would mean we would need to have entered you into the database
>12 weeks prior to delivery. As most everyone knows by now this current
>issue was seriously delayed. The mailing list was generated in early
>Nov. (at which time the issue was to have been printed in December).
>Despite the delays etc., this timeframe is only slightly outside of the
>worst case scenario I have outlined above for an on-time issue. I would
>have needed to have had your subscription entered in my database before
>early Nov. for you to be in the regular mailing. When you wrote the
>check or when you mailed it in is not relevant, it is when I got it and
>when I could get it in the database.
>
>What happens if you are not on the mailing list is that I must hand
mail
>you out your copy via first class mail (most magazines that mail out
>bulk rate won't do this because it is so much more expensive and they
>will simply put you in the database and make you wait an additional
>issue). To do that I must get the "left over" copies from the printer.
>That takes several weeks. After the regular subscription mailings and
>the distributor shipments have been sent out, the "left over" copies
are
>packed and truck freighted to me. Once I get them I have to generate
>lists and labels for all those who missed the mailing list and mail
>those people out their copies. As of right now I still do not have the
>shipment of "left overs" so I can't even begin to start shipping out
>magazines. As for those who did get their subscriptions in before the
>cut off date, their copies were mailed on Jan 26th. The post office can
>take anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks to deliver and I have no control
>over that. They are not supposed to take any longer than 2 weeks but
>they sometimes do (5 weeks is the current record). There is no logic to
>it, some folks living across the country get their copy in 2 days and
>others living down the block (literally) take weeks to get theirs. Add
>to that the fact that the post office considers 10% loss as acceptable
>on bulk rate mailings, which means that each issue some 600-700 people
>may never do get their copy and I'll have to hand mail (first class
>again) a replacement copy to them.
>
>Mr. Boone, who, as we already discussed on this list, sent his
>subscription in the *end* of September (the 29th I think) so that we
did
>not receive it until *October* when, as most everyone on this list
knew,
>I was out of town for a month, and who started accusing the company of
>ripping him off both privately and on the list less than 30 days
latter,
>has canceled his subscription and gotten a refund for the balance of
his
>subscription BTW.
>
>I apologize if I am ranting here but I am just sick and tired of being
>accused of burning or ripping off people (privately and especially
>publicly) when I work so hard to keep this publication going and offer
>folks a good product. No customer has ever been knowingly burned or
>ripped off by this company, not under my ownership or the Hazen's. And
>if any situation has arisen where someone was inadvertently shorted or
>otherwise "burned" on an order or subscription we have always made
good.
>On the other hand numerous customers have knowingly ripped off this
>company. So who is that is most likely to get burned or ripped off and
>that should therefore be wary of being ripped off, my customers or me?
>
>--
>Marc Sayer
>Editor/Publisher
>Z Car & Classic Datsun Magazine
>http://zcarmag.com
>Voice 541-726-6001
>Fax 541-746-0863/726-6001
>
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