Stop the magazines now!

February 9, 2009 10:47 AM

How do I kill these zombie magazine subscriptions?

I know that the problem has been discussed here on AskMe and here in a private context.

As the librarian of a small school facing budget constraints, I'm obliged to take the problem more seriously. We get our magazines from a large and well-known jobber (which does not stop the individual magazines or third-party subscription companies from sending endless renewal notices).

At the last billing I asked the customer rep to discontinue two titles. This was several months ago. The titles are still coming. I have written the rep several times asking why are we still getting these magazines, and she promises that they should stop soon. Then the next issue shows up in the mail.

Do I have to worry about being billed for these unwanted titles at the next invoice? Can my institution refuse to pay, seeing that I made clear at the last invoice that I wanted the titles stopped?

Should I make a complaint direct to the jobber? At what point do I go formal?

posted by bad grammar to work & money (8 comments total)

I'm not sure about your direct questions. I would assume that you'd be fine since you have told them not to renew the titles.

But one thing you should check into is how far in advance you have paid for the titles you want discontinued. If you've paid it doesn't matter what you tell the sales rep, you're going to get what you paid for unless you can get them to agree to switch that title for another one.
posted by theichibun at 10:54 AM on February 9

Put your cancellation in writing and mail it to them with some kind of mail confirmation. You can't be forced to pay for something you didn't ask for. Having clear proof that you've asked the subscriptions to stop will make things easier when they get around to trying to charge you.
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 11:36 AM on February 9

I agree with kinghoeshmoe about putting the cancellation in writing and then sending it by registered mail.

Also, if the magazines come in plastic wrappers or brown paper or any outward covering and you live in the US (couldn't tell from your post or profile), put "Return to Sender" on the issues you receive and send them back. As long as they are unopened, there is no charge to you when you do this. That's is the only method I've found to be effective when canceling these kinds of things goes on too long--create some more hassle for the people sending them out and that's when they actually do something about it.
posted by misha at 11:57 AM on February 9

Nthing doing things in writing as kingjoeshmoe states above. As with all instances like this the more you do in writing and save that writing the better. Emails are fine, just print them off and save them. I've been burned by this and having emails with confirmation numbers cleared the issues right up.

Zombie: Braaaaaains. BRAAAAAINS!

Librarian: Aisle 3, periodicals, between Bass Fishing Report and Branding Monthly.
posted by Pollomacho at 1:00 PM on February 9

Different publishers have widely different policies about subscription cancellations.

Some allow mid-year cancels, others do not. Some will refund or credit the amount you have left on a subscription, others will not. Some operate on a calendar-year basis, others do not. Etc. It's not clear whether you have been talking to the jobber or to the publisher. If the jobber is the only one you've talked to, you might want to consider finding contact info and contacting the publisher directly. Ask for them to clearly spell out their cancellation policies for you. Then send them a letter requesting that they honor that cancellation policy -- especially if this includes a credit/refund.

If you have copies of prior correspondence, whether to the jobber or the publisher, send that along with your letter. If you have access to correspondence from the jobber to the publisher, send that too. Whatever you can get your hands on to make the point that you have been trying to get that subscription cancelled.

You shouldn't be charged for issues you're getting -- subscriptions must be paid in advance, so what you're getting is what you've already paid for. The issue is whether you would have gotten a refund if they had stopped sending the issues sooner. That's the only thing you need to find out. If they don't do refunds, and the issues just keep coming, just toss them and don't renew. If they are on your next renewal list from the jobber, cross them off and make sure it's very clear to your customer service rep that you DO NOT want those titles renewed.

I'm a serials librarian and deal with this kind of stuff daily. It's incredible how unresponsive publishers can be -- this is why we use jobbers, but it's not like the publishers respond any better to them than they do to us.

Good luck.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 1:05 PM on February 9

Another thing to consider is that they are sending them out on purpose, to maintain their circulation numbers.
posted by gjc at 4:53 PM on February 9

Registered mail is not necessary. Some MeFites seem to prescribe registered mail for everything, like ketchup. It would be overkill for this purpose. If you want an official green return receipt, you can get one with certified mail, and I believe with other USPS services that are even more economical. See usps.gov.
posted by JimN2TAW at 5:18 PM on February 9

JimN2TAW is right; I meant certified, not registered, which is just costly.
posted by misha at 10:17 AM on February 10