Nuala'sMom
06-24-2006, 03:19 AM
I just saw another alleged free issue post and it's one of those "free trials" that trip up so many newcomers who don't quite get that the issue isn't actually free, it's just a "trial" issue and that they are actually signing up for a paid subscription. Yes yes, I know they can write 'cancel' on the invoice and maybe just maybe get away clean but the offers are set up so that the invoices are sent before their first issue even arrives and then they begin backserving older issues and before you know it, 3 invoices have come and you're being sent to collections.
I don't object the posting of these "deals" which aren't really deals but it would be so helpful if we could have the following category tags to help people sort out what's free and what isn't such as:
Free subscription
Free single issue (meaning no invoice)
Free Trial Issue (meaning you have to write cancel)
Other - anything else.
It would be such a wonderful addition to the forum and people could, at a glance, see what offers are really which. if a user gets it wrong, we could Mod Alert it, have the ta changed and everyone is better off.
Seriously, those of us who answer questions in the mag forum often get PMs from noobs who signed up for these free trials and who have followed bad advice from others to "ignore the bills" or who have simply been misled by the language the publisher uses and are now getting nastily worded collections letters. We also see threads opened on the subject.
I actually worked in magazine publishing and I can tell you those trial offers are designed to be misleading and that a very large percentage of the people who sign up thinking he will just write cancel and get away clean will cave in pay the invoice the second time it's sent. What they pay is also a inflated subscription price about one third higher than if they had simply subscribed via a blow in card. Thats why publishers spend so much of their direct mail budget on "Free trial" offers - it's a goldmine for them.
I don't believe any mag offer that requires you to agree topay a bill if you don't execute the cancel otpion properly is really a freebie but some people do. That's why the tags would be helpful. One that says Free trial will clearly mean one thing and one that says Free single issue will mean another.
It's just 4 categories and yet, it could potentially end a great deal of confusion. Anybody agree? (About the tags - not whether free trials are good or bad deals)
I don't object the posting of these "deals" which aren't really deals but it would be so helpful if we could have the following category tags to help people sort out what's free and what isn't such as:
Free subscription
Free single issue (meaning no invoice)
Free Trial Issue (meaning you have to write cancel)
Other - anything else.
It would be such a wonderful addition to the forum and people could, at a glance, see what offers are really which. if a user gets it wrong, we could Mod Alert it, have the ta changed and everyone is better off.
Seriously, those of us who answer questions in the mag forum often get PMs from noobs who signed up for these free trials and who have followed bad advice from others to "ignore the bills" or who have simply been misled by the language the publisher uses and are now getting nastily worded collections letters. We also see threads opened on the subject.
I actually worked in magazine publishing and I can tell you those trial offers are designed to be misleading and that a very large percentage of the people who sign up thinking he will just write cancel and get away clean will cave in pay the invoice the second time it's sent. What they pay is also a inflated subscription price about one third higher than if they had simply subscribed via a blow in card. Thats why publishers spend so much of their direct mail budget on "Free trial" offers - it's a goldmine for them.
I don't believe any mag offer that requires you to agree topay a bill if you don't execute the cancel otpion properly is really a freebie but some people do. That's why the tags would be helpful. One that says Free trial will clearly mean one thing and one that says Free single issue will mean another.
It's just 4 categories and yet, it could potentially end a great deal of confusion. Anybody agree? (About the tags - not whether free trials are good or bad deals)