Subscription Renewal Just Isn't Worth It, IMHO

murph

As a Canadian subscriber (I've been so for a LONG time), I can't justify spending close to $235 CDN for a three year subscription (~$16 per issue X 15 issues) to a magazine that has been dying a slow death for a while.  It just isn't worth it.  I'll keep an eye on at the newsstand and if a particular issues strikes my fancy, I might pick it up.

I just went back and re read this whole thread. Just curious, but what is the cover price for a copy of the print magazine in your locale? $16 seems quite steep for a single magazine cover price. Is that what retailers currently charge per issue? 

Still nothing from Customer Service, Mr. Kidwell or the editorial Staff.  Kind of shows me how much of a "valued customer" I really am, or was, in their eyes.

stikpusher

I'd be curious to see the survey questions sent to you.

Stik...it was a very short survey.  Kinda kicking myself in the pants for not doing a screenshot before submitting it.  Going from memory, it was something like this:

From a drop down menu, why did you contact FSM Customer Service?  I chose 'Other' and wrote reasons for not renewing my subscription in the blank area provided.

On a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to recommend a subscription to FSM? I gave them a three.

Rate your level of satisfaction with FSM Customer Service.  I gave them a zero.

Please provide a reason for this rating.  In the box provided, I wrote:

Only mail I got from FSM was to advise my subscription about to expire, encouraging me to renew.  I sent e-mail to say why I wouldn't renew and I got no reply except an invitation to complete this survey.  There have been no messages addressing my concerns about my non-renewal.  Don't ask me to rate customer service when I haven't received any.

This isn't exact but you get the gist of it.

I'd be curious to see the survey questions sent to you.

Amazing!

I got an e-mail from FSM Costomer Service that included the following text:

"...FineScale Modeler appreciates your business and is committed to your satisfaction with our services.

Our records indicate that FineScale Modeler Customer Service responded to a question or request on your behalf. We would like to invite you to use our Customer Service Survey to provide feedback on your experience and quality of service. Your evaluation of our performance is extremely valuable and will help us be more responsive to your future needs."  The only problem is, they never sent any e-mail other than the one attempting to have me renew my subscription and the one noted above.  There has been no response to my corresondence about why I won't be renewing.  Does the left hand talk to the right hand at Kalmbach or FSM?  Just curious.

I responded to the survey like they asked and included this in my reply:

'I received this survey in an e-mail which stated "Our records indicate that FineScale Modeler Customer Service responded to a question or request on your behalf."  Only mail I got from FSM was to advise my subscription about to expire, encouraging me to renew.  I sent e-mail to say why I wouldn't renew and I got no reply except an invitation to complete this survey.  There have been no messages addressing my concerns about me non-renewal.  Don't ask me to rate customer service when I haven't received any.'  Like I asked above does the left hand talk to the right?  Apparently not.  No wonder they appear to be in trouble.

As an addendum, I got an e-mail from FSM customer service the other day informing me that 'Time is running out' and that 'There's still time to renew at our Low Rate...'.  I replied to that e-mail with the text from my post here and received a canned reply informing me that "Thank you for contacting the Fine Scale Modeler customer service team. We have received your e-mail message and have assigned it to one of our team members for follow-up. You will receive a follow-up reply as soon as possible."  Haven't heard from anyone (Mr. Kidwell, Mr. Skinner, Customer Service, etc) yet to that e-mail or my post in this forum.

Kinda makes me wonder how much of a valued customer I really am?

murph

Kalmbach has been trying to get me to renew my subsription to FSM for about six months now.  In my opinion, the quality and content of the magazine has been steadily going downhill for some time.  I didn't mind paying for 11 printed issues per year but when they went down to six issues per year, with no change in price...um, no.  I used to look forward to getting the latest edition in the mail.  Now...yeah, not so much.

Add to that, in the most recent issue, there was only ONE article that piqued my curiousity.  I had no interest in any of the rest of the builds.

Next, the editors announce that the four digital issues they provided to subscribers are now being discontinued.  Nice.

Page 8 of the magazine is the New Products page.  All text.  No graphics to give any indication as to what these releases might look like.

The Reader Gallery is two pages with four entries and photos.  Brutal.

As a Canadian subscriber (I've been so for a LONG time), I can't justify spending close to $235 CDN for a three year subscription (~$16 per issue X 15 issues) to a magazine that has been dying a slow death for a while.  It just isn't worth it.  I'll keep an eye on at the newsstand and if a particular issues strikes my fancy, I might pick it up.

I'll stick around on the forums but I hate to say that I think that the print editon of FSM is becoming more irrelevant by the day.

 

I share your opinion. I haven't renewed in years and with the reduction of issues is just another negative in my book.