Customer Service My Way

[wdfifteen]

So I get this email from a subscriber:

Hi,
I just went through my pile of mail and I found a renewal invoice which states that my subscription has run out. I am annoyed because I have grown to ignore these notices as I get them once a month and I never know which one is the real one. Now you could reply to me that I need to keep better track of my bills, and you're right, but when I get 2000 different pieces of junk mail every month, I have trouble keeping up. The result is, I will now miss an issue of Vintage Truck magazine because my payment most assuredly will not get there fast enough to keep my service uninterrupted.
So I beg you, please cease with the bombardment of junk subscription notices. It costs you and me valuable time.
*I have contacted other magazines about this issue and Autoweek has put me on a special mailing list that only sends me an invoice or notice when I am actually about to run out. Maybe you could do the same.
I will continue to subscribe to your magazine, because I love it.
Thanks for your time.
Bill

Hello Bill,
Thanks for the note.
I completely understand. This happens to me with the magazines I subscribe to. I used to get renewal notices from Newsweek a few weeks after I sent them a check. It annoyed the heck out of me.
Some magazines deliberately try to confuse you to get you to renew months and months before you need to. We don’t do that. In fact, I have had to fight the circulation “experts” in order to develop a system the creates the least annoyance for our subscribers. I insisted that the actual date of expiration be printed CLEARLY on EACH notice. The industry standard is to keep you guessing.
We have developed our renewal system over the years based on experiments and subscriber feedback. We send out a renewal notice when you have two issues left. Two months later, we send one when you have one issue left. Two months after that we send one after you have received your last issue. And two months after that we send another one after you have missed an issue. The notices are timed to arrive just after the magazine, so you have it fresh in your mind. Our tests and experiments show this system results in the fewest number of missed issue complaints from subscribers. I wish we could just send out one notice with their last issue of a subscription and have everyone respond in time to get renewed for the next year, but for whatever reason, human nature doesn’t work that way.
I’m sorry it is annoying, and I understand. Our system minimizes the annoyance for the maximum number of subscribers.
Let me know which issue you expect to miss and I’ll personally make sure you get a copy.
Thanks for writing.
Patrick

Patrick,
Thanks for the honest response. I will have a better understanding now and put up with it. My subscription ran out as of Nov/Dec 2012.
My wife tells me now that she never did renew my subscription (or at least can't remember) so I will have to do that next. Can I do it online?
Thanks again,
Bill
Acct# 999-19999994

Bill,
I checked your record. Thank you for including your account number, it made the search so much easier. You missed the January and March issues. I see you’ve been a subscriber for a long time and I appreciate it. I’ll send out the two issues you missed today. To renew on line go to:

Vintage Truck Magazine
click the “subscribe now” button on the top of the page
click the “renew online” button on the right side of the new page
You should be able to renew in plenty of time to get the next issue.
Thank you for subscribing to our magazine.
Patrick

[porsche4life]

Good on ya Patrick!

[HardDrive]

Wait, wait....an actual human being how actually cares about the problem? You just going to confuse people if you keep this up!

Well done.

[HardDrive]

Wow....strange how the world works....

I just looked, and your in SW Ohio. I've got a 1956 Ford sitting in an airplane hanger near Jackson Michigan. Its been sitting since the 1970s. I inherited it when I was a kid.

Turns out my wife and I are very likely going to be moving to Columbus, OH in the near future. I contacted my uncle about getting the truck, since I will be close by, and now have the means to do a restoration. So in the next year or so, I'll going to be restoring a vintage truck right in your neck of the woods. I'll make sure to subscribe and submit pictures!

[VaSteve]

Because of that bombardment/confusion, I get lazy on some of them. I wait until the last final notice then I send it in. I had to call Grassroots Motorsports for this reason to renew on the phone.

[weseeeee]

That is the kind of service that I expect from a company. When I get it, the result is customer loyality. You did good

[Baz]

Nicely done Patrick.

I never knew you were a publisher! Very cool, man.

Thanks for sharing your exchanges....you handled that scenario perfectly!

[Jim Bremner]

well done sir, well one!

[speeder]

Yes, well done. I've come to the realization in life that doing business with people of good character is truly near the top of the list of pleasant experiences I have. That is to say that I enjoy business in general, it can be a great part of human interaction.

Buying/selling/trading/working...it can be wonderful or dreadful depending on the quality of people you are dealing with.

[ZOO]

Grassroots Motorsports would do the same thing -- I missed an issue when moving, and it was taken care of immediately.

Great service!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by speeder

Yes, well done. I've come to the realization in life that doing business with people of good character is truly near the top of the list of pleasant experiences I have. That is to say that I enjoy business in general, it can be a great part of human interaction.

Buying/selling/trading/working...it can be wonderful or dreadful depending on the quality of people you are dealing with.

Absolutely! I'm to the point where I ask for recommendations and simply go with that, I have better things to do than fighting with the lowest possible bidder.