Perhaps there is nothing sleazy and underhanded about
asking for more money in April than in May for the same product. ****ed me
off though. You really should stop and find out the facts before defending
someone that has questionable billing policies. Do all you guys in the
business do that? How about an insider tip as to the best time to renew
subscriptions to get the best deal? Most all of us on this newsgroup
subscribe to a couple of magazines and can use your insight to wind around
the path of multi billings to the best value.

I don't know about you, but where I come from we don't get upset when the
price of something we use and enjoy goes down. We take advantage of it. If
I were to buy something at Circuit City or Best Buy or Home Depot or Lowes
and the following week I see that the store has the some product on sale for
less money, I would go back to them and ask them to refund the difference.
In almost every case the store will gladly refund the price difference. In
fact, they often have special forms printed just to accomodate such
transactions. (The alternative is for them to go through the hassle
involved if you chose to return the object for a refund of the original
price and then re-buy it at the sale price, ro worse, from some other
vendor.)
Here's the good news: the same situation applies to magazines. When
Woodcraft Magazine was first announced, a lot of people around here balked
at the 6 issues for $39.95 subscription price. Nevertheless, some people
bit the bullet and subscribed anyway. But the publishers obviously got wind
of the dissatisfaction with what was perceived as a high price and did what
any smart business people would do: they made an adjustment in response to
the marketplace. Now you can subscribe to Woodcraft and get 7 issues for
$19.97, a price most people find more agreeable.
But what about those folks who already paid the higher price? All they have
to do is call the toll-free subscription number (in Woodcraft's case,
800-542-9125) and ask for an adjustment. I don't think they'll refund the
difference in cash but I am quite sure they would be happy to extend the
length of the subscription on a pro-rated basis so that your actual cost
will work out to the lower annual rate.
And I know this will probably upset a few people who never seem to be
satisfied, but in the same way that department stores don't automatically
mail you a check if they lower the price on something you already bought,
magazines aren't going to automatically extend your subscriptions. You
still have to pick up the phone and ask.

Lee
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