Lord of Deeds wrote:
I probably like many others who subscribed to the monthly
WD recently received a renewal reminder about my 12-issue subscription expiring in September. My first thought was to laugh at the prospect of renewing given the horrendous delivery performance. My sound thought was why am I getting a notice about my subscription ending with September’s issue if I am still due 3 complimentary months due to the various screw ups. I think this just shows just how screwed up their subscription service is.
First, let me say that my experience has been identical to yours. Most issues arrives WEEKS late, and having more replacement issues sent out than not.
I contacted
GW about this renewal notice and they said that the subscription renewal notices are sent out automatically, while the extra months are added manually and not part of the notice system. They assured me that the extra months were there. I was also told that if I wanted to renew, to wait until after my November issue (when my sub should run out) before renewing because it will create a second subscription rather than adding on to the old one, and I'd get doubles of the last couple issues.
It is not optimal, but I do plan to renew my subscription. Their delivery service is terrible on a level I've never seen before (and hope never to see again), but their customer service has been top notch. Every issue that has been over a week late (of which there were many), they've dutifully sent out a replacement that has, without exception, arrived before the original eventually arrives. So, all things told, I paid for 12 months, but I'm getting 15 months and have had extras of 6 issues (so far) that I've given to a friend. Having to contact customer service every month is a minor annoyance (at this point, I have a form letter that I just change the missing issue's month), but they've never not come through.
It's my hope that they fix this embarrassing lateness and soon, but I know that if they don't, they will make it right. It's weird, but it's my faith in their customer service which has convinced me to renew.