Sew News Outrage

*** If you're still outraged, consider sending a message similar to this (or the exact one you wrote) to Louisiana's Attorney General and the AG of whatever state where the magazine is published. It's not just unethical, it's tacky.

Max

Olwyn Mary, I hope you phone them and give them a piece of "my" mind. What dumbies, can't they read where you live? Are they deaf and blind as well as stupid? Obviously if they don't know not to send it to New Orleans. Ok, so I admit its probably just a computer error, but you would think that they would have had their programmers take care of that before things like this happened.

Hope they remove that from your account!

Michelle Giordano

Olwyn Mary,

I had the same experience with them. I called when I got the first notice that my subscription was going to expire. I told them I did not want to renew the subscription when it ran out. They wanted to know why and I told them that the content was a little more basic than what was interesting to me. That's fine. There's certainly a market for their content, but I don't want to pay for basic information, or crafty stuff. (they were heavy into crafty projects before my sub. ran out. Not the kind of sewing I do.) They thanked me for the call and said they would mark my account accordingly. Alrighty.

Then I got all the notices you got. I called them in Full Rant Mode. I told them AGAIN that I did not plan on renewing, that I had previously called and told them that I would not be renewing. Then I went on a long, powerful rant about the language they use in the notices. I told them that the notices read like there is going to be a report issued to TRW or something. I told them that if I ever find anything negative on my credit report from them, they will hear from an attorney. WOW did the backpedaling begin then!! Oh no ma'am we don't do that. We would never do that. We are so sorry for the inconvenience. These are all generated by the computer program and we don't have any real control over it. But the last card it sends is the one about a delinquent account. You won't get another one after that. Blah blah blah.

Look and see if there is a toll free number on there. Call 'em up on Tuesday (Monday's Presidents' Day so they might not be there) and rip 'em a good one!!! Don't be nice at all. I think they need a ton of calls like that. That's what it will take to get them to stop this crap. I agree with you completely that it's intimidating. Most people, especially women (and that's the target audience this magazine is shooting for) won't question anything that says it's a late bill. They just write a check and drop it in the mailbox. That's the reaction they are hoping for. If enough of us make enough noise, it will stop.

Between you, me and the fence post.... I was kinda hoping to get one more notice. I was hoping for a reason to call again and RANT some more. Very cathartic y'know. ;)

Sharon

WOW:

"I called them in Full Rant Mode."

"Then I went on a long, powerful rant"

"they will hear from an attorney"

"and rip 'em a good one!!!"

"Don't be nice at all".

"I was hoping for a reason to call again and RANT some more."

Hey Sharon, why not just toss those notices in the round file along with the other junk mail and turn to your sewing machine instead??

If picking fights is more fun than that for you, here's a link that may help get you {and others} "who would rather fight than stitch" back on track:

JPBill,

How did you get so good at missing the point?

Doreen in Alabama

he's (she's?) not missing the point, just providing a different perspective.

It's angered swallowed that is a problem, and can turn to depression. If you are angry about something, understand that you are "allowed" to be angry. You aren't allowed to hurt someone or blow up their building, but you certainly have the right to express your anger in a non-damaging way. Sheesh. Don't give me that "lady-like" crap. Or say that a person who is angry needs a psychiatrist.

Jeezus, this is making me angry!

now YOU aren't getting it. Something things are just not worth getting angry about in the first place. Anger generates negativity. I deal with my share of pain in the butt scenarios too - from incompetent cell phone providers to corporate clients that owe me money to all sorts of things. And I tell you... just let it go. Not stuff it, but just don't bother to get angry in the first place. This is something that you have a choice about. You can choose how to react to a given situation. You have no control over anyone else, but you can make choices about where to go emotionally in different situations. Did you even read the article that was linked? You might learn something.

You are right, it's not nearly as fun, but my life is so much calmer now.

....who said they were getting angry? Getting even, more like it and there is a bid difference. 'Straightening out' a business that tries to make money by duping people into paying for subscriptions they haven't even made, is more like it, so why the heck not???!! Besides, I'd feel damn good afterwards....and it would be worth it, too.

I'm with you=20

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

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And you're not 'enlightening' a company that is trying to 'milk' people dishonestly, either. =20

Do you really feel better? :)

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

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A lot of the magazines do this. I get "Invoices for my subscription" to stuff I have NEVER subscribed to......they just send you a bill and hope you don't stop and think.........Kind of sneaky I think.

When you have a mind as good and big as we do, we can afford to give a piece of it from time to time. ;-)

depression.

LOL I have the same kind of mind -- & it seems to regenerate, doesn't it??!! :)

-Irene

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

--------------

Maybe because the poor person on the phone who answers your call unsuspectingly was not responsible for the mess?

I prefer the Dale Carnegie approach to resolving problems, myself. Gets my creative juices flowing in a more positive direction.

It's not just Sew News, either. I subscribe to the Smithsonian Magazine and have given my SonIL a subscription as a Christmas gift for several years. I start receiving renewal invoices in *June*, and a new one comes every month after that (with stronger and stronger warnings that my subscription will "run out soon"). Fortunately, they include a postage-paid envelope in EACH mailing. So, I just collect them all, and in December I send in my payment in one envelope, and a torn invoice in each of the others. Probably doesn't bother them at all, but it's enormously satisfying. ;->

Bei

A few years ago I suddenly started getting "Coastal" magazine. Don't know why, never ordered it, didn't want it, don't live on any coast. Initially I thought it was just an advertising ploy. Then I started getting bills, and nasty notices, etc., etc. I sent their bills back with notes, then letters. I got a phone call. Then I got a second phone call. I was somewhat "irritated" (read royally p*ssed) by this time. By the time we finished talking I'd shot the messenger - who was very sympathic - she told me to consider it a Christmas gift. So for the next year it went from the mail box to the trash can.

Sharon

I have never had a subscription to Sew News, but I regularly receive the notices. They go in the G file. Nobody there deserves even the thought of a piece of my mind. If they want to pursue the matter it is up to them to do it. So far in 4 years they never have....they just keep sending notices and empty threats. I will not waste my time or money telling them any different. Besides where the magazine comes from, where it is made, where it is billed from and who answers the phones are all in different places and many times different countries.

I live in a place where every intersection here has 3-4call centers. Most of them answer phones for 15 to 20 different companies. I know a lot of people who work in these answering places, and they all say that the people who make the loudest protests end up at the end of the lists that are sent to the companies every day. The phone operators hear these types of stories hundreds of times a day and become immune to them rather quickly. I worked exactly 5 days at one of these places answering complaints about rebates for an american electronics place, and the verbal abuse was astounding. 5 of every 6 calls was someone hollering on the other end about giving me a piece of their minds. We had a set "line" that we repeated over and over after entering their complaint into the computer and from there I have no idea where it went. 5 days was enough for me, but I did learn that the Phone is NOT the way to handle any concerns. Physically writing with documentation and mailing to the place of business will get you farther than any phone call will. Call Center people really do not care who you are or what your problem is as long as they make daily call quotas, log the complaints and get paid. I also worked for the Marriott call center that takes all reservations for their Hotels world wide and they were and are phenomenal employers and an terrific company. Possibly because they do their own work makes them more in tune with their customers. WE were NOT allowed to make fun of the callers, ridicule them or push their concerns, complaints aside.