MR Subscription Woes

[Anonymous]

Check out the URL:

http://www.finescalerr.com

to see a model railroad magazine that provides identical versions both on-line and in hobby shops. I realize that FSRR is somewhat of a "niche" publication as the Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette is, but it's very high quality and the on-line distribution is intriguing. The entire content is identical to the printed version except that the photos and ads have been scanned at somewhat lower resolution in order to keep the download size within reason.

They currently don't charge anything for this service, perhaps depending on the added exposure and ad revenue to fund it. Right now, the majority of households, both in the U.S. and world-wide, do not have a computer and until that changes, I don't think we'll see widespread conversion to on-line publication only.

[Anonymous]

There have been two free supplements included in newsstand issues since the publisher began subscription mailings sans plastic wrapper.

[Anonymous]

Internet speeds will have to increase greatly for that to happen. I worked for a large publisher in Florida and they had claimed the same thing, it ain't happening and they produce 30 different mags a month. What has happened in the publishing business is electronic prep and direct to plate imaging. Back about 20 years there was a perdiction of the "paperless office" that too hasn't happened, in fact I think we use more paper in most offices today. People like the feel of a book in their hands. I won't say it won't happen some day but it will take two or more generations before it will come to pass in any amount to make an impact. Look at the magazine stands at the book stores, there are more today than there ever have been.....Walt

[mnwestern]

I think what you will see within 5 years are no paper TRAINS or MR magazines. There will be only on-line versions that you will pay for. Then you will get it about as fast as the speed of the Internet.
Don't think they will do it? They will if subscriptions to the paper publications decline badly enough. And, they can make you pay for on-line. The Rochester Bulletin newspaper has a Web site that only allows you access beyond the cover page if you are a newspaper subscriber. Now there is an idea for Kalmbach to try. That would be a whole new ballgame.
The other Terry

[DocDan]

OK. Now I'm miffed. Not only do I have to wait for my issue which may or may not arrive intact, but I also miss out on giveaways. Not that I need a plan book since I'm pretty committed to my track plan, but its the principle. Why is it Kalmbach produces something that would force their own subscibers to buy a second issue if they wanted what others were receiveing for free?

Now they're really not making sense to me!

[Anonymous]

Yes there was. It was a plan book with, I don't remember exactly, maybe 6 different track plans in it. Mostly 4x8 layouts....Walt

[DocDan]

I have experienced all the problems mentioned above (with the exception of getting a cover and no magazine - that takes the cake). I have to practice great restraint when I go down to the hobby shop and see the next issue one to two weeks before I get it at home. It would be just as frustrating to have read and browsed the issue before I finally get it at home.

I remember the good ol' days of the wrapped issue and thought it was gone forevoer. From reading this list, I'm surprised to see that some people still get their issue wrapped in pastic. What gives?

Also, correct me if Im wrong biut was there some kind of freebee or giveaway in the wrapper of a recent newstand issue (January maybe?). I thought I saw something in passing but didn't want to drive myself crazy if there was something that the faithful subscribers didn't get. Please correct me if I'm wrong - not trying to make waves.

[Anonymous]

I never could figure out why it takes 6-8 WEEKS to affect a change to one's subscription. I can change anything in my computers in a matter of seconds. Poor service was the reason I canceled my subscription years ago.

[Anonymous]

When I first posted this thread (I'm the MikeC up at the top), I had originally considered writing to Larson and Kalmbach, but I decided to wait and see if anyone else is having similar troubles with their subscriptions. Obviously, more than a few are, and I know it's not just me or the post office. So I'm going to follow up on my original intent. In my letter to Russ Larson, I'm going to suggest that he check this forum thread and read what we all have had to say. Surely somebody at Kalmbach has to care! After all, their advertising revenue is based at least in part on an established subscriber base. If they start to lose that base, they will start to lose advertisers.
I suggest that everyone who has had subscription troubles this last year or so also write a letter of complaint. Maybe enough of them coming at the same time will send a message.

[Anonymous]

Looking back at the post from Gregg on 12/29,I assume that the 1/14 post from Gregg is one and the same modeler so I guess I will wait till April 02
and see if indeed there will be an improvement made with a new procedure.

[thirdrail1]

Oh, and I had a meeting with the Postmaster for our town about this as well and he suggested the publisher put a "postal tracer" on my magazines, which Kalmbach has not yet agreed to do. They know where the problem lies.

[thirdrail1]

You sir, could not be more wrong!! Perhaps you are receiving your magazines wrapped in plastic, but I wonder what you did to deserve special treatment. All of us who are long time subscribers were told last year that the distribution method had been changed and we would no longer receive the magazines in plastic, nor would we get all magazines of Kalmbach's we subscribed to in one wrapper. I have received a reply from Kalmbach about this problem and they hope to have it solved by April. They have told me when my February issue was mailed (12/29/01) and when it should have been received by (01/01/02) and given me the dates that my March and April issues should be mailed and received as well. Since it will be just about a year since the change was made by April, I believe someone sold Kalmbach a way to reduce mailing costs that backfired and those of us unfortunate enough to be subscribing when the agreement was made are suffering. If you want to gripe, go all the way to the top Gerald Boettcher, President of Kalmbach Publishing Co. as this problem affects "Trains" as much as MR. They are resending me MR and Trains for February.

[Anonymous]

My experience with MR subscriptions has been completely the opposite of the horror stories I've read here. I subscribed on-line in very late December and received the February issue in less than a week. The magazine was plastic wrapped and in perfect shape. Technically this was a new subscription but I've subscribed on and off several times in the last 11 years.

The source of the problem for those who are experiencing such things as unwrapped and/or damaged issues appears to be the local or regional branch of the USPS. Kalmbach ships all subscriptions to the post office for delivery. The plastic wrap is applied by Kalmbach's printers. Any damage that ocurrs is the result of poor handling or mechanical problems with the sorting equipment at the post office, not with Kalmbach. I think the first complaint should go to the local postmaster's. It is their contractual responsibility to deliver mail in good, original condition. The issues that were de-bagged and sticky labeled sounds like someone is "pre-enjoying" those before delivering them?

[Anonymous]

It may not be a bad idea to go to the head,
Russell G. Larson Editor/Publisher. If he is not up to speed, bring him up & reflect our consumer concerns.
Perhaps a letter recaping our concerns and asking
if they plan on any distribution changes for 2002.
Post the US mailed letter,wait,and post the reply

This is not the only site that has stated concerns.

What you all think??

[Anonymous]

I received my February MR last Friday--January 12th. This is considerable later than when the issue was available in local newstands. It was not in as good condition as the other magazines that come in plastic bags, or even as RailModel Journal which comes with a protective jacket.

I have been a MR reader since 1963 and have subscribed for over 20 years. I think that MR took a step backward when they used their new mailing approach. I realize that the folks at MR are trying to drive down their operating costs, but it seems to me that they should undertake some consumer research to ensure that their cost cutting doesn't unacceptably interfere with the quality and timeliness of their product. I hope that someone at Kalmbach is reading this thread.

One last point--in southern California, many hobby shops have stopped carrying Model Railroader for various reasons. While I was told that the reason was bewcause of the e-Hobbies advertisements, that does not seem to be an issue any more.

[Anonymous]

If you really want to get there attention, pull out all those Postage Paid subsription cards from each issue. Write "Not until you get your act together" on them and mail them. They pay 35 cent, or there abouts, for each one they receive. Don't you think that would wake someone up.

[Anonymous]

Maybe I should move to Canada because it's obvious that living in Missouri is a detriment to having a healthy subscription. As I wrote when I posted the original topic above, my copies don't arrive until weeks after the magazine has appeared on the newsstands, they're unbagged and the covers are usually torn or soiled. As others have indicated before, it does no good to complain to Kalmbach's subscription people because they just don't get it! The closest they come to admitting there might be a problem is an offer to send additional copies of the magazine out. I don't want additonal copies of the magazine; I just want the one I paid for, and I want it in a timely fashion! Grump, grump, grump!

[Anonymous]

Gregg: It has to be a distribution problem,not a printing problem. I got my February issue of MR in the mail on January 2 , 2001.
That's up here in central Ontario, Canada. when you figure that snail mail tends to be even slower in both countries between Chrismas and New Years', when in December might it have been sent ?
Our copies come in a sealed plastic cover, so damage is only an issue if the post office in full disgruntle mode. For the Canada subscription, it was USD$47.50 for the year.
regards / Mike

[Anonymous]

Both Trains & MR arrive at the same time and this time it was 1-08. I'm only across the lake from Wisc(Grand Rapids), yet my brother-inlaw in Green River Wyoming gets his before I do.
MR was in Barnes/Noble on Sun, 1-06 but for how longbefore,don't know.

Subscriptions alone don't pay the freight, it's the ads and because of those ads, we buy the products and this is what the advertiser wants to see $$.
Same thing with your Sunday newspaper,circulation
doesn't cover the cost, it's those Sunday ads.
Perhaps we are complaining to the wrong source.

[douginut]

The OTHER reason not to subscribe.
Apart from the magazines falling apart from poor production quality, I generally find MR informative, entertaining and most of all fun.

Why not subscribe? Because if you BUY MR at the store the circulating company will be sure to send another to them. and it will be on the rack for others to see and buy, preferably people who have not seen a model railroad since the Christmas tree when they were kids.
MR has an attractive cover and draws folks to it well.
SO buy it at the store, preferably a store with NOTHING else of a Model Railroad nature.
Make converts!
Doug

[thirdrail1]

Well folks, it's the tenth of the month, MR and Trains were in Books a Million on the first, and I still don't have mine. If Kalmbach can't figure out why subscriptions have dropped, they don't deserve to stay in business! They HAVE to be printing the newsstand issues a week before the subscription issues!!! Why??

[Anonymous]

Mike,

The best way to get their attention is to hit them where it hurts. I made the decision to let my subscription lapse with the January issue. They aren't getting my money up front until things get straightened out to my liking.

MR is now like RMC to me. I check it out at the stands and if an article or two interests me I buy it. A couple articles in the current issue are of interest to me so I went 200 ft. out of my way on the way home from work today and picked it up.

Granted, a lot of us don't have the convenience of driving past a stand that carries MR on our daily commute to work so this method of making a point with Kalbach isn't all that attractive to some.

Dogger Rog

[Anonymous]

After being away from MR for a few years I reestablished my subscription last year. I have been VERY unsatisfied with the deliveries as all of you have stated above. Repeated calls to MR have been in vain. I will NOT be renewing this year.

[Anonymous]

COVER TORN!!! Wait intil all you get is just the torn cover. i have had that happen with another Kalmbach publication. Not going to renew is the bi-product of that move.

[Anonymous]

I'm not at all surprised, Gregg. I have no doubts that I will find the same thing when I go into my local HyVee Supermarket today. And yet, my subscription copy of MR won't arrive here until sometime in mid-January. it's a ridiculous situation and one that - in my book anyway - is inexcusable.

[thirdrail1]

Dagnabbit!!! Went into Books a Million today in Panama City and there, bigger'n life, were the February 2002 issues of both "Model Railroader" and "Trains". Makes you feel that they really CARE about subscribers, doesn't it??? Maybe some more heads need to roll in Waukesha.

[Anonymous]

No, the changes didn't do anything to speed up delivery in metro areas. I live in the suburbs of a large midwest city. For the last year, my copies of MR have arrived anywhere from one to three weeks after the mag appeared in the hobby shops and on the newsstands. I think some marketing type with an MBA and a removable brain decided to make changes last year just for the sake of making changes, and all he/she accomplished was to screw everything up for the longtime subscribers!

[thirdrail1]

There was a change announced last year in the method of distribution of the magazines. It was supposed to "speed up the delivery of the magazine to most subscribers". It probably did - to those in the major metropolitan areas with many subscribers. But those of us in rural areas, especially where model railroading is barely known, really got shafted, as the magazines of these subscribers visit every bulk mail center in the country before finally arriving at your local Post Office. I have complained long and loud to Customer Service at Kalmbach, who attempt to send me more copies each time. After being rude (using all caps), I finally got an admission that the distribution and printing schedule would change again next April. I got some fol-de-rol about "production schedules", but it will be exactly a year since the changes were made, so I suspect there was a one-year Contract signed by Kalmbach and nothing can be done until it expires. I just wi***hey would be up front with their subscribers and admit a mistake was made.

[Anonymous]

This topic was addressed by several people as a subtopic of the "What's Wrong With MR" thread, but I feel it's an important issue and deserves to stand on its own. Besides, it's obvious from what the others wrote that the folks at Kalmbach's subscription dept. must not care. I think those of us with subscription problems need to wake them up. So, in the hopes that somebody from Kalmbach reads these postings, here goes....
My copy of MR does not arrive at my home until 10-14 days after the same issue has appeared on the newstand at my local supermarket. On top of it, the magazine is no longer packaged in plastic, so when I get it, the cover is often torn or wrinkled and pages are torn. The mailing label is glued on with rubber cement. This has been an every-month problem that began when I renewed my subscription last winter.
All in all, I had to think long and hard before renewing my subscription a few weeks ago. If things don't change this next year, I won't renew again. I don't see any great advantage to having a subscription at this point.
Does any of this sound familiar to anyone?