Marketing Surprises
I’ve spent many years selling subscriptions. I realize that cable subscriptions are somewhat different than magazine subscriptions. Nonetheless there are many similarities. That’s why I was surprised when I was able to cancel my subscription to TIME magazine—with no questions asked!
First, a little background. My copy of the August 23rd edition of TIME arrived at my home on Friday, August 13th. It was wrapped with a cover explaining that my subscription term was ending, but that there was nothing I needed to do to renew. I’m a “valued automatic renewal” customer!
But there was something else about my copy. It was misshapen, apparently caused by some cutting malfunction in the manufacturing or mailing process. The lower right corner of the magazine was sliced off. It was unreadable.
So I called TIME customer service and got my first marketing surprise. I told the customer service rep of the problem and asked to have a replacement copy sent to me immediately. The rep told me that she could not do this, because I had gotten my copy “early.” I pointed out that TIME always arrived on Friday. She told me that the computer would not let her send me a new copy until the following Tuesday! I could not understand this, and asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor told me that she would “make an exception,” and send me a copy.
That copy never arrived. So I decided to call to cancel in protest. When I called I went through the automated menu and was given the option to “press 2 to cancel.” I fully expected then to be transferred to a live human. I expected that I would, at very least, be asked why I was cancelling my subscription.
My second marketing surprise was that I was able to completely cancel without ever talking to a human being.
So I figured that I’d get a follow-up call in a day or so. That didn’t happen either.
So I’m not surprised that magazine subscription numbers are falling.
