Guns & Ammo Mag, past due notice nonsense

[MartinBrody]

My mother in law renewed my subscription for Guns & Ammo Magazine this Christmas. Somehow they got it wrong and think there are 2 subscriptions. So 2 issues come to my house every month. One in my name and one in her name.

I wouldn't care except they keep sending notices saying you haven't paid for one of the your gift subscriptions. They say I am "past due". 3 calls later and they are still sending past due notices. I doubt this will affect a credit report but I think the tone of their letters are obnoxious.

Needless to say we won't be renewing next year.

 

[Steelbanger]

I just subscribed to Guns & Ammo. Couldn't pass up the deal - 24 issues for $12.00! Let's hope they don't give me any grief.

Somehow, Playboy has my name on their list too. Their offer is 12 issues for $12.00 and includes some kind of "Wet" DVD, but my Mrs. says I can't subscribe! I understand they have interesting articles in the magazine too. When did that start?

 

[Rokman]

That's the kind of stuff I got from Guns magazine. I paid my subscription and they sent me one mag and a bill. I told them that I was paid up and they had to dig around a little to find my subcription and agreed. A while went by without receiving any mags, so I called them up. At first they couldn't find my subscription, then they found me and sent me three mags to catch up. Have to wait and see if I get next months mag. It seem like I had problems with G&A when I did that same promotion.

 

[byf43]

Back when "Guns & Ammo" and "Hunting" magazines were owned by Peterson's, I subscribed to both.

They had a 'special' that if you paid with re-newal (for "Hunting") they'd send a Schrade 'Sharp Finger' knife and sheath.

I re-newed and paid with submission.
I didn't receive the knife. I called and called and called. Finally, I called them back and asked if they were ever going to send the knife.

After a few expletives and cancelling my subscriptions (and explaining that I could buy the knife with the refund from my subscriptions) they agreed that I was entitled to my knife and re-newed my subscriptions for 3 more years.

The knife showed up the next week.

 

[gbran]

A couple years ago, my kids bought me an XM radio that I could take in & out of my truck, Jeep, etc. I paid up front for a 2 year subscription (which is tied to the specificc radio).

I Dec. they sent me a notice it would expire. I sent them the form back saying to let it expire. I then bought an '07 Silverado that had a factory XM in it. I paid to activate a new subscription for it.

Then XM starts sending me invoices for a 2 year subscription on my old radio. I called and explained I had a new account and I was a little upset they sent me an invoice anyway. The other day they sent a "second notice" that I owe them for the 2 year subscription.

I am angry.

 

[10-Ring]

I would contact the magazine through their c/s number or email & tell them what's up and if they don't fix it, move on

 

[armedandsafe]

I called and explained I had a new account and I was a little upset they sent me an invoice anyway. The other day they sent a "second notice" that I owe them for the 2 year subscription.

I had a similar problem quite a few years ago. I finally told them that I was going to forward any further mail to my state's Attorney General and to their state's Attorney General. They sent more, I forwarded and NEVER heard from them again.

Pops

 

[vynx]

Guns and Ammo has gotten very thin over the last year - I didn't know that it was no longer a Petersen Publication - that explains it - I'm going to let mine expire its not worth $1 its so thin.

I find that Guns Magazine is the best - and for some reason they have been sending me a complementary Shooting Times magazine? It even says Commplemtary from Guns Mag.?

I often get low price renewal mail from outfits that are not the magazine - usually out of Florida - I wonder if you subscribed thru some secondary source and this is why your subscription service is screwed up?

 

[thrasher64]

AAhh.. dont tell me its not worth the entry fee. I just signed on for a year of Guns&Ammo for 10.99 need something to read on the john.

 

[mjb]

I stopped subscribing to G&A over 15 years ago because all they are to me is advertising for firearms. Also, it seems like they have the same articles, or stories over and over.
Boring

 

[beaucoup ammo]

Say Good night, Gracie

Print seems to be lumbering off to extinction. Sadly, some mags are quite good and will be missed...others, not worth the paper they're, ah, printed on.

Not one can afford attitude toward customers, as their base has all but eroded. Infomercials essentially...with advertisers at the heart of most every effort.

 

[Jim K]

Guns & Ammo has some outside outfit soliciting renewals. I don't know if they have a cash flow problem, but the letters try to get you to renew even if you just did. If you are one of those folks who automatically send a check in response to a renewal request, check your magazine label - you could find you are subscribed for the next 80 years!

Jim

 

[rangermonroe]

Guns & Ammo has some outside outfit soliciting renewals.

I ran into that one myself. i had 'renewed my subscription' a moth before I got a call from them asking me to renew again. I just happened to have the cc bill open in front of me.

I was told, that I must have renewed some other mag, and needed to ok them to hit my cc right now. "Uh, No. It says right here, G&A" Well, someone posing as us must have had you renew, but you need to renew through us...right now.

"yeah, OK. Let it expire." No, you don't understand... you are getting four years for the price of one.

Twice a day for the next two months, I got a phone call asking me to renew. One night, when they had slowed down to once a week, I lost it and told them to cancel my subscription for the remaining 3.5 years and never call me again.

Got on the Nat. don't call list. calls stopped the mag didn't.

As far as 'getting thinner', I counted pages of ads compared to pages of print/story photos. Right at 50/50.

 

[tbtrout]

I had the same problem with them. I had to send them a copy of my cancelled check. I only kept getting it for Cooper's Corner. It is now time to let my subscription expire.

 

[g5reality]

Give them both subscription numbers and as them to combine the two subscriptions into one they'll just add another year to one of the subscriptions

 

[beretta9]

Got a years subscription to Guns and Ammo for six bucks. They must be getting desperate.

 

[Cosmoline]

G&A has been one long ad for a long time now. It ain't the magazine it used to be. I get "Shotgun News" instead. If I'm going to pay for one long ad, I at least want to find some good deals in it!

 

[jerkface11]

As far as 'getting thinner', I counted pages of ads compared to pages of print/story photos. Right at 50/50.

You can't count them as articles if they're about advertisers products. So the ratio is probably more like 90:10 in favor of ads. The only gun mags i subscribe to are rifle and handloader both from wolfe publishing.

 

[MartinBrody]

followup, G&A ignores calls & email

Well 3 calls and an email later and Guns and Ammo Magazine just keeps sending past due notices and is stopping my subscription. Instead of opening 1 gift subscription and using the $10 check to pay for it, they opened 2 subscriptions and applied half the $10 to each subscription, leaving each one half paid. They were sending 2 subscriptions to the same house, but now I guess I will get zero for the rest of what should have been my year subscription.

I consider this fraud, but they just yah, yah you on the phone and don't fix it. I am done wasting my time with them and called one more time to tell them. So they can get their $$$ from advertisers only, hopefully when they have no subs, they will have no advertisers.

 

[MartinBrody]

G5reality said

Give them both subscription numbers and as them to combine the two subscriptions into one they'll just add another year to one of the subscriptions

Tried this over and over, they don't care, I don't even think the people on the phones have any computers in front of them, they just tell you they will fix it and don't do anything.

 

[grimjaw]

I started getting them in the mail and I've never even asked for a subscription. They keep coming, I keep throwing them in the trash.

jm

 

[trickyasafox]

i kinda like G&A. I've never had subscription problems or anything like that. It's probably not the best magazine, but for 10-12 dollars a year i'm definately content.

 

[CWL]

Magazines in general, rely on third-party representatives to generate the subscriptions. These third-parties lobby for your subscription, get paid a comission by the publisher and then disappear. These guys could care less about you or your subscription, all they need is a legible signature card to get paid.

The Magazine is then left to figure-out and clear-up the mess. They don't really care about the subscriber either, since the magazines make their profits from advertisers, not the individual subscriber.

 

[2bigfeet]

Here's the thing... they make their profits off of the advertising in the mags not from paid subscriptions. The more subscriptions (actual mailing addresses) the more they can charge for advertising. If you are at the very least some sort of convincing business... (wink) ask for a complimentary/professional/Trade (a.k.a. free) subscription. Sometimes there is a link on their website for "Professional/Trade Subscriptions". Nine times out of ten I get it. They want you on the list as a subscriber (more in circulation, more they can charge advertisers). Usually all you have to do is fill out a questionare when they send you another free renewal. Its funny to watch the free renewal notices get desperate if you forget... "Don't you want your FREE renewal?... Last chance to get your FREE renewal". More like... please renew so we can keep our advertisers. Bottom line... no audience, no advertisers. To publishers, sending out a free subscription to someone who reads (looks at advertisments) is better than having no one look at their magazine (ads).

 

[Aguila Blanca]

True -- the magazines make their money from advertising. But they need subscriptions to show the advertisers that people will actually be seeing those expensive, full-page spreads that Kimber likes to trot out. I don't know just how often the magazines compile thier circulation figures, but I wonder if part of the gentleman's problem could be that he renewed around the time the magazine needed some "stats" to show advertisers. So if they made a bunch of 1-year renewals into twice as many 6-month subscriptions -- all they have to tell the circulation bureau is that they have 'X' number of pre-paid subscriptions.

I don't understand how they can send "past due" notices, though. A magazine subscription is paid up front. I send in my fifteen (or whatever) bucks, and they agree to send me a magazine for 12 months. At the end of that 12 months, the contract ends. "Past due" applies when you OWE somebody money and you haven't paid it on time. If I don't renew, it's up to them if they want to keep sending me the magazine so they can lie to their advertisers about their "circulation," but there is no contract and I don't owe them anything for any copies they send after my term of subscription expires.

I won't subscribe to that rag, and I avoid it on the newsstands. Now that we've lost Cooper, there is nothing in that rag I need to see.