Smithsonian Magazine

[Brenna]

I grew up reading my grandmother's Smithsonian Magazines and was excited when I ordered my first subscription with a Christmas gift card. Having ordered it before the New Year, I figured I would receive the February issue with no problem. Well it is not the middle of February and I have yet to recieve a magazine, but no worries! I received a nice little letter from Smithsonian that began with "Dear Member" and proceeded to tell me that because of increasing costs, unless I renew subscription for another year right away, I would have to pay more for the magazine. Needless to say, I was pissed! Having worked in the nonprofit sector all of my career (as short as it may be) and receiving my Master's in nonprofit management, I'm pretty damn sure it is bad policy to start any letter to members as "Dear Member."

After sending an e-mail letting them know how disappointed I was with their customer service, I received an e-mail letting me know that it was not the Smithsonian that sent that letter and that they could not cancel my subscription because I didn't order it directly from them. Not only do I get a nice threatening letter regarding raising my rates, but now I'm made to feel stupid because according to them, it wasn't the magazine at all. Funny considering it was a letter that was on Smithsonian letterhead, Smithsonian envelope, and signed by Cheryl Stevens, Smithsonian Magazine.

So upset by what I deemed to be complete disrespect on their part, I wrote the following in an e-mail and on their FB page:


Dear Smithsonian Magazine,

If you would prefer people didn't cancel their subscriptions on a regular basis, please accept the following advice. 1). Do not take 8+ weeks to send the first magazine to your subscribers. 2). Do you not send a letter addressing said subscribers as "Dear Member" as if you cannot be bothered to spend the extra 5 seconds to personalize your mailing. 3). Do not under any circumstances send out a letter requesting (more like threatening) to raise my subscription rates if I do not renew my subscription, especially when I haven't received one magazine yet! 4). Do not tell your namless member who now wants to discontinue said subscription for all of the reasons listed above that it wasn't Smithsonian that sent me this little letter when it is on Smithsonian letterhead, Smithsonian envelopes, and signed by a person who has Smithsonian Magazine subscriptions in their title!

Sincerely,
Your namless member who is severly disappointed by Smithsonian Magazine

[Misfit]

Grrrrr. I'd be ticked.

[LoveHistory]

Good for you, Brenna! That's just plain stupid on their part. If that's the way they run the business end, it's likely the publication itself has gone downhill as well.

[lauragill]

Good for you! They ought to comp you a free year just for that.

[Rowan]

So what was the outcome, if I may enquire? My father has had a Smithsonian subscription for years and to my knowledge has never had an issue.

[DianeL]

Hee. Rowan, do you mean he's never had a problem? For a sec, I was confused, thinking - "Why doesn't he call them? That's ridiculous!"

[rebecca]

Good for you Brenna You tell em!

I am also with DianeL when it comes to Rowans father. Why is he paying for a magazine he has never received? That's really odd...What a horrible company!

Bec

[Rowan]

Yes, I mean he's never had a problem with their service.

[rebecca]

[quote=""Rowan""]Yes, I mean he's never had a problem with their service.[/quote]

LOL Rowan I misunderstood your post....I thought you meant he had never received a copy of the mag.....Thanks for clearing it up .

Bec

[Rowan]

No problem.