Warning: Taste of Home magazine sneaky trick

[Kathi OD]

My name is Sylvie. I work in Customer Care for RDA which is the parent company for Reiman publications and I just came across your blog post.

I would like to explain that, while our Taste of Home magazine is currently published 6 times a year, we felt it important to notify our subscribers that there may be certain times of the year when we increase the editorial content. At these times, the special issue would count as two.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-308-9281. One of our agents will be most happy to take your call.


Sylvie Robert
E-Care Coordinator

Yeah, right! six issues is 6; not 5 when you feel like it, with no advance notice to the subscriber.

Good way to alienate your customer base. Soon you won't have to worry about publishing any issues. There won't be any customers left.

 

[okeydokey]

My name is Sylvie. I work in Customer Care for RDA which is the parent company for Reiman publications and I just came across your blog post.

I would like to explain that, while our Taste of Home magazine is currently published 6 times a year, we felt it important to notify our subscribers that there may be certain times of the year when we increase the editorial content. At these times, the special issue would count as two.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-308-9281. One of our agents will be most happy to take your call.


Sylvie Robert
E-Care Coordinator

And this is why I no longer subscribe to Taste of Home.

 

[karemore]

I LOVE my Taste of Home cookbook. It came with a free magazine subscription. I got so annoyed by the amount of solicitations I received from them I had to stop. What a waste of paper and resources mailing out all those ads for magazines etc.

Most libraries carry the magazine and the cookbooks.

 

[Heidi Loves Disney]

I let my subscription go. I started subscribing back in the 90s, but it's just not the same anymore.

I didn't know Reader's Digest owned them. I haven't liked Reader's Digest since they ripped off my elderly neighbor several years back with that sweepstakes crap they used to run. That poor lady bought R.D. subscriptions for everyone and their brother since Reader's Digest said she was one of their semi finalists (along with everyone else who got their crap sweepstakes mailings). The more you bought from Reader's Digest, the better your odds were. What a crock.

 

[kaytieeldr]

My name is Sylvie. I work in Customer Care for RDA which is the parent company for Reiman publications and I just came across your blog post.

I would like to explain that, while our Taste of Home magazine is currently published 6 times a year, we felt it important to notify our subscribers that there may be certain times of the year when we increase the editorial content. At these times, the special issue would count as two.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-308-9281. One of our agents will be most happy to take your call.


Sylvie Robert
E-Care Coordinator

Not buying it - in any sense.

I don't like when TV Guide does this to me - and they (usually) publish weekly, and I got a great deal. Why? They don't give me twice the content. I'm sure it's the same with Taste of Home - you're not giving your readers twice as much of everything, just in one package/issue.

Publishers can market this any way they want - but when you sell me a twelve issue subscription, you give me twelve magazines, or some money back.

 

[ConnieB]

My name is Sylvie. I work in Customer Care for RDA which is the parent company for Reiman publications and I just came across your blog post.

I would like to explain that, while our Taste of Home magazine is currently published 6 times a year, we felt it important to notify our subscribers that there may be certain times of the year when we increase the editorial content. At these times, the special issue would count as two.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-308-9281. One of our agents will be most happy to take your call.


Sylvie Robert
E-Care Coordinator

VERY sorry to hear that. My subscription expired in November and I can't even count the number of requests I've received to renew. I was still on the fence about it....I found the magazine enjoyable, but also realized that I have been reading it, rather than cooking from it, and so was on the fence about renewing.

Thank you for making it clear that I do NOT want to renew. Arbritarily reducing the number of issues AFTER I have paid for them is unacceptable to me. If you have that much content consider publishing it more often than every other month....THEN I can see changing a subscription from a year to a half year because the number of issues would be the same. Until then, I'll just try to remember to pick it up at the library to read.

 

[dis-happy]

Sneaky!


Next time subscribe to Cooks Illustrated. It comes 6 times a year, is always interesting to read and the recipes are superb.

 

[JusbKoz]

My Mom get these for me....I will make sure she doesn't renew them for me this year!!! This is wrong and they shouldn't be doing this. Thanks to the original poster for this information.

 

[luvmy3]

Alot of publishers do this, I didnt realize it sent people into such a tizzy. I just ordered my MIL a 2 year sucscription of TOH, she enjoys the magazine whetehr she gets 5 or 6 issues a year, thats all I care about.

 

[dvcfamily41801]

I just received my first issue last week and I was SHOCKED! I subscribed to TOH back in 1996 when we first got married and for a few years. I loved that there were no ads and the quality of the magazine was great. Now there are ads and it is basically cheap paper. I had no idea that it is not the same publisher, makes total sense now. Needless to say, I will not be renewing.

 

[wtrmlnlabs]

Okay, so I run behind on reading the two magazines I do get, TOH and Readymade. So I didn't even think I had gotten the double issue you guys are talking about, figured my subscription was up, although I knew it should not be. Last week I'm going through my stuff I put away for "after Christmas" to deal with, and I find this issue of TOH you are talking about. It's still wrapped in the plastic it comes in. I did not open it yet, but I don't get it, it appears to be no larger than any other one that comes. It does say something about and additional something on the outside, but just looking at it it sure isn't worth a double issue!! I have been avoiding opening it (read this thread a while ago when it started)... seeing this now I guess I'll have to look at it today If what I have is this "double issue" I will definitely not be subbing again!!

 

[kaytieeldr]

My name is Sylvie. I work in Customer Care for RDA which is the parent company for Reiman publications and I just came across your blog post.

Rereading this - interesting, because according to the link provided earlier, Ripplewood Holdings bought RDA in 2007. And is in the process of ruining Reader's Digest, too

My name is Sylvie. I work in Customer Care for RDA which is the parent company for Reiman publications and I just came across your blog post.

Any chance you have an older issue around and could compare - the number of pages, then the number of articles? Supposedly it's a double issue because there's more editorial content, so don't count the [new] advertising. It's possible with thinner/cheaper paper, there actually IS more content - but if a magazine is calling something a double issue, I expect double content.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

I was a loyal subscriber to several of the Taste of Home magazines. Auto ship subscription for the cookbooks and all.

One day I received my autoship notice..... for $24.99 + $5 shipping and handling for a certain cookbook.

On the SAME DAY I received an offer for the SAME COOKBOOK for $10.00 and free shipping.

I canceled the auto ship, ordered the $10.00 cookbook and have not renewed anything ever since. I got really tired of paying $30+ for cookbooks only to see them offered for much less in a very short time. So much for being loyal to your current customers.

I am going to let all of the subscriptions expire and then just watch the website for when they have their $5 cookbooks. If I miss some, oh well. Maybe I'll take the money I save and go to Disney!