Sunday, February 8, 2009

Me vs Self

In the early days of 2009 and during a fit of becoming healthy, I saw that Self magazine was offering a one year subscription for a mere 8 bucks. I figured that there is probably stuff in it that would be instructive during this health kick so I went ahead and subscribed to it through their online form but instead of coughing up the Visa number, I chose the "Bill Me" option. I assumed they would then send out the paper bill and I could pay via check.

Since then, they have been sending emails weekly or so, reminding me that I have to pay the $8 and included a non-working link to pay my bill online. Wouldn't the alternate option to paying online (a.k.a Bill Me) mean the hard copy format? Why would I want them to bill me later via email for something I will have to pay for online when I could have done it online from the very beginning? Maybe the minutiae required for writing manuals has me more in tune to inconsistencies in things such as this while the person who wrote it for the website doesn't notice.

I got my first copy of the magazine in the mail on Thursday. I wonder how long I will receive them before I a)get the hard copy bill or b)they will realize it's a lost cause. I see that a one year subscription is now $10. I hope that additional $2 isn't to budget in for my non-payment and the cost of mailing the magazine I didn't pay for.

3 comments:

TC said...

I think most things these days just assume everyone who can go online will go online and will pay for it there. It's crappy, but then, most customer service these days is.

sage said...

can you print out the bill and then send it in?

Ed said...

Them magazine companies are very persistent little pests. I let two magazines expire a year or two ago in favor of two different ones. I still get almost daily letters in the mail telling me that my old subscriptions has expired and I can get back on board for a fraction of what I used to pay. If I added up the postage, they would have come out ahead just to send me the magazines for free!