Another Newsweek Response–Just Keeps Getting Sillier

Today I received yet another response from Newsweek. Here it is exactly as I received it:

Dear Louis Brown,

I do apolgozie for the inconveince. I have forwarded your comments for further review of the account. Thank you for your patients.

As you can see from the above, it has 2 spelling errors and 1 incorrect word. Can this company even be trusted to deliver news if they can’t even write a simple 2 sentence email. My answer is I doubt it. So this saga goes on…

Finally, Another Newsweek Response

After nearly 3 weeks without a response from Newsweek, I finally received the following response today:

Dear Louis Brown,

I apologize for the previous response. A review of your account shows that your subscription was to expire with the March 08, 2013 issue. If you were to cancel your subscription a refund would not be issued. If I can be of further assistance, please let me know.

Thank you for subscribing to Newsweek.

It appears that the company PURPOSELY waited until my subscription was over to contact me about it that way they would not have to issue me any kind of refund. However, as mentioned previously, they had extended my subscription by 2 months, so it seems that I should still be entitled to something.

I have sent them one last final email telling them how angry I was and that I was reporting all of this to my blogs. My advice to anyone wanting to subscribe to Newsweek: DON’T BOTHER – It is just not worth it no matter what.

Another Newsweek Subscription Update–It Just Keeps Getting Worse

Yesterday, I received an email from the company that presumably holds my subscription.  The news just keeps getting worse.  They stated that, since I really never “paid” it, I am entitled to NOTHING!!  This means that neither company seems to care about REAL CUSTOMER SERVICE and both would rather lose a customer than satisfying a customer.  I have sent both companies one final email hoping one will cave with a solution otherwise I will be reporting this incident to the Better Business Bureau.  I believe that this has gone on for way too long and shows complete irresponsibility of both companies.  My recommendation is that if anybody out there has a Newsweek subscription, don’t renew it.  This company deserves to die once and for all.  If they gave up on the print media, then we should give up on them as well.

Response from Alternative Company of Newsweek Subscription

Just minutes ago, approximately 3 business days later, I received a response from the company that holds my subscription.  Here is their canned response:

 

Hello,

Unfortunately, we provide you with technical support for this subscription. Furthermore, we are not authorized to offer any other subscription in place of this one. We can only cancel the subscription all together. Please contact Newsweek directly as they are the only ones who may be able to offer you an alternative option to this subscription.

 

I apologize for any inconvenience.

 

 

Sincerely,

M2 Mags Customer Support

 

 

It seems to me that I am being treated like a ping-pong ball between these two companies.  Nobody wants to take ANY responsibility for just how bad this product really is.  It is sad when a customer can’t get any satisfaction for what would seem like a very simple problem.  What gets to me the most is that nobody wants to be a big boy and just offer an alternative to the crappy digital format.  I really am not asking for a lot, just something in return of my remaining subscription.  Is that really so hard to do?  Apparently, for these companies it is.  Depending on the result of my response email, I will be filing a complaint with the BBB as this is just bull!  Stay tuned..

Latest on Newsweek Subscription Problem

On late Monday, I received another email from Newsweek customer service.  This email pointed me to the company that ACTUALLY holds my subscription.  I sent an email out to them late Monday afternoon and as of yet have not heard back from them.

What really bothers me most about this so far is that:  Why did it take 5 emails to get this information?  Is Newsweek afraid of losing a subscriber or don’t they just care anyway?  Right now I am still extremely angry of this whole process, which should have been resolved weeks ago.  Stay tuned…

Update to Newsweek Subscription

On Sunday, I received the following response from Newsweek:

Dear Mr. Brown,

Your subscription has been transferred to the digital edition of Newsweek. Your subscription will not be transferred to an alternative print publication. Please verify if you wish to cancel the remainder of your digital subscription.

It appears that the company is offering NO alternatives to make me really happy.  I have requested what amount they will give me if I take their “Money Back Guarantee”.  I will keep you posted in this bad customer service issue.

Customer Service – The Newsweek Way

Editor’s Note:  I am publishing this same post to all my blogs this week as I feel that it is that important on just how stupid a company can possibly be.  Enjoy my frustration:

 

Imagine the following scenario:

 

Mom:  “Here son, have some more broccoli”

Son:  “But mom, I don’t like it.”

Mom:  “I will give you even more tomorrow because I know you enjoy it so much.”

Son: “I don’t want any more.”

Mom:  “But you really want more.”

 

This is exactly the type of scenario that has been created over the last couple of weeks with me against Newsweek.  Ever since the start of the new digital issue, I have been very disappointed with the new format.  Here’s why:

 

There are 8 different platforms to access Newsweek from.  Since I don’t own a Kindle, Nook, iPhone, or Windows 8 computer, I am left with 2 ways to access the magazine.  The first way is to use the web browser and view the magazine online.  Well, I tried that on the first issue and could not get past the first page ad.  To add insult to injury, the small print could not be changed to a larger font.  I tried Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox with the same results.  I just couldn’t get past the first screen.  Given that screen took about 3 minutes to load, I wasn’t going to try to load a different issue to see if it would get any better.  Sadly, this approach made my broadband connection look like an old 56k modem connection.  And, no other webpages load perfectly so apparently it is something wrong with the Newsweek site.

The other way to get the magazine is to use the Zinio Reader, which I have used in the past.  I don’t like this approach because every time I use the program, it wants to download ALL my magazines even though I don’t want to.  The size of the magazines are not of small size either as some of them could take up to 100mb per issue.  Certainly no compression here and nor economical either.  Of course, I decided that this was not the way to go either so I decided to cancel my remaining subscription of 3 months and wanted a different print issue as said on their website.

So I decided to use their email system to request a cancellation.  A week went by and I heard nothing at all from them.  I then sent out a second request asking again of my alternatives.  After a week, I finally got the following response exactly as shown below:

 

Dear Mr. Brown,

 

 

 

Thank you for your email. We have received an overwhelmingly positive response to the new all-digital Newsweek.

 

 

 

We’re sincerely sorry for the wait time, and to make up for any delay in service, we have added two months of free access to your subscription.

 

 

 

In the meanwhile, please try the following help links, which have resolved most of the issues for other subscribers.

 

 

 

Login problems:

 

 

 

Can’t login to Newsweek:

 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/apps-and-mobile-faq.html#login

 

Don’t know my password (or requested new password and didn’t get one):

 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/apps-and-mobile-faq.html#update

 

Not sure where to read Newsweek? Click for help with your device:

 

iPad

 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/apps-and-mobile-faq.html#ipad

 

Kindle Fire, Fire HD 7″, Fire HD 8.9″

 

http://www.thdailybeast.com/apps-and-mobile-faq.html#kindlefire

 

Other Kindle

 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/apps-and-mobilefaq.html#kindle

 

PC or Mac Computers & Laptops

 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/apps-and-mobile-faq.html#desktop

 

Nook

 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/apps-and-mobile-faq.html#nook

 

Android Tablets & Phones

 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/apps-and-mobile-faq.html#android

 

 

 

If you do not want to receive the digital edition, please call us at 1-800-631-1040 to cancel for a refund.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

 

Newsweek Customer Service

 

 

All of the blank spacing above is their doing, not mine.  Not only did they not answer me, but also they were giddy over how well they were doing and even extended my subscription by 2 months!  How is that for not helping the customer properly?  It should be apparent that whoever sent this letter not only didn’t read my letter, but also used a cut-and-paste answer approach to my problem.  This is NOT how you do it people!!

You actually read the person’s letter and respond accordingly, not just send out any old canned response just to get rid of the customer.   To make matters worse, they want me to CALL and cancel my subscription instead.  Anybody who has ever called one of these numbers know that the people who answer the phones are from India and have no real comprehension of the English language whatsoever.  I refuse to talk to people who are clueless with what I say given that they are already clueless with what I have written.

Now I have sent out a THIRD request to cancel the subscription and want an email sent back with my alternatives listed.  I did that back on Monday, 4 days ago, and have yet to hear back from anybody, not even an acknowledgement that the company received my letter.

Of course, I am writing all this to let everyone know just how stupid a company like Newsweek actually is and how disrespectable they are to their subscribers.  I will NEVER renew my subscription with them EVER!!  They are just one example of a poor business model.  I really wonder if they are really overwhelmed with positive responses or just ashamed to respond to the hundreds of people like me angry at their lousy service model.  Web-based magazines will never cut it with me – give me old-fashioned paper anytime.

Shame on Newsweek for their lousy customer service. Let’s all cancel everything from Newsweek and never look back.  They deserve to fail once and for all.