At the boat show last fall, I ran into Tom and Mel Neale. They were promoting a newsletter that they wrote about sailing, living aboard, cruising, etc. I''d read Tom for many years and quickly opted to buy his newsletter (as did my liveaboard neighbor). I paid by credit card, my neighbor paid in cash. My credit card was quickly billed.
Fast forward to February 2004. Neither one of us had rec''d a single copy of the newsletter nor had we rec''d any correspondence indicating the reason(s) why. I contacted Tom Neale directly (via email).
According to Tom, Passage Maker Magazine owned the publishing rights to his newsletter and had decided, unilaterally, to cease publication of his newsletter. I don''t have a problem with this. That is their right.
HOWEVER, their "get well" plan for the newsletter subscribers is to give them a "partial" subscription to Passage Maker Magazine in lieu of a refund. They didn''t ask permission to do so; they unilaterally took this step.
Since Tom forwarded my name/email to Passage Maker, I got an email from them:
"I am sorry for the confusion. As I am sure Mr. Neale told you, PassageMaker is no longer publishing CCI. The price of the postage was simply too high. Instead, we are sending our former CCI subscribers PassageMaker Magazine for the duration of their subscriptions (in your case 5 issues). I do hope that you enjoy reading the magazine.
Mary Brady Assistant Subscription Manager PassageMaker Magazine"
[The email came from "Will Lahneman"...not Mary Brady. I''ve replied that I want a refund...not a subscription to their magazine and so far, they have refused to reply.]
Ok, I''m more than ticked off. I''ve ordered a SAILING newsletter DIRECTLY from Tom and Mel whom I have known through their writing for years. The Passage Maker folks UNILATERALLY replaced my subscription to Tom''s newsletter with a subscription to their TRAWLER/POWERBOAT magazine as if this is some kind of equitable quid pro quo solution.
It never ceases to amaze me to what ridiculous lengths arrogance and stupidity will take folks in their "customer service" roles.
I''m angry and I''m pursuing this. I want a full refund.
If you''ve been "screwed" by these folks as well, the only contact I have at this point is:
WillL@passagemaker.com (Will Lahneman)
I hope you will find the time to express your opinion about their approach.
Fast forward to February 2004. Neither one of us had rec''d a single copy of the newsletter nor had we rec''d any correspondence indicating the reason(s) why. I contacted Tom Neale directly (via email).
According to Tom, Passage Maker Magazine owned the publishing rights to his newsletter and had decided, unilaterally, to cease publication of his newsletter. I don''t have a problem with this. That is their right.
HOWEVER, their "get well" plan for the newsletter subscribers is to give them a "partial" subscription to Passage Maker Magazine in lieu of a refund. They didn''t ask permission to do so; they unilaterally took this step.
Since Tom forwarded my name/email to Passage Maker, I got an email from them:
"I am sorry for the confusion. As I am sure Mr. Neale told you, PassageMaker is no longer publishing CCI. The price of the postage was simply too high. Instead, we are sending our former CCI subscribers PassageMaker Magazine for the duration of their subscriptions (in your case 5 issues). I do hope that you enjoy reading the magazine.
Mary Brady Assistant Subscription Manager PassageMaker Magazine"
[The email came from "Will Lahneman"...not Mary Brady. I''ve replied that I want a refund...not a subscription to their magazine and so far, they have refused to reply.]
Ok, I''m more than ticked off. I''ve ordered a SAILING newsletter DIRECTLY from Tom and Mel whom I have known through their writing for years. The Passage Maker folks UNILATERALLY replaced my subscription to Tom''s newsletter with a subscription to their TRAWLER/POWERBOAT magazine as if this is some kind of equitable quid pro quo solution.
It never ceases to amaze me to what ridiculous lengths arrogance and stupidity will take folks in their "customer service" roles.
I''m angry and I''m pursuing this. I want a full refund.
If you''ve been "screwed" by these folks as well, the only contact I have at this point is:
WillL@passagemaker.com (Will Lahneman)
I hope you will find the time to express your opinion about their approach.