More Insanity From Amos Press

Just a heads up; if your subscription to Linn's lapsed or is about to, do NOT use their website to renew. they won't get the order. Instead it goes to some NYC outfit 'Subscription Core'. My payment for $66 got sent there last week. They ran it through right away. Linn's has not to date heard from them and I was told today that it could take 6-8 weeks before my issues begin resuming.

Nothing at all is on their site to alert subscribers that they are purchasing through a third party. The person I talked to there today seemed to have heard complaints about this before. I found this third party's website and messaged them asking when they plan to notify Linn's and told them I'd prefer a refund so I can call Amos and renew directly.

Lately it's been one thing after another with them.

More work contracted out with worse service than previously enjoyed by customers dealing directly with the buisness. Will they ever learn that customers will become agitated when payments and receipt of them in this day and age will take longer than if submitted through the mail! DUH, what kind of progress, or should I say lack of is this. 6 to 8 weeks? Wow, I am sure if I sent payment by pony express it would be received and credited and I would receive a copy of the paper long before that.

The last time my subscription lapsed it was automatically renewed.

This is a symptom of not having the internal IT resources required to transition to a digital publisher. When content delivery is a core competency of an organization, and the way the world gets their content changes around you, you have to rise to the challenge. Outsourcing might resolve a short term situation, but ultimately developing your own internal resources is required.

Hopefully this is just a temporary work-around and is allowing them some time to implement their own internal subscription handling services.
Don

I just checked and my credit card carrier removed the charge. So I am apparently free now to call Amos direct next week and place the renewal directly. I will try to be nice. None of this is the fault of the front line staff. My sub was not automatically renewed because my card # had changed.

I'd like very much to be able to receive at least the monthly July issue as I plan to be at the StampShow in August and assume that issue will have ads, etc related to that.

I got tired of all of the hoops you have to jump through, and the delays which result in missing issues, even if you re-subscribe a month out. In today's digital age there is ZERO excuse for any resubscription data taking 1-2 weeks, let alone 6-8 weeks to be processed. So I just said to heck with Linn's.

Their loss, not mine. I'm constantly amazed at how many businesses find new and creative ways to shoot themselves in the foot, especially in the face of declining readership/viewership/membership.

revenue, you nailed it.

It may be my faulty memory but I don't recall anything near this issue with Linn's a decade or so ago. I think it's part of the general deterioration in services and also perhaps related to the fact that most publishers are going digital and want to drag you kicking and screaming along. I think it's also the fact they now have a monopoly on popular philatelic publishing in this country.

I wonder if Amos has ever stopped to realize they are selling a product dependent on timeliness? Making a subscriber wait weeks for a subscription to initialize sort of defeats the purpose for subscribing for many.

I just placed my renewal by phone with Amos, had a very nice Customer Service person assist me. I briefly recounted what had happened and she actually apologized that I had issues. I voiced concern I would miss out on the July issue and she promised to see I got it. I got the drift they have had other complaints about their current set up.

Lesson learned. Call them direct if there is any issue, actually this applies to a lot of places.

Glad you got it all worked out!

Email this morning from 'subscription Core' ignoring my request to cancel the transaction. They tell me my first issues will begin to arrive sometime in August (!)

My card account still shows a refund for the amount so am assuming this is an automated notice.I'd love to contact Amos and tear into them for sidetracking subscribers to this outfit but I'm too burned out right now. Their staff knows this is awful and their owners apparently don't care. It is what it is.

Update,right after my last post I got a seven page questionnaire from my card carrier with a bunch of questions about the 'merchandise' I'd ordered. They wanted photos- no kidding. I did what I could on the replies and attached a letter explaining that this was purchase of service, not merchandise. I was told there is a chance they could reinstate this charge and if I could get the third party subscription service to run a refund on this, that could be avoided.

Amos tells me they haven't received anything from Subscription Core, not my original order nor anything about a refund.I also phoned Amos and asked to speak with someone in management. I got a recording and left a message (I was polite) to date I have never received any reply or acknowledgment that my compliant is being taken seriously.

I am seriously thinking that this may be my last renewal with them. Their customer service is ghastly and they clearly would rather save a dime then take care of renewing subscribers. Rant over..

My renewal was done on line after receiving an email from LINN'S. It processed normally and I received an email from Linn's stating such.

Nothing about some third party in this.

I'm wondering if this NY firm is even legit...

Oh Linns is certainly aware of this, their Customer Service staff I dealt with by phone sort of let me know they didn't like the policy. Good point, you entrust your card information thinking it' going to Linns then it winds up in some magazine subscription service in NY.

I am emailing Linn's next week asking for information as to what's going on. Forall I know, the renewal I made over the phone recently also got shipped off to NY.

Sure, let's kill the last good stamp newspaper around because we don't like their subscription system. Drag the hobby down one more step. If you give up on Linn's because they have a stupid subscription system, that seems a bit silly to me.

How about just persevering? Sure, it's a stupid renewal system, but call them and renew. It can be done. I'm much more concerned with the thinness of their coverage of the hobby than how to renew my subscription.

April Fool's Day came late this year. Are you fripping serious?

Amos has been shooting themselves in the foot for years, but it's the fault of collectors/subscribers for not supporting them enough?

It's the obligation of collectors to support them no matter what?

Ummm.... no.

Especially concerning any philatelic interests beyond US.