Automatic Renewals - Is Linn's Doing This?

I've been getting Linn's for years, for awhile I just got the monthly issue, last time I went for the weekly. I knew my subscription was about to run out and decided I'd switch back to monthly when I got a renewal notice.

Today I got the weekly issue, I also noted on my address label that my subscription expires in May 2019. I know I didn't renew this. Obviously that is what happened.

I'm aware of why publishers want to do this. It just however seems sneaky and in this case will create a lot of issues with getting things reset to the monthly issue.

Strange thing is that this is not showing up on my credit card account. If memory serves, I got a replacement number a few months back so I wonder if they ran it through on the old #? Anyone else notice this happening?

I also got an automatic renewal by Amos. The first indication was a charge on my credit card.

Well I guess they are. Sort of infuriating. I would have checked for that when renewing last yearand I do NOT recall seeing anything to indicate I was enrolling for a continual debit. They must be desperate.

I'll probably accept it but plan to call their Customer service next week and express myself.

PS here's the smoking gun, in little small print on the online subscription form:

'AUTOMATIC RENEWAL: Your Linn's Stamp News subscription will automatically continue for as long as you choose to remain a subscriber. Your credit card will be charged at the time of purchase, and before the start of each new annual term at a low rate then in effect. You will receive a reminder of the charge approximately 30 days in advance. You may cancel your enrollment in the Automatic Renewal Program at any time during your subscription. If we are unable to charge your credit card, we will bill you directly instead.'

I NEVER got anything to verify they ran a charge.

Conversely, my subscription ran out about 2 months ago. It never autorenewed and I never received anything via mail or email (not sure that they even recognize the existence of email, being stuck firmly in the 1990s) letting me know that expiration was looming.

I just said [CENSORED] and decided I could do without the magazine.

I suspect they do not want to spend money about needing to renew like you used to get from many magazines. So either let them lapse (happened last year to me) and possibly lose a customer for good or do the automatic renewal. I get the print edition but will likely change to online and only get the monthly edition since the weekly content is such a quick read.

I pay my Linn's subscription by check. That way, I can use commemorative stamps when I mail the renewal.

Just got off the phone with Amos. They insist my card was charged for a full weekly subscription on 4-7, six weeks before it expired. They did offer to modify to the monthly and refund the difference, they're sorry for the 'misunderstanding'.

Guess what? No charge is showing on my statement.

Hey if they're happy, so am I.

Automatic renewals are pretty common nowadays. It's nice to remember when magazine subscriptions had to be renewed by subscribers each year, but that's become much rarer as publishers try to avoid repeated mailings to each customer asking if they'd like to renew. It ought to be made clearer, no doubt, that you're signing up in perpetuity unless you choose to cancel at some point. But I understand the economics of it. It's just a heck of a lot more likely a magazine will retain its subscribers if subscriptions aren't always expiring all the time.

As for "no charge showing on my statement," I wonder if it's there but under a different name? That often happens. You subscribe to the XYZ Digest but it shows up on your credit card statement as "International Enterprises" or something.

To me, the amount of the subscription is still worth the fun of browsing both the newspaper and the monthly magazine -- even if the newspaper is a shadow of its former self some years back when it was a lengthy newsprint publication with many articles. But print journalism is fading, sadly, and we are all less well informed than we ever were as local and hobby news disappears in favor of national news networks that don't cover those kinds of stories. This is my real reason for continuing to support Linn's. Having once been a subscriber to Mekeel's, then Stamps, then other stamp publications, I don't want them all to disappear. So I have no intention of arguing with their subscription people. I'll just keep paying the annual subscription cost. To me, it's worth it.

I went back again through my online statement for my Master Card and also for my bank- in event I had used my debit card for the original subscription. Nothing at all remotely close to what the charge would be ($50+) appears on either for the past several months.

If I wasn't still put out at them, I'd contact and tell them it looks like they ran through the charge on an invalid card. In time this will be noted by them and then we'll sort it out. I am NOT giving them a credit card number again!