My (failed) attempt to subscribe to the local newspaper
You’d think in a time of declining circulation a newspaper would jump the chance to add a print subscriber. Apparently not.
I’m a bonafide news junkie. I watch TV News primarily and I’m online every day. But I still like to sit down and read the Sunday paper. There’s something about the experience that just doesn’t translate on-line. So, I began my “adventure” to subscribe.
March 19
I went online to my local paper’s website to try to sign up for the Sunday paper. Apparently, that’s no longer an option. If I want Sunday, I would have to subscribe to the weekly edition as well, or the Sunday & Wednesday edition and the online version. Since there was an email to click if you had questions, that’s what I did. I sent off a request to see if I could subscribe just to Sunday home delivery. And I waited.
March 25
Six days later, I finally got a response. Kind of. It gave me a phone number to call.
I now realize my mistake. Even though I did click on the link for help on the subscribe page, I emailed “Reader Services.” I needed to contact “Customer Service.” I called… and no answer. Left a message. Back to the website I went in search of “Customer Service.” All I could find was the same email I had the first time. So, I searched the site and found this:
OK, well, I left a message so surely they’ll get back to me. So, I waited.
March 26
They didn’t call. I called the next day (twice). Both times nobody answered and I had to leave a message.
I was a little frustrated by this time. I sent this email off to the email address that’s on their website (the first one).
March 27
I never got a phone call.
April 23
I forgot about it until this morning. It was a Sunday and as I had my cup of coffee, I thought it would be nice to sit and readthe paper. I’m no longer mad or frustrated. I’m more amused by the situation, so I thought let’s give it one more try. I called. Apparently, they close up shop at 11am on a Sunday. It was noon, so nobody answered.
More than a month after I tried to subscribe, I’m still waiting…
I went back to the website to see if I could find an email address for the publisher to explain what happened to me. If I were running a business, I’d want to know there was a disconnect somewhere.
Guess what? The email is not listed on the website.
