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Free Magazine?

By Ed Foster, Section Gripes
Posted on Sun May 04, 2003 at 06:24:47 PM PDT
I'm curious to know if any other readers have run into this kind of problem. A long-time subscriber to PC Magazine reports he received an offer from freebizmag.com for a free one-year subscription for PC Magazine's "digital edition." Figuring he had nothing to lose, he signed up. But then:

A while later, I started noticing that I had received no copies of the paper edition in several weeks. I just called PCMag and was told that my subscription had been converted to an online subscription only. When I insisted that I had never requested such a conversion and had only responded to a free offer, they told me there was nothing they could do about it and to take up my complaint with freebizmag.com, who they claimed, were responsible for changing the status of my subscription. Good luck here, because I can find no way online one can go about contacting freebizmag.com.

The reader is frustrated because his subscription for the print edition was supposed to run through next year. And he doesn't like the digital edition nearly as much as the paper one. Anyone seen other examples of "free digital subscriptions" working this way?

< Son of UCITA | PayPal Terms >


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Free Magazine? | 13 comments (13 topical) | Post A Comment
Paper still wins[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#1)
by Anonymous User on Mon May 05, 2003 at 04:45:00 PM PDT

I haven't yet converted to any digital editions because paper is so much more readable than on-line. When you work with a computer all day, you appreciate being able to stare at something that does not require any eletricity/battery! That being said, that is not really 'surprising' that they would convert the user but PC Magazine doesn't sound worried about it so that means they must be aware that that is the plan. That being said, if a user paid for a paper copy and then converted to a digital version, they should be able to switch back and there is no way PC Magazine cannot reverse that!

[ Reply to This ]


PC Magazine and problems[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#2)
by Anonymous User on Tue May 06, 2003 at 10:42:46 AM PDT

I have a different problem with PC Magazine. I have not been a big user of PC Mag utilities, however I was put off by the manner in which they changed from free utilities to a subscription-based model. The whole process was handled poorly, and it became an issue of priciple with me. So I decided to cancel my subscription. I used the online form and clicked all the way through until I recieved the cancellation confirmation message. When I received the next issue of PC Mag I figured that my cancellation and the issue crossed in the ether/mail. Two weeks later I received another issue. Another followed after that. Finally, after the fourth post-cancellation issue I got online and cancelled again. We'll have to see how that turns out.

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pcmag, utilities[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#5)
by Anonymous User on Thu May 08, 2003 at 06:22:08 PM PDT

after reading your column, I just realized that indeed PC Magazine did not include its normal utilities. Actually, not for the past couple issues. I've subscribed to them for almost 20 years. It's time to re-evaluate my continuation of this; I did not even see a notice about the utilities. Nick

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yes[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#14)
by maderikapapa on Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 07:25:44 PM PDT

出会い系出会い系サイト出会い喫茶出会い掲示板ナンパ出会いカフェ人妻出会い無 009;系サイト優良出会い系攻略 完全無料。アダルトビデオアダルト動画アダルトアニメアダルト画像アダル 488;サイト無料DVDアダルト風俗サンプル無料風俗優良アダルトサイト比較海 806;。人妻画像人妻パラダイス知合い人妻援護会人妻コレクション風 439;告白。熟女画像東京熟女掲示板動画熟女ビデオおまんこオナニー。エロ画像エロフラッシュアニメ 456;ロ動画エロゲームエロ漫画無料エロサイト。エッチ画像エッチ動画エッチ小説写真エッチ 450;ニメエッチ0930。セックスアナルセックス画像セックス動画セックスフレンドスワッピングSEX写真セックスボランティセ 483;クス体位東京セックス仕方 SEX。おっぱい画像おっぱい村長おっぱい楽園掲示板お 387;ぱい命おっぱいゲーム。巨乳動画巨乳画像アイドル巨乳 522;示板風俗。セフレ募集セフレ掲示板セフレ画像掲示板セフレの作り方出会い無料素人セフレ。童貞狩りエロ漫画童貞狩り童貞喪失童貞オークション素人童貞逆援。不倫パートナー不倫出会い人妻不倫不倫を楽しみたい方にはお薦め 154;妻画像など満載出会いサイトを楽しむならココ無料出会いで一緒に遊ぼう出会いはLOVEｱｹﾞｲﾝで決まり

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


Free Magazine--How to Contact[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#3)
by Anonymous User on Thu May 08, 2003 at 10:51:38 AM PDT

Whenever you have a problem contacting a Dot Com company, look them up on Whois (http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois) Generally you'll see contact information with valid phone & fax numbers and email. Even though those won't be the people to complain directly to, they'll usually help you get in contact to get you off their back! The Dot Com freebizmag.com has just this kind of info on Whois.

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FreeBizMag[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#4)
by Anonymous User on Thu May 08, 2003 at 11:32:08 AM PDT

The folks who operate FreeBizMag are owned by Synapsys, Inc, (hope the spellling is correct) a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner who (located in Connecticut). They manage all the online magazine circulation marketing programs and systems, and provide the largest outsourced online magazine marketing and promotion programs.

OUr company has had several past business engagements with this company and we know that the company outsources its servcies to Ziff Davis for all online circulation marketing and promotion for PC Magazine.

Hope this information helps.

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online magazine version[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#6)
by Anonymous User on Thu May 08, 2003 at 06:24:21 PM PDT

I originally tried to get a copy of the digital version; I specifically told Zeno (original providers of the digital version) that I needed to TEST this first before I gave up my paper version. Frist, it's in a proprietary format. Second, it was like pulling teeth to get the electronic version. I've stayed with paper. Sadly, in this leading computer magazine, an easy way for digital publishing does not seem to exist. Nick

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Zinio magazines[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#7)
by dmoisan on Thu May 08, 2003 at 08:37:55 PM PDT

It's Zinio. They also have an offer for Technology Review. Although I have an electronic "sub" for that and eWeek, I uninstalled their reader. It stinks. (I'd use a stronger word if I could)

Zinio's reader is slower than Acrobat and a pain to use. Zinio thinks you have to have a literal page-flipping metaphor to read the magazine. And when you do reach the new page you want, there's a long delay as it renders the page.

With the low-resolution monitors most of us have, it's even worse. I have to work at 800x600 on a 17" monitor due to bad eyes and that means I have to zoom most of what I read.

Zinio's reader s--ks horribly at this task.

As with Real Player and my cable company, I've decided to refuse any further content by Zinio, no matter how much I might want it (and I like eWeek's) just out of spite at having to use their software. With DMCA and UCITA, I have no qualms about seeing content providers crash and burn when the costs of their content become too high. Take care, Dave

[ Parent | Reply to This ]



yes[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#15)
by maderikapapa on Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 07:31:03 PM PDT

出会い系出会い系サイト出会い喫茶出会い掲示板ナンパ出会いカフェ人妻出会い無 009;系サイト優良出会い系攻略 完全無料。アダルトビデオアダルト動画アダルトアニメアダルト画像アダル 488;サイト無料DVDアダルト風俗サンプル無料風俗優良アダルトサイト比較海 806;。人妻画像人妻パラダイス知合い人妻援護会人妻コレクション風 439;告白。熟女画像東京熟女掲示板動画熟女ビデオおまんこオナニー。エロ画像エロフラッシュアニメ 456;ロ動画エロゲームエロ漫画無料エロサイト。エッチ画像エッチ動画エッチ小説写真エッチ 450;ニメエッチ0930。セックスアナルセックス画像セックス動画セックスフレンドスワッピングSEX写真セックスボランティセ 483;クス体位東京セックス仕方 SEX。おっぱい画像おっぱい村長おっぱい楽園掲示板お 387;ぱい命おっぱいゲーム。巨乳動画巨乳画像アイドル巨乳 522;示板風俗。セフレ募集セフレ掲示板セフレ画像掲示板セフレの作り方出会い無料素人セフレ。童貞狩りエロ漫画童貞狩り童貞喪失童貞オークション素人童貞逆援。不倫パートナー不倫出会い人妻不倫不倫を楽しみたい方にはお薦め 154;妻画像など満載出会いサイトを楽しむならココ無料出会いで一緒に遊ぼう出会いはLOVEｱｹﾞｲﾝで決まり

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


I turned it down.[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#8)
by kamnet on Mon May 12, 2003 at 02:42:24 PM PDT

I received an offer from eWeek and Zinio as well to turn my subscription over to an electronic one. I'm sorta glad I did not. Based on the complaints here, I would have been upset enough, combined with the recent revampings of both eWeek and InfoWorld, I'm not able to easily keep up with most of the columnists. (Speaking of which, I'm glad I can now find Mr. Foster's wonderful gripes on the Web, although I hate signing up for more e-mail and visiting more Web sites, at least this is worth it!) That said, I've had no problems with freebizmag.com (through whom I get nearly 95% of all my industry subsciptions through, they definitely rock!). If you saved your subscription confirmation e-mail that they sent you, they provide contact information there. But eWeek telling you that it is their problem, that's a cop-out. Not much you can do if you receive the magazine as a comp, but I'd be pretty upset with them if you actually paid for it.

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Lychee[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#12)
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kimo[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#13)
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dfsafd[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#16)
by samezhen on Thu Jul 10, 2008 at 09:04:30 PM PDT

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