I get these for MacAddict magazine, which is funny as MacAddict became MacLife earlier this year. I usually get the ones that say I'm being offered a Professional Discount b/c I'm apparently an IT Professional.

Reminds me of a job I got while in college... Worked part time at a telemarketing firm (Pausing now, to dodge the tomatoes being thrown at me)

This is how they played this game....

Our shady boss would have photocopies of sections of phone books (Yellow pages) from different cities in the USA. So, for example, he would give me the pages of Wedding boutiques... We had a script to read, which went along these lines..

"Hello, my name is and I'm calling with Brides Magazine. We noticed that your subscription is about to expire. We have a special deal for renewing subscriptions at $$$ rate blah blah blah"

Either we'd get a new subscription (with them thinking that they were renewing) or we'd get "We don't subcscribe to Brides magazine" to which our script was:

"That's funny, our records show that you do, but I can still offer you the special renewal rate if you wish to subscribe."

I lasted about three weeks at that job before my conscience got to me, and I just couldn't do it anymore.

Long story short, the company was so slimy, that when I quit, they refused to pay me for the time I worked, so I had to take him to small claims court (and won)

Magazine subscription companies are notoriously scummy, and would love to fool you into "renewing" your subscription.

I get these all the time. None of them ever direct you to online renewal, even though Wired has it. Is this 1973? I haven't had to write a physical check and mail it in years.

Unbelievably, the local legal newspaper does this. Twice a year the accounting department at the firm where I work says they got a bill for a subscription and could I please confirm approval, and I tell them I didn't order the paper so throw it in the trash.

Of course, after that BS I never WILL subscribe, either.

Wouldn't it be funny if the middleman got her name by buying Wired's subscription list?

So...how did this company get the information that you were a Wired subscriber? They must have known, they wouldn't just send a Wired renewal to everyone hoping to trick the few wired subscribers they happened to hit.

Third parties aren't always the shady ones. I received in the mail in November of '07, something from Consumer Reports that looked like an invoice, and in a bold headline, trumpeted "Final Notice for Scoosdad's Account!" and told me that I had a "Final Deadline" of December of that year to renew at the preferred rate.

Trouble is, my subscription doesn't expire until Februrary of next year. Almost 16 months from the time I received this "Final Notice".

I get these too for "professional discouts" on all kinds of magazines I've stopped subscribing too.

These loser direct-marketers are spammer-scum who haven't moved into the digital age...

oops, "professional discounts"

Wired may very well have unknowingly given up their list to this firm. All publications "rent" their mailing list to 3rd parties, but they always get to see what the 3rd party intends to use the list for. It's not unheard of for a shady firm to get their hands on the list and use it for a promotion like this, which likely yields them a good amount of money. Wired likely had nothing to do with this, although my guess is that did rent their list to this firm and either didn't look at what the firm was planning on mailing or they just got duped.

Good evening Sir, my name is Steve. I come from a rough area. I used to be addicted to crack but now I am off it and trying to stay clean. That is why I am selling magazine subscriptions.

I was getting threatening letters from some magazine that I subscribed to. From their tone, you'd think I was on the FBI most wanted. Then, the amount they wanted was ten dollars.

I almost wanted to tell them to take me to court over it.

@mythago:

The difference is that in my case, this company had nothing to do with Brides magazine, or any of the other magazines we "sold" ... We'd do the same thing with yellow page listings for auto repair shops, and try to "renew" their subscription to car magazines.

This telemarketing scumbag firm was nothing more than a magazine sales "middleman" who earned money on each subscription sold.

@Canino:

Yes, they would, if your name was on a mailing list they bought and you were determined a "geek" that may subscribe to Wired...

@LiquidGravity:

That would be... Great.

@scoosdad: A number of magazines I (used) to subscribe to would send out quarterly renewal notices even though I would pay for a year at a time. I would have to look at the date on the magazine's address label to see when the subscription would really expire.

@LiquidGravity: Ahahaha! I love me some Orlando Jones. I need to re-watch Office Space again.

that explains a bit, i keep getting renewal notices from them and i know my subscription is paid for quite a few years into the future. i always found it odd that they kept asking to renew yet my subscription remained fine and mags kept coming.:P

i get that mail a couple times a year at least.

This happens at my job ALL THE TIME. Auto Week is the worst, they send monthy 'ZOMG! SUBSCRIPTION FAIL! ACT NOW!!!1!' notices. It's ridiculous the brightly colored crazy mailings we get from them. If I answered each one, I'd have 10 years worth of subscriptions.

FYI -
The address label on magazines usually says when the subscription expires.

Also - magazinepricesearch.com will point you to the best deals on magazines.

I hate those things. I get them all the time. I used to just wait until the very last issue, then the magazine would panic and say "RENEW NOW AT YOUR INTRODUCTORY RATE OF $12 FOR A YEAR!!!!!!" I did that with Glamour for several years.

They don't do that any more. I think they're onto me. :P

Either that, or let it lapse and then re-order it at the introductory rate. ;)

@HogwartsAlum:
Get it for $9: [www.magazinepricesearch.com]

Or your usual $12 if you want to deal with a company you know, like Amazon.com. No need to wait for them to get antsy.

@Party Boy: I wonder if they truly know. I get those kind of notices for Computerworld magazine and I've never even been a subscriber.

I don't subscribe to magazines. Used to in the past but the type that I subscribed to (gun trade publications) don't sell their subscriber list to 3rd parties.

You can always call the subscriber services phone number (located usually on the last page of the table of contents - sometimes it's in the back) for your publication to verify when your subscription expires if you can't find it on your address label or if your mag came in a plastic bag/paper cover and you've tossed it already.

I get multiple examples of these things on a daily basis in my library. Beware, also, of Professional Courtesy Subscription Rate invoices - they trick you into thinking you have a subscription - or that it's the cheapest way to subscribe.

@ralfhutter: I still write physical checks for my natural gas service because they charge $5 to pay online. I refuse to give them extra money to make their job easier.

I just got one of those exact same mailings yesterday. Trouble is, I haven't subscribed to Wired in about 5 years. If they are using a Wired list, it's an old one.

I was signed up for Macworld and PC Authority from a friend. Almost immediately, each issue came with a 'renew now before its too late', and even once the subscription ended I got 'your subscription has ended...but not just yet!' stickers all over the magazine cover.

As much as I like the magazines, these begging renewals just make me want to scream. So I'm not buying anymore.

I manage my company's magazine subscriptions. Almost every one starts sending renewal notices at least 6 months in advance. Yesterday I got a notice for one of our trade journals - it is due next month, but the renewal price rate is 2x last year's rate. I gave them a call to find out what the story was. Their answer? Yes, that is the rate, but I can renew you at last year's rate if you want. Uhh, yes, I want. They sent me a new invoice right away. Strange.

I subscribed to three new (to me) magazines last year. Two of them sent me renewal notices before the first issue of the magazine arrived. Guess which magazine got renewed this year.

@mugsywwiii:
Cool! Thanks for the link!

Mostly the reason I waited til the last minute was because I would totally forget until it was time to renew.

@Dooley: ...what am I going to do with 40 subscriptions to Vibe?

The renewal notices for Wired start showing up about 9 months before the expiration date for me. I always just look for the tiny, cryptic expiration date code on the renewal notice (It's always something like EXPFEB09 and in an inconspicuous location). About 2 months from expiration I will get the '2 Years for $20' offer, at which point I go ahead and renew.

I got a notice to pay up from a collection agency for magazine I never ordered. This is supposed to be a "professional" magazine. Apparently they buy student lists from colleges, send a few issues, then forward the account to an agency for collection...

I got that magazine for free once and threw it directly into the garbage every time! I honestly don't know how they consider that format to be legible, how people are supposed to read stories without automatically flipping to some thick piece of advertisement every 10 pages and about 30 subscription cards sticking through everything.

I'm already subscribed. I don't need any stupid cards. I want to turn pages, yet I can't! Who the hell needs magazines? They are GARBAGE!

I fell for one of the door knockers selling magazines. He was raising money to go to medical school in England. Yeah, right. Two years of Wired for $63. I gave him a check. The very next day realized that I could get the same 2 year subscription for $20. I wrote the company the next day and got the check mailed back to me.

@drjayphd:

Was it Vibe? I thought it was Jet.

@scoosdad: I used to get those all the time, from the one magazine I actually subscribed to. They would start sending my renewal notices 6 months before my one-year subscription ran out. It ended up backfiring, though, because they sent me so many notices when my subscription wasn't expiring that I just started ignoring them. When my subscription really did run out, I had already thrown away the renewal thingy, and decided that the magazine wasn't worth the annoyance factor.

I've had a new (to me at least) and sleazy tactic tried on me a few times now.

I keep getting random 3 month subscriptions to various magazines showing up at my door. Once I get the third one, I find a "renewal notice" in my mailbox. Heh, right...renew something I never asked for to begin with.

Although some of the magazines are decent, there is no way in hell I will ever subscribe to them for trying to "trick" me into signing up.

@Dooley:
Sounds just like the Auto Warranty calls I keep recieving. My car warranty lasts until 2012 and is from the car maker, not some third party. Yet this company keeps calling saying its about to expire. Well hell a year of expiring??

So I picked up the phone one day and hit #2 to be taken off the list... hung up on. I hit #1 the next time talked to a rep and asked to be taken off the list "please hold" *click* hung up on. So third time I play their game and then say in a scared almost crying tone of voice... "I'm really scared because I thought my warranty was still good... I dont know what to do I cant think right now when did this happen did the dealer lie to me they said it was still good for another 3 years" to which the rep replied "well sometimes we make mistakes can I have the make and year of your car" but I drew a blank at the moment and just hung up.

Next time I'll be ready!!

Got a similar one that said it was from Delta Airlines. My miles are about to expire. Buy magazine subscriptions while there is still time. Of course, my miles have another 15 months before expiration.

@socalrob: Do what I did:

me: "Oh yes, I'd love to have a warranty on my 13 year old car!"

them: [*click!*]

@TangDrinker: Wow! Great tip. Both my Time and my Newsweek list my last date. :)

I get renewal notices from DirectTV 2 or 3 times a month which is funny because I've never subscribed to DirectTV and where I live in NYC, we couldn't have it anyway.

@Crabby Cakes: If a magazine actually sent me a renewal notice that said "ZOMG!!!!SUBSCRIPTION FAIL!!!" I would probably renew immediately.

@newfenoix: Well of course they don't. Their subscribers have GUNS. Those are not people you want to piss off.

One time in college I signed up my girlfriend at the time for something like 3 free issues of Teen People as a sort of joke. It was one of those no obligation trial things that required nothing more than a name and address. Shortly after, she started getting very threatening letters and invoices warning her that if she didn't pay, they would get collection agents and lawyers involved and ruin her credit rating. She was very worried and close to sending in payment. I told her to ignore it and not send them anything, but I still found this method to be extremely shady... Anyone else ever experience this type of thing?

I used to subscribe to Maxim and would receive renewal notices that were twice the cost of pulling one of the cards out of the magazine and sending that in.

I've subscribed to Wired for quiet a few years now. Currently I'm receiving renewal notices. Wired wants $12 to renew. The "lap-flaps" and their web page (Conde Nast) say $10 to start a subscription. Shouldn't they treat their current customers better and give them the better rate?