Isn't this the second time that Radar ceased publication?

Does a subscription constitute a contract? And, if so, is this in the terms, or do they owe the subscriber a prorated refund? Thats what I would ask for.

when fhm went under they gave me blender. im not big into music, it sucked in comparison. atleast he had an option.

Don't worry, Men's Health and Shape will be gone soon too.

I got this too...

Gave me flashbacks of when Spy Magazine went under in '98 and they filled out the rest of my subscription with some absurd magazine with an egg-shaped logo or something.

@JohnDeere:

when Stuff went under, they gave me a subscription to Maxim. Except I already had a subscription to Maxim, so they extended it. I think I now have Maxim until 2012, thanks to free offers from years back.

Too bad I've outgrown the Maxim demographic. Now it just reminds me that I'm too old to go out and get drunk.

Games For Windows went under last year and they replaced my subscription with PC Gamer (no options given). I wouldn't have minded, but I was already subscribed to PC Gamer. And so now I get two copies of the same magazine. Yay?

@tc4b: "Does a subscription constitute a contract? And, if so, is this in the terms, or do they owe the subscriber a prorated refund? Thats what I would ask for."

Did the magazine go bankrupt or did the publisher merely stop publishing it?

If the publisher is still in business, your suggestion should work.

But if the magazine is bankrupt, any subscriber would be an unsecured creditor waiting at the back of the line to get pennies on the dollar, if they get anything.

@jcoltrane: Did it relate to this? I love egg.

A similar thing happened to me with Jane magazine. When the magazine went under they sent my a postcard saying that they would automatically send Glamour for the remainder of my subscription unless I opted to be refunded the money instead by calling a 800 number on the postcard. Now I'm not a fan of typical fashion magazines, which is why I was a Jane subscriber in the first place, so I wanted my money back. When I went to call the number it wasn't in service, and neither were any of Jane's customer service numbers. I ended up stuck with almost a full year of Glamour that went straight to the recycling bin. :(

Gawker pretty much had the same story ten days ago: [gawker.com]

At least they got something. When Adorn magazine went under (right after I sent them a check), I didn't get anything in return.

I would take Star. Granted, it's mostly trash and half-truths, if that, but at least they don't consistently fellate the entire cast of The Hills in the mistaken belief that people give a flying Fig Newton.

@nicemarmot617: Then you'll be left with Star!

We need your reply by January 12, 2009 in order to insure our timely response to your choice

I wonder how much the premiums are. I'd probably have to go with a low deductible.

What is this Gawker of which you speak?

I had some video game magazine (Next Generation or something similar) when I was a kid which went under and replaced my subscription to a Nintendo only magazine. The problem is that I didn't have a Nintendo.

I had never heard of this magazine, but it looks like it was Mad Magazine for twenty-somethings.

@yagisencho: Same here...sadly, PC Gamer has really gone down the dummy hill these last 5 years or so and it seemed that GFW was really hitting its stride. I guess I'm in a minority with that view, though.

@MissPeacock: That would be the story this one points to.

@nicemarmot617: No, there won't go under, but there will more media consolidation, resulting in a new 'hybrid' publication: Men's Shape.

@Ash78: Why don't companies have copy editors?

Pardon my ignorance here, but I always thought Radar was a gay-oriented magazine. Is it general interest?

@zibby:

Yeah, PC Gamer has really devolved over the last few years. Many of the articles seem as incurious and superficial as can possibly be.

@Applekid: amazing... why haven't I seen this before...

@madanthony: At least you could get your Maxim subscription extended. I already had my Maxim through like 2018 and my Stuff through like 2016. They wouldn't extend my Maxim any further. I do wish I had been given some options...

Although I can't complain, the subscription is free...

I got this card the other day in the mail and I was pissed. Crappy options that have nothing in common with Radar at all!

I want a refund of my money, not a year of Star.

I may fall behind on my poorly-researched celebrity gossip, but my abs will be killer!

I also subscribe(d) to RADAR and got this card. Honestly, I'm just glad I got a choice. When JANE folded, they just started sending me Glamour.

Why do all the magazines I love fold?!

The last magazine I subscribed to went under a couple of years back, and in lieu of a refund of my subscription balance, they offered me my choice of any back issues I wanted. That was officially the end of my ever subscribing to a magazine again.

Does the magazine industry genuinely wonder why they're losing readership?

@JohnDeere: When Premiere stopped publishing in print, they gave my uncle subscriptions to US Weekly or something like that. He was extremely unhappy.

@Ash78: Since gaydar refers to the ability to pick out gay people from a crowd, I'm going to assume that radar refers to the ability to pick out Ra, the Sun God, from a crowd.

@yagisencho: I got Games for Windows to give me a full refund on my subscription. Just called and asked.

@Applekid: I bow before your powers of deductive reasoning!

When Business 2.0 bit it, the offered Fortune in it's place. What a poor cousin that was.

@Applekid: Ain't that hard, I'm right here, kid.

I got this card as well. Star was my choice, as it is a weekly magazine. I figure that is I can't get Radar, I might as well get my money's worth. The other two options are monthlies and not all that interesting (to me).

I wish I still had my subscription to Ranger Rick

@Anathema777: Because they clearly couldn't afford copy editors - the mag is going under :)

@chipslave: Honey, we've been over this already. You're 10 now, and your mother and I think it's time for you to move up to Dynamite.

@ophmarketing:

Can I still get Highlights?

@aka_bigred: They could have slashed their costs by eliminating "in order" as that's over 10% of the words in the sentence.

@dripdrop: I now also get Glamour, which started about five seconds after I got a free subscription to Jane. Now I have a stack of Glamours sitting next to my bed, which I'll read...some time.

@stillkarenann:

I had a sub to the predecessor of Business 2.0, and felt the same way about the forced swap to Business 2.0....

I just got this card, too. I don't see the similarities between "radar" and any of the other three...and if I wanted any of the other three I would have subscribed to them in the first place. Can I just get my money back? I just renewed in August.

@jcoltrane: GOD I miss Spy. I think they filled out my subscription with Details or some crap when they stopped. They also still owe me ten bucks for a t-shirt.

Years ago my family suddenly received several copies of the same magazine (one in each family memeber's name) as a replacement for different magazines which had suddenly gone under... turns out the 3 different magazines were actually from a single publisher.

So we did some searching.

What we found out....

In generalities the subcription service most likely went through a 3rd party fulfillment service and that 3rd party is trying to fulfill the obligation of the publisher to send you some paper and ink in the form of another magazine handled by that 3rd party fulfillment center.

There is no money to refund to you, and even if there was money, the 3rd party fulfillment service does not owe you any money... it is the magazine publisher that owes you the money.

There are also times when the publisher will close a single magazine and transfer your subcription to another magazine published by the publisher .... and when the publisher lacks a replacement mag the publisher can purchase bulk subscriptions from a general periodical as a substitute.

Chasing the $ does you little good as you are you are about 1 steps up from the bottom in terms of being a secured creditor.

@Applekid:

Okay that was funny.

:D

@Applekid: That was just bizarre. Korean or Japanese, do you know?

@dripdrop: Same here, I thought it was funny that Jane would offer Glamour. Wasn't the original intent of Jane to be the OPPOSITE of what a mag like Glamour is?
I admit, I read the Glamours by the pool or while watching tv. But seriously, how many articles on different ways you can remove body hair do you have to read after age 12?
The pretty much write the same things over and over and over and over...