Outside Magazine Will Send Your Free 2009 Calendar When It's In The Discount Bin

Outside Magazine offered Tracey two free 2009 Calendars if she signed up for an annual subscription early last December. She thought her dad would enjoy the magazine and the calendar, so she accepted. Now it’s March and there’s still no calendar, and Tracey says every time she calls to complain, they tell her they’ll send it. In the meantime, her dad still has no idea what day it is.

Here’s her story:

At Christmas, I received a special offer via email from Outside Magazine for a gift subscription. The offer was that “an offer too good to refuse” promotion to order a year subscription to Outside Magazine for Christmas. With that, you get a free Outside 2009 Wall Calendar for your gift recipient, and a free Outside 2009 Wall Calendar for yourself. The subscription was going to be a Christmas gift for my father. I placed this order around December 10th. This sounded like a great deal because the calendar was really nice, and was going to be an extra Christmas gift for my dad. And I was looking forward to getting it for myself also.

I have yet to see the calendar. Nor has my father. His subscription started in February. I have called Outside Magazine 3 times in regards to the calendars we never received. They keep telling me they will send it. I’ve had to call once a month at least to check in. It’s now March. I called again a week ago, and the customer service rep said it was “on order” to both of our addresses, to be delivered in 4 to 6 weeks! Meaning, almost May 2009?? (If I ever see them at all!)

I would have never ordered this subscription if I knew the “great Christmas promotion” with the free 2009 calendars weren’t going to arrive until mid-year of 2009…

Tracey, we suggest you call back and explain to them that the calendar is at least 25% useless at this point, and that they didn’t deliver as promised. Perhaps they can either substitute another free gift or add an extension to your subscription. If they refuse, you can always cancel the subscription and find another magazine that your dad will like. You shouldn’t do business with companies that don’t deliver on their side of the deal.

And yeah, we know it takes a while for magazine subscriptions to kick in (apparently the back-end to magazine fulfillment is handled by a horse and buggy system), but if they always knew they weren’t going to deliver the calendar until after the sub started in February, they probably should have offered a premium that isn’t so time sensitive.

(Photo: Trevor Manternach)

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