As magazines continue to struggle, some are treating subscribers the way Tommy Boy does biscuits that represent Callahan brake pad sales contacts. Take Rick, who was good enough to pay upfront for two years of Reader’s Digest, and now must field offers from the company to renew the four-month-old subscription:

At the end of July, I started a new 2-year subscription to Reader’s Digest magazine. As is typical of any new magazine subscription, I received the July and August issues right-off and have since received the September and today, the October issues. This puts me four months into a 24 month subscription.

Attached to the issue I received today, I received a Renewal Notice. I’ve just started the subscription! That’s pretty damned pushy; are they expecting many people will just pay the bill without reading? Do other magazine follow this practice?

Talk about Reader’s Indigestion. What’s the earliest a magazine pulled a Darrelle Revis and begged you for an early contract extension?

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