What else can you call an organisation that takes your money and then refuses to deliver your goods? Apart from a paddy three weeks ago (for which I apologised profusely), I've waited patiently for the, as yet, non arrival of issue 62. Three days ago, the (unmanned) subscription number promised a personal response to missing issue queries. That message has now gone and been replaced by one that shifts the blame to RM and gives no date by which ST will replace the copies that ST 'says' they have posted and that they are contractually obliged to deliver. The issue 62 thread is now inaccessible, presumably because ST is trying to strifle negative publicity, and I've reached the point that all my blind loyalty (many, many years of it) to ST has been replaced by the bitter belief that the whole lot of them are nothing but a bunch of cheap thieving con artists. The moment any of them have the guts to answer the phone is the moment I cancel my subscription. Burn me, flame me, I don't care, I'm past all caring. If any other organisation behaved with such disregard to forward paying customers, they'd have been on Watchdog or some other program that exposes fraud weeks ago.
Get a grip.
Shit happens. It's a magazine. If the worst thing in your life is that your bike magazine hasn't been delivered then you are a luckier person than most of us!
I'm sure that they are working to sort it out.
mine arrived this morning. HTH.
Mine arrived this morning, thanks very much guys.
Had a bad day?
On the staff AH?
The issue 62 thread is now inaccessible, presumably because ST is trying to strifle negative publicity
You're right. I reckon they hobbled the serves as a cover up. And to purge the forum of TJ's witterings.
Mine arrived the other day, your not alone in having your issue delayed so wind yer neck in. 🙄
Good god, at least there's no real problems in the world. It's a £4 magazine. Get on Bike Radar and you'll see that MBUK hasn't turned up either (and neither has my £50 Ground Effect merino top...)
What a ridiculously over the top response to something that IS NOT IN THE CONTROL of the company. Yes, they have a responsibility to deliver their product, but they've been right royally shafted by Royal Mail. I had an eloquent response from Jamie this morning following the automated response that you get when you email the subs address, and rest assured, they're (almost) as hacked off about is as you.
I don't have an answer, they don't really, but it's not really worth the objectionable rant you've just made. I'm not prone to posting on this sort of thread but on this occasion... get some perspective.
So your magazines late? I dread to think what you're like if you have a real problem.
No, good day tbc, just effed up at the end by ST's thieving
According to our records you did not tip your postie, so take your sensitive soul to WHS and buy a copy I,m sure Chipps and Co will reimburse.
Stoner - purge me? Do you think STW is run by Stalin?
Its not theft anyway. It could be fraud but it ain't theft
HTH
Well you just stole a minute of my life when I read your drivel lazlo. I'm phoning Crimewatch.
Gone to the hills, sod off back there. And take Andituck with you
Singletrack stole from me also.
I seem to be missing about an hour of my life most days.
Hangings too good for them!
purge me
Ive got a picolaxochino for you here....
You're one person who's not received their magazine. The owners and operators of Singletrack depend on thousands of satisfied customers for their livelihood. I'm sure they're doing everything they can to ensure you, along with all other subscribers, get their mags as soon as possible.
No really lazlo53, it's not worth your insults, heart rate and hair pulling. Sometimes these things happen. Rest assured, a time will come when you need to get as angry and upset as you clearly are at the moment, but right now, it's not worth it. Believe me - I speak from experience.
We have 1 left I think. In defence of STW who I know are not ripping anyone off we will send it to you if you POP the cover price in a cancer charity box.
The guys are probably in bed right now and can't offer an answer to you so I trust you will be a man about this when they get round to seeing this.
Cheers sc-xc, I've read enough of your crap
What a knob. I mean, seriously.
Mine arrived today btw, still waiting for some other publications from other companies who also aren't common thieves and who would (if I was a ridiculous enough person to phone up and complain) say exactly the same thing.
Good troll.
Man enough tbc? At least I'm answering, unlike ST who are just hiding behind answerphone messages
You'll shorten your life getting that het up mate,
you can have my copy if you want it. (its only the newsagent copy tho, and its been in the bog for a week or so now)
Would I be being presumptious to think that alcohol may be involved here...
It's that good is it sweepy?
got mine a few days ago. Wasn't too bothere about the wait really....until I found out I missed out on the compi for magura brakes which I was definately going to win.
Once I noticed that I decided to burn down the ST office with all the staff in it if I'm ever in the area with a can of petrol handy.
lazlo53 Keyboard warrior and a right tit.
Sometimes yes but not tonight psling
I can spend a lot of time in that bog, its my sanctuary, a bit like that ice cave supermans got.
😯
Don't beat around the bush fh, if you've got something to say just spit it out
Not to worry - I hear they're going to be sending you a complimentary t-shirt to make up for it.
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As an aside, I can well believe that the STW team are very peed off indeed - at least one of the ads (CTC if memory serves) was time sensitive in that it was trying to flog Gift Memberships in time for Christmas.
I doubt such advertisers will be amused by the thought that subs readers didn't get their mags until the New Year.
Just for the record, I don't give a tinker's toss when it turns up because I'm not plain weird. If anything, I just feel a bit bad for the mag staff.
Nope, we've not gone to bed here. I'm actually writing stuff to go in the next issue of the magazine...
Anyway... Lazlo, if there's no response on the subs line, which is studiously manned by Jamie alone for many hours a day, though even he has to eat lunch or have a wee occasionally, then anyone is welcome to call 01706 813344, the main office number, which we list in the magazine, and that will always be answered - from around 9am until gone 8pm most evenings... If you'd like a personal rant, my direct line is 01706 814249.
Hopefully my subs copy will turn up this week too...
Sorry you're disappointed - we are too, but I'm still hopeful that nearly all of the missing issues will appear soon. If you bump into me at a bike event this year, I'll buy you a beer and we can talk about the joys of magazine distribution.
All the best
Chipps
Hmmm. This all seems so disproportionate I am going to have to side with SBZ.
Yeah, and they stole all my forum postings. I'm disgusted.
Don't beat around the bush fh, if you've got something to say just spit it out
Unlike you I can restrain myself, I expect you feel rather silly now.
We only borrowed them aracer 😉
If you'd like a personal rant, my direct line is 01706 814249.
I'm not sure that was wise - just think of all the crank calls you're going to get from singlespeeders and 650bers. 😀
Overtired much?
Your bike magazine was a bit late, that's all. Have a beer, take a deep breath and relax. It'll all seem better in the morning. 🙂
Have we really got this worked up over a copy of a magazine or was Lazio's copy meant to come with this weeks winning lottery numbers in it?
If ever we have a real crisis someone remind me not to join the same queue for lifeboats that Lazio's in, he'll kick off if he doesn't get shotgun!
Mine arrived yesterday, yes it was late, yes i was dissapointed it didn't arrive on time but as I assume Chipps doesn't deliver them all individually by hand (perhaps something to throw into the think tank for future months?) I accept that the situation was out of ST's hands.
PS the mag's great when it arrives, loads of lovely stuff in there. If you don't get a copy you've really missed out. In fact it's so good I'm off to have another read. I'll send you a pic of the magazine if that helps?
Thanks Chipps, I appreciate the personal reply but I can only guess that Jamie has really, really long lunches? And you're not as disappointed as me, because you've got my money and I've not got your mag. WRT the beer, that'd be great, I've entered the Marin Rough Ride and I'm thinking about the Newcastleton 24 hr. But I'll not be a subscriber by then. But if you're interested to know just how loyal I have been over the years, then ask Nathan
Regards
Laurence
Are you also considering boycotting Royal Mail. Seriously the post has been appalling for the last 3 weeks, stuff I ordered from CRC on 17th December still hasn't turned up, although other stuff I ordered since turned up in two days. Try and relax feller 😉
No I don't fh, but do you feel quite righteous?
There did seem to be a bit with the post where it all went wrong (around the first snow) and lots of stuff seemed to get put in a big heap somewhere, later stuff then started getting through fine and I assume they're only just getting time to go back to the back corners of the panic-warehouse and sifting through the issues.
If the answerphone was on, it might have been that Jamie was busy typing in the hundreds of new subscribers' details in time for them (and everyone else) to get the next issue in time. See you in Newcastleton then.
That's assuming I finish writing this issue in time... er...
Thanks Chipps, I appreciate the personal reply but I can only guess that Jamie has really, really long lunches? And you're not as disappointed as me, because you've got my money and I've not got your mag. WRT the beer, that'd be great, I've entered the Marin Rough Ride and I'm thinking about the Newcastleton 24 hr. But I'll not be a subscriber by then. But if you're interested to know just how loyal I have been over the years, then ask Nathan
Regards
Laurence
Who's questioned your loyalty !!! your not very gracious are you, are you a hormonal teenager or just forgotten to take your happy pills.
Again, thanks Chipps, maybe Jamie would have been better employed in ensuring that the last issues went out. Thanks for the number, I'll get in touch to cancel my subscription
Laurence
There did seem to be a bit with the post where it all went wrong
...was that with the first ranting sentence? 😉
Well I'm with lazlo53. I haven't got my copy either and it's ridiculous that your small magazine should be blame the awsome might of the ever efficient Royal Mail. Travesty indead... Can I have a beer with Chipps now to?
Editing what I here alot a work "Don't let the effers get you down." Cracking mag, inspired me to get off my not insignificantly sized back end and ride. Cheers and keep them coming.
PS You can access the PDF version very easily. Not as handy in the bog admittedly but it's there for the taking.
Still here fh?
Nice offer of Chipps to buy lazlo53 a beer but I don't think he's old enough, you can always buy him a Tizer though...can I have his copy of ST seeing as he's paid for it and doesn't want it anymore.
PS You can access the PDF version very easily. Not as handy in the bog admittedly but it's there for the taking.
that's what the ipad was invented for innit
Lazlo Chill out! I'll buy you a pint too- just get the tight wads on-line version like me and its never late, well maybe it is I'm not that anal about it
Lol so many worse things in life! If you were waiting for a whole bike maybe but not a 4 quid mag 😀 do make sure you stop posting on here once you have cancelled your subs, obviously you wouldn't want to associate with these charlatans! :p
Sleepy times now children, night night. Oh, and fh, thanks for your invaluable input, I've put it in the bucket marked 'crap'
I still can't tell if lazlo is trolling? Quite amazing people can get so wound up about this stuff.
Very, very last post tonight, because I am an old man and I'm tired. I don't actually know what 'trolling' is db100? My op is meant, and was the only way to get a response from ST (and quite obviously I don't care tuppence what others might think)
Very, very last post tonight, because I am an old man and I'm tired. I don't actually know what 'trolling' is db100? My op is meant, and was the only way to get a response from ST (and quite obviously I don't care tuppence what others might think)
Best double post EVA! Because it [i]wasn't[/i] the
was it? 😀 Cos there was another! Do you see?Very, very last post tonight
Jamie is absolutely swamped. It's always the busiest time of the year for subscription processing but this year we've had the perfect storm with the state of Royal Mail. There is currently no one working or caring harder in the office right now than Jamie is and he is coping amazingly well. No one is sitting back and rubbing their hands thinking how lovely it is to have any subscribers £3.12 when they don't yet have the mag. Everything we can do we are doing. Royal Mail are amazingly slow at providing anyone in the publishing industry, from the little guys like us right up to the huge corporate magazine publishing houses of London, with any kind of explanation or expectation. All subscribers mags were posted in the first week of December and currently the vast majority have been delivered. We believe the remaining delayed copies are small in number and that they will arrive by the end of this week. We are receiving messages by email, as well as on this site and even twitter that mags are still arriving with subscribers.
Typically, we have a contingency of an extra 50 copies of the mag set aside for replacements that have been lost in the post. We've never needed more than 30. We have almost 4500 print subscribers so we think that's not a bad rate of loss for each issue. We expect we will need more than that on this occasion and so we are currently arranging for spare copies to be pulled back out of the newstrade distribution channels like WHSmiths and Tesco in order that we will have enough to be able to make sure that every subscriber gets a copy. Taking copies back out of highstreet distribution will cost us considerably but that's not any subscribers concern as we will make sure that everyone gets a copy if their copy is lost. And that's the main issue at the moment. When do we declare copies as lost? Copies are still being delivered all around the country today. RM are no help right now and have given no one any information as to the expectation that the backlog will be cleared.
As for RM compensating us for failing to deliver your mags within the 5 days that they set for a Presstream delivery, well that all depends on the final assessment of their performance by an audit at the end of the year. If it is shown that over the period of the year ending 31st December 2010 that they didn't average a 97% delivery rate within 5 days then they will have to pay ALL Presstream account holders 5% of their total spend with RM for every percentage point under their target. RM don't compensate on an individual publisher basis and so we will have to wait, like every other publisher, for the final audit of RM's performance over the entire year. That, we can expect to wait months for and since we are talking about mags only posted in a very narrow window at the start of December of maybe a few days, how all this affects an average that is calculated over a whole year I don't know. Sadly I'm not that optimistic that it will make much of a difference to the stats at all.
But after all that, let me sum up where we are at right now and what we are planning to do. We are still waiting for deliveries of issue 62 to stop. Deliveries are still happening every day but we think we are very close to the point where we will be able to draw a line in the sand and start posting out replacements. In preparation we are calling back newstrade copies. If you have emailed or called to report your copy has not arrived then you will be contacted by Jamie shortly to first confirm whether or not your copy has arrived and then to send you a replacement if it hasn't.
Finally, Lazlo.. We all appreciate your frustration.. in fact we share it with you. But to call us thieves is hugely insulting and I don;t appreciate that at all. We, more than any other magazine (ALL magazines in the UK have been hit with this issue) have kept a very public update running as to the issues we are dealing with. There is uptodate information on this website, on the automatic email responses to the subs@singletrackworld.com address and also on the direct subs phone line. Jamie has been fielding calls and emails constantly since well before Christmas and he has done his absolute best to make sure that everyone gets this information. If you wish to cancel your subscription then Jamie will sort that out for you in the same professional and courteous way he has dealt with every aspect of this crisis that was fundamentally not of our own making.
Has anyone with a missing sub from any other cycling magazine had a personal or public response from both the Editor and the Publisher after midnight?
Well said, now where's my issue 62 damn it? No I'm only kidding I don't subscribe. 😆
Personally, I would have just ignored the prick. So kudos to you Mark.
Ace thread, thanks Laurence, now I really know what a tube is.
What a hilariously sad post this is ... all for the sake of a £4 magazine subscription. Get a life you miserable sod.
"But to call us thieves is hugely insulting and I don;t appreciate that at all."
Well said. How about an apology Lazlo?
I'm truly amazed by Lazlo's post and responses, he clearly needs to get out more!! I've had some bike related Christmas presents lost in the post from Dec 5th, (£100 worth)!!!! They have now been replaced in the last couple of days as they are officially lost according to Royal Mail. So the mag is by no means alone, I'd hate to think how many companies countrywide have had a nightmare with all this!!
Well done to Chipps and Mark for very professional and informed personal replies. Best mag out there!!!
Best mag out there!!!
Well...let's not go crazy.
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Jamie - MemberPersonally, I would have just ignored the prick. So kudos to you Mark.
Oi, Jamie - shouldn't you be dealing with subs issues instead of wasting your time here?
🙂
Post has been messed up for weeks. The bad weather (remember that?) has thrown a spanner in the works and the delivery firms across the country had probably decided that clearing the backlog of xmas presents on time would have been the best move.. good on them,they seemed to do a good job and probably got no thanks at all.
Its only now the piles of other parcels are getting sent out into our hands so dont think its just this magazine thats the problem.. in the shop we have waited for some stuff that was sent out around the 21st of dec that only arrived today.We didnt call up the company.We just knew it would turn up.no big deal. I ordered stuff from Devon and and Cornwall around the 23rd and 24th dec and expected them to arrive around the 4th, which they did, i didnt go calling any of them up as its just wasting peoples time.. bringing folk away from their jobs which then causes other peoples post to run late. Things have gone a bit loopy in the country as of late so why do folk not hold their horses and let people get on with their jobs to speed things up?
Oi, Jamie - shouldn't you be dealing with subs issues instead of wasting your time here?
It's fine, I have got someone to cover for me.
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IndeedPersonally, I would have just ignored the prick. So kudos to you Mark.
Personally, I'd have cancelled the remainder of his subs, refunded the cost of the missing issue, threatened court action if he repeats any of his libelous allegations and called him a dandyprat.
What a fantastic thread, its certainly cheered up my otherwise uninspiring night shift of patient property audits.
Highlights for me have been:
"Stoner - purge me? Do you think STW is run by Stalin?"
and my new favourite insult "dandyprat".
God bless you Lazlo 😉
late nights/early mornings just wouldn't be the same without STW. The finest example of toy throwing I have seen for a long time.
Does this count as flouncing off, in the manner of Smurf-Mat?
ow my god where did lazlo53 come from im in greenland working at the mo and if parts take weeks longer than they should to arrive no one worry's or bitches on like a little old lady in a post office que. Im guessing your highly strung and sexualy frustrated (due to lack of a significant other) if i was you id go to the toilet with your laptop and typing finger type in porn and see were it takes you come back and then take note of what you have typed on screen 😉
Just my two pence
It's the increasingly frequency of bell ends like lazlo53 appearing on this site that makes it a less pleasant place to visit