CQ Magazine Question

[k6cpo]

I finally received my December issue, on January 20th... The only January issue I have seen is the digital one because they converted my CQ VHF subscription. I'm still not inclined to renew at this point mostly due to the lack of customer service. CQ has not been forthcoming about why they are having problems and that's unfair to the subscribers.

Other hams have said that, in spite of CQ's problems, we should continue to support them because there aren't that many amateur radio magazines around. I, for one, will not support a publication that ignores my inquiries about where my paid-for issues are...

 

[ZL2FAE]

I am in the same situation.

I have paid for CQ VHF print and digital and received the card on October telling me the next edition I will get is the fall edition. It's now nearly Feb. No delivery and no response to emails. Unfortunately I paid with Paypal rather than Credit Card and have no ability to have the transaction reversed.

Well they will get a letter from me and one thing for sure is not another dime of my money.
They seem to have orchestrated their own demise, bad news travels fast!

 

[McCroskey]

Hard to disagree. I've been getting both issues (VHF and the regular) for a while now and I won't renew.

Giving your subscribers dodgy and cryptic notifications is inexcuseable, no matter what the circumstances may be.

 

[riverrat373]

I am in the same situation.

I have paid for CQ VHF print and digital and received the card on October telling me the next edition I will get is the fall edition. It's now nearly Feb. No delivery and no response to emails. Unfortunately I paid with Paypal rather than Credit Card and have no ability to have the transaction reversed.

Well they will get a letter from me and one thing for sure is not another dime of my money.
They seem to have orchestrated their own demise, bad news travels fast!

If you paid with Paypal you might contact them and let them know what is going on. They might refund your money.

 

[AK9R]

Update on the CQ Magazine situation from Amatuer Radio Newsline:

And finally this week, word that the print edition of CQ Magazine is alive well and catching up on its paper publication after a bout with distribution problems. This according to CQ editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, in a recent interview with Hap Holly, KC9RP, of the Radio Amateur Information Network. W2VU says that the folks at CQ are hard at work to get things back to normal:

W2VU: “We’ve had over the past few months some significant problems with distribution of our print issues. We apologize to all of our readers and are hoping that a lot of these changes we are making can help get us back on schedule. We really, really appreciate everyone’s patience with us and hope that you will continue to be patient as we work our way back to a normal schedule on our print issue.”

And what about the rumor that CQ is abandoning print in favor of digital only distribution? Moseson says that’s not going to happen with CQ:

W2VU: “We have no intention of abandoning print, but if you look around the magazine marketplace today, virtually every magazine that’s out there has a digital edition as well as a print edition. It’s just where the industry is going and what readers expect. They expect to have a choice between a digital and a print edition of a magazine.”

What about CQ’s other magazines? W2VU says that they will become a part of the expanded version of CQ found only on the web:

W2VU: “Beginning with the February issue of CQ we are incorporating elements of Popular Communications, CQ VHF and Worldradio Online into an expanded digital edition which we are calling CQ Plus. Its going to be another 50 pages long every month. Those other magazines are no longer going to be published independently so their content is going to be merged into this expanded digital edition of CQ.”

Moseson has a lot more to say about the future of CQ and publishing in general. You can hear the first part of this two part interview on line right now at http://www.therainreport.com/sound/rainreport.mp3.

 

[VE3JSO]

Update on the CQ Magazine situation from Amatuer Radio Newsline:

hopefully we will be able to see them back on canadian newsstands soon

 

[AK9R]

I received a CQ magazine renewal notice in the mail and my first thought was "why would I renew my subscription when they aren't honoring my current subscription". According to the label on the last issue I received, December 2013, my CQ subscription expires in May 2014.

So, I called their publication offices today.

I was told that the January issue had been mailed this past Tuesday (3/11/2014). Hopefully, I'll see it in my mail box soon. I was also told that their plan is to get the February and a combined March/April issue printed and mailed soon. Yes, a combined March/April issue. And, they emailed me links to the digital versions of the January, February, and March/April issues.

The good news here is that it seems as if things are moving forward. Based on what I saw in the digital editions, the editorial and lay-out work for all three issues is done. It's just a matter of getting them printed and mailed.

 

[RohnsRadio]

I'm lucky a local grocery store carries Popular Communications every month.

WOW! your local grocery store carries it? the only on the shelf here has sports, hunting, or the normal womens mags.

 

[RohnsRadio]

reading all the post about getting CQ mags late......
never have understood what keeps that mag going. when CQ-VHF came out i was charter subscriber. really looked forward to it. then they changed the layout and i gave it up, same goes with Popular Communications i have issue #1 around here somewhere. gave it up many years ago.

sad, the only real ham mag is QST and it is not the best out there (been an ARRL member for many years) when it comes to monitoring since Monitoring Times is gone there is another void.

the comment was made several times about digital versions. this, like it or not is the wave of the future, as cost go up for paper and then printing and finally postage some pubs will be too expenisve without being digital.

well thats just my two cents worth

 

[riverrat373]

I just received my first digital issues of CQ magazine yesterday as a substitution for my PopComm subscription that I signed up for last September! No print issues of CQ yet!!

 

[k8krh]

Guess what I received my JANUARY issue of CQ today, now lets see February maybe by MAY.

I certainly would not be an advertiser anymore either, one does not know when your ad will come out or if it will ever.

DOCTOR

 

[AK9R]

I received my January issue last week sometime. It was in my PO Box on Friday.

CQ blogged on March 10: "The January issue is in the mail now, with February to follow very soon, and the combined March/April issue will mail in early April. The magazine should be back on its regular schedule as of the May issue."

I know that the editorial and layout work for the February and combined March/April issues is done because CQ gave me links to the on-line version. It's just a matter of getting them printed and mailed.

 

[cabletech]

These people are all screwed up. I never had a sup to CQ yet today I too recieved a printed copy of January CQ.

The way things are going, will recieve a Feb copy in May and then a Mar in August.

 

[N0IU]

Even though this mess has pretty much already been sorted out, it was interesting to see the interview Gary Pearce KN4AQ had with Rich Moseson W2VU on his March 11 "Ham Radio Now" web cast.

HamRadioNow - Episode 136: CQ Magazine Update

He explains in great detail what happened with the various publications and why he made the decisions he did. It is a long interview (over an hour!) and they go off on some tangents, but there's nothing like getting it straight from the horse's mouth.

 

[beischel]

Even though this mess has pretty much already been sorted out, it was interesting to see the interview Gary Pearce KN4AQ had with Rich Moseson W2VU on his March 11 "Ham Radio Now" web cast.

HamRadioNow - Episode 136: CQ Magazine Update

He explains in great detail what happened with the various publications and why he made the decisions he did. It is a long interview (over an hour!) and they go off on some tangents, but there's nothing like getting it straight from the horse's mouth.

While this thread is a few months old, that interview did not really tell us anything and I pointed that out to Gary and he did asked more pointed questions at the Dayton Hamfest. Moseson still was not forthcoming on the real problems and what is being done to fix things. Here it is, August 7 and still no July issue and of course, no August issue. The combined March/April issue to get them back on track did not get them back on track. The magazine is still perpetually late. How much longer are subscribers going to tolerate this? How much longer with paying advertisers tolerate this? DX stations do not seem to be getting any deliveries. The issues with delivery of CQ have been going on now for about a year. CQ needs to be open and transparent with their customers and all they have done is lie to us and hide the truth. This poor handling of the situation at CQ does not build customer trust or loyalty. The only question that remains is who folds first - CQ or Radio Shack?

 

[lep]

Rich was in fact staffing the CQ Magazine booth at the ARRL 100th anniversary convention in Hartford, CT 2 weeks ago so there is no reason to hark back to Dayton in May. What was his explanation given to subscribers who stopped by his booth? Don't know, I am not a subscriber so other than nodding in his direction as we passed in the convention center hallways my only 'new' info is that RIch and CQ magazine are alive enough to still be attending major conventions.

 

[k6cpo]

While this thread is a few months old, that interview did not really tell us anything and I pointed that out to Gary and he did asked more pointed questions at the Dayton Hamfest. Moseson still was not forthcoming on the real problems and what is being done to fix things. Here it is, August 7 and still no July issue and of course, no August issue. The combined March/April issue to get them back on track did not get them back on track. The magazine is still perpetually late. How much longer are subscribers going to tolerate this? How much longer with paying advertisers tolerate this? DX stations do not seem to be getting any deliveries. The issues with delivery of CQ have been going on now for about a year. CQ needs to be open and transparent with their customers and all they have done is lie to us and hide the truth. This poor handling of the situation at CQ does not build customer trust or loyalty. The only question that remains is who folds first - CQ or Radio Shack?

I already let my subscription go...

 

[beischel]

Rich was in fact staffing the CQ Magazine booth at the ARRL 100th anniversary convention in Hartford, CT 2 weeks ago so there is no reason to hark back to Dayton in May. What was his explanation given to subscribers who stopped by his booth? Don't know, I am not a subscriber so other than nodding in his direction as we passed in the convention center hallways my only 'new' info is that RIch and CQ magazine are alive enough to still be attending major conventions.

Since I was referring the the ARVN interview, it was at Dayton and not at the ARRL convention so it was appropriate to mention it.

Radio Shack is opening its stores each day, doesn't mean they will survive another two years.

Maybe their attendance at major conventions is amounting to a farewell tour.

 

[AK9R]

I just called the main CQ office number (516-681-2922).

Was told that the July issue has been mailed, but the person who answered the phone could not tell me when. She offered to mail me "back-up" copy and is also emailing me a link to the digital edition.

I also asked about the August issue. Apparently it's done because they have the digital edition available and the person on the phone is also going to email me a link.

I'm an ARRL Life Member (which doesn't mean I agree with everything the ARRL does) and I enjoy reading QST, but I firmly believe that we need another printed voice in amateur radio. I hope CQ solves their problems.

 

[beischel]

I don't know of anyone who has received a paper copy of the July issue as part of their subscription. There is no August paper issue either. Delivery has gotten worse instead of better.

But a very bad sign is that Katie Allen has apparently left CQ after only a few months and joined HRD.

Unfortunately, I believe the end is very near. A once great magazine seems to be collapsing.

Moseson reminds me of the wizard in the Wizard of Oz. Out at hamfests telling people to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

One of the worst handing of a crisis that I have ever witnessed in this industry.