CQ Magazine Question

[beischel]

Have a three year subscription with about 15 months remaining. Constant very late delivery of the magazine. Requested a refund on October 2 and still have not received a refund or received any issues since September. Even the December digital issue has still not been posted on Zinio. I cannot see how CQ can survive with this endless string of failing to get a magazine out on time. Most people will not renew because they cannot fix the problem. They are in a death spiral. Just a matter of time until we learn they are shutting down.

 

[beischel]

CQ Woes Continue - More Bad News

Well anyone who subscribes to CQ Magazine is probably throwing their money away. CQ sent out a press release the other day announcing they are combining the January/February 2015 issues into one issue and discontinuing the CQ Plus edition that was only available on Zinio. Things continue to go downhill. This is actually expected since they have not communicated openly and honestly and rarely reply to customers inquiries and requests for refunds. My guess is that they will be out of business this year. Doubt they even have the money to go to Dayton this year. RIP CQ Magazine.

 

[MK]

Thank for you the updates and keeping this thread alive. You are right about CQ being on the path to going out of business. Magazine customers keep abandoning print media every year. Even Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia had to shut down two magazines. For a while it was thought that all of the MSLO publications would have to be shut down.

So few people are even buying books these days that Barnes & Noble has been on life support for years. Visit one of their stores and watch the customer behavior at the magazine rack. A prospective customer picks up a magazine, reads it while in the store, and then figures it is not worth the cost. CQ is probably aware that their advertisers are not getting their money's worth out of print media anymore. It makes one wonder if interest in amateur radio itself is declining more rapidly than some would have you believe.

 

[SCPD]

I had a subscription to CQ about 10 years ago.
I don't remember if it ran late or not, but the thing that really irked me was that in the span of a week, I got the month currently on the newsstand, and two past months. And they were starting the subscription with the oldest issue I got in the mail.

 

[k8krh]

It is to bad, only leaving QST which is surviving on ads, plus ads and more ads.

Nothing left anymore, pop comm gone, vhf magazine gone, ..
DOCTOR/795

 

[AK9R]

This is actually expected since they have not communicated openly and honestly and rarely reply to customers inquiries and requests for refunds.

It is troubling that they don't seem to communicate publicly with their subscribers except for the occasional announcement about how they are re-trenching yet again. Oddly enough, I read CQ's latest announcement on the ARRL web site, not on CQ's web site.

As for replying to customer inquiries, every time I have called them on the phone, I've talked to a live person who answered my questions and dealt with my problems (usually the lateness of the delivery). The last time I called was due to the November 2014 issue being late. A few days later, I received a copy of the November issue in an envelope. My regular subscription copy arrived a week later.

My point is that while saying that they don't reply to emails or posts on social media may be quite true, you can't make a blanket statement that they don't respond to customers at all because my experience is just the opposite...if you get them on the phone.

Doubt they even have the money to go to Dayton this year. RIP CQ Magazine.

If they do have a booth there, I may have to drive over to the Hamvention just so I can personally express my disgust to Rich Moseson. How Mr. Moseson, who is editor, and Dick Ross, the publisher, can show their faces in public as representatives of CQ magazine is beyond my comprehension.

BTW, I know a person who holds a lifetime subscription to CQ. It was something that CQ offered several years ago. My friend knows that CQ is nearing the end and he is quite bitter that CQ hasn't even bothered to communicate with the lifetime subscribers about the future of their subscriptions.

 

[uli2000]

I ordered the digital version thru the Zinio iPad app. CQ and Zinio want $27/yr thru their websites, but on the iPad app, it's $11/year. I bought a couple of years for that price. And I usually get the magazine the first week of the month or so. I think I got October's on the 7th or 8th which is the latest I've gotten it since the combined issue a few months back. And the added CQ plus content isn't bad, but nothing groundbreaking in it either.

Well, I guess I learned my lesson. My post above wasn't my only post in defense of CQ's online version. Am I mad about another combined issue? Sure, a little. Am I mad about losing CQ Plus? Honestly, not really. But the thing thats made me mad was the lack of communication. Could CQ send out an email regarding the Jan/Feb issue? I understand that they may not have that info for all subscribers, but since I recieve digital only, they have mine. I had to find out in an ARRL email buletin. I've got a year left on my subscription, plus, it was purchased thru Zinio, so I doubt I have any recourse to cancel or get anything when they finally fold in a few months time. And to think I almost ponied up a couple years more a few months back. Glad the wait and see approach finally paid off.

 

[N8OHU]

A lot of print magazines are very old school, as are many other businesses; they don't respond via email/social media, but they will respond via telephone or snail mail (aka postal mail). Sadly, a lot of our complaints are about things that are generally out of their control; one reason that QST and other ARRL publications are still in print and on schedule is because, as far as I know, they own the printing facilities, which isn't always the case with magazines.

 

[WB8NUT]

In reference to communication from CQ. Yes, they respond to emails and phone calls some of the time. A number of people complained on various boards about not receiving responses to phone calls and emails. They responded to my emails when I asked for a refund on October 2. They said they would extend my sub by three months. I had enough of the extensions and said, no I've had enough. Waited about a year for things to get better and just want my money back. Well no more email communication from them. I keep sending emails asking for my refund and they are ignored. They shut off delivery of the magazine, but have not sent a refund. Last issue I received was September. Still have a Zinio sub that runs out in the summer, then that's it, I'm done with them.

Yes, must all of us read about their continued trouble from the ARRL, not from CQ. Amazing they can send out emails to buy their calendar, but cannot send emails to subscribers telling them what is going on at the magazine.

They hide, withhold the truth, do not communicate with the subscribers open and honestly and then in the combined January/February issue (on Zinio) they ask for our continued support. Really? CQ wants us to support them when they lie to us? When they don't properly and honestly communicate with us? Some will but I think most will not.

This is without a doubt, a textbook case on how not to manage a crisis at a business and why I don't see them surviving past this year. They will get no more of my money.

In fact, I have already replaced the subscription with a membership to the RSGB and a sub to RadCom. Expensive yes, but at least I will receive it on-time each month. That alone is worth the extra cost.

 

[beischel]

This is rather amusing, a poor wife ordered CQ Magazine as a subscription gift for her husband at Christmas. She has made the same post numerous times on the CQ Facebook page.

"DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS SCAMMER...........I this mag. as a Christmas gift for my husband and they will not return my phone calls, will not return my emails........... I ordered, and got a confirmation 11/14!! These people are out to rip you off!!"

Her name is listed as Jeanie Hurnblad.

 

[beischel]

CQ Magazine again deleted all the negative comments off their Facebook page while leaving only the few positive comments. They also blocked anyone who posted negative comments from posting again. CQ continues to try and hide the truth from subscribers and potential subscribers.

There was a post that remains where someone said they heard CQ was going out of business. CQ responds, no, and that they will "see you at Hamcation." Amazing they can spend the money to go to Hamcation, but cannot send out the magazine to their subscribers on-time or at all.

 

[K4IHS]

CQ deleted my comments, won't give me my money back, won't send the magazines, won't answer my emails (I've sent 26) and blocked me from posting. What a great magazine!!!

 

[beischel]

CQ deleted my comments, won't give me my money back, won't send the magazines, won't answer my emails (I've sent 26) and blocked me from posting. What a great magazine!!!

Yup, same here. Over a year remaining on my subscription. Asked for refund on October 2. No refund, but they stopped sending me the magazine. Last issue I received was September.

However, I got an email from a ham on Saturday that said the CQ ordering page "was down for maintenance." Well as of today, it is still down.

Not for a minute do I believe it is truly a "maintenance" issue. My guess is that the credit card company shut them down because they had too many charge-back requests. When a credit card company gets a lot of those it sends up a red flag. My guess is the card company or whoever processes their sales said enough and shut them off. Just a guess, don't know for sure.

If that is the case, they are probably scrambling looking for someone to handle the e-commerce credit card transactions for them and cannot bring up the ordering part of their website without it. If they cannot find someone to take them on, they're really going to be in trouble.

I mean if business is that difficult as they have stated, who in their right mind would take down their ordering site if they need cash? So the maintenance issue seems to be a smoke screen to me.

 

[eorange]

I just got my December 2014 issue - woo hoo!

 

[k8krh]

I did to, today......
DOCTOR/795

 

[elk2370bruce]

CQ deleted my comments, won't give me my money back, won't send the magazines, won't answer my emails (I've sent 26) and blocked me from posting. What a great magazine!!!

Time to turn this over to a lawyer,

 

[beischel]

Lawyers and CQ's Digital Survey on FB

No lawyer will take this on because CQ has no money. Lawyers do need to be paid.

The best way to deal with poor businesses, poor management and poor products are to just not do business with them and warn others to avoid these bad businesses. Eventually they will go out of business.

BTW, a week ago CQ started asking for comments on if amateurs would still support them if they went all digital. So the handwriting is on the wall. They cannot afford to print the magazine now so it is just a matter of time. Most comments were that they wanted paper to remain. As usual, CQ deleted any comments they did not like and banned those posters from making any future comments.

CQ is in an interesting situation. Magazines who only use an all-digital format, in general, do not last. The reason is that all-digital magazines cannot get the same amount of money for advertising because people do not retain and respond very well to all digital ads in digital magazines. Which is why many people prefer paper.

In any case, that is an argument for another day. But I remember CQ making comments last year that they denied they were going all-digital. Now it appears they have to in order to stay alive, But even it they go all digital, it will only delay what I think will be inevitable. Bad businesses eventually close down.

 

[AK9R]

As usual, CQ deleted any comments they did not like and banned those posters from making any future comments.

I was one of those who has been banned from commenting on CQ's Facebook page.

I had been toying with the idea of subscribing to their digital edition. However, I was annoyed by them publishing a Table of Contents in the print edition that included listings for articles that were only in the digital edition. It seemed like an un-necessary tease tactic.

Then, they banned me from their Facebook page. That was the last straw. CQ magazine will not get another dime from me as long as Dick Ross is publisher and Rich Moseson is editor.

 

[beischel]

Agreed, many are banned for complaining about not receiving what they paid for and the only reason they reached out on Facebook was because CQ ignored their emails and phone calls.

Whoever is responding to the Facebook comments is very confrontational with customers and at times has made fun of their comments and opinions. CQ just continues to go downhill and just deserves to go out of business in a lesson to other businesses as to what happens when you lose complete focus on the customer.

 

[k8krh]

I got my JANUARY&FEBRUARY edition yesterday, in fact I have 3 copies mailed to me.
DOCTOR 795