National Geographic – Fail!

As a travel writer, I received today an invite to subscribe to National Geographic magazine – which is lovely but expensive – for only £9.25, with a free gift of a rather nice camera bag. (Disclaimer: I’ve filmed for NatGeo in the past and am doing so again shortly!).

Unfortunately, no matter what I tried, the online form refused to accept my details – I kept getting a pop up saying I had to use “only Alphanumeric characters”, with every compulsory box still highlighted (so no clues there then!).

Apart from the unhelpfulness of the message (surely someone tested this form?), I actually wanted the subscription, so I persevered, trying a different computer, but to no avail.

So I rang them.

Quick answer, great person on the other end – but when I tried to explain the reason I was ringing, rather than ordering online, she was not interested.

Now, if I was paying for this service (and I am, in a way) I’d know that having a person take my details rather than via a computer form is much more expensive, so I’d have a system to feedback any problems.

So, NatGeo, love your work, love working for you – but do have a look at your system for taking my hard earned money off me, please!

 

 

Bloomberg Businessweek Direct Mail – Fail!

I received a direct mail shot today, inviting me to a tempting offer – a years issues of Bloomberg Businessweek, reduced as a “Market Development Test” and as a “Magazine Relaunch research Discount” from £150 to only £56.

I tend to look at these offers both from the point of view of a potential subscriber – and also to see what I can learn from people who send out millions of direct mail shots every year and presumably knw a thing or two about marketing.

There’s small print, of course, in the letter’s footer. I’ve to allow 2 to 4 weeks for my first issue (really annoys me that – it’s a weekly so why make me wait so long?), and 4 to 6 weeks for my Free Gift (thier capitals).

Err, hang on. What free gift? No mention of a free gift in the letter body copy.

Ah, they’ve spent ages and lots of money buying a list with my name on, carefully crafted a nice, appealing sales letter -and then just duplicated “the standards T’s and C’s”. Ho hum.

I wonder what the free gift is that other people have been offered. Was the offer cheaper? Or dearer, perhaps, as I’d been so carefully chosen?

Either way, I won’t be ordering (tempted though I was).

Can’t be dealing with sloppy companies. After all, if they can’t get their terms right, who knows what errors slip into the magazine – or out of my credit card account?

Update: Ooh, it gets worse!

According to their letter to me, I will also recieve their iPad app and full updates every Thursday. But this is all available for free to anyone, according to the big red splash on their homepage.

Bloomberg, tell me again why I should subscribe for real money?

Another Update: It gets worse (no, I didn’t believe it could, either!). After you get the free iPad app, the content is $2.99 a month. As this actually makes their direct mail offer even better value, why on earth didn’t they add this value in the sales letter?

And Another Update: Ye Gods, it gets worse. A banner ad on their home page offers anyone the same offer for the same price, yet the letter says the offer is “non-transferable”!

And Another Update: Grin. This gets funnier. If I follow the link on their sales letter to order online (it doesn’t work unless oyu add the www, incidentally, so they need to sack a few programmers, too), I get redirected to a new sales page with the same offer, but this time I get a free mouse.

JobCentre Staff To Strike

Y

ou’d think they – of all people – would know just how difficult it is to find a job, surely?

Perhaps they’re going to spend the day looking for self-employed opportunities?

Sigh!