Crochet Today Rant!!

[mountainangel]

AAAARRRRGGG!!!

Okay, first of all I LOVE the patterns in this magazine. In fact I love them so much I subsribed!!!

I purchased the April/May issue and waited until June 6th to subscribe so I wouldn't get the issue I purchased. Or so i thought!!! On or about June 20th I noticed the July/August Issue on the stands at Walmart. Got home and Lo and Behold!!! in my mailbox ------the April/May Issue????!!!!????, I just about cried. What is wrong with these people!!!! I immediately sent off an email to customer service.They have an online thingie you can email about a subscription issue but it wants an account number and none of the numbers on my mailing label were the right numbers for it to accept as an account number. So I just emailed the address provided in the magazine for customer service. No answer to my email. How rude!!!

When I had a question about a pattern in Interweave Crochet, the editor responded that day! and even though I was the one in error on the pattern directions she actually drew me a diagram to show how the stitch was supposed to go. Crochet today really has to improve it's customer service. I really feel ripped off! I want to make some of the things in the NEW Issue and I have no idea how long I'll have to wait. I will NEVER subscribe to Crochet Today again!

Thanks for listening. I apologize for getting so upset!

Angie

[tigermom]

I had the same thing happen to me!!

[Noahsmom]

I'm sorry you had trouble with the subscription and customer service. Maybe since you have 2 copies of the same issue, you could "gift" it to someone in the Holidays in July swap or in the wish list forum? That might make you feel better.

[luckybmr]

Many times magazines will do that when you subscribe - they will send you the previous issue. When that happens, I phone them and talk to customer service - I find that I get a much better response that way. If you call them, they should offer to add one issue on to the end of your subscription. I would also ask them when you can expect the new issue as it is already in stores and you prefer your subscriptions to come before it appears in the stores. I have done that also and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I really really hate when the magazine is in the store and I don't have mine yet. Especially this issue of Crochet Today - it is so good, at least I think.

 

Good Luck!

[matyson5]

I have found that they DO NOT reply to emails. I have emailed them several times about an issue and never got a reply. I finally had to call them, the lady I spoke to was very nice and I got the issue I needed right away. I would recommend calling them instead of using the email service.

[iamnichole]

back in the day i bought an interweave crochet mag and decided to subscribe because i loved all their patterns and yarns, etc. so, anxious, impatient me waits the 6-8 weeks and gets an interweave knit mag!!! ughhhh! so i called them to ask why i didnt get crochet and they said that it was a one time thing, and now look!!! sheesh! then i had to wait 6-8 weeks more to get my money back. blah! BUT, they do respond quickly with pattern help. And they answer the phone quickly without putting you on hold.

I haven't had a prob yet with crochet today! but yeah, they do let the stores get the mags before you. cosmopolitan does that too. i hate that. i dont want to look at it in the store!! i want to look at it at home.

[Empress Busy Bee]

I had wanted to subscribe to this magazine but I've read so many bad things about the service that I'd rather just buy it at the store.

[Karen C.]

Ditto on that..I won't subscribe again either I get the issues faster waiting for them in the bookstore. It's sad to say that because I really wanted to patronize the magazine to keep it going, but the service sucks!

[darski]

Ditto on that..I won't subscribe again either I get the issues faster waiting for them in the bookstore. It's sad to say that because I really wanted to patronize the magazine to keep it going, but the service sucks!

 

This is what I am feeling about my Hooked on Crochet subscription. I am completely sorry that I subscribed and I would not suggest anyone else do so. I wanted to start buying mags to support the industry. uh huh!

 

It seems to me that it shouldn't be that hard to publish and send out magazines if that is your job. how hard can it be to figure this out? it's been going on for centuries now and in 1800 they didn't have computers to do the thinking.

 

I am just hoping that at some point I will begin to get magazines but I consider the $30.oo cheap at the price to teach me not to do this again.

 

Ok, ok... off the now but I still get angry at myself for being stupid enough to sign up for this.

[missamorphosis]

I had the same thing happen to me with Crochet!. I think magazines just want you to get the most recent one, without asking if you have it already. Come to think of it, it happened with Crochet Today, too. I actually ended up with three of the same one because the person who gifted me my subscription bought the magazine for me, too. It wasn't a big deal to me, though. I'll still subscribe to them. They've been great to me as far as customer service. My emails and phone calls both have been answered and my problems were taken care of in a timely fashion.

[skydramini]

I've been wanting to subscribe to a mag or two but all these stories are putting me off. I keep drooling over mags and not buying any because of the desire to subscribe, so you can see my little vicious circle thing going on.

 

I'm really sorry this happened to you though. Thanks for sharing your story.

[Tiga]

Call the customer service number at Crochet Today!. They are a brand new magazine - not even out for a whole year yet. Their customer service is just one lady (Jane, I think?) - and apparently she's the customer service for several magazines they publish. She's very nice on the phone, and has helped me with two problems I've had - one a duplicate issue and one a late issue. I had to leave a message once, and she called me right back.

 

FWIW, there was no "June" issue - due to an error (two January issues), they skipped June and went from April/May to July/August.

 

What happened was last year, the second issue was December/January, then they put out a January issue for this year, and it messed up their numbering (Volume 1, number 1, etc.) or something.

 

So, just call them up, and ask to have the July/August issue sent out and they'll send it right out.

[WendyLee]

I had not received my June/July issue of Crochet Today and called the customer service number. I explained that I had not recieved my mag and with in a week had it. Just call, it is so much simpler and the lady was very nice!

[mountainangel]

Thanks for all your support and ideas everyone. I tried calling on Thursday; but they were out for the week. Can't call from work. Hopefully, I'll be able to get home by 4:45 and call. Hope they're open until 5 eastern time.

Angie

[shuttlebuggy]

I haven't made up my mind on them yet - I got just the 2 issues and already being hounded by them to renew - not too sure on that -- so maybe just finding it occasionally in the stores will have to be good enuf for me next time.

[TX CrochetLover]

The renewal thing drives me bonkers too. On Hooked on Crochet, the second issue I received had a please renew now notice.

[fancyk]

And just think someone sent their child to college to mess the whole thing up what was wrong with the old way? If it says new and enproved.dont believe it

[Greyling]

Whenever I start a new magazine subscription, I always send the little form in with a note to say when I would like to start the subscription. Example: If I purchased the June/July issue, I will ask them to start with the Aug/Sept issue.

 

I send it in a business size env., my own stamp, and it usually works.

 

[mountainangel]

Whenever I start a new magazine subscription, I always send the little form in with a note to say when I would like to start the subscription. Example: If I purchased the June/July issue, I will ask them to start with the Aug/Sept issue.

 

I send it in a business size env., my own stamp, and it usually works.

 

 

 

Thats a really good idea!

[Valerie826]

I've noticed that magazines are still better at telephone customer service than email customer service.

 

Valerie