Has anyone had any problems communicating with these companies:
Colored stone/jewelery Artist. I didn’t receive my Tucson show guide
and in spite of 3 email request have not heard a word or even a
confirmation that they rec’d my email. A couple of months ago I
submitted a suggestion for an article and was not even given the
courtesy of an acknowledgment of receipt. They do not have a phone
number for contact. Any suggestions?
Thanks
Gerry
Hi Gerry.
I had the same experience of not receiving my Tucson show guide a
few years ago. They said my subscription had expired - however, I had
received NO Show Guide during the term. Last February (2008), at the
AGTA show, I decided to try again and subscribed only after verifying
with the agent that my subscription would indeed include the Tucson
Show Guide for Feb 2009.
Well… the end of January this year - just before I was to head
down to Tucson - still no show guide.
I checked on the Colored Stone site and saw that my subscription
(the one I ordered in February of 2008) had expired with my November
2008 issue!!! Also on the website - a one year subscription is “6
issues”, “bi-monthly” and following the magazine description is this
entry:
“PLUS receive the Tucson Show Guide FREE! A must-have 500+ page
annual guide incides (sic) all major trade show locations, exhibitor
lists, and so much more. … Don’t go to the show without it. (TSG
mails at the end of December).” I think December occurs in any 12
month (one year) period that begins with February.
I was able to locate a number on the site and called, speaking first
with the representative who answered the phone. I was told that my
record showed Feb - November '08 they’d mailed “6 issues. That’s all
OK.”
When pressed about the show guide she said Colored Stone got my
subscription order from the agent “in March and started the new
subscription with the Jan/Feb '08 issue which is good through March.
To get the 2009 guide you must subscribe in March '09.” Duh?
The story was the same when I spoke with her supervisor. It seems
that my subscription had begun with the 2008 Show Guide available all
over Tucson at the time I entered my subscription because “it is
permissible to begin a new subscription with the then current issue”.
The website also notes: “allow 4 to 6 weeks for your new subscription
to process” but perhaps that doesn’t apply to subscriptions placed
with other vendors instead of through the website. I was assured that
Colored Stone acted on the subscription as soon as they received it
from the on-site vendor and that there was no notation on the order
that my subscription was to include the 2009 show guide.
I inquired of the supervisor: if having the Show Guide prior to my
Tucson visit was the reason for subscribing to Colored Stone, why on
earth would I subscribe when the Show Guide actually included with my
subscription would be the “old” issue then in everyone’s hands and of
limited use for the following year’s show? The Colored Stone
supervisor was unable to answer the question but did offer, as a
courtesy, to send me an '09 Guide which would take approximately 10
to ? days to arrive, by which time I would have finished my business
in Tucson.
I realize that a continually running subscription (renewed annually)
would eliminate the problem except for the first year and that
subscribing after that critical month of March might actually get you
a guide the first year of the subscription. However, I have decided
that I will not be subscribing to Colored Stone again.
YMMV
Pam Chott
www.songofthephoenix.com
Hi Gang,
I think the problem with magazine subscriptions is the person
(agent) you made the subscription with.
Many magazines have agents who don’t work for the magazine selling
subscriptions at shows like the Tucson Gems show. I subscribed
(renewed a subscription) to Lapidary Journal a number of years ago
with such an agent at the Tucson show. When my subscription ran out I
got a ‘This is your last issue’ card from LJ. When I called &
explained that I had renewed it at the Tucson show, they said they
had no record of the renewal & that the person/firm I renewed it with
had not submitted the renewal. So much for GOOD Deals for the
subscriber at the show.
It looks like shows aren’t the place to subscribe or renew
subscriptions to magazines.
Dave
They are published by Interweave Press. Here’s their contact
I’ve always had good luck just phoning them directly.
Interweave Press Inc
(970) 669-7672
Address: 201 E 4th St, Loveland, CO 80537