Hot Rods Rodders journal

Link in blueone's post #255.

Sent from my SM-G950W using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

It’s a separate publication, nothing to do with TRJ.
Published in Edmonton bi annually
A nice magazine.

Exactly

 

Are lady mail carriers called a femailman?
I’m so confused about these new gender terms.


Sent from my iPhone
www.speedoservice.com
Should I rush your rush job or the rush job I was rushing when you rushed in?

 

I think mailwoman. Or postal carrier. Or Mail carrier. The "Mail" is asexual..

 

Come on man, he was making a joke!
In this woke world, I thought it was funny.

 

I know,I know! Perhaps my joke wasn't as funny. . My point was that it is not the "mail" part but the "man" part that some folks perceive as the problem. Actually, it is the mail part that's a problem today. Nevermind.

 

...thanks for info on the Garage Shots magazines,..all squared away now

 

This morning I sent an email to Customer Service requesting my subscription payment returned.
If we are not getting what we paid for, I would like my money back.
Let's see if they will oblige the customer.
T/F

 

Any response ?

 

By the sounds of it, from their instagram posts, they have everyone in the company trying to answer customer complaints so he is probably way down on the list. They said " our editorial and customer service staff have been focusing on getting orders straightened out....we spend the bulk of our day going through voicemails, emails and messages." Not a good sign.

 

Yes, not a good sign

 

Perhaps not a good sign they have so many, but they're probably understaffed like everyone else and what's the alternative? I guess they could just delete everything and work on the next issue but I doubt that would satisfy everyone either. And, of course, lots of emails might include many favorable ones or orders. My Christmas present to a daughter is almost a month late- 180 miles. I don't like it but what is my viable alternative?

Sent from my moto g(6) using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

TRJ mentioned they were looking at different ways of mailing the issues out. The last few I received from them, it looks like they were bulk exported to Canada, then processed here, through Canada Post's periodical rate. Not sure why they can't do that still, or maybe even partner with US company that distributes their catalogs to us. I'm sure they can figure something out faster to help customer satisfaction.
On another note, a few weeks ago, I took a chance and ordered some back issues from them, but delivered to buddy's place in Michigan. I figured I didn't need back issues any time soon. Specified cheapest way, and they've already arrived. I can't get them due to border closure, but I did my part to help cash flow, so let's get the current issues here.

 

They are trying to find a traceable way to ship so they are not screwed out of thousands of dollars of magazines vanishing like they were in Australia and New Zealand. I can understand that. It's their terrible communication on the matter that has created so many angry customers.

 

What we know is that some number of folks didn't get their journal. A subset of those are pissed and can't be mollified. What we don't know is the number in each of those groups, the financial wherewithal to make it better, the staffing issues, and the affect of the pandemic.

I've been in business a long time and I know that sometimes things are just out of your control and can't be fixed. And sometimes, there are clients/subscribers with whom whatever you try to make things right won't work or that they can't be satisfied. It's a well known axiom that 10% of your accounts will create 90% of your problems. And that they'll give you a bad review no matter what you try or do. With those folks, cutting them loose, with as refund if you can and feel some responsibility, your fault or not, is the best recourse. It gives you the fastest recovery business-wise and sets you free from the unsolvable complaints.

I guess anyone recognizing themselves in that group should ask for a refund, leave the group, change their mind or
try to work with them. I don't believe they're trying to screw anybody and they already are aware of the problem. If it were me, I'd move the worst complainers to the back of the line/bottom of the pile and handle the larger group of easier cases first. but, that's just my two cents.

 

On a happier note, my kids got 2 of 3 of their packages today. Christmas in January. They averaged 6 miles a day. Hang in there, OZ!

 

yesterday got #84 from an Aussie Magazine Publication Business,
a few mailing problems occurred and they have promised me a free #85
when it arrives to cover my hardship. Book did cost me A$46
Very nice of them

 

Edited to include the part of your post that we care about.

Your opinion and comments on this are getting tiresome, irrelevant and worth considerably less than zero.

If you operate your business as you suggest you’re not someone anyone should do any business with.


This is not the thread you’re looking for, move along.

 

My Christmas catalogue arrived today. Like ACME 30, I live in Perth, Western Australia which would be the farthest any mail has to travel from the USA on the planet. ( Unless there are some miners living a 1000 miles away in the north-west who could have a subscription - not likely nut not impossible.)
So having proven it can get here, I hope we will see our magazines we paid for shortly.

And 5window, sorry, you are wrong. The group of complainers consists of EVERY SUBSCRIBER who does not live in the USA! To write us off as being worthy of getting put to the bottom of the pile because we have the audacity to expect to receive what we paid for or get timely communication about the problems shows you do not understand the problem at all.

Cheers
Alan

 

I agree with Alan and Blue One, that is 5window being 100% wrong.

I am in that group, I have asked for a refund, I am not leaving the 'group', I am NOT changing my mind, I have tried to work with them.

I renewed my subscription 21 months ago (pre-Covid) and have received 2 copies. Actually 3, when I was 'working with them' they sent a replacement copy that I got in 5 days and 6 weeks later I received the original copy (I checked the dates). I have since sent the second one to an Australian hot rodder who never got his #83. I did get my catalogue this week.
I will continue to buy TRJ, but pick it up locally.

I sent my refund request in on Sunday, had an email early Monday morning from Curt Iseli, Managing Editor. That is good service. I must have been an easier case as I was on the top of the pile. He asked why, and said 'We'd be glad to refund your subscription for the remaining amount.'
Awesome, a couple more emails, and my money was refunded. The shitty part is #84 has not been shipped.
As Curt said "We will be shipping them out, and each of our subscribers will be receiving the number of issues they paid for."

It is a great magazine. I have several of their posters framed on the shop wall and in my office.
I am blessed to have one of my cars on The Rodder's Journal Calendar. But I do like to get what I pay for.
Signed
Molipheyed.

 

I looked at the "Lifetime subscription" deal as a need to raise money in a short time and a sure sign of trouble. Now they have a large number of lifetime subs and less new money coming in every year. I've experienced it before with magazines which went down the tubes

 

Usually when there are threads on here concerning the magazine, I leave it to Steve to reply (or to give me, Joey or Geoff some direction on how he would like to reply). But since I’m being quoted and referred to, I thought a personal response was appropriate.

No one’s being moved to the "top of the pile” based on how easy or difficult they are to answer, as Potatotruck stated. And we haven’t had the entire staff working day and night just to “answer customer complaints” as K13 stated. Our two customer service folks got way behind on customer service while they were helping our warehouse guy ship orders. The four of us on the magazine side—me, Steve, Joey and Geoff—pitched in to help get them caught up. Steve’s been shipping orders, I’ve been answering emails, and Joey and Geoff have been returning voicemails. Some of the customers we hear from are international readers wondering where #84 is, or frustrated that it hasn't arrived. Some have packages lost in shipping with the USPS. Some want to place orders. Some are just wishing us happy new year. It’s the normal stuff companies deal with. Potatotruck got a pretty quick response because I spent last weekend with my laptop in front of me getting us caught up on emails. So by the end of the weekend, when he emailed us, we were pretty well caught up.

I saw this thread a week or so back and read through the comments. I didn't say a word when the complaints were that we’re slow getting magazines out and our international readers are frustrated that #84 hasn’t shipped. We totally get it, we own it, and we are working on it. But at this point it just seems like we can’t do anything right. If we don’t respond fast enough to customers, we’re ignoring people. If we respond too fast, we’re prioritizing customers. If we announce a sale or do any of the other necessary functions of business, we’re jerks. I guess that’s just the nature of social media.
Curt

 

Curt, as I said, good service on your part, quick response, situation handled, customer is happy.
I didn't intent it to sound like I was moved to the top, it was a reference/mock to the earlier post to move the concerned customers to the bottom and forget about them.
Unfortunately, there are too many posts with opinions and few with the facts.
Again, thank you for the excellent service and a great magazine.
Have fun, stay calm, be nice.

 

Nice exaggeration. I said it sounds like you have all your staff working on it and then used direct quotes from your social media sites. You guys can't get a break because you have handled this whole situation horribly. There is ZERO reasonable explanation for you to have waited 2 months to inform international subscribers that their copies of the magazine had not shipped when you first announced that issue #84 had shipped.

I have heard from multiple people (including myself) and have seen multiple people on your social media sites comment that they have received no direct contact from TRJ about the situation to this day. The only information that has been provided has been through social media sites. We all seem to be able to get all of your advertising emails but not an email explaining what is going on? Even a half assed attempt to have been up front with your subscribers from the beginning would have gone a long way to quelling the situation.

Had I been told right from the outset that you guys were concerned after losing thousands of dollars worth of magazines the last issue and were holding back international subscribers issues until a reliable method of shipping could be found I would have had no issue with the wait. It's the having to stumble across a social media posting 2 months after the fact to get the information that was the slap in the face.

 

Totally understand, and appreciate your kind words. I just didn’t want folks thinking we were prioritizing customers. Despite what others may keep saying, we have responded to each of the emails we’ve received with the exception of a small handful of about a dozen (and I’m actually going through them today). We appreciate you working with us to get your concerns resolved, and we appreciate you continuing to read the magazine and patronizing our dealers.
Curt

 

@Curt Six
Had I been told right from the outset that you guys were concerned after losing thousands of dollars worth of magazines the last issue and were holding back international subscribers issues until a reliable method of shipping could be found I would have had no issue with the wait. It's the having to stumble across a social media posting 2 months after the fact to get the information that was the slap in the face.

I agree. I keep my fingers crossed that you'll get this resolved and issues mailed out, and that your operation can stabilize after the last year's problems.

 

I said I would refrain from making further comment after my last post on this thread on 25 December to see what transpired and have done so until now but figured by now I had let enough time go by for a response from Rodder Journal

So here goes.............

I must be the unluckiest of all the international subscribers because from my reading of the above is all is well, there is no need to panic, we have shipped all the orders, answered all the emails, all will be well and Rodders Journal aren't prioritizing anyone over others.

If that is the case I am wondering why

• My direct email to Rodder's Journal customer service on 9 November enquiring as to if my T shirt order of 15 August has been shipped remains unanswered

• My pm / conversation to rodders journal via this site as requested / suggested in Steve's post on 25 December has received no reply.

• No communication has been sent to me regarding any delay in sending out issue number 84

As for not prioritizing some groups or individuals over others ............I am not sure what the rodders journal definition of prioritization is but in my book sending the publication to all USA subscribers and not to direct international subscribers sure sounds like prioritization to me.

As a lifetime and cover B subscriber I would not be happy if rodders journal went belly up. But I took a punt and figured if they needed subscription $ and I could help then that was ok, it is a great resource and if it all went south and I did my $ then so be it. But when US subscribers are getting their copies and international subscribers are ignored and left hanging in the wind well that makes me pretty pissed off.

And for all the guys who think we should just back off what more can Rodders Journal do, how about they actually answer their emails, and send out communications to direct subscribers about what is happening. I don't blame them for COVID but it sure annoys me when communications go out on social media platforms saying one thing but they do the opposite of what they say and they don't communicate with subscribers who have actually paid $ for goods and services not received.

Rodders journal have the capability to communicate with international subscribers but for some reason have chosen to keep us in the dark.

On 15 August Lifetime Subscribers in Australia and New Zealand did get an email from Steve Coonan expressing his concerns regarding issue 83 and apologizing. Part of that email said

Second, we are making arrangements for issue #84, which will be mailing soon, to be shipped to Australia and New Zealand in bulk—just like our distributor copies—and then mailed individually.​

Then I got another email from TRJ, OCT 29, 2020

We're glad to hear issue #84 has already reached some of you, and for those who haven't gotten theirs yet, it is on its way.

Regarding the problem with bundles of the previous issue being delivered to individual subscribers, the U.S. Postal Service told us that the problem was on their end, not our mailing house. Fortunately it happened to a relatively small percentage and we were able to get replacements to those readers. It's fairly standard practice for mailing houses to deliver bulk mailings in bundles and for the USPS to un-bundle them and deliver them to individual subscribers. In the midst of everything that was going on in the USPS and the world when issue #83 went out, that just didn't happen. So far we haven't had any reports of the same thing happening with #84, and we're grateful for that.

Let us know what you think of the issue when you get it—we were pretty excited about it, but always like to hear readers' feedback. Thanks.​

Well F*** me how is 84 going to get to international subscribers if it hasn't even been sent. And once it was known it wasn't shipped why weren't we and still haven't been told what was happening and when it will be shipped?

Surely it is not too much to expect that we should at least be informed as to what is happening and not just written off as a bunch of complainers and wingers who can't be satisfied.

Jeff Hitchins Australia

 

Care is just a four letter word.

 

well I am half way through reading #84
great coverage
I bought my book through Larry O'Toole in Victoria
yes it cost me A$46 but I have it in my collection
no 4 letter words only 6 letter
THANKS Steve C

 

Well it is great that all the USA subscribers got theirs and you have yours from Larry. And yes I can also purchase from Graffitti (one of the Australian Distributors as I did / had to for issue 83 BUT

I have already paid direct to rodders journal for

• a life time subscription and
• a second subscription for the B cover

So I am somewhat dismayed at the prospect of paying for a third time (as I has to for number 83) especially when Rodders Journal said in August that they would sort out the problems they had with number 83 so it wouldn't happen again.

Once I can forgive, twice now we are stretching things especially when they don't provide any updates, reply to direct emails or private messages through here.

So for all you guys who have yours and are saying I am all right Jack (an Australia saying for I am all right so F*** you) thanks for your support NOT

Jeff Hitchins