CQ CQ

Early last year, I began transitioning my magazine subscriptions from paper to digital format. Among others, I have digital subscriptions to the complete CQ stable of magazines, i.e., CQ, CQ VHF, Popular Communications and WorldRadio Online.

Typically, the monthlies arrive around the first of the month, but this month, CQ and Popular Communications are no-shows. WorldRadio Online arrived around Halloween, but three weeks later, that's all, folks.

I e-mailed CQ, but have not received a reply.

Have any of you received the digital November 2013 issues of CQ and Popular Communications or are you in the same paperless both as I?

UPDATE: Would you believe that the digital November issues of CQ and Popular Communications arrived late this afternoon about four hours after this post was originally published. What a coincidence!

Surfin’: Old Magazines and More Ducks

This week, Surfin’ tries to unclutter the house and learns about more open source software.

a pet peeve

One of my pet peeves has to do with magazine subscriptions. This particular peeve raised its ugly head again recently when my daughter gave me a subscription to Sky & Telescope as a Father's Day gift.

My subscription began with the arrival of the June, July, and August issues of the magazine during the past four days. The mailing address notes that my subscription runs out with the May 2010 issue.

My peeve is sending me two back issues (June and July) to fulfill my 12-issue subscription. If I thought enough of the magazine to get a subscription, would I not be interested enough to buy those issues of the magazine before getting a subscription?

This has happened so often in the past with other magazine subscriptions that I finally started complaining to the magazines and so far, each time I have complained, the magazine extended my subscription by the number of back issues they sent me.

I intend to complain to Sky & Telescope, too, but why should I have to do that?

Instead of sticking their new subscribers with back issues they might already have, the magazines should start new subscriptions with the next new issue. If a subscriber missed an issue, she/he can always purchase the back issue(s) instead of having back issues foisted on them unwillingly.