BarcodeOnTheBac
I'm currently a subscriber to over 30 DC and Marvel comics, direct from the publishers. (including Teen Titans) I am having some very serious problems with DC, and was hoping some of you kind folks might be willing to give me some advice on how to come to some sort of solution. Let me give you some background first:
My friend Dave, who lives in another city across the State, got cancer a few years back. It left him paralyzed below the waist, and now he is back living with his parents. His elderly Dad takes care of him, as well as his Alzheimer's afflicted Mother. Needless to say, he can't get out of the house much. He used to have a lot of friends stop by who were active into comics and card gaming. Now not so much any more.
A couple of years back, I started sharing my old comics with him. I would mail off each month's worth of comics to him at the end of each month. It was a way of helping bring the world to him, since he can no longer walk, or drive out to it any more. Eventually, I just got him the subscriptions, and he sent them to me after reading them. Nowadays, we subscribe to quite a few more in his name, some 30+ titles. We go in half and half on the cost, and he sends about two months at a time to me after reading them.
We get them quite cheap, at less than half the cover price. This is from a combination of going through several online websites, and ordering through a friend who sells magazine subscriptions. The downside is that we can't get any refunds if we go through a middleman like that, if we decide we don't like a title. Our only recourse is to switch remaining issues to another title. Also, only certain titles are offered through magazine sales places, so if we want another one, we have to order several years of one of the offered titles, then switch it. (using DC customer service folks)
I've done this for the past year or more, and now we have up to 3 years on a number of the titles. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not doing this every day or anything. Once or twice a month, I contacted their email and asked for a change at first. Later, as we learned what artists and writers we liked, it was more like once a month. (out of 35 titles)
A couple of months back, I got a snail mail letter from DC, saying that Swamp Thing was being cancelled. The letter further said that I could contact them to let them know my choice of a replacement title. I misplaced the letter, and only recently found it again and contacted them about it to let them know what title I wanted to switch to. They refused to let me do so, saying (and I quote
>
>Dear David,
>
>We have been through this before.
>
>We will refund you for the Swamp Thing issues. Again, the >administrative cost of maintaining your account far exceeds what you >have paid for the subscriptions. We will make no other changes.
>
>If you would like to cancel, please call 1-800-887-6789, Monday through >Friday, 9 am - 5 pm EST/EDT and our operators will be happy to assist >you. (Outside the US, please call 1-845-267-4384)
>
>
>
>Thank You,
>
>
>
>Michele
>
>Customer Service
>
>DC Comics
I know that I will never get a refund, if one is truly issued. The wholesaler simply has a policy of never passing it along to the sales agent, so it can't get to the person who ordered in the first place. That was why I asked for it to be switched over to another sub, which was an option on the letter they sent to me. They started refusing to make ANY changes back around July. Marvel doesn't have any problem with me making changes on their end, but evidently DC has some sort of "magic number" of changes that if you exceed, they stomp their foot down. They won't tell me what the limit is, or how long it will be until I can combine any titles. From the sound of it, they will let me place new orders, but not switch anything.
So, here are my problems:
1) Basically, where can I find the written guidelines for DC customer service? I have the feeling I'm being screwed around with here. They have a single customer service rep doing all the email support, and I have the feeling she just doesn't like me, and that's the only reason she won't make the changes. I want verification that what she is saying is their official policy, and not just her wanting to do less work.
2) From the written policy, I'd like to find out what the yearly limit on changes is, and how long everything is "locked" once that threshold is exceeded
3) Even if they want to limit changes that I might request, shouldn't they still be bound to let me switch a cancelled title if they offer to let me do so in writing? I mean, if THEY are the ones who contact ME about a change, I don't really understand how they can view that as ME instigating a change, and then say they are going to deny me. Seriously, if they are going to be like that and enforce it, then they shouldn't send out the invitation to me in the first place.
4) If this "lock" on me making any changes is official and correct, then I was wondering if that would include me giving away any of the subscriptions, or receiving new subs from others. Because, of course, there are a number of forums online where people trade comic subs around.
No, I'm not switching to a mail order service, because I don't want to pay twice as much for my comics. Comic shops are out of the question, because my friend needs them delivered directly to his door.
If anyone out there has any suggestions that might help me resolve this, please email me at [email protected] with "DC Comics problem" as the subject heading. I am going to look over the emails I get and pick the most helpful to receive a free comic subscription as thanks for your help.
My friend Dave, who lives in another city across the State, got cancer a few years back. It left him paralyzed below the waist, and now he is back living with his parents. His elderly Dad takes care of him, as well as his Alzheimer's afflicted Mother. Needless to say, he can't get out of the house much. He used to have a lot of friends stop by who were active into comics and card gaming. Now not so much any more.
A couple of years back, I started sharing my old comics with him. I would mail off each month's worth of comics to him at the end of each month. It was a way of helping bring the world to him, since he can no longer walk, or drive out to it any more. Eventually, I just got him the subscriptions, and he sent them to me after reading them. Nowadays, we subscribe to quite a few more in his name, some 30+ titles. We go in half and half on the cost, and he sends about two months at a time to me after reading them.
We get them quite cheap, at less than half the cover price. This is from a combination of going through several online websites, and ordering through a friend who sells magazine subscriptions. The downside is that we can't get any refunds if we go through a middleman like that, if we decide we don't like a title. Our only recourse is to switch remaining issues to another title. Also, only certain titles are offered through magazine sales places, so if we want another one, we have to order several years of one of the offered titles, then switch it. (using DC customer service folks)
I've done this for the past year or more, and now we have up to 3 years on a number of the titles. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not doing this every day or anything. Once or twice a month, I contacted their email and asked for a change at first. Later, as we learned what artists and writers we liked, it was more like once a month. (out of 35 titles)
A couple of months back, I got a snail mail letter from DC, saying that Swamp Thing was being cancelled. The letter further said that I could contact them to let them know my choice of a replacement title. I misplaced the letter, and only recently found it again and contacted them about it to let them know what title I wanted to switch to. They refused to let me do so, saying (and I quote
>
>Dear David,
>
>We have been through this before.
>
>We will refund you for the Swamp Thing issues. Again, the >administrative cost of maintaining your account far exceeds what you >have paid for the subscriptions. We will make no other changes.
>
>If you would like to cancel, please call 1-800-887-6789, Monday through >Friday, 9 am - 5 pm EST/EDT and our operators will be happy to assist >you. (Outside the US, please call 1-845-267-4384)
>
>
>
>Thank You,
>
>
>
>Michele
>
>Customer Service
>
>DC Comics
I know that I will never get a refund, if one is truly issued. The wholesaler simply has a policy of never passing it along to the sales agent, so it can't get to the person who ordered in the first place. That was why I asked for it to be switched over to another sub, which was an option on the letter they sent to me. They started refusing to make ANY changes back around July. Marvel doesn't have any problem with me making changes on their end, but evidently DC has some sort of "magic number" of changes that if you exceed, they stomp their foot down. They won't tell me what the limit is, or how long it will be until I can combine any titles. From the sound of it, they will let me place new orders, but not switch anything.
So, here are my problems:
1) Basically, where can I find the written guidelines for DC customer service? I have the feeling I'm being screwed around with here. They have a single customer service rep doing all the email support, and I have the feeling she just doesn't like me, and that's the only reason she won't make the changes. I want verification that what she is saying is their official policy, and not just her wanting to do less work.
2) From the written policy, I'd like to find out what the yearly limit on changes is, and how long everything is "locked" once that threshold is exceeded
3) Even if they want to limit changes that I might request, shouldn't they still be bound to let me switch a cancelled title if they offer to let me do so in writing? I mean, if THEY are the ones who contact ME about a change, I don't really understand how they can view that as ME instigating a change, and then say they are going to deny me. Seriously, if they are going to be like that and enforce it, then they shouldn't send out the invitation to me in the first place.
4) If this "lock" on me making any changes is official and correct, then I was wondering if that would include me giving away any of the subscriptions, or receiving new subs from others. Because, of course, there are a number of forums online where people trade comic subs around.
No, I'm not switching to a mail order service, because I don't want to pay twice as much for my comics. Comic shops are out of the question, because my friend needs them delivered directly to his door.
If anyone out there has any suggestions that might help me resolve this, please email me at [email protected] with "DC Comics problem" as the subject heading. I am going to look over the emails I get and pick the most helpful to receive a free comic subscription as thanks for your help.