Wired subscriber gets a jolt - David Lazarus Friday, July 8, 2005 Wired magazine, the bible of the tech set, may have its finger on the pulse of all that's cool. But the San Francisco publication has been using decidedly uncool tactics when it comes to getting some people to renew their subscriptions.
San Francisco resident Bob McMillan discovered this after choosing to allow his longtime subscription to lapse late last year. "I like the magazine, " he told me. "I just didn't have time to read it anymore." First came the usual letters warning McMillan, 36, that his subscription was up and that he wouldn't get any more copies of Wired unless he ponied up some cash. Then Wired's correspondence took a different turn. In May, McMillan received a letter from North Shore Agency, a leading debt-collection firm. The letter, headed "Please Respond," said he owed $12 for his Wired subscription. "Our objective is to clear your bill quickly and fairly," it said. "Your payment will reinstate your subscription." A more assertive letter from North Shore, headed "Request for Payment," arrived last month. "You must realize that we want you to resolve your account in the amount of $12," it said. Then, the other day, a third North Shore letter arrived, headed "Account Status: Delinquent." "Your account appears as delinquent on our client's files," it warned. "This professional collection agency continues collection activity on your debtor account." The letter added, ominously: "Respond to this letter or continued collection efforts may follow." McMillan had ignored the first two letters. Now, however, he's worried that Wired/North Shore will take some legal action that will decimate his credit rating. "I'm very angry," he said. "This isn't a real debt. It seems like they're just trying to trick me into renewing my subscription." Other subscribers Turns out McMillan isn't alone in feeling strong-armed by Wired. A Google search turns up others who say that they, too, allowed their subscriptions to expire and then received scary letters from North Shore. In each case, the erstwhile Wired readers were told that they had an "open balance" of $12 and that "this is an attempt to collect a debt." In each case as well, the recipients were told that paying the $12 would result in a renewed subscription. "Since when is letting a magazine subscription expire a debt?" one person asked online. "This guerrilla marketing technique is unethical in my book." Said another: "Talk about a low way to get subscribers. This is bottom- feeding. Magazines used to offer you incentives. Now they threaten to louse up your credit rating if you don't re-up, and NOW." So what does have Wired have to say? When I first contacted Joe Timko, the magazine's consumer marketing director, he acknowledged having received complaints from readers about being hassled by North Shore. "It's something we're investigating," he said. Timko insisted that it isn't Wired's policy to use a collection agency to muscle people into renewing their subscriptions. "We don't do that," he said. "Or at least that's not our intention." I asked a North Shore spokeswoman to comment on the matter. She never called back. Longstanding relationship In any case, Wired has been using North Shore for a number of years. I found some online gripes about the North Shore letters dating back to 2002 (and you can see one of the firm's letters for yourself at http://urbanideas.com/images/nsa.jpg). I spoke with Timko again on Thursday. This time, he offered an explanation for what was happening: From time to time, Wired sends direct-mail solicitations to people offering discounted subscriptions. But if you read the fine print of these offers, they say Wired will assume you want to remain as a subscriber until you tell the magazine otherwise, and that you'll automatically be sent an invoice each year for another $12. This is common enough among newspapers. The Chronicle, for example, will keep sending out papers (and bills) until a subscription is canceled. But most magazines require readers to renew their subscriptions every one or two years. Timko said he checked his files and found that McMillan's subscription had an automatic-renewal clause. He suspects that most of the people who lodged online complaints were in a similar position. For his part, McMillan said, he couldn't recall being told about an automatic yearly renewal of his subscription. "I had no idea that was the case, " he said. Collection procedure Wired's Timko said the magazine typically sends out a half-dozen or so letters reminding people to send in their $12. Then North Shore is brought in for an additional three letters. The collection agency was intended solely to spook people into responding. Timko said North Shore wasn't authorized to take legal action against Wired readers. "We're not going to do that to people," he said. "This was just another effort to collect an unpaid subscription." Now, Timko said, Wired will rethink the whole thing. He said the magazine will reconsider the practice of automatic renewals and will no longer pass along readers' names to North Shore. In fact, he said Wired will likely end its relationship with North Shore. "It's probably something we shouldn't have done," Timko said of using the collection agency to pressure readers. "It's not something we want to continue. " I arranged for McMillan and Timko to speak with one another. McMillan told me afterward that Timko apologized for the North Shore letters. McMillan said he was also offered a free subscription to Wired. "I turned it down," he said. "I still don't have time to read it. But in the back of my mind, I have to wonder what might happen the next time it runs out." David Lazarus' column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. He also can be seen regularly on KTVU's "Mornings on 2." 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