I subscribed to the Consumer Reports website quite a while ago. I think I signed up for a one month subscription because I had a specific need, and then decided to let it ride another month, because I was planning on making another big purchase.
Skip forward a year or two to today. I’m looking for articles on new autos and I realize that I’m probably still on a month to month subscription. I start digging around and realize I’ve probably been paying 2x as much annually as I have to. Nice of a consumer magazine not to let me know that I might want to change my subscription. Even cell phone companies have been known to do better about letting customers know how to save some money.
Next I try to find a way to change my subscription from monthly to annual. I can’t find any way to do it without jumping through the hoop of canceling and resubscribing, so I look for a way to contact a customer service rep. Can’t find a way to do that either.
It just goes to show, ya can’t trust no one.
Update: After a little more digging, I found a way to contact customer service. After I did, they suggested some help topics that might answer my question. One of them was about upgrading from a monthly to an annual subscription. I clicked, followed the instructions and found myself at a dead end. The option to upgrade my subscription was no where to be found on the page they directed me to.
I recently accessed the November issue on their web site only to find that many of the articles are not available on-line. I’ve never seen this before. In prior issues, every title on the table of contents page links to an article. In the November issue, fewer than half do. I’m not paying a subscription fee to get half the magazine. That’s not what I signed up for. If it continues this way, I will not renew.