Careful with Magazine Subscriptions using Future Publishing

I’ve been reading the .Net magazine recently and encouraged by a special subscription offer I took out a subscription with the magazine. I received confirmation of the order and started to get my new magazine, but did not receive my free gift. After 2 issues I thought something may have been up and emailed Future Publishing about this. They simply said that I was not entititled to the free gift. Eventually having made further complaints I was told that I was not eligible for the free gift because I had used the link from the magazine’s website, and not used the special url and code that was written in the magazine.

Perhaps it’s just me, but the reason I buy magazines is so that I can read it somewhere convenient and so I’m not sat in front of the computer when I read it. It also seams particularly ironic that a magazine on web design should have a website that does not have the same offers as the magazine.

I therefore cancelled my subscription only to be told that I still have to cancel my Direct Debit myself. I’m concerned by any company whose billing system is such that they can’t even keep tabs on who they should be charging or not. I subscribe to another magazine by future publishing and had 3 direct debits setup (despite only having setup 2). I’ve therefore had to figure out which direct debit applies to which subscription so that I can cancel the correct one.

To say that I’m not impressed would be an understatement. A warning for anyone else looking to subscribe to a magazine from future publishers, check that you have the correct details from any adverts they have, as if you don’t enter the correct code they won’t honour their advert. Alternatively just go for one of the magazines published by their competitors some of which are just as good or even better.

Me I’m not even going to bother subscribing to that or an alternative magazine. Buying good books on the subject often works out much better value for money anyway.