Who Can You Trust

Last month, I received a solicitation from Consumer Reports magazine. I thought it might be a good reference for my re-purposed blog, so I went ahead and sent in the reply card. I'm supposed to get several items for "free," including a 2006 Buyer's Guide, some other book, and a "current monthly issue". Yesterday an issue of the magazine arrived, along with an invoice.

When I sat down to read the magazine last night, I was surprised to see that it was not a current monthly issue at all, but some hokey "best of" collection that they apparently send to new subscribers. Now I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but that's not what they promised, and I didn't receive anything else today.

On the back cover of this pretend issue, they encourage one to go to their website to pay for the new subscription. That's not a bad idea, and since they have a website, I figured I'd try to find a way to ask them if this pretend issue was supposed to be the promised monthly issue. In order to get to the customer service section of their site, I was supposed to enter the account number from my address label. Of course, my label looks nothing like the sample they display, and the numbers I'm supposed to read are printed in what appears to be a four point font. Hey, I freely admit to needing reading glasses, but these numbers are hard to read even once I throw on the spectacles.

Anyway, I guess I used the right number, because I got past that little puzzle. Hoever, I did get redirected to another website completely -- "buysub.com". I'd have expected a message telling me "you are now leaving the Consumer Reports website, etc etc etc." Ironic, because in the pretend issue, there's an article about identity theft; surely unexpected redirects are something to be wary of. I didn't actually notice that the first time through though.

Once I was logged on, I clicked on the link that says "How can I contact Consumer Reports about my magazine subscription (i.e., billing inquiry, etc.)?" only to find that there is no way to email them! Yes, it's 2006 and this supposedly consumer friendly organization wants me to either use postal mail -- which they discourage for subscription payments, saying it will "save time and money and help the environment." Or I can try to call them, of course "[a]t times of heavy call volume, you may experience a delay."

So I figured I'd poke around this website a little more. First of all, I discovered that there is evidently a Consumer Reports website containing product reports and ratings and such, but it is a separate subscription -- and it's a lot more than the cost of the magazine. Then I clicked on the link to learn about their privacy policy. Surely an organization like Consumer's Union would keep my information completely private, right? Nope: "We exchange or rent for one time use our subscriber list with those of selected publications and nonprofit organizations. If you wish for your name to be deleted from these exchanges, send your address label with a request for a deletion to:" Again with the postal mail? I guess saving time and money and helping the environment isn't really that big a concern up there in Yonkers.

A little more poking around, and I did find a way to send them a message using a web form. It's well hidden, and after selecting the subject from a drop-down list, I was still encouraged to use another method of contact.

I'm really surprised, but I'm glad I went ahead and did this little bit of research. I'll save my money by not supporting this particular organization. And hey, maybe that free buying guide will show up and help me save some money on other purchases this year.