I have just sent the following e-mail to Taunton Press and Omeda, whoever the latter may be. Is anyone else having these problems?
QUOTE
Hello
I’m beginning to get really fed up. I can log in to Fine Woodworking but your screen nevertheless suggests I join as a member. I am a member, have been for years!!!
What is more, no-one is bothering to reply to my e-mails.
Please get active! Please sort out your IT problems and please have the courtesy to answer my mails!
Regards
UNQUOTE
Replies
I get pop-ups regularly, asking me to join. While I'm already logged in. It's mildly annoying. All things being equal, I'd rather they stop.
I click on the X and go on with my life. It's not just worth it to me to get more annoyed and tilt at that particular windmill.
I too get these messages - and it is irritating.
Fine Woodworking has missed several golden opportunities to be the premier woodworking website - a classic case of a print-based history, without a clue to modernize and see the larger picture - Sawmill Creek, Lumberjocks (a poor offering, there, but highly functional).
I enjoy the print magazine; I can see the quality and craftsmanship; the attention to detail that the Editors and staff apply - all let down by the back office that can't shoot straight. They get the simple things wrong; or just ignore them... not sure which.
Thanks for the answers. The trouble is I can't click on X and get on with my life, it won't let me go any further. Instead e.g. when I tried to open a bread board article as a test it gave me this message:
"We hope you’ve enjoyed your free articles. To keep reading, become a member today.
Get complete site access to video workshops, digital plans library, online archive, and more, plus the print magazine.
Start your FREE trial"
I agree with mdorsam that this is not good enough, in fact it's nonsense. I'm paying good money not just for the excellent print magazine but also for the online service, which is not forthcoming. Cannot e.g. the editorial board of FW get involved? It's their magazine's content that interests me and they risk losing a long term customer.
I did get 3 messages previously saying they couldn't draw down my subscription and prompting me to rejoin but, having changed my password as demanded, as I could then still log in I thought the problem was solved. Why should I go through the whole process of rejoining just because Taunton can't manage their IT? Go to the back of the class.
Hi Pete,
I'm sorry for your frustrating experience and yes, this has been incredibly frustrating for us in editorial as well. That said, it seems like you answered your own question when you said you got 3 messages that we couldn't charge your card for the subscription. Wexactly that, we weren't able to charge your card, so you're no longer a member—even if you're login is working now. You'll need to reach out to customer service and get that straightened out.
I had the exact same problem. Called support. They had me click logout then login again and everything worked as it should. Its like it was hanging onto my last session even though I was logging in each time i went to the site. It needed the logout to kill my connection to start over.
I've just noticed there have been several past forum entries under various headings ("Related Posts", top right), none of which make me any the wiser except to see that there's now something called Unlimited Membership which apparently works for some but not all. I'd still appreciate an answer from the horse's mouth, namely Taunton Press.
I see I shot off my post too soon, I see that e.g. Ben Strano has answered, thanks Ben. However, "reaching out to" (folks, what happened to "contact"?) customer service is impossible, they never answer either e-mails or the telephone, instead giving you a minimum 10 minute waiting slot which grows by the minute, and as I'm calling from Germany that gets a tad expensive.
Classic, again...
The website says they are frustrated as well, but it's up to us to reach-out to Customer Service. Just fix the problem... that has needed fixing for quite some time.
I have managed Corporate IT in both large and small companies... things like this problem is not sufficiently 'sexy' for them to spend their time - everybody wants to work on Apps or Blogs or whatever is the next high-profile thing.
... wither the subscription base when you can't fix what ails them...
I just submitted my request to Fine Woodworking to cancel my subscription to both online and print. I do enjoy the content, and I don't enjoy working with institutions that ignore you.
I've noticed that if I have my ad blocker turned on, FWW doesn't properly set my membership cookie after a log in attempt.
In order to correctly log in, I need to disable my ad blocker, log in to FWW, then reenable the ad blocker.
I posted many moons ago about a missing issue. Below is what I posted:
Sep 30, 2022 03:41pm
Nov/Dec subscription hit my mailbox today. Sept/Oct issue is still missing.
Back to the present - So now it's November 14th and that issue is still missing. I would suggest it might have been very easy to notice my post and simply tell the new (outside) people handling subscriptions to just send me a copy of my missing issue. It's not like I haven't subscribed for years and years.
Such lack of response is frustrating.
bsouthj-
Did you contact customer service or just post it to the forum? If you did contact them, what did you hear back?
Every time I tried to contact the new customer support, I waited and waited, but never was able to speak with anyone. When I waited, the wait time increased. After waiting maybe ten minutes, the wait time the recorded voice told me it had increased about the same length of time. I left two requests for calls back, but never received a response. So, I gave up and never spoke with anyone. So, the short answer to your question is no. I only expressed my frustration in the forum.
Ben, I have my own thread, started a few days ago, where I hoped that you or another staff member would respond .... as Customer Service will not. Having said this, I did receive an email last night. This went as follows:
"Thank you for your interest in our publication. I have located your record on our database. The system shows that you are subscribed to the Digital-only version. Please check below the different types of access and subscriptions we have. Hope this help to clarify any confusion."
Now this is untrue. I have 2 years on my paper version, and 1 year on the digital version ... but I cannot access the digital version as the website says I am not subscribed, and the last 2 paper copies were complementary (as I had contributions in each).
I did telephone CS (late at night in Australia) after frustratedly not getting replies to emails, and paid for a gap in my subscription (the on-line one). The payment by credit card is in my bank account. No receipt from FWW. And no on-line viewing.
I am not an isolated example here - many others outside the USA are experiencing the same problems - CS does not provide "customer service".
Can you help?
Regards from Perth, Australia
Derek
In an earlier reply Ben Strano said "we weren't able to charge your card, so you're no longer a member—even if you're login is working now. You'll need to reach out to customer service and get that straightened out."
2 points:
1. My card details have not changed in years therefore any failure is on Taunton's part, not mine. I can only conclude that previous messages saying they couldn't draw down my subscription were untrue and were an attempt by management to mask a failure to properly announce in advance a proposed change to Taunton's billing terms. This makes it, in my opinion, not only extremely poor management but also a breach of contract.
2. My experience of trying to "reach out" (!) to Customer Service is exactly as described by bsouthj . Another management failure, or intent, or both.
I had a similar problem and posted an angry message cursing Ben, the website and anyone else that came to mind. Which by the way, I have since apologized for.
I "contacted" customer service with a minimal wait time and discovered that my account number had been changed. Most likely during the conversion to Taunton's new system. My subscription had actually expired. The very nice customer service agent got me up and running again. I also reestablished the auto-renew.
However, since my subscription had expired, I missed the Nov/Dec issue due to a lag between payment and distribution. I still have it online, but I kinda like the print version to0.
I wish I could tell you what time of day I called. The first time I called had a really long wait time, so I hung-up and called the next day. That time I got through as I said. I called another time and left a call back number, which they called. But I was in my shop making noise and missed the call. I called back next day and waited 5 minutes.
I believe the key to solving account problems is to talk to a live body. For the poster in Germany, I understand the frustration. My humble suggestion is to try calling at different time of the day or on different days. I don't know. Just a suggestion.
The customer service folks were very nice and helpful.
Ken
This has been and still is a source of frustration. The whole check account areas are also still inoperable, so you have to call, and that’s not helpful at all since we all live with the perpetual ‘SUBSCRIBE’ button. To be fair though to Ben and the whole crew at FW; this is a corporate Taunton issue and unfortunately the FW crew ends up fielding and dealing with the negativity that comes with it all. Now, I’m not saying the negativity isn’t justified, I’d say it certainly is, and mostly because it’s seemingly ignored. What I’m trying to say is that this isn’t Ben and the FW editorial staffs fault and I’d like to say that they would like these issues fixed as much or more as we do. I’m sure that there have been many missed opportunities by Taunton to sell more subscriptions and unlimited plans as a result of their own unresponsiveness, but if lost business isn’t motivation enough for a company in the digital space, then I don’t know what would be. It doesn’t help that their only competitor’s website is like walking through the never ending aisles of a 1000 acre flea market. Taunton seems to have adopted the attitude of “not having to our run the bear” himself, but rather to just be ‘faster’ than the other guy. But this isn’t Ben and crew’s fault. So I’ll continue to be offered the opportunity to gift ‘unlimited’ or digital plans to others, but why would I gift those frustrations in addition to the content. My father (78) would probably love to look at all the stuff available with unlimited, but I live 4 states away and I can’t imagine how much it would frustrate or confuse him. So, unless things can be made more professional and genuinely customer oriented, I can’t and won’t gift ‘unlimited’ to anyone but myself.
Just my 2¢
As the originator of this thread, some feedback: like member aging_canine [Nov 17, 2022 04:09pm | #16] I have finally managed to get this issue solved, first by e-mail and subsequently by telephone, with the support of Ms Donna Capalbo in Taunton's Newtown, Ct. office and another helpful lady, Barbara, in Customer Service at the Northbrook office. Like aging_canine, my account number had been changed without anyone letting me know. Having changed that and re-registered my credit card info by phone, all went well without going through the superfluous rigmarole and very much more expensive default option required by the magazine website - to me, a devious management method to get people to upgrade at considerable and unnecessary expense. But all's well that ends well.
Pete (Germany)