eHam
eHam Forums => Company Reviews => Topic started by: K0IZ on September 13, 2013, 09:26:02 AM
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My July issue came about Aug 7th. I emailed CQ and got prompt response. My Sept issue arrived Sept 9. My Aug issue has still not arrived. I emailed to CQ circulation dept on Tues about missing Aug issue, unlike earlier email, no response, prompt or otherwise.
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Your not alone with those observations. Another topic in MISC forum at
CQ Magazine chronically delivered late?
LINK: http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php/topic,91692.0.html
I got my July CQ on 8.7.2013 and September arrived on 9.7.2013
but NO August as yet.
A "problem" with the printer and/or NO response from CQ offices why?
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Here is response just received from CQ:
Thank you for your recent email regarding your August 2013 issue of CQ. Unfortunately, we are out of stock with the August 2013 issue, however, we have extended your subscription for one month do to the non-receipt of this issue. We are also including the August 2013 link so that you may view this issue online.
And here is my response:
This response is NOT ACCEPTABLE. I have a complete set of CQ's from issue #1 up to August. I do not accept not receiving August issue. That would be the ONLY issue missing since 1945. I do not want my subscription extended. I want the August issue.
The way I figure this, CQ ran into a money problem for July issue, finally got it printed and out the door in early August. Didn't have the money to do a full run for August, or to pay for mailing. In effect skipping an issue. Extending a subscription by a month pushes problem down a ways.
MY SUGGESTION TO ANYONE THAT PLANS TO SUBSCRIBE TO CQ OR RENEW SUBSCRIPTION: BEWARE.
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Yup....Add me to the "List Of CQ Subscribers NOT GETTING the August issue". Delivery of both CQ and Popular Communications has been "Hit or Miss", at best, since May or June. I think the problem they are having is not having funds available to pay the postage fees to mail the issues. I say this because the August CQ (and other months) WAS (WERE) available on the newsstands at the appropriate times. It seems that only the PAID subscribers are getting short-changed... I don't think it is strictly a "printing problem".... I never got the June issue either and after contacting them, they said they would extend my subscription for a month.... now, Do I have to complain AGAIN for not getting the August issue, too?
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I've never been impressed with them. Granted a very tough business to be in, but articles of very limited value, along with endless lists of contest results and new contest announcements.
Very expensive rag, and a lot of <yawn> and ho-hum.
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Here is response just received from CQ:
Thank you for your recent email regarding your August 2013 issue of CQ. Unfortunately, we are out of stock with the August 2013 issue, however, we have extended your subscription for one month do to the non-receipt of this issue. We are also including the August 2013 link so that you may view this issue online.
This is a joke, right? How the hell can you be out of stock when you have paid subscribers that did not get any?
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BTW, they have a history of not paying their authors: http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php/topic,91319.0.html (http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php/topic,91319.0.html)
One person PM'd me and told me that he was owed over $5,000. A friend of mine that wrote was paid for the first to articles, and then nothing thereafter. Several others apparently were not paid at all.
Sounds like they are going belly up.
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This is a joke, right? How the hell can you be out of stock when you have paid subscribers that did not get any?
Here IS a real joke. I just got my re-subscribe notice. I am out of $$$ Stock.
After many years of CQ, it is time to say bye-bye.
Sounds like they are going belly up.
I will help them go belly up....
Stan K9IUQ
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My Sept issue arrived Sept 9. My Aug issue has still not arrived.
Same here. I just emailed them.
Here is response just received from CQ:
Thank you for your recent email regarding your August 2013 issue of CQ. Unfortunately, we are out of stock with the August 2013 issue, however, we have extended your subscription for one month do to the non-receipt of this issue. We are also including the August 2013 link so that you may view this issue online.
Try asking them why you can still order that issue from http://store.cq-amateur-radio.com/Detail.bok?no=212
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K0IZ,
If I get an August issue, I will gladly mail it to you and you can keep it.
Vinnie
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If they're like many monthly magazines, the monthly publications may be sent by the print house or a magazine distribution house. So they (CQ) may have to wait just like their customers to receive the monthly publication. If a bunch of sent magazines for a particular month, got lost, or misdirected, in the mail (hard to believe, it's the USPS), and CQ sent their stock to cover the loss, depending on the quantity of loss, it's conceivable their stock for a particular month could go to zero.
Pete, wa2cwa
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Carl, in AZ, has offered me his copy of August issue. Thanks, Carl! If I don't hear something from CQ in next day or two I will notify them to cancel my subscription and refund balance. Maybe too late?
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If I don't hear something from CQ in next day or two I will notify them to cancel my subscription and refund balance.
I'm considering the same thing.
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Well there goes one of the best Ham Magazines left and several of the biggest contest for the year. I know you guys are upset and I understand that but when you come on a forum and say "Beware" or "Cancel" then that pretty much seals the deal on an already ailing magazine.
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Overall, I find CQ magazine to cover material that is in my line of interests better than QST does. Yes, I belong to the ARRL and will continue to, but usually read more articles in CQ than I do in QST. Now National Contest Journal and DUBUS really fit with my interests.
73 John AF5CC
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Totally non-responsive to my last two emails. Here is my latest email to CQ Magazine.
Not having heard from you regarding my last two emails, and not having received my August issue, which I paid for in my subscription, I am now requesting a REFUND OF THE BALANCE OF MY SUBSCRIPTION.
I have been a very loyal subscriber to CQ Magazine for many, many years, and have complete library going back to 1st issue. But things seem to be going bad, and ignoring customers is a VERY bad sign.
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Totally non-responsive to my last two emails. Here is my latest email to CQ Magazine.
Not having heard from you regarding my last two emails, and not having received my August issue, which I paid for in my subscription, I am now requesting a REFUND OF THE BALANCE OF MY SUBSCRIPTION.
I have been a very loyal subscriber to CQ Magazine for many, many years, and have complete library going back to 1st issue. But things seem to be going bad, and ignoring customers is a VERY bad sign.
A local fellow in the NW had the same issue!!
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From all the comments it looks as though CQ might be QRT in the near future. Wonder who, if anyone will pick up sponsorship of any of their contests. On the other hand maybe the feds will give CQ a handout like they did for the big investment banks that were too big to fail. NSA could take over sponsorship and enter all those contest QSO's in their metasisizing data base. Perhaps they could call it "Big Brother's WWDX contest."
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I would be regrettable if CQ goes QRT in the near future. I suspect that CQ Magazine as a standalone publication is viable. But maybe some of of the other magazines in the CQ stable may not be. Advertising revenue is down for all magazines, and advertisers pay the bills. At one time a magazine was considered to be profitable if it the pages were at least 50% advertising. Publishers are facing hard times. This doesn't make it easier for the authors who've been patient over the past several years. Let's hope it all works out.
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I also did not receive my August issue and got no response after 2 e-mails.I am very disappointed since this issue has the results of the 160 contest, which is the only contest that I seriously operate.I sure hope they get things resolved soon.
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Have any of the mail subscribers received their October issue of CQ yet? It SHOULD be out. The "Problem" is also affecting their other publication, Popular Communications. I am still waiting on the September and July issues. And, like everyone else, my August issue of CQ is MIA.
I am miffed that CQ has not come out with any meaningful explanations. I still have two years left on CQ and I just re-upped Popular Communications for another two years....
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Here is response just received from CQ:
Thank you for your recent email regarding your August 2013 issue of CQ. Unfortunately, we are out of stock with the August 2013 issue, however, we have extended your subscription for one month do to the non-receipt of this issue. We are also including the August 2013 link so that you may view this issue online.
And here is my response:
This response is NOT ACCEPTABLE. I have a complete set of CQ's from issue #1 up to August. I do not accept not receiving August issue. That would be the ONLY issue missing since 1945. I do not want my subscription extended. I want the August issue.
The way I figure this, CQ ran into a money problem for July issue, finally got it printed and out the door in early August. Didn't have the money to do a full run for August, or to pay for mailing. In effect skipping an issue. Extending a subscription by a month pushes problem down a ways.
MY SUGGESTION TO ANYONE THAT PLANS TO SUBSCRIBE TO CQ OR RENEW SUBSCRIPTION: BEWARE.
It took two bitchy e-mails to CQ but they finally sent me the August issue under separate cover. It arrived in a manila envelope. Don't give up. They have them.
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I just noticed the same thing.
I got my September edition first, then just got my October, but no August.
And as someone else said, I got a renewal notice.
I don't think that is going to happen at this point!
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It took two bitchy e-mails to CQ but they finally sent me the August issue under separate cover. It arrived in a manila envelope. Don't give up. They have them.
Interesting. I called yesterday and heard what others have posted: that August is out of stock. So they extended my subscription -- initially she said one issue and later said two -- and sent a link to the Zinio ebook version, but it doesn't load.
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Just wondering if anyone has gotten their October CQ issue? I haven't received it, nor the refund that was promised over two weeks ago.
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Just wondering if anyone has gotten their October CQ issue?
I haven't.
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October issue arrived yesterday, October 1. Could this be the start of a new trend, i.e- receiving paid subscription issues in a timely manner or even at all without having to resort to begging, cajoling, etc.? Time will tell. Wonder how many print subscribers will be 'shaken loose' and switch to digital ::).
The October issue has two good articles. This issue is billed as an emergency communications special.
Moseson has a condensed (massaged?) version of what were termed "printer problems" in his Zero Bias editorial. He used to work for CBS, after all. There is an article written by a licensed psychologist on the raison d'etre of those who engage in intentional and/or malicious interference. A short yet well thought-out article that has the ring of truth. Wayne Mills DX column is interesting as it just about always is. He's a good writer plus he has something to say, stories to tell. Those are good traits for a column writer.
Doug
W3DBB
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My October issue arrived today.
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… and now for the "rest of the story"
In the October 2013 issue of CQ I received today (Oct 2nd), this month's ZERO BIAS Editorial on page 8 has the following comments noted….
"About July and August
Virtually all of you who subscribe to our print edition received your July issue very late, and many of you received your August issue late as well (although not quite as late). We sincerely apologize for those delays and want to explain a little bit about what happened.
Without going into boring details, we encountered a production problem relating to the July issue that resulted in it not being mailed until late July. This got us off schedule with the printer, which in turn delayed the August issue. We changed printers as of the September issue, so hopefully these problems are now resolved. We regret the delays and apologize for the inconvenience. We also want to thank the vast majority of you for your patience and understanding as we navigated this bump in the road. "
So, does this mean my August issue is still in the mail?
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What this likely means is they did not pay the bill, and the old printer would not do business with them again. Considering the low amount of subscribers (like 10,000), I highly doubt that the lateness of July would impact the August issue. We are not talking TIME magazine here. They are full of ****.
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We also want to thank the vast majority of you for your patience and understanding.
I'm must be part of the minority, then. Several emails, no August issue (delayed or otherwise). How can CQ be out of stock on the August issue if it was printed yet many (most?) subscribers didn't get one?? Where are all those extra copies? I bethinks it smells in Denmark...
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Several emails, no August issue (delayed or otherwise). How can CQ be out of stock on the August issue if it was printed yet many (most?) subscribers didn't get one?? Where are all those extra copies? I bethinks it smells in Denmark...
Same questions here. Plus, when I checked a couple of weeks ago, I could order the August issue online.
When I called to ask, they said they'd extend my subscription by two issues. That information probably won't show up on the address label until the November issue. They also emailed me a link to the ebook version of the August issue, but only the framework loads rather than the content, too. I replied to ask for help but never got a response.
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Based on these three pages of comments, I guess I'm SOL on getting my August issue also. I emailed them twice, with no response. Sept and Oct received OK. Disappointed that I didn't receive a reply (not good business practice), but obviously I'm not the only one. I'll continue to subscribe as always, chalk this up as a glitch, and give 'em another chance. I know getting all worked up is "not about the money, it's the principle of the thing", but, in my opinion, there are more important "issues" in life. I do, however, have compassion for the guys that have a collection of all issues from #1. As for myself, I don't sweat the small stuff...keeps my blood pressure normal :>)
73, Bob, K7JQ
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I emailed them twice, with no response.
Same here. That's why I called.
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Not sure to laugh or cry - the Fall Season began Sept. 22....... I received my CQ VHF Summer 2013 issue today. Obviously, the contest section is completely out of date, most articles seem to be edited around July 1 or so. Oh well - maybe the Fall edition will be my XMAS gift.
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I just subscribed to CQ magazine 3 weeks ago and I did not get any issues yet! :o
I think I should have read this forum before I took out my credit card!!!! hi hi
Oh well from the looks of things I might have been taken for $50.00 bucks!!!
I'll wait and see if I get what I paid for...... Good Luck & 73. Alan
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I just subscribed to CQ magazine 3 weeks ago and I did not get any issues yet!
I wouldn't be too worried yet because monthly magazines typically take four to six weeks to send the first issue to a new subscriber.
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I just subscribed to CQ magazine 3 weeks ago and I did not get any issues yet!
Don't worry, you haven't missed a thing.
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What is there in CQ or QST or any magazine that you can't find on the internet or Library(free) including advertisements? Only advantage of a magazine subscription these days are portability i.e. Throne room.
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What is there in CQ or QST or any magazine that you can't find on the internet or Library(free) including advertisements?
For some of us, "find" is the key word. Sure, I can ― and do ― visit sites such as this to find interesting news, tips and other information. But I also like the convenience and time savings of having CQ's and QST's editors find a lot of that and other stuff for me.
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Has anyone received the NOVEMBER issue of CQ yet? Has anyone seen the NOVEMBER issue on newsstands?
Tom, KR4BD
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Has anyone received the NOVEMBER issue of CQ yet?
I haven't as of Wednesday's mail.
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Makes me glad that I let my CQ subscription run out.......
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Has anyone received the NOVEMBER issue of CQ yet?
I haven't as of Wednesday's mail.
No November issue as of today (Nov 10).
Phil - AD5X
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It is November 12th and still no November 2013 issue of CQ. I subscribe to the digital version via Zinio.
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Nothing here as of mail Nov.12.
Bob K7JQ Arizona
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November CQ came in todays mail...Wed. 11/13.
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November CQ came in todays mail...Wed. 11/13.
Ditto...But my November Popular Communications is still MIA as of today.
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My Nov issue arrived on 11/13.
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At this SNJ QTH,
November 2013 CQ magazine received today - 11.14.2013 while
ARRL's November QST magazine received October 12, 2013.
I guess 1/2 of November's CQ is better than NONE!
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No November CQ here as of Nov. 15.
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There is hope, my November CQ showed up today - QST December was here 2 days ago.
Tom
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As of today, November 20, I still have not received the November issue of CQ magazine, also the November digital issue is still not available on Zinio. I called the CQ contact telephone number and was prompted routed by the operator to an unidentified extension. I left a message, but no response yet.
Ron KC9SNI IL
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My November issue didn't arrive today, so I called, and they extended my subscription and promised to mail out the missing issues. (I hadn't received October, either.)
My situation might be due to an error in their database. When I called in September, they had an address that I haven't lived at since 1998, even though I didn't start subscribing to CQ until December 2012. Apparently the CQ database had me at the address I used when I started receiving Popular Communications as part of being a columnist. Yet my Pop'Comm subscription has followed me to three other addresses since then. Strange. And if a database error is the culprit, then why did CQ show up every month until August?
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After the initial problems I requested a refund of remaining subscription. Here was response
"As per your request we have canceled your CQ subscription, and we have given our accounting department the appropriate information to issue a refund.
If we can be of further assistance, please let us know.
Sincerely,
CQ Customer Service"
This was on September 19th. I did receive the Oct issue, which was fine since I know it takes some time to get subscriptions changed. Two months have gone by.
Here was my email a week ago to CQ:
"I have received neither my refund or my November issue. What is going on???"
Now it is Nov 21st and response, no refund, and no November issue. If I lived near CQ Mag, I would file small claims action. Maybe I can do it here in Missouri and see if they respond to that.
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I only subscribe to CQ Magazine and CQ VHF digitally via Zinio. CQ Mag was available yesterday while CQ VHF was available today. They changed printers...who have different technical requirements for transmission (full color separation embedded links etc.) ... which changes setup in unpredictable ways sometimes. Anyone who has send a postscript file to an old Linotronic typeset printer knows what I mean.
These delivery problems should be on the downside for these two titles. We'll see.
73,
Frank
K4FMH
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I got the same "changed printers" a couple of years ago, and was also told that all issues are mailed out at the same time, 1 mass mailing. But I also noticed that even on a 'good' month, the local library and book stores ALWAYS had copies long before me .
73 Dale
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My November issue didn't arrive today, so I called, and they extended my subscription and promised to mail out the missing issues. (I hadn't received October, either.)
As of today, they haven't arrived, nor has the December issue. Have any of you received the December print edition?
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I am still waiting for the Novmeber Popular Communications. I did get the Nov CQ a week or two into November, however. As of today, neither the December CQ nor Popular Communications have arrived... I think the "changing printers" story is getting a little old now. I never did get the August CQ and several other issues from June to October arrived VERY late, some of them after contacting CQ to get replacements.
I am sure there is "more to the story"......
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I just called again, and the lady said December mails out this week or next. Considering how overloaded the USPS gets at this time of year, I'll be surprised if it arrives before Christmas, assuming that it arrives at all.
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I subscribe to both CQ & World Radio with online issues. It is 12/6/13 and neither have been delivered to Zinio. Last month the excuse for CQ delivery was a "technical" problem. My opinion- -
I think they perhaps are having $$ problems and have to wait to pay for each online issue to be posted. I also have noticed that CQ is not yet available on the newstand. I sure hope they can start
to get it right. Band condition, propagation reports, and special events and activities aren't of much use when you don't get the issue until after the first day of the month.
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I whole heartedly agree that CQ has taken a major dive in the last 10 years. The articles are mostly ho hum. I would suspect that the majority of readers are not all that interested in " Trail friendly Radio " or the building of simple little beginner kits.
What ever happened to real " Homebrew " ? I have to think that CQ doesn't offer ample compensation to attract writers and designers or as one writer has stated they don't pay at all.
On top of all this the magazine is nearly always two to three weeks behind the delivery of QST. When phoned and asked about this problem it is always blamed on the printer or distributor and then my subscription is extended a month or two as if this is going to be a " pat on the head and make me feel better" When I ask their reps at various conventions they say they know nothing about it. And this is a communications organization? Its pretty clear that nobody in power really gives a big rats @$$.
Personally I think CQ is on its death bed and has been there a long time. It is time to find a cure or pull the plug.
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I just got an envelope with the October and November issues, which they twice promised to send after I called to say I hadn't received them. But no December issue yet.
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Has ANYONE here received the December issue yet??????????
Bill W4XK
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Has ANYONE here received the December issue yet??????????
Maybe Santa is delivering it.
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I've already received January's QST. What's up with CQ?
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I had a gift subscription to "CQ Magazine" back from the late 1970's thru the 1980's. I could still purchase it from a bookshop after that, but gave up as the magazine was mainly a "contest" one.
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KEK-
You're probably right, but for now, I have the January QST to read until Santa gets here.
XK
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The digital version of CQ for December via Zinio arrived today. It's December 17th.
Frank
K4FMH
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Hello to all:
I have already posted on another forum the difficulties that the authors are having as far as compensation goes. Many of us still submit articles even though we know that we will not get paid. I want to point out one point that was brought up. In order to write a technical article such as a homebrew project, there is significant investment involved in buying parts, working out the design and then troubleshooting. There is also a degree of accurary and fact checking involved when committing an article like this into print. It is truly a time consuming process. Who has the spare time these days to do things like this? In previous decades, it was possible to recoup some of the expenses when the author receives payment. This is not the case any more and authors will write up articles that have some technical effort but not on the order that was seen in the past. Unfortunately, the model is broken and the past is not coming back......
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No December print edition as of Saturday's mail.
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No December print edition as of Saturday's mail.
Ditto.
Still waiting for NOV & DEC Popular Communications, too. JAN QST, arrived TWO weeks ago. I think CQ & PopComm are about done in print form. I read on another site that they would be going ALL "digital" soon. We shall see....
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Wayne Green is finally getting his revenge. I have no August or December issue.
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As of 12/23, no December issue yet. Never received August issue, despite emailing them...no response. I was going to order a 2014 calendar...changed my mind. I figured August was an unfortunate glitch, but if December doesn't arrive, that's it. No more renewals.
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Not surprised one bit by this news. I've already spoken extensively on the topic of CQ Magazine.
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Called CQ on Dec 29th and was told they just received the Dec issue and they would send me a copy right away, (Haven't received it yet) also was told they had stop publishing 2 of there magazine's but would still be publishing CQ.
I was also told they would extend my subscription, this is the 3rd time in the last year they extend it :-\.
I think there on there way out.
To bad.
Bob
WB2JOB
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I never got December, so on the 30th, I called to cancel.
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I have all issues, even in binders, back to #1 in 1945. My last one is Oct 2013. If anyone gets Nov and Dec and don't plan to keep, I would like to buy so can finish out full year 2013 in my collection.
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IZ
You're welcome to my Nov issue. I will put your name on it, but won't send it for a while.
If a Dec issue eventually shows up, after I finish it, I will send both of them together. HNY
Bill W4XK
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Thanks, Bill. You are a gentleman and a scholar!
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IT (December) arrived today!
Bill W4XK
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IT (December) arrived today!
Bill W4XK
My DECEMBER, 2013 issue also arrived TODAY, January 13, 2014.
73,
John
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No December CQ here as of today's mail. Granted, I gave up and cancelled on Dec. 30, but assuming that CQ was telling the truth about the issue mailing in the first half of December, it should have arrived anyway.
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Here in SNJ, Today Jan 16th, received the December 2013 issue of CQ.
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Finally got the December issue on Jan. 14.
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I suspect CQ will be healthy for the next several years. It was obvious that the advertising and subs for Pop'Comm and CQ VHF weren't paying their way. I'm sure they did their best to keep the other two mags in print, but in the end economics won out. Taking the less than profitable mags to digital was probably a wise, but sad, move. If they failed, it was because they didn't have enough subscribers, nor enough advertisements from suppliers/manufacturers. Don't complain about ads in a magazine. They make them profitable. 50% ads to articles is a good ratio. Very few mags can do it.
Pete
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I just received my December issue today. Good to see it finally. I did notice the front cover picture, it appears Santa is having to deal with cutbacks also. I count just four reindeer pulling the sleigh. It looks like Rudolph is also part of the layoffs, he's not leading the way this year. Everyone's taking a hit. :-\
David
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Just got my digital Feb CQ magazine via Zinio. Looks like good reading!
Frank
K4FMH
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Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1904 - February 7, 2014
LINK: http://www.arnewsline.org/storage/scripts/nsln1904.txt
THAT FINAL ITEM: DISPELLING THE RUMORS ABOUT CQ MAGAZINE
And finally this week, word that the print edition of CQ
Magazine is alive well and catching up on its paper
publication after a bout with distribution problems. This
according to CQ editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, in a recent
interview with Hap Holly, KC9RP, of the Radio Amateur
Information Network. W2VU says that the folks at CQ are
hard at work to get things back to normal:
W2VU: "We've has over the past few months some significant
problems with distribution of our print issues. We
apologize to all of our readers and are hoping that a lot of
these changes we are making can help get us back on
schedule. We really, really appreciate everyone's patience
with us and hope that you will continue to be patient as we
work our way back to a normal schedule on our print issue."
And what about the rumor that CQ is abandoning print in
favor of digital only distribution? Moseson says that's not
going to happen with CQ:
W2VU: "We have no intention of abandoning print, but if you
look around the magazine marketplace today, virtually every
magazine that's out there has a digital edition as well as a
print edition. It's just where the industry is going and
what readers expect. They expect to have a choice between a
digital and a print edition of a magazine."
What about CQ's other magazines? W2VU says that they will
become a part of the expanded version of CQ found only on
the web:
W2VU: "Beginning with the February issue of CQ we are
incorporating elements of Popular Communications, CQ VHF and
Worldradio Online into an expanded digital edition which we
are calling CQ Plus. Its going to be another 50 pages long
every month. Those other magazines are no longer going to
be published independently so their content is going to be
merged into this expanded digital edition of CQ."
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From today's CQ Newsroom email: "We are continuing to experience delays with print distribution. January and February issues should be on their way soon. We appreciate your patience."
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I started this post, way back when, was disgusted with lack of response to emails to CQ. I never quite believed the "printer problems", unless they were problems related to "payment". However I did eventually receive a refund of remaining subscription (a substantial amount, quite a few years).
I am encouraged that print copies are arriving, even if late. And going to on-line for the other two publications is probably a very wise (and necessary) move. Hopefully will strengthen finances. Since I am a collector of CQ (all back to #1), I'm now reassessing and might well renew subscription.
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Think there is someone that will print you up a nice looking one for 10 bucks or so. Not sure of site.
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Now they say March:
http://cq-amateur-radio.com/news/2014_02_attention_cq_subscriber.html (http://cq-amateur-radio.com/news/2014_02_attention_cq_subscriber.html)
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Now they say March:
http://cq-amateur-radio.com/news/2014_02_attention_cq_subscriber.html (http://cq-amateur-radio.com/news/2014_02_attention_cq_subscriber.html)
Wow. They have now had print issues for over 6 months. At some point, if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, well ........
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Perhaps CQ Communications should apply for a bailout from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (T.A.R.P.). :)
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Someone just posted in the DX forum that they applied for their WAZ certificate 9 months ago (last June), and have gotten nothing.
They are taking customer service to a new level. At this point, I just hope they sell to someone, and that someone modifies their business strategy.
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Someone just posted in the DX forum that they applied for their WAZ certificate 9 months ago (last June), and have gotten nothing.
They are taking customer service to a new level. At this point, I just hope they sell to someone, and that someone modifies their business strategy.
That was me. Actually, I checked my records and it's only been six months. (I'd created the application nine months ago and was a little slow about getting the cards checked.)
- WX2S
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Someone just posted in the DX forum that they applied for their WAZ certificate 9 months ago (last June), and have gotten nothing.
They are taking customer service to a new level. At this point, I just hope they sell to someone, and that someone modifies their business strategy.
That was me. Actually, I checked my records and it's only been six months. (I'd created the application nine months ago and was a little slow about getting the cards checked.)
- WX2S
That is still a ridiculously long time. WAZ is much tougher than DXCC, and has far fewer applicants. It's not like they have hundreds of waiting on WAZ cert, like the ARRL has for DXCC.
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Someone just posted in the DX forum that they applied for their WAZ certificate 9 months ago (last June), and have gotten nothing.
They are taking customer service to a new level. At this point, I just hope they sell to someone, and that someone modifies their business strategy.
That was me. Actually, I checked my records and it's only been six months. (I'd created the application nine months ago and was a little slow about getting the cards checked.)
- WX2S
That is still a ridiculously long time. WAZ is much tougher than DXCC, and has far fewer applicants. It's not like they have hundreds of waiting on WAZ cert, like the ARRL has for DXCC.
The DXCC Certificate for my V49J contest callsign, was sent three days after I submitted my LotW application. So in my mind there is no reason for CQ to take "MONTHS" to check and send a piece of paper.
CQ has become a shadow of what it was in it's prime. A very sad state of affairs.
73,
John V47JA
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Well...February is OVER.
I still:
-Have not Received the AUGUST 2013 issue of CQ (NOR did most other subscribers)
-Have not Received the JANUARY issue of CQ.
-Have not Received the FEBRUARY issue of CQ.
-Have not Received the MARCH issue of CQ.
-Have not Received the NOV, DEC, JAN, FEB or MARCH issues of Popular Communications.
-Have not received any letter or email from CQ explaining Their "NEW DEAL" that was going to fix everything in February despite having sent numerous emails and a letter to CQ asking for an explanation. I still have years left on my subscriptions to both CQ and PopCom.
Yes...I have read the comments from those who say everything is OK.
REALLY?
It is certainly NOT GOOD News to see another ham magazine go down.
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WA2ONH and N5PG posted the last known status of CQ and Pop Comm that I am aware of. Also, it looks like the November issue of Pop Comm was the last print issue prior to being rolled into the new online-only "CQ Plus". I did not receive mine until I sent some emails requesting status. Too bad CQ does not send notifications of changes or delays to its subscribers instead of eventually (sometimes) mentioning them on their web site. A sign of the times, but I'll stick with them for now I guess.
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I'm glad that I ran across this thread. I don't believe I've gotten an issue of CQ since October or November of 2013/last year.
Print is dying. Sad but true. CQ was very good about sending me "renewal notices" and I'm probably paid up through 2016.
Sent them an email, we'll see if anything happens.
73 de K5REZ
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I am a current subscriber of CQ, CQVHF and Popular Communications. In the recent past I would receive offers from them to extend my subscription for each magazine at a super savings and a great rate... now I see why.
I had also fallen victim to World Radio, as a "Lifetime Subscriber"... silly me.
Nothing lasts forever.
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The email reply from CQ looks to be a "rote" PDF file.
BEGIN:
Attention CQ Subscribers!
We are still experiencing delays with our January and February print editions.
Mail delivery is scheduled for March - followed shortly thereafter by a combined March/April issue of CQ . The combined March/April issue will only count as ONE issue of a subscription term.
Because of this change, both the SSB and CW results of the 2013 CQ World Wide DX Contest will be published in the May issue of CQ. Your Patience is appreciated.
Please note! Subscribers can access the January and February issues via the links below......
Please accept our sincere thanks for your patience during our recent transition.
END:
###
Yada yada yada.... this should be posted on the front page of their web site.
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The email reply from CQ looks to be a "rote" PDF file.
###
Yada yada yada.... this should be posted on the front page of their web site.
Actually, it is.. there is a scrolling announcement right across the top of the page. If you click it, it opens a new a page with the info you posted.
Pete
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The email reply from CQ looks to be a "rote" PDF file.
###
Yada yada yada.... this should be posted on the front page of their web site.
Actually, it is.. there is a scrolling announcement right across the top of the page. If you click it, it opens a new a page with the info you posted.
Pete
My mistake. They put it in an obvious place and I missed it. Thanks! :-[
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In honesty, it should have been published in full on the opening webpage. At least it is there.
Pete
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Ham radio now has an interview with CQ's editor that would be of interest to any subscriber.
http://arvideonews.com/hrn/HRN_Episode_0136.html
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Today the April issue of QST was delivered.
On the other hand, the January and February issues of CQ magazine are still not delivered, not to mention the combined March/April CQ.
I like the magazine, contests and award, but this is just horrible customer service.
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Wow, will wonders never cease.
I actually got a January CQ Magazine today, March 17th, 2014 (yes, it is the January 2014 issue).
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Today CQ has announced that the February edition will NOT come out in print at all. Everyone can get a free pdf copy of the February issue from the CQ Magazine website. NOW the March/April issue will be sent out in Mid-April.
This is the third delivery promise as the last two were not fulfilled.
I believe CQ Magazine will not exist in a year. I think the "production problems" are in fact a money issue. They don't have the money to print the magazine. Don't know anything for sure, just my belief and opinion.
The reality is that ham are losing faith. No one who knows about the delivery issues are going to subscribe. Advertisers are not going to pay for ads that people are not able to see. A digital ad does not have the same impact or retention as a print ad.
All this has gone on far too long and as a result, I think it put them into a death spiral.
I hope it does not happen as I have about two years remaining on the subscription, but that's how I see it. Too bad, they were a great magazine and I enjoyed reading it.
That's my opinion.
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Here's what CQ displayed on it's web site (below) ....
LINK: http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/news/2014_03_04_attention_cq_subscriber.html
"Attention CQ Subscribers!
Dear CQ Readers,
We are still experiencing delays with print editions. In an effort to resolve these problems once and for all, we have taken the following action. CQ’s February issue will be a digital only issue – available as a PDF via the cover picture below. Simple click on the cover to view and/or download this PDF. Since the February issue will not be available as a print edition, it will not be counted as an issue of any print subscription term.
Mail delivery of the combined March/April issue is scheduled for Mid-April. The combined March/April issue will only count as one issue of a subscription term (print or digital). Subscribers can view the March/April digital edition immediately by clicking on its cover picture below – this is a view only link, not a PDF. Please allow ample time for the issue to download.
These actions will put our monthly print edition delivery back on track. We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank our loyal subscribers for hanging in there with us through these challenging times. We will continue to produce high- quality content magazines in both print and digital editions for your viewing pleasure for years to come!
Please note, both the SSB and CW results of the 2013 CQ World Wide DX Contest will be published in the May issue of CQ. Your patience is sincerely appreciated.
Be sure to check out CQ Plus beginning on page 113 of CQ's February and March/April issues!"
I don't expect to be receiving those "renewal" notices for my print edition any more.
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Wow, will wonders never cease.
I actually got a January CQ Magazine today, March 17th, 2014 (yes, it is the January 2014 issue).
Mine too - amazing. Pointless since it's MARCH. I didn't renew. Sorry.
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I have almost two years remaining on my subscription.
But here it is now April 16th, the mailman just left and still no March/April edition of CQ.
If they don't make this commitment quickly followed - as in first week of May - with the May issue, most hams will have lost all patience and will not renew. CQ will collapse without subscribers.
Too bad, I really liked their awards and contests. Who will pick them all up is anyone's guess.
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I was told the March/April issue was mailed out yesterday.
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I got an email this morning offering yet another subscription deal:
CQ's SPRING FEVER Special!
It's springtime and CQ is offering a one-time opportunity for you, our loyal CQ Online Store customers, to save a whopping 63% on a CQ Amateur Radio PRINT edition subscription - new or a renewal! It's our way of thanking you for your continued support!
**And . . . if you'd like, you can add a 1-year DIGITAL edition sub for only $15.00! See note below.**
No lower price will be offered!
Take a moment right now to order (or renew) and receive the best all-around magazine for the active Ham at this one-time extraordinary rate!
Catch the fever before it's gone!
CQ's Spring Fever prices are not visible to the general public in the CQ Online Store.
To capture you savings, click on the blue link of your choice below, add the item to your cart and enter its applicable RED promo code at checkout. The Spring Fever price will then appear - before you finalize your order!
U.S.A. CQ Spring Fever Print Edition Subscription Prices
Be sure to use the RED Promo Code at checkout!
3 years (36 issues) Regular Price $102.95 - Spring Fever Special Price $92.00
Save $159.64 off newsstand price! - Use Promo Code CQ413 at checkout!!
2 years (24 issues) Regular Price $70.95 - Spring Fever Special Price $62.00
Save $105.76 off newsstand price! - Use Promo Code CQ412 at checkout!!
1 year (12 issues) Regular Price $38.95 - Spring Fever Special Price $32.00
Save $51.88 off newsstand price! - Use Promo Code CQ411 at checkout!
The email ends with this:
Current subscribers, please note: The March/April combined issue is in the mail and on its way to you. This single, "combined" issue will only count as one issue against your subscription. CQ will be back to its timely, monthly distribution with the May issue. Subscribers can view the February (digital only) issue and March/April issue via links on our website - Click here to view! Thank you all for your patience!!
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Sounds like another "Hang in there plea", no thanks.
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How can they go back to their 'timely' delivery schedule when they still have to catch up with their past issues delivery and still missing issues? BTW, it's the middle of April now. Has anyone gotten their May issue of CQ yet??
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I also received the E-mail from CQ Magazine, this morning. Considering all that has been going on there recently, a subscription to the magazine would be a waste of money. Looks like they wont survive for much longer. The same thing happened with ELECTRONICS Australia -- late issues, 'combined' issues, issues that were so poor they were not worth purchasing, etc. -- and then they were gone.
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The problem appears that the revenue from CQ was carrying three other publications that didn't have the readership or ad revenue needed to survive. Hopefully they will be able to keep CQ operating. In all honesty, I think they acted too late to stop the hemorrhaging. Readers aren't happy, writers are in the lurch, etc. It would nice to see them survive; there aren't many options out there.
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Saturday afternoon, April 19th and the Postman has just put the
Printed edition of CQ for March / April, 2014 in my mailbox!!!
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Saturday afternoon, April 19th and the Postman has just put the
Printed edition of CQ for March / April, 2014 in my mailbox!!!
I'm still waiting for this issue to arrive in Kentucky. Maybe Monday ????
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Word gets out that you don't pay your authors, therefore you having trouble getting issues to print....its a domino effect. I agree....the magazine is gone within a year.
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I got paid for my field day article back in Nov of 2010 and know Dick Ross personally. He is doing his best to stay in business and hams should support him, after all we're still in a slow economy.
Supporting CQ both with advertising dollars like we do with ham radio deluxe, and subscriptions, will help CQ continue to be the alternate to QST!
In other words, give CQ a second chance, please.
Many of you do not remember that 73 Magazine just vanished. Wayne Green didn't even give notice or even have a goodbye issue.
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I agree with W4PC. It would be nice to have CQ stick around. There is a blurb in the new issue to the effect that they are cleaning up their act. They will extend all subscriptions to make up for the missed issues.
I, for one, am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt at present.
73, Mike
K2CBI
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If they start delivering on their promises, people probably will. It's been at least twice now that they've said that their subscribers will again receive their regular deliveries.... starting with the next issue. As it seems right now, this is the second time they're falling short.
Add to that their 'appointments' of two staff persons and the fanfare that those regular business appointments have gotten.... There was no need for the extra spending to make those announcements where supposedly they are having a hard time making ends meet.
Kinda reminds you of another company who should remain nameless, but shall always remain Radio Shack--who continually spends the money for the bullets--to shoot themselves in the foot!
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Print edition March/April came today (North Texas).
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March/April arrived 4/23, South Florida.
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Well, I did get the CQ March/April combined issue yesterday (I've had the May QST for over a week). The CQ March/April combined issue had the same number of pages as the December (single) issue - which came in January. Never got the January issue, and the February issue was digital only. My subscription is up at the end of the summer. I'll renew if they can get it together by then. We'll see.
Phil - AD5X
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I was subscribed to Pop Communications for years and years. Now it is gone itself and included in CQ. I just received the Mar/April CQ and remember why I dropped CQ subscription years ago. I have no idea when the Pop Com subscription expires(Nothing on the mailing label) but I will not renew.
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Well I was dumb enough to subscribe in January 2014 and have not received anything except an email to tell me my digital copy was reay. I emailed asking for my money back and they have not replied at all. I guess I will just chalk this one up! ??? ???
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CQ is supposed to have a booth at Dayton. I am sure there will be lots of splainin' going on!
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If CQ is having problems they should keep subscribers in the loop. I for one would like to see them stay around. However, I am not planning on renewing my subscription because they don't care. They have done nothing but lie about problems. I don't need that.
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Looks like "Electric Radio" is going to be the only Real ham radio magazine left to be published in the U.S..
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I got paid for my field day article back in Nov of 2010 and know Dick Ross personally. He is doing his best to stay in business and hams should support him, after all we're still in a slow economy.
Supporting CQ both with advertising dollars like we do with ham radio deluxe, and subscriptions, will help CQ continue to be the alternate to QST!
In other words, give CQ a second chance, please.
Many of you do not remember that 73 Magazine just vanished. Wayne Green didn't even give notice or even have a goodbye issue.
I'm happy for you, in that you got paid.
I am a professional writer, and I write to pay my bills. My wife's medications cost over 27 thousand a year... and insurance certainly doesn't cover it all. Even after meeting the donut hole leaves us with a major financial burden. When I'm not reimbursed for my work, even after being promised numerous times that a check is in the mail, unfortunately causes me a lot personal pain. I've pretty much lost my faith in dealing with a few publications because of this. Like many, I'm retired and on a fixed income. My talent in this hobby has always been writing and editing. It has served me well, at least until recently. Now, I've pretty much lost my faith in dealing with a few publications because of how I've been treated. Asking someone to donate time and skills is one thing, PROMISING payment for work and reneging is another thing. I would have been happy to do some free work, but being held under a whip to produce a monthly column is something different.
BTW, wasn't HRD one time free for download? I think HRD should remain free! After we are hams, and it is the good of the
hobby, right? Or is your time worth more than mine? Just curious, since you have elected to avoid my PMs.
Pete
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As far as I can see you guys have two choices.
1) You can moan groan and bitch about the service and drop your subscriptions and that wii in short order leave you one less ham related magazine on the market.
OR
2) You can accept the crappy service and stick with them till this mess is fixed.
At least you will hopefully still have something even if it's late.
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Looks like "Electric Radio" is going to be the only Real ham radio magazine left to be published in the U.S..
Wow, that's a stretch.
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...You can accept the crappy service and stick with them till this mess is fixed.
At least you will hopefully still have something even if it's late.
Unfortunately, once a company sinks as low (financially) as CQ seems to have, there is no way it can successfully recover. It depends on whether it can get financing, and these days with the college educated "the bottom line is the only thing that matters" crowd, that is somewhat doubtful.
I wish them well, but it seems that the writing is on the wall.
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Thursday afternoon, May 15th and the Postman has just put the
Printed edition of CQ for MAY, 2014 in my SNJ mailbox!
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Since I started this post, let me say I hope, really hope, that CQ Magazine makes it. I was totally frustrated by the month to month BS earlier, and cancelled my subscription (I had almost 6 years prepaid!). I did get a refund. I've been following the saga ever since. I have every issue, in binders, back to issue #1, so hated very much to pull the plug. My sense is that the other publications were dragging down the entire show. Maybe late, hopefully not too late, those magazines went digital.
I offer to CQ my suggestion that they be extremely forthcoming in discussing the financial situation. If the air is cleared with candid, believable, explanation, I and others will reconnect. BS, however, ("Printer problems"), won't cut it.
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I agree... honesty and transparency are always crucial. I think many hams would have been a lot more understanding if that were the case. The economy sucks... but blaming the printer seemed lame.
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I have been watching these posts here for the past few months and have some comments. First to the one or two people that may have been paid in the past for articles, the timing has been they may have been paid for efforts more than four years ago, prior to the current situation for the past four years. Many authors have worked for free for the past few years and have been dedicated to the hobby.
I believe that like a lot of companies these days, it is easy to be overcome by events, particularly with a changing market. This is particularly true with trying to score advertising and it is evident by the number of people who have served as advertisement manager for the magazine during the past two years as to how difficult this type of job is.
As a writer for CQ VHF which is now discontinued, it could be seen that the three magazines that are now discontinued would not have provided for any growth in the future. CQ VHF was a great magazine but the VHF field was not growing in any significant amount that would have made things work out.
In hindsight, I believe that hams could accept a one or two month suspension of print issues, until things could have been worked out. There were probably good intentions in trying to get printed issues out but it did not get through, probably through a lack of information bulletins. I hope that the CQ booth at Dayton will not be affected .
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I'm bringing this back up to the top to ask if any of the folks who have posted here attended the Dayton Hamfest and talked to the folks at the CQ booth. If so, what was said?
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Looks like "Electric Radio" is going to be the only Real ham radio magazine left to be published in the U.S..
Wow, that's a stretch.
Quite a stretch indeed . ER is not going to be the only real ham radio magazine published in the US .
It already is . :D
Actually it would be nice to see them make it but print magazines of all types are getting hit hard by distribution and printing costs .
Nice to have a library full of older QST , 73 , Ham Radio , Popular Electronics , Electronics Illustrated , Radio TV Experimenter , CQ , Radio Television Magazine etc from the heyday of the electronics hands on era . Sure got a lot of us off to a good start with a fine hobby .
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June 28th and still no June issue, but i understand CQ had paper copies of the June issue at Hamcom in Plano. Apparently, they did not have the money to mail them out to the subscribers.
I have about two years remaining on my subscription. Should not have purchased three years in advance. I won't make that mistake again.
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Since complaining to my local post office I have been receiving my CQ Magazines with regularity now since last December.
By the way, I think the recent July issue was the best issue in a long time and chuck full of great articles. Read it from cover to cover and then got the dinner call. :D
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June 28th and still no June issue ...
Received my June 2014 PRINT copy Saturday, June 28th here in SNJ QTH.
Also, on Friday, June 27th, got my RENEWAL notice to my Print subscription.
Looking at the mag's Address label , I can't tell when the current subscription expires since CQ removed it.
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whoever thought that scam up probably got an award from the magazine publishers association. "hey, let's stop telling them when the subscription expires, and send the renewal postcards out three times a year!"
genius.
there's a lot of that going around.
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whoever thought that scam up probably got an award from the magazine publishers association. "hey, let's stop telling them when the subscription expires, and send the renewal postcards out three times a year!"
Magazines are also doing another scam to keep the dough coming in. I know this because I'm helping my elderly mother cancel all her magazines. Many of them have switched to perpetual automatic renewals. Once they get your credit card they will no longer send a renewal notice that, if you do not send it in with payment, will stop the magazine. They just suck the money and send a billing notice and keep it going forever - yes folks forever - unless you tell them to stop. It's called automatic renewal, and from the notices they send out you would think they are doing you the greatest favor the world has ever seen. They realize people are so busy they will not bother with telling them to stop. Watch out.
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They just suck the money and send a billing notice and keep it going forever - yes folks forever - unless you tell them to stop. It's called automatic renewal
Automatic renewal works until your card expires. The new card you get every few years has a different expiration date and security code. Unless the publisher has that updated information, it no longer can charge to that account.
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Automatic renewal works until your card expires. The new card you get every few years has a different expiration date and security code. Unless the publisher has that updated information, it no longer can charge to that account.
Well yea ::) ... but until then they will (unless you specifically tell them to stop). That's different than sending you a subscription renewal offer and not billing you automatically.
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Well yea ::) ... but until then they will (unless you specifically tell them to stop). That's different than sending you a subscription renewal offer and not billing you automatically.
Of course. And the severity of the problem varies by how long your subscription and credit cards last. For example, if you use an MasterCard that's two years old to purchase a three-year subscription, that card will have expired by the time the publisher tries automatic renewal.
I agree that automatic renewal -- of anything -- sometimes is unwanted, which is yet another reason why I scrutinize my credit card statements every month.
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I agree that automatic renewal -- of anything -- sometimes is unwanted, which is yet another reason why I scrutinize my credit card statements every month.
Waiting for that monthly credit card statement is too late as far as I'm concerned. For my credit cards, my banks will allow me to target these accounts with an "ALERT" that I place on them for any charge applied to the account. I set the ALERT MIN $ Limit to an amount between $1.00 to $10.00.
So, any type of charge applied to the account for any dollar amount automatically generates an eMail to me immediately telling me date / time / $amount / vendor. As I don't use any automatic renewal features for anything, any eMail I get are only for charges I originate myself.
My magazine subscriptions are paid for using a check, never a credit card, and if renewed are for only 1-year at a time.
Check into this feature with your credit card bank, especially if the card or even the account
number is ever stolen at any time without your knowledge. Let's be careful out there people!!!
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For my credit cards, my banks will allow me to target these accounts with an "ALERT" that I place on them for any charge applied to the account. I set the ALERT MIN $ Limit to an amount between $1.00 to $10.00.
So, any type of charge applied to the account for any dollar amount automatically generates an eMail to me immediately telling me date / time / $amount / vendor.
Good advice!
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whoever thought that scam up probably got an award from the magazine publishers association. "hey, let's stop telling them when the subscription expires, and send the renewal postcards out three times a year!"
genius.
there's a lot of that going around.
Anybody get super-duper renewal offers from magazines even before your first issue arrives?
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Got the June issue Saturday. It was mangled again, unlike my other magazines and catalogs.
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My June issue arrived before July... no damage... can't blame the publisher for the post office mangling mail as usual.
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Automatic renewal works until your card expires. The new card you get every few years has a different expiration date and security code. Unless the publisher has that updated information, it no longer can charge to that account.
Well yea ::) ... but until then they will (unless you specifically tell them to stop). That's different than sending you a subscription renewal offer and not billing you automatically.
Some CC vendors (like BankOfAmerica) offer a feature called ShopSafe to solve the problem. ShopSafe generates a one time use CC number and you can set the dollar limit and expiration date. This is a great tool for online purchases and with any vendor that may try to re-use the number without your permission. I've been using ShopSafe for over 10 years.
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I don't think CQ is great about record keeping. I got a free trial issue out of one of the Gordon West books once and now I have been randomly receiving issues every few months for the last 2 years.
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can't blame the publisher for the post office mangling mail as usual.
Assuming that it was USPS that mangled it. Printers sometimes do. I worked for one for five years.
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I got my June issue on July 5th (no mangling). Wonder when I'll get the July issue. Yes, I know I can read it on Zinio.
Phil - AD5X
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I don't think CQ is great about record keeping. I got a free trial issue out of one of the Gordon West books once and now I have been randomly receiving issues every few months for the last 2 years.
That happens with a couple of newspaper subscriptions that I let lapse years ago.
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can't blame the publisher for the post office mangling mail as usual.
Assuming that it was USPS that mangled it. Printers sometimes do. I worked for one for five years.
I picked up from printers when I drove local deliveries. Those magazines are strapped to pallets, and at best, most of them are just covered with plastic--nothing else. The damages usually come from the pallet handling--at the printers, during shipment, or at the hub post offices. Usually at the post offices, since they usually push their people to get things done fast--and fast means shoving and pushing the pallets around the floor without regard for whether they're damaged or not.
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It appears that CQ's combined March/April issue to get them "back on track" did NOT get them back on track. The May issue arrived after the start of the Hamvention. The June issue arrived on July 1. It's the 17th and still no July issue.
Clearly, CQ continues to have massive issues. Well really as most of us are guessing, the problem is probably just financial. I did some searching on CQ and found one BBB report that said a subscriber requested a refund, got the check, and then when deposited, it apparently bounced. I think he eventually got the refund.
I can tolerate a company having financial problems. What I cannot tolerate is their lack of openness with their customers. Hey we already can guess the issues are financial so why not just come clean with the customers, tell us the truth, ask our help, show us a plan to fix the issue, and for goodness sakes, KEEP YOUR COMMITMENTS! If you cannot keep the commitments, then don't make them.
Because they have handled this crisis so poorly, I wonder how many will never renew and how many will renew no matter how much they are abused. It's my opinion that the longer this goes on, the more commitments they fail to meet, the more hams will give up and never renew.
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I picked up from printers when I drove local deliveries. Those magazines are strapped to pallets, and at best, most of them are just covered with plastic--nothing else. The damages usually come from the pallet handling--at the printers, during shipment, or at the hub post offices. Usually at the post offices, since they usually push their people to get things done fast--and fast means shoving and pushing the pallets around the floor without regard for whether they're damaged or not.
Yup. That creates problems with newspaper inserts, too. They flop all over the pallet, get rolled and wrinkled and become a nightmare to feed into the pockets.
One solution is basically a big cardboard box that sits on the pallet and helps hold the skid together. I rarely saw that used, though, except for mags printed on super slick stock.
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What really annoys me is the TOTAL LACK of communication with subscribers. When their troubles started last summer, I had to request past issues (that I never received) to be sent. That worked for a few issues. I NEVER saw the August 2013 issue. I also subscribed to POPULAR COMMUNICATIONS, which I had just RENEWED last summer for multiple years. The LAST issue of that magazine that I ever got was the October 2013 issue which arrived after Christmas!
My calls to CQ were not answered. Multiple emails were not answered.
Then, I see in various postings they are merging CQ and Popular Communications into one combined issue. When I started to receive issues of CQ again, I found that Popular Communications WAS NOT included in the print addition. Upon investigation, I found CQ needed my email address to get Pop Comm. I complied by giving them my email upon visiting their website.... STILL I have not heard ANYTHING from them!
I got the June issue of CQ on July 1. The July issue is still AWOL.
But here's a real kicker! LAST WEEK, I get a solicitation from CQ asking me to RENEW for up to 3 additional YEARS.
From my records, I am owed several more years of CQ....and what about POP COMM?
Hey CQ!!!!! What do I have to do to get your attention?
KR4BD
A CQ subscriber since 1975
A POP COMM subscriber since 1983
A LIFETIME subscriber to WORLD RADIO .... But that's another story!
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I was at the ARRL Centennial Convention in Hartford today. CQ Magazine was among the several companies in the exhibit area. They had the July issue on the table. The editor, publisher and advertising manager were there. They had CQ Magazine, some CDs and their calender on the table. There were no books on the table like they used to have at past conventions
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We are discussing CQ Magazine on my Blog this week:
Http://n6pse.wordpress.com
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OK, I posted my comments on the new website....
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I have just noticed today that eHam has deleted all of the negative reviews on CQ Magazine dated after July 18. This raises the company's overall score from 2.8 to 3.5. Does this seem right? All of the complaints raise issues about customer service.
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That's just crazy and wrong. I wonder why they did the deletions.
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It ruins the integrity of an already severely flawed review system.
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I just got an email promoting the August and September issues:
Highlights of the August issue of CQ are now online at the CQ website.
CQ's featured articles include:
* The WAC Travel Project
* OZ/K3ZJ - Contesting from a WWII German Command Bunker
* CQ Reviews:
Yaesu "System Fusion" Part I - FTIDR Handheld
* Results of the 2014 CQ WW DX 160 Meter Contest - Both CW & SSB Scores are viewable @ www.cq-amateur-radio.com
CQ Plus:
* FM DXing Techniques From Your Window Seat @ 35,000 Feet
* In Review: The Degen DE660 and DE1126
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sneak peek -
September CQ
* SSB Results: 2014 CQ WPX Contest
*Yaesu "System Fusion" Part II - FTM-400DR/DR-1 Repeater
CQ Plus:
* The Amazing Aqueous Antenna
* Two-Band QRP Kilowatt - Part II
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Great promotion of their upcoming issues. Would be really great if they would send them out to their PAID subscribers.
I was thinking about asking for a refund. Then I read a BBB report where one subscriber asked for a refund, got a check, deposited it, then the check bounced. Of course that person's bank hit them with a bounced check fee. It said the complaint was resolved so not sure if CQ sent another check for the refund plus the amount of the bank fees. I think for now I will just ride it out and consider it a bad investment. Will not renew if they ever get their act together because I just cannot trust what they tell the subscribers. I think their management has trouble providing us with the truth.
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It is totally bizarre that eHam deleted well over 20 reviews. Yes, it is unfortunate that the reviews are poor and harsh but many readers had issues receiving their issues or getting appropriate responses to their questions - that is all part of the customer experience and although the scores are low, there is a valid reason for it. That is dishonest that this was done.
I saw the Zinio version of the August issue. The photos and articles actually look pretty good for the most part but I could see that there may have been a drop in the number of ads overall.
Digital-only format is a potential bad way to go forward. Worldradio online did not do well when it went on the internet. Too many people will look for stuff for free rather than pay for something online. Possibly the best model is to have both hard copy and digital version... sort of the way that the ARRL has it.
I saw hard copies of the July issue at the ARRL convention on the CQ table. I did not buy it because I thought that this was a good sign that they were now in the mail. I guess not. There is probably no money to mail these issues to subscribers. This is not good.
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Oh, things got even more interesting. Another month's worth of review has been deleted in the past hour June 19 through July 18....score is holding steady at 3.2. What is going on??? Conspiracy???
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Regression trend....reset overall score of the magazine back to zero by tomorrow ,,,,,
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Product Review posts are regularly deleted if they break the rules. Gripes about company X's customer service are specifically disallowed.
Here's the rule posted in the Product Review area.
The product reviews is not the correct place for reviews of companies/dealers/manufacturers or
customer service. The correct place for these reviews is in the Community Forum "CompanyReviews".
Mike N2MG
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I don't wish to pound CQ Communications further into the ground, and I hope they can turn around and survive; but I have some honest concerns.
Those removed reviews were for a product: CQ Magazine, not for the publisher, CQ Communications. Non delivery is the same as reviewing a non functioning piece of electronic gear. If CQ Publications was being discussed, then your point would valid.
There are also comments in the review section concerning poor customer service for Idiom Press products. The rules seem to be arbitrarily enforced...and that is obvious since those reviews were reviewed and approved prior to appearing on this website.
Perhaps publication reviews are not suited for your product review section?
Pete
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Hard to review a product if you don't receive it.
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I agree with Pete. Delivery of the product is the product. I am paying for a service that delivers the magazine each and every month on time. It's not customer service, it is the product. Not delivering what you paid for is not customer service.
If they messed up and over charged me, then did not refund the money - that is customer service.
If my magazine arrived mangled and they did not replace it - that is customer service.
If they cannot make good on a subscription, that is a problem with the product.
Well I guess I will not donate any additional money to eHam since they have such poor customer service by not allowing customers to warn prospective customers that they are not going to get the quality product they expected.
Does CQ do any advertising with eHam? Even if they did, is CQ ACTUALLY paying them - I mean are they actually getting the money?
eHam should be posting warnings to others on this site that they might not get what they paid for if they subscribe to CQ.
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OK, I just submitted the following review for CQ magazine:
"When my issue of CQ arrives, the news is old and outdated. Even the ads are outdated. The issue I received in February had Christmas ads that were no longer valid. When they send out combined issues, the magazine is no bigger than a regular monthly issue. Articles are often not very interesting. CQ magazine is not what it used to be."
It does not mention any "customer service" issues as eHam does not seem to understand that you are paying for a service and not simply a product.
I also gave it a ZERO rating.
We'll see if it gets added as they are obviously approving each review and not letting them automatically post. CQ must have pressured them on the reviews to remove the negative stuff.
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WB8NUT: Looks like your review was posted, as of this morning. I think that the magazine is headed to digital format only, but that may lead to a non-productive path overall...
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This is beating a dead horse. If they had the money and were profitable, the magazines would be delivered... no one wants to see any magazine fail. Pop'Comm could have been a good magazine with some guidance and good material. I prefer more technically orientated magazines--but I understand that is not what everyone else might prefer. The technical articles in CQ are very basic, repetitive, and there is no peer review. None of the shortwave monitoring, BCB dx'ing, CB, vintage radio repair or nostalgia material has been carried over to the expanded format as was promised. As usual, one or two staff members end up trying to fill the pages each month. That was Ham Radio Magazine's, and to some extent, the better issues of 73, where each month presented material from a large stable of technical writers. I guess I'll take out a sub to Electric Radio and live in the past, while having some reading room material that suits my interest. Digital Formal will not appeal to many old timers, and with the Zinio system it is impossible to archive and save interesting material. I think part of the problem is that manufacturers and outlets have cut back dramatically on their advertising budgets. Most magazines in their heydays had at least 50% advertising. That is what it takes to be profitable and to keep in publication. Most hams don't realize that the ads pay the freight, not the sub costs. When was the last time you've seen a two page spread from Ten Tec?
Pete
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Well put, but apparently no horse is too dead to beat, as the saying goes. We used to subscribe to 2 newspapers (one since the '70's), and stuck with them thru the staff layoffs and declining content. Then came late or no deliveries, and we finally cancelled both. I'll continue to support CQ as long as the printed version is available, but in the long run (or sooner!) you can't fight the age demographics. Haven't decided whether to move to the Zinio editions if/when the print is discontinued.
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My XYL got me a three year sub. to CQ for our first Christmas together. So far, I've received three print copies. I wish I could cancel, but it was such a loving gift, I can't bring myself to do it. I hate the fact that so much money was pissed away with the most loving of intentions on such a "publication." CQ, will you ever manage to send me all the missing issues I am due? Will you ever manage to convince my wife that she gave me a beautiful and loving gift? At this point, I don't care about my disappointment-- you don't have anything of value to offer. I only care about how my wife feels, and it isn't good.
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I have experience with magazine publishing, and I am a former big four auditor and handled media/publishing clients. This issue is obviously advertising revenue- when you factor in distribution costs, labor, paper, etc, the magazine lives and dies by ad revenue. Dependency on subscriptions for revenue to keep the magazine alive needs a huge subscription base. I wonder what the subscription figures are (paid)- they should be listed in the magazine and are audited for circulation. If the big boys are not advertising, revenue plunges and cash flow problems exist. So that is the issue. It appears that operational issues exist as well- no excuse for bad customer service, lack of response etc. "unacceptable'. So- it appears they tried to give it a go by combining magazines, offering digital substitutes for a few months. Not working so hot, only a matter of time before some painful decisions are made. Losing money on print is not an option. :(
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Hi David (N2SLO)
I think that you summed up the situation pretty good. The ad revenue is key source of income in addition to a sustaining base of subscribers. Obtaining ads have been proving to be an issue for the magazine and they have gone through four ad managers in the past year and a half.
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Combine that with the facts that advertisers might not be paying for ads that are not being delivered to subscribers. Most if not all of us received the December issue in February. If you had Christmas advertisements that did not get into the hands of readers until February, would you want to pay for those ads? The folks at CQ are making some very poor decisions that are just contributing to this death spiral. You just cannot continue to hide the obvious from your subscribers and telling customers lies is not a solution to helping people stick by you during a crisis, it's actually causing them to flee.
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Combine that with the facts that advertisers might not be paying for ads that are not being delivered to subscribers.
Or not paying because they have cash-flow problems of their own. I've worked for trade magazines for 15 years, and even when an industry is doing well, it's not uncommon for advertisers to be 90 to 120 days behind in paying for ads that have already run, regardless of what the contact says. It wouldn't surprise me if that's the case in our hobby, too.
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So if advertisers order the ads in October for the December issue, that is about 60 days. Then the ads do not get into the customers' hands until February or about another 60 days. That would be about 120 days from order until publication. CQ probably billed them in October, so if advertisers are taking 120 days to pay, they are paying for the ads right around the time they are actually read by the subscribers even though the magazine is two months late. So while advertisers might be having cash-flow problems, their payments are most likely timing perfectly with CQ's distorted publication schedule making them right on time.
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It's August 11th and still no July or August print editions at my house. Has anyone received the July issue yet or we all in the same boat?
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I got my June issue on July 6th. No July issue yet.
Phil - AD5X
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No July issue (or August) here yet. I am tending to agree with those who have commented that they might be having problems paying for the postage to mail issues to subscribers. I recently got a solicitation from CQ asking me to renew for up to three years. With the problems they have been having for over a year now, I don't think I will be sending them any money right now. I still have multiple years of CQ remaining and doubt I will ever see them. I FINALLY am getting the e-edition via Zinio (or whatever it is called). It took three days to get that going after changing passwords about 5 times....very glitchy in my opinion...
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I wonder what this forebodes?
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?446490-Ham-Radio-Deluxe-6-2-7-Released-Katie-Allen-WY7KRA-Joins-HRD-Huntsville-Hamfest
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Wow, another prediction comes true. I posted on the CQ Facebook page that Katie Allen's career would be very short at CQ. She denied that was the case, but I was right.
My other prediction to Gary at Amateur Radio Video News, is that CQ would not make it past the end of August. We'll see. If Katie already bailed, the end is near.
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Well, she could be doing two jobs... I'd guess a lot of that work can be done at home over the internet. But, if she left, it would be a shame. She made some attempt to communicate and was a positive.
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NO, I was told by another writer that she was resigning this week, which when she took over the position at Ham Radio Deluxe. Either job is a fulltime job, so I doubt that she would be doing both, particularly since she is going to Huntsville, Alabama to represent Ham Radio Deluxe. I know that she was a very positive person but the track record was poor for advertising managers for the magainze - four in the last 16 months!
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I hired Katie after she had resigned from CQ. She was a good fit for us.... she is a writer and very techie...
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FB on hiring Katie. I only had a email with her and see that she has a lot of energy....she should be a good asset to your company!
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Could be her paychecks from CQ also started bouncing.....
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I don't know, CQ and Katie are both being very quiet about the whole thing. And, it's August 13th and still no July or August editions of the printed magazine have been delivered. Funny thing is that July was apparently printed because some have seen them at hamfests and stores, just not in our mailboxes.
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I don't know, CQ and Katie are both being very quiet about the whole thing. And, it's August 13th and still no July or August editions of the printed magazine have been delivered.
Well ... I'm not a subscriber but I checked out the CQ subscription offers and it simply states that it's a 12 month subscription. Nowhere could I find the specific dates that the magazines would actually be delivered. 8)
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Hey guys,
I was hoping to leave quietly so as to not fuel the flames of supposition. Obviously that really can't happen, so in a nutshell: Advertising sales requires a certain skill set and where-with-all....which after 4 months, I realized that I really just don't have "it" nor did I like it. Can I sell? Yeah, of course I can. I actually enjoy the one on one interaction with people, but this is a different thing. Anyone who has ever done it will understand.
Life is short...and it is too short to do a job that you aren't happy at. The plain and simple explanation is that I gave it what I consider to be adequate time to figure it out. And when I figured it out, I decided I needed to find something else to do. I just happen to be lucky enough to stay in the industry that I love.
Hope to catch you on the air soon!
73 for now,
Katie, WY7KRA
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Indeed, life is short... best wishes for your future endeavors! And good luck!
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A very lady-like response. What I would expect. I am sure there is more to it, but we'll leave it at that.
Best of Luck at HRD.
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Good luck Katie with HRD! CQ writers know a lot of the stuff going on over there, so you did good to try this out and find something that will make you happy.
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A very lady-like response. What I would expect. I am sure there is more to it, but we'll leave it at that.
Best of Luck at HRD.
Duffy, you know me and this is the truth. There is no more to it. She resigned and was talking to Jason about it and Jason told her to call me. I hired her last Sunday... Like everything else in my life, I backed into finding someone qualified , after a couple months of searching for a new support / doc person.
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Rick, I believe that Katie resigned. I believe she found advertising sales to not be her thing so to speak. But here is where I think the rest of the story is not being told. I believe advertisers had to be beating her up quite a bit. Sure, Katie can sell, but how easy is it to sell to customers who might possibly be hostile? When your Christmas ads arrive in the subscribers' mailboxes in February what good is that for the advertisers? When June sales advertisements arrive in subscribers' mailboxes in early July, and then July still has not arrived in mailboxes as of the middle of August! How much fun can that possibly be? Katie and I exchanged a number of emails when she started and as I have said before, I told her that her career at CQ would be short. Because no matter how good she is, you cannot sell to customers who are consistently not receiving what they paid for. Second, I told Katie that CQ's handling of this situation has been a complete disaster. The management of CQ has not been honest and transparent with their customers. Early on it was "production problems." Then it was the combined March/April would get everything back on track; clearly it did not. Now they are just silent and not saying anything. Just how stupid does CQ management seem to think we subscribers are in that we cannot see the truth for ourselves? I am sure Katie was asked to not reveal what is really going on and I respect that from Katie. What so many subscribers like myself are upset about are the lies about the condition of the magazine. I think the operation is sinking and I don't see them coming out of it now because of the lies and broken commitments. BTW, when I get a chance I will send you some off-line suggestions for HRD.
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I would think if some hams think it's dying, they would make an offer to Dick Ross and buy him out, like we did HRD.
BTW, we never paid for the ads until they ran, and Dick never charged us for the online only issues...
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If you ordered Christmas ads and they showed up in February, would you still pay for the ads?
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I dispd, because the ad got results ...and some interesting phone calls ;)
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Selling CQ Magazine may be his only option at this point. It would be hard to figure out a price for it, because of possible liabilities (unpaid authors, unfilled subscriptions, etc). I suppose in normal times (2000 timeframe) , the magazine could fetch an asking price of $200,000 to $300,000. It might be an attractive target for an European organization in order to get the rights to the CQ WW contests. I suppose that the CQ WW will go on as scheduled this year if there is no change in the situation with results printed in the on-line version. However, there is probably no money for scoring and for certificates. This is truly uncharted territory for an aspect of the ham radio hobby that was taken for granted for many years. Man, are the times tough these days!!
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It might be easier for the business, if cash flow is at critical mass, to file with a federal bankruptcy court for protection under either Chapter 7 or Chapter 11. You would have to be nuts, or just have money to burn, to buy a business that could be riddled with debt, unhappy subscribers, etc.
If CQ WW is so important (and similar CQ contests) , I would suspect the contest participants of the world could gather together enough third party people to do the scoring, and if the participants (winners or whomever) wanted a certificate, they could pay for it themselves.
Pete, wa2cwa
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Seems to me ARRL would be the logical party to pick up the administration of these contests and the county hunters program.
CQ Communications is holding its cards close to the vest, which is smart for them. Perhaps not a good thing for present or future subscribers. I tired of their b.s. and requested a refund which will most likely never materialize. They said if I gave them a credit card number they would credit my account immediately. I didn't want to aid them rolling up a big credit card balance, lest it go unpaid. There is too much of this in our society now anyway, and besides that, I don't trust them with my c.c. number..., or anything else for that matter.
Since the sub. in question was solicited through the U.S. Mail, and paid for by personal check also sent by mail, the whole thing reeks of mail fraud. But the sum is piddling, not worth the time to pursue. I'll gladly be someplace at the end of a long, long list of creditors if/when the end comes. Maybe they'll read this and mail me my refund check! I'll not hold my breath over this one.
The disappearance of amateur radio magazines is a long-term repetitive pattern. I was a Ham Radio Magazine subscriber when it went down in June 1990. Had just added 3 years to that sub. CQ made good on it, just took a little prodding via telephone. That was 24 years ago.
Got caught with part of an unfulfilled subscription to 73 Magazine when it vaporized 10+ years ago. That whole thing disappeared into nothingness.
Will history stop repeating itself? I'm a slow learner, but the lesson to me is no more amateur radio magazines.
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Ham Radio was a different animal. The owner wanted to retire, and the magazine took a big hit when Jim Fisk passed away. They could also see the handwriting on the wall: the change in the hobby (becoming less technically orientated), a dwindling stable of good writers--many of whom were passing away or becoming to old to write or to pursue the hobby. At the time there was some speculation whether Ham Radio should have retired before Ham Radio Horizons. Communications Quarterly Magazine was the successor to HRM, but it only had a ten year run with a limited subscriber base and was eventually folded with the sub base going over to QEX. Ham Radio payed their authors on publication, and as an associate editor I was always promptly paid. They never were late on payments or delayed issues to their subscribers. The internet has stolen a lot of paid advertiser pages from all of the magazines. If you can't sell advertising the magazine will fail.
Pete
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If I were buying CQ, I'd just buy the rights to the magazine and not the company. This way, it would be a fresh start for all.
I'd make it online only, no subscriptions and PDF format. That way, it could easily get 500,000 downloads worldwide and far outshine the return for advertisers that a traditional magazine couldn't .
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Here's a good opportunity to expand your business into publishing.
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A lot of thoughts are here now. I think that on-line magazines are not as easy as it looks. I have gotten better responses for my ads in the printed version than the on-line version. Online version may result in less cost overall, which may mean less staff, less overhead (do it from home rather than an office) and it will be mainly subscription-based to bring in the money. I am not too sure if an online-only version would draw much over 10,000 subscribers overall. It is hard to say for sure.
I believe that there is a thought that the ARRL would take over some of the CQ contests but that may not happen. It does cost money in terms of time to tabulate results and print certificates. This would mean additional costs to whatever organization takes it over. Perhaps a large radio organization could take over the CQ WW and charge a $5 admission fee for all entries to cover these costs. Unthinkable years ago, but it may be a possibility to allow this to continue.
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Here's a good opportunity to expand your business into publishing.
LOL I have 16 people now.. 30,000 paid users.. I wish I had the time ;)..
It would have to be a separate company, but CQ is at Huntsville....
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Congrats on your success. Your product is in demand. I wonder why CQ is at Huntsville? They were at the ARRL convention and only had magazines and calenders....no books like they used to carry at previous shows...
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Here's a good opportunity to expand your business into publishing.
LOL I have 16 people now.. 30,000 paid users.. I wish I had the time ;)..
It would have to be a separate company, but CQ is at Huntsville....
I believe that CQ is, and has always been in HICKSVILLE (Long Island), NEW YORK which is a lot different from Huntsville, Anywhere. ;D
73,
John
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I meant they had a booth at the Huntsville hamfest..;)
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Hicksville, Long Island office is in a busy area of the island near the train station. Not too sure what showing up at Huntsville will do for their fortunes at this stage....
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Congrats on your success. Your product is in demand. I wonder why CQ is at Huntsville? They were at the ARRL convention and only had magazines and calenders....no books like they used to carry at previous shows...
Thanks, it's been hard work and lots of hamfess ..
I feel very lucky have this product and have the hams support it.... For that, I'm very thankful.
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Hicksville, Long Island office is in a busy area of the island near the train station. Not too sure what showing up at Huntsville will do for their fortunes at this stage....
That is right- Ken hope all is well. Been following this thread. It is a matter of time before print is toast. Like I said- no advertising, no magazine. The Hicksville office is close to LIRR station - about 35 minutes from my QTH. I received my issue of a Mustang magazine yesterday- they disclosed this is their last issue, will be combined into an existing Ford/muscle/mustang magazine. Sorry state- unfortunately the world has changed. Even large established magazines published by Heart Corporation have been hit. The internet has changed our lives, all on-line, now mobile advertising is heating up. Not sure on CQ circulation - it should be disclosed in magazine, but with infrastructure issues, cash flow, etc. huge hit to subscriptions, decreased large companies advertising, this one is on life support. :(.... My prediction - sometime in Q4.
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Not sure on CQ circulation - it should be disclosed in magazine
If they use an audit bureau, such www.auditedmedia.com/constituencies/magazines.aspx, then those figures should be published in the magazine once a year. Check some back issues.
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I know people say print is dead, and to go all digital, but this is the issue other magazines have experienced. Magazine advertisers have found more response to their print ads then with the ads in all electronic editions. Some magazines that have gone all digital have noticed a larger decrease in subscribers. Some have even gone back to print or a hybrid model of print and digital. People prefer print magazines. Ads are retained longer with print so an advertisers get more for their money with a print magazine.
So digital only may not be the way to go, but I think CQ has not managed their cash flow properly, held on to magazines with limited readership too long, handled the whole situation poorly to the point that I have to agree, without an angel with money, they're toast.
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Wow, my July issue arrived in the mail! ;D Maybe there is hope... obviously they haven't given up and are trying. Hopefully the ship can be righted! I don't think expecting QST to pick up all of the contests and other services is a realistic expectation.
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Hi,
My $105.00 ARRL (QST) Life Membership, that my wife gave me as a gift 40+ years ago, is really looking great right now.
CQ has always been an "also ran" subscription to me anyway. Half the time CQ magazine was received ripped and torn, if received at all. I finally got tired of calling CQ and hearing the latest story/excuse of the month. CQ always claimed it was the "Post Office Machines", however NONE of the other magazines, or catalogs that my wife or I receive have ever suffered the same fate, just CQ. I have NEVER had to call the ARRL about my QST or NCJ issues.
73,
John W5JON
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The mule train finally arrived in Kentucky today... I now have my copy of the July issue of CQ.
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Wasn't the mule train that is the problem, it has to do with when CQ must have had enough money for pay for the magazine to be sent out. I also received my JULY issue yesterday, August 18. Hope the Huntsville Hamfest people didn't spend too much for an ad most people saw AFTER the hamfest occurred.
Did anyone else notice no Icom or TenTec ads in the July issue? Are major advertisers also starting to bail on CQ since they cannot deliver magazines?
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I haven't seen many ads from Ten Tec period--I think they are also in a cash savings mode. With the new takeover, and no new products worthy of replacing the Orion I suspect they aren't quite ready for a big advertising campaign.
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I might suggest that advertisers order their Christmas ads now for the September issue of CQ Magazine. The September issue should maybe hopefully arrive prior to Thanksgiving and just in time to help kick off the Christmas shopping season!
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I was a lifetime subscriber of WorldRadio when it was purchased. As I was subscriber to CQ as well, my CQ subscription was extend by three years or so. While that wasn't ideal, there wasn't much to do but accept it. My CQ subscription ostensibly ran out in November 2013 yet I never received a renewal notice in the prior six months which was highly unusual for CQ Communications. Since they apparently could not maintain their record keeping to level so as to solicit renewals from existing subscribers, what assurance would I have that they would have any record if I paid for a new subscription? To that end I have chosen not to subscribe and have followed the drama in these threads.
Then WRO went behind the digital pay wall. At that time I had no assurance that Zinio would work on my system and I reasoned that it would not be wise to spend money on an unknown quantity like that so I reluctantly bid WorldRadio farewell.
No, I do not wish to see CQ disappear. I've already lost money on Ham Radio when it disappeared (did not receive the promised number of remaining issues as CQ). I was not a subscriber of 73 when it folded but had been years before. I had reached the point in my WorldRadio lifetime subscription where it was well past 15 years since I had paid them that fee so they really owed me nothing. To see the remaining independent magazine die like this is not fun at all. It would be one thing if they were to ask for donations with no promise of anything in return but to subscribe at this point in time with any expectation of receiving the magazine in the mail seems like a fool's errand.
As for the CQ contests, I doubt ARRL will pick them up, although they may as well since they get blamed for the QRM anyway. ;)
I can't offer any solutions to the folks in Hicksville except that first you will need to rebuild a lot of trust as the past year has seen you squander a considerable portion of goodwill. I cannot guarantee that the ham radio community would have rallied around you had you been more forthcoming in the beginning. However, taking the course you did by being secretive and using the "it's in the mail" excuse more times than I care to count did result in the community being suspicious of everything you say now and wary of doing business with you. That's just the way it is.
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Nate, I agree fully. They lost most of the goodwill they had built up over the years. Cannot say it is all gone, but it's getting there as each month of the crisis continues.
I just do not understand why they think honesty is the worst policy!
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Here's an interesting link to the BBB complaints against CQ. Note the one complaint that stated they got a refund check, but the check came back NSF. The subscriber wanted CQ to send another refund but include the charges he got charged from his bank for the bounced check fees. Never got a response from CQ.
http://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/Business-Reviews/magazine-sales/cq-communications-inc-in-hicksville-ny-18348/directions
Now this is just the BBB from the New York area. I wonder how many other complaints there are with BBB groups around the country.
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Got my JULY issue yesterday August 25. I had a long subscription to Popular Communications and I guess this is the replacement for that defunct publication. Lots of contest stuff which doesn't interest me. Makes QST seem extremely exciting! Not.
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With August just about over, did anyone receive their August issue of CQ in the mail yet? Yeah, I know we just received the July issue, but I would think at some point CQ might want to try getting ahead of the curve on delivery of the issues on time.
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I haven't. Has anyone seen it at a dealer or a hamfest?
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I got my July issue on August 21st, about 1-week after I emailed CQ and complained about not receiving the July issue yet. They responded, saying that I should have received it and so they were putting one in 1st Class mail for me. So when I got the issue, it was NOT one sent via 1st Class. It was the normal issue with the normal address label. It appears that they didn't send it out until I complained. At least that is the way it looked. Obviously, no August issue yet.
Phil - AD5X
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A few weeks ago, someone posted a question on CQ's Facebook page. They asked "what is the meaning of CQ?"
I responded, "lately it means unable to deliver."
It's September 2 and still no on-line September edition. Still no paper August or September issue. How long can this continue to go on? Will it ever be fixed? How do they expect to succeed and attract subscribers?
The worst part is that CQ issues no comments and does not provide any updates or truth on the situation. I guess they think if they just ignore it, it will get better.
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Jon Kummer is back as CQ Ad manager as of today
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Wow, that is interesting news! Jon is a good guy and he is facing many challenges there!
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Got my Aug Print CQ today
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Got my Aug Print CQ today
What I can not figure out is why I keep getting CQ Magazine especially since I have not paid for it in 11 months. They just keep coming.
I was a CQ reader forever but the last few years I got very un-happy with the Magazine and late delivery. When my subscription came up for renewal last Oct 2013 I decided not to continue to subscribe. What a way to run a business. Piss off your readers and then keep sending them free issues when they no longer pay $$..
Stan K9IUQ
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What I can not figure out is why I keep getting CQ Magazine especially since I have not paid for it in 11 months. They just keep coming.
I tried to subscribe to the digital edition several months ago but couldn't read it. So, I cancelled the subscription and got a full refund. However I keep getting monthly notices that the current issue is now available.
Sounds like chaos to me. JMO
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Sept CQ digital online hit today
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Sept CQ digital online hit today
Hi,
Well I guess that proves the September issue exists. However, there are us paper subscribers that have yet to see the August issue, and with little hope of seeing the September issue until OCTOBER. Not to mention MANY the past issues that we have never seen. Sad, very sad situation.....
73,
John
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Got my Aug Print CQ today
What I can not figure out is why I keep getting CQ Magazine especially since I have not paid for it in 11 months. They just keep coming.
I was a CQ reader forever but the last few years I got very un-happy with the Magazine and late delivery. When my subscription came up for renewal last Oct 2013 I decided not to continue to subscribe. What a way to run a business. Piss off your readers and then keep sending them free issues when they no longer pay $$..
Stan K9IUQ
Stan are you sure they did not Auto bill your credit card? That seems to be the norm today, they keep your info and just bill you automatically each year.
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Stan are you sure they did not Auto bill your credit card?
No, CQ magazine never had my Credit card, I always paid CQ via personal check. The only Company I allow to autobill my CC is Directv. They give me a $10 a month credit for that privilege.
Stan K9IUQ
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September Digital version arrived today. August print edition is still MIA.
Tom, KR4BD
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Jon Kummer is back as CQ Ad manager as of today
I wonder how long he will be there. They have quite the revolving door at CQ.
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I emailed CQ about the August print issue on 9/3. Received it today via First Class mail.
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It's great they sent it to you 1st class mail, but the general population of subscribers are still waiting for the August, and now September issues. Month after month, each issue arrives very late, usually in the following month so that any date sensitive material is worthless. Remember, CQ said that skipping the February print issue and then combining the March and April issues into one issue, would get them back on track. It clearly did not and CQ will not offer an explanation to the subscribers. In fact, CQ is not issuing any statements at all as to what is going on. We subscribers are just being ignored.
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Maybe everybody just ought to demand a subscription refund--and put them out of their misery. Yeah, I know, some want to receive the magazine, but it looks like that isn't happening anyway.
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Stan are you sure they did not Auto bill your credit card?
No, CQ magazine never had my Credit card, I always paid CQ via personal check. The only Company I allow to autobill my CC is Directv. They give me a $10 a month credit for that privilege.
Stan K9IUQ
You might want to check your DTv bills, Stan... that ten buck offer is for signing up for direct payment. One shot deal. You aren't getting ten dollars a month. Been there, done that.
Pete
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I have had nothing but trouble with the CQ Magazine (missed issues, no response to emails or phone calls). They have adopted an approach where they are hiding behind voicemail and email.
Clearly it is time for the management personnel, including the editor (and staff) at the CQ publication to lose their jobs. It is also time for them to be prosecuted for "Fraud by Deception" for taking subscription monies and then not delivering monthly issues according to their own terms and conditions. I intend to contact their local law enforcement and business bureau to complain and to initiate an investigation into the unlawful actions of the CQ publication management.
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Law enforcement is not going to do anything over a company's bad business practice. To my knowledge they have not created any commitments other than you get a magazine. They don't promise when, they just promise the issue. So CQ sends it out about 8 weeks late. That is not fraud and not a crime. It's still legal to have poor business practices. Not to mention, when you have major issues with drugs/violence/murder/etc are cops really going to worry about a magazine subscription? No.
So you can report the issue with the BBB. There are already complaints out there on CQ. How many hams visit the BBB site(s) to see complaints before subscribing? So that is futile.
The only thing that is effective is to just not renew. Stop sending good money after bad.
CQ just ignores everyone's complaints and when they do say something it is "we appreciate all the support we received at the XXX hamfest last weekend." Clearly they have their heads in the sand and think that by ignoring us, it will all turn out OK. Well I like the magazine, but tired of getting it weeks late. My money will go elsewhere at renewal time ONLY because CQ will not communicate and update us with TRUTHFUL information.
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I have had nothing but trouble with the CQ Magazine (missed issues, no response to emails
Same here.
After cancelling and requesting a refund on the balance of a subscription CQ Communications seemed to be unwilling or unable to deliver, they said 6 to 8 weeks but if I gave them a credit card number they would credit my account immediately ::)
The reply was the subscription was solicited through the U.S. Mail, paid by a personal check mailed to CQ Communications via the U.S. Mail (and long since cleared the bank), and that their solution was unacceptable.
The refund has yet to arrive.
The amount owed is small. I refuse to give this organization a credit card number. This publication may be at the end of the line. Some of their woes are self-inflicted. They've made terrible PR for themselves among the amateur community with their bad behavior. Soliciting subscriptions and then not delivering magazines or refunds is inexcusable.
Paperless is touted as the 21st Century way to read a magazine or newspaper. Pay to read something on an electronic device with no tangible physical copy. What is the half-life of paid-for electronic back issues? It's a convoluted way of doing something basic, i.e. reading a magazine. What about the advertisers? Their ad is worth less with fewer people seeing it, and it has no persistence as a back issue in virtual form.
The real concern for the publishing industry is people don't read as much as they used to. Some never did and some don't have the time, but the trend is worsening. Companies won't buy advertising if no one is looking. The method of delivery will prove to have been irrelevant as publishers continue to go out of business. Going paperless is a cost-cutting strategy that makes the publisher appear desperate, causing further erosion to the subscriber base.
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As a writer for the former CQ VHF publication and once for CQ Plus, I received a news update last night from the current magazine staff on the current situation. They have a new advertisting manager named, who was there last year for the magazine, Jon Kummer, effective with the October issue. The managing editor, Gail, who was with the magazine for over 25 years resigned last week. Some of her duties have been transferred to another person on staff. The staff realizes that the print edition has been late and hopes to close the gap on print deliveries by the end of the year.
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Someone just posted in the DX forum that they applied for their WAZ certificate 9 months ago (last June), and have gotten nothing.
They are taking customer service to a new level. At this point, I just hope they sell to someone, and that someone modifies their business strategy.
That was me. Actually, I checked my records and it's only been six months. (I'd created the application nine months ago and was a little slow about getting the cards checked.)
- WX2S
That is still a ridiculously long time. WAZ is much tougher than DXCC, and has far fewer applicants. It's not like they have hundreds of waiting on WAZ cert, like the ARRL has for DXCC.
The DXCC Certificate for my V49J contest callsign, was sent three days after I submitted my LotW application. So in my mind there is no reason for CQ to take "MONTHS" to check and send a piece of paper.
CQ has become a shadow of what it was in it's prime. A very sad state of affairs.
73,
John V47JA
Still no WAZ certificate, and now it has been over a year. WAZ-CW is also still long overdue. I'd like to just find the calligrapher and pay them directly, since I clearly have no hope of ever seeing it if I continue to rely on CQ Magazine.
- WX2S.
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On second thought, maybe I should just find my own calligrapher.
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?424333-CQ-Magazine-delivery-problems/page19
Today I finally received my WAZ certificate after waiting 9 months for it. It was all wrinkled (not from postal damage - it was put in the tube that way), had inconsistent calligraphy, and the oddly placed/crooked CQ sticker immediately fell off. I'm glad it came before the whole operation goes belly up, but NEVER AGAIN! It leaves such a bad taste in the mouth I'm not even excited to put the poor looking document on the wall any more.
WX2S.
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As a writer for the former CQ VHF publication and once for CQ Plus, I received a news update last night from the current magazine staff on the current situation. They have a new advertisting manager named, who was there last year for the magazine, Jon Kummer, effective with the October issue. The managing editor, Gail, who was with the magazine for over 25 years resigned last week. Some of her duties have been transferred to another person on staff. The staff realizes that the print edition has been late and hopes to close the gap on print deliveries by the end of the year.
Just like the combined March/April issue was going to get them back on track. Now it's the end of the year and they'll be caught up. Bet early next year we'll all be talking about them not making that commitment. Interesting that they have not made any of those statements public which leads me to believe they don't have confidence that they will make that commitment either. So if the managing editor bailed along with the a revolving door of advertising managers, it sounds to me that things are not getting better but worse. Too bad, really too bad. I don't see how they will recover from all this without some infusion of money quickly.
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It is really sad for me to see this situation not getting any better. I have written for the magazine since 1995, initially for the first incarnation of CQ VHF when it was a monthly, and then for the quarterly version that started up again in 2003, until 2013. I did write a handful of articles for the parent magazine during that time as well and a book cowritten with Gordon West back in 2003.
An influx of cash ($100K or more) would really be a lifesaver at this point. One would think that it might be worth saving the WAZ programs along with the major CQ WW Contests to maintain this legacy in the hobby.
But part of the problem is the hobby is changing. Repeaters were the pioneering technology to be suplanted by cell phones and Iphones. Newer hams may be looking for different things than some of us did, 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Print magazines (any kind) seem to be old.
The changing in the hobby and other factors have caught everyone by surprise in recent years that made the situation much worse. I believe that two things in particular caused heartburn....the demise of general radio interest (covered in PopComm) and the takeover of Worldradio online (which did not add much in the way of more subscribers overall). It is kind of sad for me because it was easier for writers to submit to publications like CQ and Worldradio. QST has a different approach and it rare for a writer to get published more than twice a year for the magazine, unless the writer is writing a monthly column. That was the advantage of CQ and Worldradio as they were open to multiple feature articles by the same writer during the year. QST is more structured as a membership magazine.
I am very sad about this. The managing editor, I can tell you, really worked hard and was very helpful to the writers. It may be the final straw....
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As a writer for the former CQ VHF publication and once for CQ Plus, I received a news update last night from the current magazine staff on the current situation.
How are they doing in terms of payments to writers?
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HI.
Very very poorly. I have not been paid by them for over four years for several articles. I managed to work out a deal for ad space in the printed magazine and the online magazine to kind of compensate for that. I probably got 10 percent of money owed me through orders made through the ad. My close friend did a similar deal and was owed 10 grand or more. Many of the regular columns (12 columns a year) have not been paid for four years either. The ad idea is OK but the print copies get better responses, and thus if no print copies go out, it does not work out as well. We realized things were getting poorer and poorer each year,,,,pretty much after 2008. A book deal pretty much went the same way. I actually have an article written for CQ Plus that appeared in February but did not expect to get paid anyway....so far I have not been disappointed with my prediction! Please keep in mind that some articles require some time and expense, particularly technical articles. You can work for free for a while but at some point you end up looking for other opportunities. CQ has burned bridges with many authors with lack of payment and even if they were to get back on track with deliveries, they would still have no money to pay authors! I am upset about all of this and the ad idea was a modest compromise for previous payments but going forward, there is simply going to be no money for authors. The best thing would be for them to suspend CQ for two months and start off fresh for November with current ads and so forth.
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So keep in mind, there is no money to pay authors going forward. If you like the idea of getting published and do not mind not getting paid, they would be happy to publish any relevant articles that you may have.
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Four years is a long time. The longest I went as a Pop'Comm columnist in the '90s was a year, when I finally stopped filing. I think it took another year before they were caught up.
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Thanks KEK for your information. Up to about 2000 when the first incarnation of CQ VHF ended, they were only a month or two behind. By 2005, they were running a year behind. By 2008/2009, they were two or three years behind and would only pay once a year (around May when they picked up subscriptions at Dayton) and even then only a partial amount. In one way, I had experience with science papers submitted to journal where there would be no payment but good exposure. In a way, I thought that some of the excellent articles written by experts for CQ VHF was kind of resembling a journal-type setup. But it became apparent that they were not reining in expenses to pay authors. When I saw the CQ booth at the ARRL convention, it really looked like a swan song to me...three people (including the ad person who left the next month) and only some magazines to sell...no books. Sad story...
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So unfortunate to see the ship sinking.
The comment about print versus on-line advertising is dead-on. Print magazine ads get much more exposure and response over ads in on-line magazines. People say print is dead, but from what I read, magazines that tried to go all on-line really don't do well and usually resort back to print if they want to stay in business. So Zinio is not going to be CQ's saving grace.
What would save them is more subscriptions so advertisers want to advertise in their magazine. But I am afraid that the way CQ has handled this problem with no honesty and no transparency that they are contributing to their own demise. Who wants to pay money for a subscription that you will probably never receive?
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I've seen several reviews for QST in the review section where hams are continually complaining about the 50% apparent ad content in that magazine. Hams need to realize that advertising and ad rates are what make a magazine profitable. It was pretty obvious that companies weren't advertising as heavily in any of the CQ Publications over the past several years. I was told many years ago that a 50% ad rate was a sign of a healthy magazine. And, that isn't at heavily discounted advertising rates.
I was with HR Mag as an associate editor when it went over to CQ in 1990. had a good run from 1990 for ten years with Communications Quarterly (tech editor) and Pop'Comm as a columnist. I retired from my column in Pop'Comm several months before it was brought into the expanded CQ Magazine digital version. Ham Radio Mag and QST always paid on publication. CQ always paid, until just the past few years, although at times it took longer than many of us authors liked. I do hope they can dig out of this mess, but unless they have AD REVENUE it is very hard to pay the printer and the post office. Even if they drop two issues to catch up, where is the revenue stream to pay for the next issue? Hopefully they have a backlog of past due ad revenue to draw upon for future expenses. I'd hate to see another ham or hobby publication fold up tent and disappear. I'm sure this wasn't a plot by the CQ staff to rob hams of subscriptions; their livelihoods and careers are on the line. I'm still owed for work, but if they don't have the resources it becomes an unfortunate fact of life. I've lost in the stock market too... life goes on. Things change. I just hope that the printed format stays with us for some time to come. A tablet is not substitute for a paper mag in my opinion.
Pete
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Just received an E-mail from CQ Magazine advising me of their latest calendar that will be availble in October. It's only about $U.S.18 but would I be wasting my money ordering it. Considering all that has been going on with this magazine lately would I ever receive it?
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I don't know about ordering the calendar.... I am still waiting for the August and September Hard Copies of CQ. It is really sad to see this once great magazine sliding down the tubes. I've been a subscriber since 1975....
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I've bought CQ calendars in the past, but with the subscription debacle, I'm not going to risk it this year.
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I've bought CQ calendars in the past, but with the subscription debacle, I'm not going to risk it this year.
Agreed, if you cannot trust them to send out the magazine, how do you trust them to send anything else out that you order.
What fries me is that they have the nerve to send out solicitations for other products for you to buy, but they cannot deliver the products you already purchased!
And, by the way, they continue to ignore the issue by not updating their customers with what is going on, if and when it is truly and honestly going to get better.
All I can say is that their business practices are so horrible, that there is no way this company is going to survive. They are losing support every month. The issue is not IF they go under, but WHEN they go under.
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Here's an interesting post from a ham author who wrote a book published by CQ. Explains a lot about the business ethics of CQ management and why they ignore subscribers complaints about not receiving the magazine and receiving it late if and when it is ever mailed.
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/40mtr_USB_Group/conversations/topics/2969
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WB8NUT....I am familiar with the general elements of Mark's story. I ran into some difficulties as well with a VHF propagation book that I co-wrote with Gordon West for them back in 2003. There were signed agreements in place between us and them regarding yearly statements and yearly royalties distribution. After not seeing either after three years of publication dates, we visited them and got the statement which showed significant sales. We ended up agreeing to take additional copies of the book in lieu of payments - not the original agreement but it worked out for the most part for us. But I knew that others like Mark had issues that were not resolved. I believe that money issues were starting to kill them as early as eight years ago and it reached a point this year of no return. A sad story indeed.....
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I guess that after posting the previous item, I won't be getting the calender for Christmas this year from them.....
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YOU GOT A CALENDAR FOR CHRISTMAS??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
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One of the few perks as a staff writer was the yearly Christmas gift, a calender. I believe that I have received them for the past eight or nine years...
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The calender for 2015 can show the expected dates for the late print issues for the year 2014 to finally arrive in suscribers' mailboxes.....
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LOL!!!
I wonder if people who order the calendar will receive it in January 2016?
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One of the few perks as a staff writer was the yearly Christmas gift, a calender. I believe that I have received them for the past eight or nine years...
As an advertiser, I would get a calendar every year too.
Pete, wa2cwa
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One of the few perks as a staff writer was the yearly Christmas gift, a calender. I believe that I have received them for the past eight or nine years...
As an advertiser, I would get a calendar every year too.
Pete, wa2cwa
So are the calendars delivered like the magazine? That being the year after publication? Just wonder if CQ is being consistent.
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One of the few perks as a staff writer was the yearly Christmas gift, a calender. I believe that I have received them for the past eight or nine years...
As an advertiser, I would get a calendar every year too.
Pete, wa2cwa
So are the calendars delivered like the magazine? That being the year after publication? Just wonder if CQ is being consistent.
I'll let you know January 2015.
Pete, wa2cwa
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September 24 and still no delivery of the August or September issues. How can CQ Magazine survive if they are angering all their subscribers, advertisers, and now we learn, the contributing writers and book authors? They cannot be getting many renewals. And really funny how at the beginning of the year they were out there trying to explain the "production issues" and their plan to get back on track (which did not work). But since about May, complete silence. Seems they don't care and maybe resigned themselves to the possible fact that the ship is sinking. Just do not understand the total lack of communication to their customers. I think they have just given up.
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Hi Jim, WB8NUT:
I, along with the other writers, know how important Gail, K2RED, the managing editor was to the magazine. She was the glue that kept things going over there for the magazine as well as other things (like contests). Her loss to the magazine is being felt now big time. There is no way that they can replace her. This is truly the last straw!
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Hi Jim, WB8NUT:
I, along with the other writers, know how important Gail, K2RED, the managing editor was to the magazine. She was the glue that kept things going over there for the magazine as well as other things (like contests). Her loss to the magazine is being felt now big time. There is no way that they can replace her. This is truly the last straw!
That's what I was afraid of. Just a matter of time.
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Sept. 26....still haven't received Aug, Sept, or Oct print issues. A couple of months ago, I wrote a check to renew, but haven't mailed it yet....waited to see if issues would be coming pn a timely basis. Guess it's time to rip it up. What a shame.....if they go belly up, who's gonna sponsor the CQ contests?
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This is actually pretty funny - I spent a couple years trying to get them to stop sending me issues of
Contest Quarterly. They gave me a year free because I had a lifetime subscription to WorldRadio
when they stopped delivering it, and the magazines just kept coming (along with offers to renew.) I was delighted
when I finally wasn't getting them any more - there really wasn't anything of interest to me.
But perhaps I stopped getting them just like everybody else?
Then last week I got a subscription offer from them, acknowledging that there had been some problems (I think
it mentioned combining two months into a single issue). I laughed and tossed it out.
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That is a very good question regarding sponsorship of the CQ contests. I doubt that the ARRL will pick it up as they have enough contests on hand to keep them busy with scoring and sending awards. Perhaps a European group could pick up the CQ WW contests (CW and SSB) but conducting, scoring and printing awards for a popular contest like that will require some moderate amount of money, perhaps as much as $5000 to $10000 for each event. You need a staff for doing the contest work. You also need a magazine to present the results.....
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That is a very good question regarding sponsorship of the CQ contests. I doubt that the ARRL will pick it up as they have enough contests on hand to keep them busy with scoring and sending awards. Perhaps a European group could pick up the CQ WW contests (CW and SSB) but conducting, scoring and printing awards for a popular contest like that will require some moderate amount of money, perhaps as much as $5000 to $10000 for each event. You need a staff for doing the contest work. You also need a magazine to present the results.....
I too doubt the ARRL will pick up the CQ contests. However, the ARRL could pick up the WAZ and WPX operating awards. Heck they already have the WPX award in LoTW.
I read somewhere where they was a group ready to take over the contests, but cannot remember who. As for the results, they can be published on the web.
Looks like many of you are like me in thinking the end is near. The longer is goes on without sending issues on-time, the more people withhold renewals and it just continues downhill from there.
Also, I have been making posts on CQ's Facebook page and they never respond. Katie used to respond, but she's gone now after a very short career there. The only CQ posts there are occasional propagation reports that come out once or twice a month. That's it.
I tired to inject some humor onto their page. One guy asked a serious question as to the meaning of CQ? I responded lately it means unable to deliver.
Then I posted a new Q signal....QCQ? - "Did you receive the latest CQ magazine?", or just QCQ for "no I did not receive the latest CQ Magazine."
Oh well, I did like both 73 and CQ Magazine. One is gone, the other is soon following.
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I am not trying to beat a dead horse here but I received a response to my book ad that was posted in the July print issue of CQ yesterday (Sept 26). All responses that I have received have been only to the print magazine ad version, not for the ad that was posted in the online digital version. Yes, it seems tempting to go in the direction of an online-only magazine but as discussed here, it seems like you need both medias for the time being. But if you are going to commit to a print magazine, you really, really have to get it out on time because of the time-sensitive nature of limited-time sale ads and events listed. If you cannot get a print magazine out for the month promised, there is not point going on......so plain and simple, get the print magazine out at the beginning of the month that it is listed for, or give up.
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I agree. I have never responded to an ad in a digital edition of a magazine. Print media is my preference and as you mentioned I have responded to many print ads. The issue with digital ads at Zinio, is that you cannot click on them for more information. If you could, it may have more impact.
But you are most correct, for the ads to have impact and for advertisers to pay for them, the magazine has to be in the hands of the subscribers at least the day before the month begins. Else it is useless. Since it is now September 27, and there are still no print issues in the hands of the subscribers for now the August, September and October issues, they should just give up and close.
Actually, maybe they have shut down already and just have not told anybody ;-)
Duffy
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I got my July issue on August 21st, about 1-week after I emailed CQ and complained about not receiving the July issue yet. They responded, saying that I should have received it and so they were putting one in 1st Class mail for me. So when I got the issue, it was NOT one sent via 1st Class. It was the normal issue with the normal address label. It appears that they didn't send it out until I complained. At least that is the way it looked. Obviously, no August issue yet.
Phil - AD5X
I did the same thing again this month. I emailed CQ the first week of September and told them I hadn't received the August issue. Again, they replied and said I should have received it and they put another in the mail to me. So I got the August issue around mid-September. No September issue yet, of course. I'll email them about this in Mid October so I can get the September issue.
Phil - AD5X
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I got my July issue on August 21st, about 1-week after I emailed CQ and complained about not receiving the July issue yet. They responded, saying that I should have received it and so they were putting one in 1st Class mail for me. So when I got the issue, it was NOT one sent via 1st Class. It was the normal issue with the normal address label. It appears that they didn't send it out until I complained. At least that is the way it looked. Obviously, no August issue yet.
Phil - AD5X
I did the same thing again this month. I emailed CQ the first week of September and told them I hadn't received the August issue. Again, they replied and said I should have received it and they put another in the mail to me. So I got the August issue around mid-September. No September issue yet, of course. I'll email them about this in Mid October so I can get the September issue.
Phil - AD5X
These are nothing more than bold faced lies. That is the standard reply to all who call or email - "You should have received it." Then, they put one in the mail. We cannot receive that which has not been mailed. It is deception at its best. No one has received the "mass" mailing of the magazine because it has not happened. It's now the 28th of September. We should all have received the OCTOBER issue by now. But as it stands, we have not received August, September or October.
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I got my July issue on August 21st, about 1-week after I emailed CQ and complained about not receiving the July issue yet. They responded, saying that I should have received it and so they were putting one in 1st Class mail for me. So when I got the issue, it was NOT one sent via 1st Class. It was the normal issue with the normal address label. It appears that they didn't send it out until I complained. At least that is the way it looked. Obviously, no August issue yet.
Phil - AD5X
I did the same thing again this month. I emailed CQ the first week of September and told them I hadn't received the August issue. Again, they replied and said I should have received it and they put another in the mail to me. So I got the August issue around mid-September. No September issue yet, of course. I'll email them about this in Mid October so I can get the September issue.
Phil - AD5X
These are nothing more than bold faced lies. That is the standard reply to all who call or email - "You should have received it." Then, they put one in the mail. We cannot receive that which has not been mailed. It is deception at its best. No one has received the "mass" mailing of the magazine because it has not happened. It's now the 28th of September. We should all have received the OCTOBER issue by now. But as it stands, we have not received August, September or October.
Amen!
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If the August issue has been printed, why haven't all of us received it, without having to email them each month to get it? I thought the purpose of a "subscription" was to pay in advance for trouble-free mailings to be automatically received each month. I wonder if Sept and Oct have been printed. Obviously a distribution problem. Hell of a way to do business.
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If the August issue has been printed, why haven't all of us received it, without having to email them each month to get it? I thought the purpose of a "subscription" was to pay in advance for trouble-free mailings to be automatically received each month. I wonder if Sept and Oct have been printed. Obviously a distribution problem. Hell of a way to do business.
Has anyone seen those and other recent issues on newsstands other than the ones in ham stores?
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If the August issue has been printed, why haven't all of us received it, without having to email them each month to get it? I thought the purpose of a "subscription" was to pay in advance for trouble-free mailings to be automatically received each month. I wonder if Sept and Oct have been printed. Obviously a distribution problem. Hell of a way to do business.
I believe the generally accepted belief is that they have the money to print it occasionally, but maybe do not have the money to mail it. Therefore, they bring printed issues to hamfests, but have no money to mail them to paid subscribers. I mean it is all just conjecture since they simply are not open and honest and don't communicate with their paying customers.
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Not to go off topic, but has anyone received their CQ award certificate this year? I applied for and was approved for 4 different certificates earlier this year (Winter 2014), and I have yet to see those certificates. I e-mailed several times, but those have gone unanswered.
If they can't even print and mail the certificates, they should at least have the courtesy of not offering these awards.
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I believe that Gail, the former managing editor, used to pick up this additional task of sending out awards and contest certificates. But she is gone now and I do not think that this task has been picked up. I wonder if CQ WW events will be scored, summarized and certificates awarded. It is now September 30th - no August, no September, no October print issues....
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Not to go off topic, but has anyone received their CQ award certificate this year? I applied for and was approved for 4 different certificates earlier this year (Winter 2014), and I have yet to see those certificates. I e-mailed several times, but those have gone unanswered.
If they can't even print and mail the certificates, they should at least have the courtesy of not offering these awards.
On the Facebook CQ page, a couple of guys commented that they have not received award certificates they applied and paid for over a year ago. So my guess is that the certificates are not going out. I mean if you cannot send out the magazine, you surely are not going to send out award certificates.
It's now October 1st and no digital edition is out yet. Wonder when that will be out. The September digital edition came out around September 3rd. Of course still waiting for paper editions of August, September and now October. I'm thinking we'll probably never see those issues or any other issues moving forward. CQ is dead, they just have not formally announced it yet :-)
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I'm done. The October issue (at least the cover) in on their website, but not in my Zinio account. I have not received August, September or October printed issues. I just sent CQ an email (they'll probably ignore it) requesting those three issues. Then I asked them to send me a refund for the balance of the subscription since they are unable to deliver magazines on time. Actually afraid to cash the check since I read some BBB complaints where people tried cashing their refunds from CQ, the check bounced, then they got hit by their bank for a $25 fee for the bounced check. But I'm done. They'll never get another order or sale from me for anything.
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The August issue arrived in today's mail. I guess the magazine is not officially dead as of yet. I still see hope they can recover and beat their recent cash flow problems. Losing CQ Magazine would not be a good thing for ham radio.
Hopefully, the latest issue will be on Zinio in the next few days.
I honestly suspect their survival will hinge on whether digital subs are beneficial to both subscribers and advertisers.
Pete
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Losing CQ Magazine would not be a good thing for ham radio.
That's what some people say. But hasn't the magazine's influence and role waned since its publishing problems began? If so, has ham radio suffered as a result?
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The loss of a sponsor organization for the two CQ WW contest and the WAZ awards program would be huge. These things are probably more important than the magazine itself!!!
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The loss of a sponsor organization for the two CQ WW contest and the WAZ awards program would be huge. These things are probably more important than the magazine itself!!!
They're also things that another organization could acquire without the cost and risk of a magazine, assuming that Ross would be willing to sell the contest/award stuff separately. That said, some folks have posted that the magazine is key as an alternative to QST. Hence my question.
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Some may believe that it is important to have at least two ham radio magazines to provide the full range of opinions. I saw that the July editorial in CQ was critical regarding the ARRL and this received comments in a forum in QRZ where many thought that CQ was out of line. Some thought that firing shots from a sinking ship was kind of bad.....
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History repeats itself. Ham Radio was taken over by CQ, but the combined issues never delivered the promised continuation of the quality HR construction or technical articles.
Communications Quarterly Mag was a valiant effort on the part of CQ to bring back the essence of HRM, but after ten years it was not profitable and ended being taken over by the ARRL and merged with QEX. QEX is a fine mag, but why do I need an ARRL membership in order to get a reasonable sub rate for the magazine?
Unfortunately, I really suspect the current situation at CQ was caused by carrying the CQ VHF and Popular Communications Magazines for too many years... there was never enough advertising in either magazine for them to be profitable, and I'd guess they drained profits from the main publication. Add a few months of poor advertising sales, late account receivable income, and it is easy to see how a company with a low profit margin can quickly find itself in a similar cash flow situation.
QST tries to be everything for all hams, and fails on several levels. Technical articles are fraught with blatant technical gaffs, there is no peer review before publication. Why any mag would not use the services of a free technical review board is beyond my ken. The CQ contests and awards would be very time consuming and expensive to take over. The ARRL probably is not interested in adding more contests that duplicate what they already support.
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Unfortunately, I really suspect the current situation at CQ was caused by carrying the CQ VHF and Popular Communications Magazines for too many years.
Yup. I think CQ's editor confirmed that in a HamRadioNow interview earlier this year.
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Quote from: K1ZJH on Today at 07:52:08 AM
"Unfortunately, I really suspect the current situation at CQ was caused by carrying the CQ VHF and Popular Communications Magazines for too many years."
Perhaps QST didn't have a peer review of technical articles a while back, but they certainly have a peer review panel these days. The review panel is made up of very sharp people who pick things apart, as needed. There are many articles that are rejected since they are too full of technical gaffs ;) Comments from the technical article review panel are reviewed by the editors of QST and QEX each month. If an error occurs in an article after it has been published, the editorial staff acts quickly to make the corrections as a feedback. Any feedback related to an article is searchable in our on-line period search. I know this since I review the articles myself as I'm part of the Lab Staff.
Alas, this thread is about CQ. I certainly do not want to see CQ go away. The more ham radio related magazines, the better!
WB1GCM
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Bob
Out of curiousity, and while I didn't read the article, but I several close friends who were more than amused in the technical inaccuracies of that material presented in a recent QST article on using one half of yagi boom as a "dipole antenna." Who peer reviewed that material?
I'd be curious who the editorial review board for QST is comprised of? Since you are an insider, perhaps you could divulge this information? Many prominent experts have walked away, because their advice fell on deaf ears. All of that info has appeared on the internet, and no need to rehash it here. In the past, review board members appeared on the magazine mastheads.
By the way, the last time I tried to inform QST of a major gaff, they tried to turn into a pissing contest with the author, since they were obviously clueless as to what was going... eventually a retraction was printed, but lesson learned on my end. I suspect others have the same feelings regarding trying to correct errors once they are print.
regards
Pete
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As of yesterday, October 4th still no paper issue has been delivered for August, September or October. As of today, October 5th, still no digital delivery of the October issue in my Zinio account. Things just get worse. But hey, you can order their new calendar according to their recent email!
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I was surprised to get the August issue this past Friday.
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I was surprised to get the August issue this past Friday.
Considering the August issue should have been delivered in July, early October is no measure of success. It's actually complete failure.
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The October digital issue of CQ was delivered late this morning. So it is a week late. Still do not have August paper issue so clearly things are not getting better at CQ and in fact appear to be getting worse with every passing month.
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The digital editions seem to be appearing on the first Monday of each month; and not a day earlier. I'd doubt they would appear on a weekend.
It is obvious they have a severe cash flow problem, and perhaps even staffing issues at this point.
I would have nothing to gain if they went belly up at this point. Rather than see subscribers lose their bucks it might be better to accept whatever can be delivered at this point--late or not. I doubt the publisher is doing this to cheat subscribers, instead I suspect they are fighting to survive. What else can they do at this point? It is like beating a dead horse.
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It's not just CQ. I have been having issues with QST of late.
Apparently, somehow (I didn't request it) the QST circulation department changed the address my issues were being sent to from my home address to my club's PO box number. (I'm the club president.) How that happened I have no idea. i had an e-mail exchange with them this morning and was advised the address has been changed back to my home address. We'll see...
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The digital editions seem to be appearing on the first Monday of each month; and not a day earlier. I'd doubt they would appear on a weekend.
It is obvious they have a severe cash flow problem, and perhaps even staffing issues at this point.
I would have nothing to gain if they went belly up at this point. Rather than see subscribers lose their bucks it might be better to accept whatever can be delivered at this point--late or not. I doubt the publisher is doing this to cheat subscribers, instead I suspect they are fighting to survive. What else can they do at this point? It is like beating a dead horse.
I am not upset about the problems whatever they may be although most assume it is a cash flow issue. What I am upset about are the lies, deceit and lack of transparency and communication. Tell me the problems, tell me what you are doing about it, when you expect to have it corrected and be HONEST and I'll stand by you. Lie to me over and over, and I will leave. CQ is not honest at all. Therefore I am abandoning them. I gave them over 10 months. Just tied of being abused as a customer. I requested a refund and they said they would extend my subscription. I said, not acceptable, I am done, send a refund. Now I just get ignored.
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Received the August issue today, Oct 7.
I can't complain, though, as I'm probably part of the problem. Here's why. Many, many moons ago I entered a raffle at some Michigan swap fest and won first prize - a life time subscription to Ham Radio magazine. I loved HR - lots of technical stuff - good fun. Those of us old enough to remember know where this is headed. HR folded and suddenly I had a lifetime subscription to CQ. I give CQ credit for doing that but on the whole I was not a happy camper. However, the price was right so I went with the flow. I've enjoyed CQ over the years and occasionally they'll print an article of interest to me.
I'm considering switching to the digital version as that'll save them the cost of printing one more copy just for a freeloader like me.
If they fold now, it'll be shame but no great loss to me personally. Cold hearted, huh?
Dan
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HR folded and suddenly I had a lifetime subscription to CQ. I give CQ credit for doing that but on the whole I was not a happy camper. However, the price was right so I went with the flow.
Similar situation here. For a few years in the mid-1990s, I wrote the "Broadcast DXing" column for Pop'Comm. Ever since then, I've continued to receive Pop'Comm, perhaps as a perk for former columnists. A couple of years ago, I signed up for a CQ subscription but then requested -- and received -- a refund last fall due to the publishing delays. But I still get CQ because Pop'Comm was folded into it, so my Pop'Comm subscription has become a CQ subscription.
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Got my August CQ on Tuesday, and the very next day I received my November QST.
There have been a number of complaints from DX stations that they have not received their CQ magazines for about a year. I wonder if CQ just decided not to fulfill any international subscriptions to save the cost of international postage?
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Wow...All this fuss over a magazine? Seems rather silly.
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Wow...All this fuss over a magazine? Seems rather silly.
Not really. People are paying for something they expect to receive in a timely manner, and a lot of them are upset that that hasn't happened in almost two years.
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Wow...All this fuss over a magazine? Seems rather silly.
Not really. People are paying for something they expect to receive in a timely manner, and a lot of them are upset that that hasn't happened in almost two years.
I don't wait 2 years for satisfaction of a problem. Fix it or refund my money. End of story. To whine for 2 years is ridiculous!
You all complain when a dealer doesn't ship on time which is usually just a few days. Cancel orders. Etc. So order a new rig and wait 2 years? Would never happen! So why is a magazine any different?
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Wow...All this fuss over a magazine? Seems rather silly.
Not really. People are paying for something they expect to receive in a timely manner, and a lot of them are upset that that hasn't happened in almost two years.
I don't wait 2 years for satisfaction of a problem. Fix it or refund my money. End of story. To whine for 2 years is ridiculous!
Some subscribers were willing to cut CQ some slack for the first six months to a year before requesting and getting a refund. (I was one of them.) Others waited longer and haven't been able to get a refund.
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Wow...All this fuss over a magazine? Seems rather silly.
Not really. People are paying for something they expect to receive in a timely manner, and a lot of them are upset that that hasn't happened in almost two years.
I don't wait 2 years for satisfaction of a problem. Fix it or refund my money. End of story. To whine for 2 years is ridiculous!
Some subscribers were willing to cut CQ some slack for the first six months to a year before requesting and getting a refund. (I was one of them.) Others waited longer and haven't been able to get a refund.
Publishing is a business. If they can't deliver, they should fold.
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I received my August issue of CQ Magazine yesterday, 8 Oct. As this is becoming the trend for them, I will not be renewing.
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Mine arrived Monday, so they're still providing them to Pop'Comm subscribers.
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Wow...All this fuss over a magazine? Seems rather silly.
Not getting what you are paying for is not silly. I'll sell you a nice QRP radio for $100. Please send the $100 via Paypal. Oh, I won't deliver the radio then, so please don't make a silly fuss over a radio.
Really? I gave CQ a $100 or so for a three year subscription and they are not delivering the product each month on time. It arrives over two months late - consistently.
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Wow...All this fuss over a magazine? Seems rather silly.
Not getting what you are paying for is not silly. I'll sell you a nice QRP radio for $100. Please send the $100 via Paypal. Oh, I won't deliver the radio then, so please don't make a silly fuss over a radio.
Really? I gave CQ a $100 or so for a three year subscription and they are not delivering the product each month on time. It arrives over two months late - consistently.
Like I said, get a refund. Same thing I would do if you didn't ship the radio on time. So your whining that you are not getting what you want, and not taking action about it, is silly.
CQ magazine must be dying if they can't deliver. Your aboard a sinking ship. Time to use the lifeboats.
If you don't get a refund, then you have something to complain about. Until then the whining is of your own making. That's the way life works! Deal with it!
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Oct. 9......just received my August issue. Let's see...maybe September will arrive by Xmas?
You know a magazine is late when the retail ads show radios that are currently discontinued ;D
Seriously, it's a shame that CQ seems to be on the ropes. I was all set to renew, but not thrilled to buy something that won't be delivered. I'll renew when/if they get up to date.
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September came here today... and Oct digital is up.
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Rick, curious how you were able to get mail delivery on a holiday when the post office was closed? We did not get any mail delivery here.
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Wow...All this fuss over a magazine? Seems rather silly.
Not getting what you are paying for is not silly. I'll sell you a nice QRP radio for $100. Please send the $100 via Paypal. Oh, I won't deliver the radio then, so please don't make a silly fuss over a radio.
Really? I gave CQ a $100 or so for a three year subscription and they are not delivering the product each month on time. It arrives over two months late - consistently.
Like I said, get a refund. Same thing I would do if you didn't ship the radio on time. So your whining that you are not getting what you want, and not taking action about it, is silly.
CQ magazine must be dying if they can't deliver. Your aboard a sinking ship. Time to use the lifeboats.
If you don't get a refund, then you have something to complain about. Until then the whining is of your own making. That's the way life works! Deal with it!
I think you missed one of his earlier posts. WB8NUT did ask for a refund and was told they would extend his subscription, which is not a refund, nor is it really fair compensation when they will
likely not deliver the issues of the extended subscriptions either...
I don't think the whining is of his own making. This is all on CQ Magazine.
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Wow...All this fuss over a magazine? Seems rather silly.
Not getting what you are paying for is not silly. I'll sell you a nice QRP radio for $100. Please send the $100 via Paypal. Oh, I won't deliver the radio then, so please don't make a silly fuss over a radio.
Really? I gave CQ a $100 or so for a three year subscription and they are not delivering the product each month on time. It arrives over two months late - consistently.
Like I said, get a refund. Same thing I would do if you didn't ship the radio on time. So your whining that you are not getting what you want, and not taking action about it, is silly.
CQ magazine must be dying if they can't deliver. Your aboard a sinking ship. Time to use the lifeboats.
If you don't get a refund, then you have something to complain about. Until then the whining is of your own making. That's the way life works! Deal with it!
I think you missed one of his earlier posts. WB8NUT did ask for a refund and was told they would extend his subscription, which is not a refund, nor is it really fair compensation when they will
likely not deliver the issues of the extended subscriptions either...
I don't think the whining is of his own making. This is all on CQ Magazine.
No, that whine is his own making. The problem being whined about is the magazine. There is a distinction. If he didn't get his money back and agreed to an extention, then he should have expected a loss. Obviously the company could convince gullable people that the future is bright and they will get all what was promised. Well guess what, if the company couldn't keep a promise the first time, what makes you think they will keep it the second time? Now that's the definition of gullable!
Like the old saying goes...Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
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No I never requested an extension. It was not until October 2, that I requested a refund. CQ responded with "we'll extend your subscription two months."
I responded, "no, I don't want an extension, I want a refund."
No further response from CQ.
All I really want, as does every other normal subscriber is to get what we paid for and that is a magazine delivered each and every month on time. Meaning if October is the publication month, the magazine needs to arrive prior to October.
It's really that simple, but CQ has not been able to deliver a magazine on-time for almost a year now. Unacceptable.
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Rick, curious how you were able to get mail delivery on a holiday when the post office was closed? We did not get any mail delivery here.
We got back from Pacificon on Monday, it was in the mail from the weekend and I opened it yesterday, forgetting it was a holiday. We ended up being up 24 hours to get home.. Got up at 7 AM PT Sunday morning to do the show and got home at 10AM ET... red eye and flight delays made me lose track of days..
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RIch, W4PC...how was Pacificon? I gave a talk there back in 2008...i had heard that there were some changes after that...
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Rick, curious how you were able to get mail delivery on a holiday when the post office was closed? We did not get any mail delivery here.
We got back from Pacificon on Monday, it was in the mail from the weekend and I opened it yesterday, forgetting it was a holiday. We ended up being up 24 hours to get home.. Got up at 7 AM PT Sunday morning to do the show and got home at 10AM ET... red eye and flight delays made me lose track of days..
Has anyone out there with a subscription received the printed September issue of CQ besides Rick? I have not received September, October or November.
Maybe those who advertise with CQ get a printed version right away so CQ can invoice for the ad, while the rest of us have to wait until they have the means available to mail it to us.
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I got my PRINTED September issue of CQ yesterday, October 14. The August issue arrived early last week.
Delivery seems to be catching up a little, but DX info, etc, is still "old news" when it arrives. CQ needs to get back to delivering ALL issues ON TIME before I would considering renewing...
KR4BD (CQ subscriber since 1975)
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Has anyone out there with a subscription received the printed September issue of CQ besides Rick?
I got it today.
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Still have not received my September or October issues and frankly, November should have been here by now.
In any case, I decided not to renew, but have a year remaining on my three year sub. I would have stuck by them IF....and it's a big IF, they would have been honest and transparent about what is going on within CQ that caused this year long problem with delivery. But ever since they made the statement that the combined March/April edition was going to get them back on track, and it clearly did not, they have not communicated with their subscribers at all. We are just ignored in mass. I just don't like being abused and lied to by a vendor.
Just cannot trust CQ and its staff now. I'm done.
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WB8NUT,
We may be in similar situations. I cancelled in April. CQ Communications said I would have a refund check in 6 to 8 weeks. It has yet to arrive as of October 15 which is not surprising. If it had arrived it might have been NSF, which would have entailed unwanted complications. Of course, with my cancellation no more magazine so things are in a state of limbo. If the magazine was any good it would be the worst of both worlds, but that is not the case.
Dick Ross gets to sit on my refund check. There could be a bunch of them under there. Eventually there will be a major case of butthurt. I hope it will have been worth it ::) .
I've written CQ Communications off. I won't purchase their products in any way, shape, or form. Chalk one up to experience.
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Well with only a year remaining, I've consider that it will be about $35 lost if they just stop sending the magazine and not give me a refund. They never responded back that they will refund my money. So I don't know if they are just going to stop delivery and not send the refund, or just ignore everything and continue to count me as a subscriber and just continue sending magazines late.
Whoever is running what is left of CQ Magazine clearly does not know how to run a business and obviously lacks communication and customer service skills.
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So I don't know if they are just going to stop delivery and not send the refund, or just ignore everything and continue to count me as a subscriber and just continue sending magazines late.
I would count on the former.
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What happens to CQ Magazine will just happen, and I guess there is not much we can do about it. BUT, we cannot let CQWW Contests die. I would happily pay a modest fee for participating. My guess, however, is that this is a business management issue, and if they cannot run a profitable magazine, then they couldn't run a profitable contest business. I fear the worst, but hope for the best.
73,
George KQ8Z, GM0IIO, GM4O, C6AZZ, 8Q7OO
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if they cannot run a profitable magazine, then they couldn't run a profitable contest business.
Not necessarily. They're fundamentally different businesses in terms of operating expenses, revenue and other factors.
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if they cannot run a profitable magazine, then they couldn't run a profitable contest business.
Not necessarily. They're fundamentally different businesses in terms of operating expenses, revenue and other factors.
Maybe, but they are under the same business umbrella. If the company is broke, mismanaged or both, what effects 1 part usually will effect the other part. It all comes down to the bottom line.
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Maybe, but they are under the same business umbrella. If the company is broke, mismanaged or both, what effects 1 part usually will effect the other part. It all comes down to the bottom line.
Sure. The magazine definitely could sink the whole shebang. But CQ also could sell off or close the pub and focus on the contest business, which has lower overhead.
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I highly doubt that a "contest" company can survive without any real product other then generating forms and doing data acquisition. Maybe as a nonprofit, under nonprofit rules it could.
But there really needs to be something behind it other then a handful of contests. The ARRL has the whole of the ARRL to fall back on. What would a simple contest company have to fall back on? Nothing. I don't think any financial institution would work with such a for profit company. But I bet they would get a good laugh from such a proposed business plan.
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The CQ WW contest discussion has been touched upon before in this forum. A possible scenario would be for a major contest organization to purchase the rights to the CQ WW SSB and CW contest from CQ publications. Any such contest organization would need to defray some of the costs associated with scoring, publishing results (probably on-line) and printing of certificates. I would guess on a broad basis that all of the costs for running a major contest like the CQ WW could reach the $10,000 range. So it would not be unreasonable that those hams submitting their scores for consideration, would have to pay an entry fee. If you had 2000 to 3000 active participants sending in scores, a $5 or $10 submission fee might make sense.
In many ways, the CQ WW for 2014 would be a good test to see if CQ publications is able to verify logs and tabulate scores, publish results (either in the magazine or on-line) and be able to award certificates.
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CQ Magazine's unable to issue the award certificates, which carries a $12 fee. Logic would dictate that there's no way in hell they can issue the contest certificates, which are free.
I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not holding my breath.
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Received my September hard copy today.
Dan
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I highly doubt that a "contest" company can survive without any real product other then generating forms and doing data acquisition.
It depends on how much participants are willing to pay. From posts here and other sites, it sounds as if a lot of hams value these contests. So the big question is, how many are willing to pay enough to fund a contest-only or -primarily operation?
But there really needs to be something behind it other then a handful of contests. The ARRL has the whole of the ARRL to fall back on. What would a simple contest company have to fall back on?
CQ could ditch the magazine but keep the book publishing business -- assuming that that's faring well.
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The book publishing business that they have is not doing that well at this time, hence the push for selling calendars. At the ARRL Convention, they did not display any books on their tables....only magazines and calendars.
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If anything they did is going good, it would subsidize the rest. Don't see that happening, so it would seem the whole company is pretty much broke. Or they would honor the requests for refunds. Its like beating a dead mule to make it get up off the ground. Nothing left in it to get it up. It's dead.
It is a death spiral that many publishers are having, not just CQ.
I don't like the idea that I would have to pay to participate. Makes it feel like I would need to work harder in the contest to think I am getting my monies worth. That just took all the "fun" out of it for me. I am a casual contester. I enjoy random contacts. That is just not something I feel the need to subsidize with my own money. I can make random contacts anytime, contest or no contest. Count me out on that idea.
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CQ could ditch the magazine but keep the book publishing business -- assuming that that's faring well.
I don't think that is going to work either. If you read posts on this and various forums, book authors are not being reliably paid by CQ with some just getting books as payment. If you don't fairly pay the authors, who is going to submit a book to them for publication?
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If you read posts on this and various forums, book authors are not being reliably paid by CQ with some just getting books as payment. If you don't fairly pay the authors, who is going to submit a book to them for publication?
There are also posts about magazine authors not being reliably paid since at least the 1980s, and enough people still submitted to fill pages.
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There was a good period for writers at CQ when I wrote for CQ VHF from 1994 through 1999 (the original monthly version) and 2003 through 2013 (the quarterly version). I think that the 1990s was pretty good and the beginning of the second period was good. After 2007 or 2008, payment became less, typically once a year (around Dayton time) and then none after 2009. I have actually submitted a piece to CQ Plus for February 2014 (it was in the queue) and I used it as a test case to see if I would receive any payment. Since I did not see any checks, I have not submitted anything to them after that. Time to move on......
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WB2AMU: I am wondering then why their contributors keep contributing if they are not being paid for their work? I think if you were being paid monthly, then those payments stopped, so would the work.
Maybe most of the writers are retired and just don't care about the time invested and not getting compensation.
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WB2AMU: I am wondering then why their contributors keep contributing if they are not being paid for their work? I think if you were being paid monthly, then those payments stopped, so would the work.
Eventually some do. When I wrote a Pop'Comm column in the mid-1990s, the payments got a year behind, so I stopped submitting columns. To their credit, they did finally pay everything they owed.
When I took the gig, I knew about the payment situation from other columnists. I also knew I could wind up in a similar situation. Every author has his or her limit.
I've since encountered this situation several times in my career as a journalist. It's not unique to CQ or to hobby publications. It's common with trades and general interest pubs. Late payments are part of the publishing game. Savvy freelancers understand this fact of life and know to spread their work over multiple publications so they don't have all of their eggs in one basket.
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Hi WB8NUT, Jim.....I think that most writers (and I contacted many of them at the same time on various occasions) were giving them the benefit of a doubt for a long period of time. But after non-payments of two, three and four years took place, it became obvious that no payment would occur. Some writers may be in a better situation as you described, but if the print magazine is late as well, there is even less motivation to write. A number of writers feel that being printed only in the CQ Plus on-line portion is not worth the effort as there is less visibility there compared to the print magazine. One thing that I notice is that CQ makes a big news announcement regarding well known writers and hams taking over columns but over time some of them drop out. Riley H. did a column for them and was supposed to be a regular columnist but this stopped relatively quickly. Not sure if non-payment is an issue or not in his case. Slow payment was not enough to stop most columnist and writers from writing but the issue of NO payment became a line that should not have been crossed. I think that it is not productive to continue on this path of print magazines that are two months late. My opinion is that they should take the rest of the year off and aim for a new start in January with both print on online sychronized together and up to date. If they personally contact writers to give a few free columns for this issue, that might be helpful......
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I started with CQ after my they took over Ham Radio, and continued with Communications Quarterly for the full ten years they were in production. I also started doing a monthly restoration column for Pop'Comm, which lasted for around 20 years. until I gave it up in the Spring of 2013 because the payments were becoming few and far between. I think a lot of the writers cut them a lot of slack. Those experience provided me with 30 years of exposure as an editor and writer, mostly with CQ.
They might have done better looking for "vanity" writers, which I suspect is what I am now seeing in more than a few columns. You usually get what you pay for. I will say that while with QEX for a few years the checks were there each month, like clockwork. Same for Ham Radio.
I doubt stopping publication and trying to catch up in the spring would do much good--they have capital expenses to meet each month (payroll, taxes, rent, etc.) Trying to catch up with the cashflow problems, and trying to close the gap in the printed version being late is probably the best approach for their future viability.
Pete
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I don't know if shutting down publication for the rest of the year is going to help. Without cash flow from advertising I think it will make the situation worse.
Again, I have said this many times. If CQ would have been open, honest and transparent with their customer base, the subscribers may have cut them a lot of slack. But because subscribers have been almost completely ignored and kept in the dark concerning most aspects of this situation, they are creating long term damage to their business that will not be able to be repaired.
I don't know when they are going under, but its coming and it will be of their own fruition.
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Maybe CQ should contact ARRL and see who publishes THEIR magazine. Always early...no excuses. Even when I was @ APO in Germany, QST arrived before month's end.
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Not to go off topic, but has anyone received their CQ award certificate this year? I applied for and was approved for 4 different certificates earlier this year (Winter 2014), and I have yet to see those certificates. I e-mailed several times, but those have gone unanswered.
If they can't even print and mail the certificates, they should at least have the courtesy of not offering these awards.
Got most of my award certificates in the mail on Friday. I guess that they're really backlogged, or I complained enough to merit some attention.
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Looks like we were lied to again by CQ Magazine. Remember those of us who called CQ and were told back in October the September issue was "in the mail" and the October issue "would soon follow?" Well here it is a few days away from the middle of November, and the October issue has not "soon followed" the September issue.
Just a matter of time before CQ folds in my opinion. Cannot see how they can continue on this path and retain subscribers.
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Actually, I did receive the October issue of CQ yesterday. I am guessing that the remaining staff is still committed to not dropping issues and trying to catch up.
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Actually, I did receive the October issue of CQ yesterday. I am guessing that the remaining staff is still committed to not dropping issues and trying to catch up.
Still have not received October yet, and the September issue was delivered about three weeks ago. If October arrives sometime this week, it is hardly "closely followed". CQ just does not seem to be getting better or catching up. It's the same mess month after month.
For advertisers, it does not do much good to have your Christmas ads viewed in January.
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Received the October issue Saturday, 11/15
Dan K8XW
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Also received the printed OCTOBER CQ yesterday. The Zinio digital edition of the NOVEMBER issue came about Nov. 3. I seem to be getting the current month DIGITALLY about the first Monday of each month now. Some improvement, for sure, but still a long way to go. I've also noticed that Popular Communications content is "fading to black" in the "expanded" edition of CQ. Many of the regular features of PopComm are gone now.
Tom, KR4BD
(One of the many WORLD RADIO "Lifers" now left with nothing to show for it......Thank You, CQ)
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LOL, apparently CQ Magazine did not like me posting comments about the constant late delivery of their magazines on their Facebook page so they blocked me from posting. There was an easier cure, just send the magazine out on time. They could also respond to their readers and just give subscribers some honest communication on their situation, but no, they would rather ignore us and keep us in the dark.
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LOL, apparently CQ Magazine did not like me posting comments about the constant late delivery of their magazines on their Facebook page so they blocked me from posting. There was an easier cure, just send the magazine out on time. They could also respond to their readers and just give subscribers some honest communication on their situation, but no, they would rather ignore us and keep us in the dark.
You hit the nail on the head. The lack of communication with subscribers is mind boggling.
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I requested a refund of the balance of my subscription in early October. I have not yet received the refund and I guess they have now stopped sending the magazine since most got the October issue in mid November, but I have not received a thing.
So they keep the money now and the magazine.
I am going to write the New York Attorney General now as this is just insane. A business does not get to keep the money and the product. It's one of the other.
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It may all be a moot point if they are just surviving day to day. You can win a court case, but if there are no assets or cash you will be back where you started. At this point if a refund is not coming, it might be best to hope they can right the ship and eventually catch up and honor their subscription commitments.
But, the continued silence and lack of communications isn't doing much to inspire confidence in their business ethics.
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No, I am not going to pursue a lawsuit, but it is illegal to take money for a product or service and then not deliver the product or service. From what I can tell, CQ continues to take subscription money from unsuspecting hams, then does not deliver the product as agreed. In addition, comments from DX subscribers indicate that they have not received any magazines since last year, yet they continue to take the money for the subscriptions. That I believe is fraud.
So the attorney general can do several things. Stop them from taking subscription money from foreign stations when CQ apparently is not shipping those subscribers product. Stop CQ from taking subscriptions from domestic users when they are not shipping product as agreed. Find that CQ is committing fraud and issue and injunction. Force CQ to issue refunds to those requesting refunds for not delivering as agreed. Or maybe the AG can just force them into bankruptcy and restructure or shut it down. At this point it is a consumer protection issue.
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Two months ago I requested a subscription cancellation and refund from CQ. Apparently they have stopped the subscription, but have not refunded my money. Letter to New York AG going out today. CQ cannot have it both ways. They either have to deliver the product or refund the money. A lot of complaints out on various boards from DX stations who have not received the magazine since late 2013. Some DX stations have sent in money for subscriptions, but have never received anything. I am not an attorney, but seems to me accepting money with no intention of delivering the product is fraud.
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Now CQ cannot even get the digital edition out on time. It's December 6th and digital edition still not posted on Zinio.
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That does not bode well. They always at least managed to get the digital edition out on the first Monday of the month. Cash flow isn't carrying them forward, or the credit line has dried up. I'd think the October, November and December issues would be the most critical for holiday advertising, and they've missed the deadlines. When Popular Communications was healthy, the issues were printed and released months in advance, just to keep them "fresh" and "timely" on the news stands. Yesterdays' newspapers just don't sell.
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I was notified by email a few minutes ago that the December digital issue is available for viewing by Zinio.
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I was notified by email a few minutes ago that the December digital issue is available for viewing by Zinio.
Yup. Zinio just delivered the December CQ. And, for the first time, I saw a mention that 2014 was a rough year for them financially. But they went on to mention that they hoped to be around for another 70 years or more, with everyone's continued support.
We'll see.
I still don't have a November hard copy, not to mention the December issue. I guess the cookie jar with the postage money is still a little "short".
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Yep, same here.
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They should just go digital and forget publishing a paper version.
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They should just go digital and forget publishing a paper version.
Then it will surely die as I do not know of one magazine that has made it successfully as digital only. I hate trying to read CQ on Zinio.
I have not received a paper copy since September. Then again, I did ask for a refund on October 2, but have not received that either. So I guess they shut off the paper copy, but are keeping my money. What a scam.
As for another 70 years. As more and more subscriber fail to renew because of the situation CQ caused, I don't see how that is possible.
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They are dieing now are they not?
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There is so much ill will now toward them by their paying subscribers that I'm surprised they haven't totally shut down! Some are letting things lie, but there are more and more that are asking for and demanding refunds--and even a few who have gone to court to press the issue.
If they make it through another six months, I'll be greatly surprised. Then again, they've gotten this far. As time goes by, however, the ill will is going to grow--and their new subscribers will also. Without a miracle happening, CQ is probably a goner.
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Just been checking the CQ Magazine web site and I note they have a new editor. Wonder if the poor fellow realized when he took the job that he will soon be looking for another job!
de VK3DWZ.
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Just been checking the CQ Magazine web site and I note they have a new editor. Wonder if the poor fellow realized when he took the job that he will soon be looking for another job!
de VK3DWZ.
I just looked at their web site. I didn't see a new magazine editor; there is however a new DX editor:
"(Hicksville, NY December 3, 2014) – Veteran DXer, DXpeditioner and QSL manager Bob Schenck, N2OO, of Tuckerton, New Jersey, has been named CQ magazine's DX Editor, magazine Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, announced today."
Pete, wa2cwa
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Just been checking the CQ Magazine web site and I note they have a new editor. Wonder if the poor fellow realized when he took the job that he will soon be looking for another job!
de VK3DWZ.
For what I can determine from other posts, they are not real good about paying contributors. Not sure if this guy is considered a full-time employee, or maybe he is just doing it for fun and exposure. If you go through old posts on CQ Magazine you'll note contributors were not paid, and book authors not paid for sold books. Subscribers who paid for the magazine but do not receive it, people asking for refunds do not get them, DX stations who paid for a subscription who have never received a single issue. Some of these actions point to potential fraud. For example, in the case of overseas stations, if you are taking their money and have no intention of sending the magazine to them, that is fraud. I've read some of these posts made on the CQ Facebook page. Makes me think CQ stopped all international mailings. But hey, we have to speculate because CQ does not and will not communicate with its subscribers. So yeah, they have built up a tremendous amount of ill will so I cannot see how they can survive.
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He came over from the old World Radio. I don't believe he does not has a ham call. Jason? Listed as an associate editor under Rich. I suspect he is picking up some of the slack due to Gail's retirement.
Pete
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Hard copy in today's mail... didn't read the month.
pete
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The NOVEMBER issue of CQ hit my mailbox this morning. Of course, much of the hamfest/contest info was "dated". The December Zinio digital edition arrived last week....
My JANUARY QST arrived last week....
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My November issue arrived today, December 18. I feel bad for these guys, but their lack of transparency has doomed them. This is too bad because I have always enjoyed CQ. I don't think amateur radio benefits from any magazine going under, but CQ's publishing behavior cannot be excused. I don't know what "bubble" the publisher and the editor are living in, but they must understand they have little or no credibility left. I will not be happy when they finally ceased to exist.
73 & Merry Xmas/Happy Holidays de K6SBA
David in Santa Barbara, CA
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Once advertisers with date-specific (holiday, rebate, events) ads get fed up because the date has expired by the time the print issues are released, they'll pull their ads. That'll only escalate the problems.
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Hopefully they work with their advertisers to keep them on board. :)
Amateur radio benefited from having viable magazines but they are now mostly in the past. A similar trend occurred with other hobby interest publications.
CQ got on my bad side starting with the double issue fiasco earlier this year. They doubled-down and created more bad feelings with their de facto no cash refund policy. This struck me as mail fraud but no matter, I'm through with CQ. If they make good on their refunds and return to health that will be a good thing. It isn't clear to this outsider how CQ's strategy will earn them anything but more enmity. Their actions just feed the destructive cycle.
The lack of transparency noted by a previous poster might not have been the best way to proceed but no one really knows the true financial condition of CQ Communications. It could be really bad, explaining the silence. The personnel shuffles, unpaid authors, late issues, missing issues, unfulfilled subscriptions, and lack of refunds are indications something is amiss in Hicksville. :(
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Hopefully they work with their advertisers to keep them on board. :)
Amateur radio benefited from having viable magazines but they are now mostly in the past. A similar trend occurred with other hobby interest publications.
CQ got on my bad side starting with the double issue fiasco earlier this year. They doubled-down and created more bad feelings with their de facto no cash refund policy. This struck me as mail fraud but no matter, I'm through with CQ. If they make good on their refunds and return to health that will be a good thing. It isn't clear to this outsider how CQ's strategy will earn them anything but more enmity. Their actions just feed the destructive cycle.
The lack of transparency noted by a previous poster might not have been the best way to proceed but no one really knows the true financial condition of CQ Communications. It could be really bad, explaining the silence. The personnel shuffles, unpaid authors, late issues, missing issues, unfulfilled subscriptions, and lack of refunds are indications something is amiss in Hicksville. :(
Couple of things. First, I asked for a refund on October 2 and have never received a refund and to add insult to injury, they stopped sending me magazines. I had over a year remaining on my subscription and the last issue I received (late of course) was September.
Second, I noticed on the CQ Facebook page that they stopped allowing anyone to post comments. They were getting a lot of complaints especially from DX stations who apparently have not been getting magazines for about a year. Others complained about no magazines, no refunds received, and the constant late deliveries.
So without a refund and not getting magazines, they basically stole my money. I will never subscribe ever again and will warn others to not waste their money.
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I received the November issue of CQ today (December 20). Inside was propagation predictions for the CQ WW Contest (held on the last full weekend of November). I am not sure how this is working.....
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Let me answer it for you. It's not working. These issues with CQ as of December have been going on for over a year. In a year, there has been no real truthful, factual statements from CQ management because I guess they just think we're all stupid so they can keep us all uninformed and we'll just go along like sheep and keep subscribing. They are fooling themselves. They have created so much ill-will that many will not renew. CQ might be able to limp along for awhile but eventually they will have to fold UNLESS they get an infusion of cash and come clean with the ham community and beg forgiveness. That will also only work if they can replace most of the management who lied and tried to deceive us over the past year. That's probably not going to happen.
For those who feel we need an independent ham magazine. We don't need a magazine who's management that hides from the subscribers, cannot tell subscribers the truth and who takes money from hams without delivering the magazine to many and cannot deliver it on-time. That's what we don't need. Don't care anymore if it folds. Dishonest businesses usually do.
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Hate to see it go, but that increasingly seems to be their likely future.
I won't be renewing, just hope their Award and Contest programs get taken up by others, can you imagine no more CQWW ?
I subscribed to both CQ and 73 in the 1960s when a student and they were both excellent, especially 73 for issues like "build 73 projects using a FET" or similar . . . I did ;D
.
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Some of the previous comments noted that because they subscribed to only the digital edition, they were always getting their issues on time.
December's issue came out on Zinio on December 9th. It's January 8th and the January issue is still not on Zinio.
So now even the digital editions are late. Could it be that some of their editors have also bailed on them due to non-payment and thus fewer people have to try and pull together content making the issues later and later?
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Hate to see it go, but that increasingly seems to be their likely future.
I won't be renewing, just hope their Award and Contest programs get taken up by others, can you imagine no more CQWW ?
I subscribed to both CQ and 73 in the 1960s when a student and they were both excellent, especially 73 for issues like "build 73 projects using a FET" or similar . . . I did ;D
And those centerfolds 73 magazine had were cool too.
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Some of the previous comments noted that because they subscribed to only the digital edition, they were always getting their issues on time.
December's issue came out on Zinio on December 9th. It's January 8th and the January issue is still not on Zinio.
So now even the digital editions are late. Could it be that some of their editors have also bailed on them due to non-payment and thus fewer people have to try and pull together content making the issues later and later?
What editors??? Rich Rosen is the only editor that is left, since Pop'Comm and CQ VHF have folded up. Even K2RED has bailed. There is one desperate KI6xx ham trying to fill in for articles on both the digital and mailed issues. They have a new associate editor, who is not even a licensed ham. A few of the well known hams on the masthead have not contributed in the past two years--Rilley Hollingsworth is a good example. I guess I've been screwed out of 5 grand in past due columns. Oh well, lesson learned.
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Latest CQ Magazine news from the ARRL web site dated 1/9/15:
http://www.arrl.org/news/cq-magazine-combining-january-february-2015-issues-closing-cq-plus-digital-supplement
Pete, wa2cwa
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Richard Fisher was one of the editors who lambasted me for not considering their "subscribers" when I informed him of past arrangements concerning past agreements and personal problems when not being able to meet monthly obligations, despite a 20 year or or longer year track record with Ham Radio Magazine,Communications Quarterly, CQ Mag, and Pop Comm. Good riddance. I hope he was screwed over as deeply as he did to me. I can only hope that his finical losses are as deep as mine; hopefully more so; I guess he has earned the same fate as the rest of the CQ family. I am retired, and my editorial income pays for my hobby and other needs. Walking away from nearly 5000 bucks in due income hurts, and cuts deeply. Some upfront honesty would have made a world of difference.
Pete
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They are done. Anyone subscribing now is throwing away their money. Things continue to get worse instead of getting better. The only question that remains is when they will give up and shut down this year. RIP CQ.
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Pete, I feel for you with regards to the amount that is owed to you. Not that this will make any difference, but there are several other writers in the same boat, some with even higher amounts that are owed. This was not an overnight situation as I saw signs of difficulties about six or seven years ago. In addition, the print market situation has degraded significantly in the last two years for many types of publications in other fields as well. In another field that I do some work in is in the area of aircraft publications which has seen similar issues as well, both books and magazines. It was a good run for me and the extra cash was extremely helpful for me at times.
It was kind of sad for me when I saw the CQ booth at the ARRL convention in July with just three people manning the booth and the only thing that they were selling were calenders and the current issue of CQ. I remember in the past at Boxboro when they had all kinds of books and items for sale.
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Wow if CQ can't pay their authors then they really are lost. Too bad there were lot of awards I still wanted to get from them. Very sad to see a magazine that old just disappear.
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I have heard from Mr. Fisher, and I offering an apology to him. Apparently he was in the same boat as the rest of us. We had a heart to heart telephone chat, and Mr. Fisher is one of the good guys. But, I still feel that the publisher needed to be much more open with the writers and subscribers.
Pete
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But, I still feel that the publisher needed to be much more open with the writers and subscribers.
Pete
Pete, that is the biggest issue that has angered the majority of subscribers. They have never been open and honest from the beginning and they have continued to hide from their subscribers for over a year now. Had they been open and honest, many would have rallied around them with subscriptions, renewals, maybe even donations. Instead, most customers feel lied to and betrayed. Instead of building goodwill, they destroyed it. As a result they have put themselves into a situation that they cannot recover from and I think 2015 will be the year that puts a nail into the coffin for CQ. The latest announcement shows they continue to decline, continue to lose subscribers which will put them out of business. Sad, because the outcome could have been much different. Surprising what a little honesty can do, but they will never know.
BTW, this has little to with the state of the publishing business as it does with properly running a business.
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So the attorney general can do several things. Stop them from taking subscription money from foreign stations when CQ apparently is not shipping those subscribers product. Stop CQ from taking subscriptions from domestic users when they are not shipping product as agreed.
As they were using the US mail, I think the postal inspector might be interested as well.
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Just curious, does anyone know if the printed copies of the magazine are on the shelves of bookstores and news stands any faster than the subscriber receives them by mail?
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That is a good question.. I believe (but may be wrong) that Barnes and Noble may have dropped CQ last year. The mailing from CQ tends to be sporadic for a particular month in that not all magazines are mailed at the same time to the different people and outlets. I know this because some people will tell me they got their issues and a week later, I get my issue. So I suspect various ham radio outlet may see the same situation.
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Bookstores want fresh stock with some shelf life. Ar one time I was seeing Pop'Comm author copies direct from the printer two month's early.
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I have not checked on this for months, but during the Summer I know CQ had copies of the current magazine for sale at hamfests 6 weeks before subscribers received them (late) from their subscriptions. I also read reports from people who saw the magazine six weeks or so earlier in bookstores and magazines stands before subscribers received them on the usual late delivery. Seems CQ did not have money to mail them to the people who already paid for the magazine. Numerous reports of DX subscribers who have not received their magazines for about a year. Probably very expensive to mail those so my guess is international mailing stopped earlier in 2014.
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International mail can be very expensive and what I have been told, there have been some changes with rates involving magazines and books in recent years.
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I used to enjoy reading CQ, but over the years, it got thinner and thinner.
At one point circa 7-8 years ago, I dropped my subscription. Frankly, I was getting more out of the comp copy of Worldradio I was receiving.
And we all know what happened to WR.
When it WR folded into CQ, I got a few more issues of CQ. The renewal fee was significantly more than I ever anticipated, so I let it go.
Would I reconsider, today? If the content was there, sure. But now that the bookstores no longer carry it -- I asked at the Barnes & Noble at the local mall, the manager told me that their distributor had stopped providing it months ago, and they gave him no explanation other than "not available"; I think we all know why, though -- I have no way to find out.
I'd consider it, since we need another voice out there, if for no other reason than to keep The Powers That Be honest & on their toes.
But -- if I can't get my copies even WITH a paid subscription, why should I throw good money at them?
I've seen this happen at other magazines. It's sad to say, but I suspect that they may be too far gone to revive. I hope I'm wrong.
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Two other general comments:
I wouldn't worry about the CQ sponsored contests and, to some degree, the awards programs. The contests are pretty much stand-alone now; I'm not sure about the awards programs, though. So, if and when the magazine/publisher folds, I think those activities will continue.
WRT refunds... CQ has a lot of company. I am still awaiting refunds from 2 other major magazines (ESPN and Reader's Digest) following subscription cancellations. I'm not holding my breath. There seems to be a trend on this. Same thing happened with my This Is True online subscription, when I canceled it; I had a few months to go, I never got a penny back. The amounts are pretty small, and I suspect that the people who are handling the money figure it would cost us more to try and retrieve these petty sums than it's worth... and they're probably right. But it's a ripoff.
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Readers' Digest eventually evolved into a news stand tabloid, something to be bought on a whim at the local supermarket checkout counter. The current reincarnation no longer resembles the magazine as it was back in the sixties or fifties.
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I an attempt to generate cash, most on their email list received the notice of a "sale" on their calendars. $9.95 includes shipping. But they advertise it in the email as $6.95 as you do not get the shipping cost until you go to their website.
I guess if they make enough money from the calendars, subscribers will be able to get the next "combined" edition.
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Hi everyone.
I just stumbled on this thread.
I too am/was having trouble with CQ Communications. Around late October/Early November I subscribed to CQ for the first time. I never got an order confirmation or any correspondence. Even my CC card did not get charged for a while. I called them and said the order went through and I get the December issue soon. I've been calling them every week and half since Dec. 1st and they kept appologizing saying they were having circulation issues. I called Jan. 15 and they said the Dec. issue is still on it's way. Then they told me they were combining the Jan & Feb issue to "catch up". They offered me a free temporary digital subscription but I declined because I prefer hard copy magazines. Upon hearing this I asked for a refund and to cancel my subscription.
This only Ham publication is currently receive is QST and I have never had a problem with them.
Too bad I was looking forward to CQ magazine but because of their managerial,financial, or logistical problems I got fed up.
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Good luck trying to get a refund. I had a year remaining on my sub, asked for a refund on October 2, and they stopped sending me the magazine, but have never sent a refund and ignore all my emails.
CQ appreciates your donation.
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I hope it does not come to that and if it does, maybe my CC company can help me. CQ said I would get my refund on Tuesday as Monday is a holiday.
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Yes, I think you have 60 or 90 days to dispute it, and they may know that and hence why they will refund your money. For those of us who purchased multi-year subs years ago are just screwed. We cannot dispute it and they just took our money knowing there isn't much we can do to get it back from them.
I caution people not to do business with CQ Magazine as they might not get what they paid for as CQ Management is all about themselves and not about their customers or the ham community.
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Just received my second email in a week from CQ to buy one of their calendars at a sale price. They must be doing whatever they can to raise cash.
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Just received my second email in a week from CQ to buy one of their calendars at a sale price.
Same here. I've bought them in the past and would consider buying the 2015-2016 edition, but I can't rely on them to ship it in a timely manner. Plus I already bought the ARRL calendar, and I don't need two in the shack.
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I also received the CQ "calendar" e-mail this morning. But, knowing the trouble they are in at the moment, would not ever purchase one. Anyway, we already have the 2015 N.H.K. calendar -- the best of the lot!
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CQ released the January/February combined issue now on Zinio. Looks like really just a January issue with the word "February" added on the cover to make you think they are not really skipping an issue.
In the editorial area they are asking for hams to stick by them. Well after the way they treated me, that's not going to happen. If you had wanted me to stick by you CQ, you would not have abused and ignored your customers including me.
Noticed that the number of advertisers looks very slim. Did not recall even seeing an Icom ad, so looks like advertisers are bailing on them.
CQ management is amazingly poor and have no idea how to manage a crisis.
Are any DX stations even receiving their paper subscriptions?
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I think maybe they are taking orders for the calendars but not sending hard copies...rather they may send you a digital calendar and you can print it out yourself. But the digital 2015 calendar may not be available till 2016.
73
Greg
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I received the calendar OK but that was when first announced back in October/November.
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I think maybe they are taking orders for the calendars but not sending hard copies...rather they may send you a digital calendar and you can print it out yourself. But the digital 2015 calendar may not be available till 2016.
73
Greg
CQ just announced that they are combining the 2014 calendar with the 2015 calendar and making it a single calendar. This should allow their production schedule to catch up. Their calendar plus digital supplement is being cancelled. The 2016 calendar will "closely follow" the combined 2014/2015 calendar. CQ appreciates your continued loyalty during these difficult times for calendar publishers.
;D
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I think maybe they are taking orders for the calendars but not sending hard copies...rather they may send you a digital calendar and you can print it out yourself. But the digital 2015 calendar may not be available till 2016.
73
Greg
CQ just announced that they are combining the 2014 calendar with the 2015 calendar and making it a single calendar. This should allow their production schedule to catch up. Their calendar plus digital supplement is being cancelled. The 2016 calendar will "closely follow" the combined 2014/2015 calendar. CQ appreciates your continued loyalty during these difficult times for calendar publishers.
;D
Actually, the 2015 calendar will presently only show January and February, which should be in your mailbox sometime in late March or early April. March, April, and May will be superimposed upon each other, mailed in July. Plans for distribution of June thru December are presently in the works, still trying to match up days with actual dates, anticipated for release in early 2016 :D
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Update
I called yesterday to check on refund status. I left several voice mails with several different departments as per the instructions on their automated greeting.
NO ONE EVER RETURNS CALLS THERE!
The next the I got the receptionist (hit 1) I told here my situation and kindly checked into it and said I should get the refund in a few.business days.
Ill keep everyone posted.
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Really would like to hear if you actually get a refund. I think your chances are better than mine since you just recently used a credit card and CQ knows you can dispute it. As for me, I had a three-year sub and no chance of being able to dispute it so they just ignore me.
I think they are doing everything they can to hold onto money. My impression is that it is becoming a Ponzi Scheme where new subs are funding the distribution of the magazine to the older subs. Maybe that's why the magazine is always so late, they have to wait for enough money to come in to send the magazine out.
I don't know how long that house of cards can last since more and more hams are coming across posts here and elsewhere about their delivery or should I say non-delivery issues and the number of advertisers seems to be decreasing.
Their only hope is for a funding angel who can give them the money to get back on track and try to restore faith. But at this point, I don't see an angel coming in or the faith being restored. This mess has just gone on far too long. Their 70th anniversary celebration might turn into a farewell it was a great 70 years good-bye soon.
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Just curious - has anyone here received the "print" version of the December issue?
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Maybe Salus capital will offer CQ a Debt in Possession loan like they offered Radio Shack.
That way, if CQ goes belly up, Salus will still have their hands on an answering machine, a help wanted sign, and a stack of 2015 calendars...
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Just curious - has anyone here received the "print" version of the December issue?
As of Jan 21st, NO December 2014 CQ print issue has been received at this QTH.
However, the February 2015 print issue of QST arrived that afternoon.
The November 2014 CQ print issue got here on December 15th. (Last one I'll ever receive?)
If I can believe my CQ Mailing Label info, my current subscription ends 02/2015.
It's finally over for me.
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As a DX station thank goodness I don't subscribe to CQ Magazine. As a matter of interest, I subscribe to a U.S. HI-Fi magazine. They announced upon their website about Tuesday that the February number is now on sale. I received my copy yesterday. If CQ Mag. can't deliver in the same manner, than it's all over for them.
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CQ just stopped sending magazines to me as of the September issue.
But when I did get it, the issues would arrive about a month late.
So no one has received a December issue. I wonder when people will receive the now combined January/February issue? And the big question will they truly "catch up" at this point? Will people receive the March issue (if there is a March issue) in February? If they can't do that, then support will erode very fast.
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My last issue received (sometime in late November) was October, 2014. Don't know when my one year subscription runs out...can't make heads or tails out of the mailing label info. After many years of subscribing, didn't renew with their last request. Funny how they can mail out subscription renewal requests, but not the actual magazine ::)
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This is rather amusing, a poor wife ordered CQ Magazine as a subscription gift for her husband at Christmas. She has made the same post numerous times on the CQ Facebook page.
"DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS SCAMMER...........I this mag. as a Christmas gift for my husband and they will not return my phone calls, will not return my emails........... I ordered, and got a confirmation 11/14!! These people are out to rip you off!!"
Her name is listed as Jeanie Hurnblad.
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"CQ has always been independent and progressive, sometimes controversial, and unfortunately, often late. As we change so many of our characteristics we will strive to retain our progressiveness, independence and controversiality, and most importantly, shake off the pernicious problem of lateness once and for all. This issue should arrive somewhat earlier than the dreadfully late November and December issues, and February will show still further improvement.
"Despite groundless rumors to the contrary, we're in the Amateur Radio publishing business 'for the duration' and we intend to remain a factor in this highly unpredictable hobby/service. Those who would count us out would do well to tend to their own business. CQ was around before 73 or Ham Radio were gleams in their publisher's eyes, and we'll still be around when other Johnny-come-lately's crop up, but we'll still be around, of that you can be sure. Onward and upward!"
Richard A. Ross, K2MGA, CQ Magazine, January, 1976.
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"CQ has always been independent and progressive, sometimes controversial, and unfortunately, often late. As we change so many of our characteristics we will strive to retain our progressiveness, independence and controversiality, and most importantly, shake off the pernicious problem of lateness once and for all. This issue should arrive somewhat earlier than the dreadfully late November and December issues, and February will show still further improvement.
"Despite groundless rumors to the contrary, we're in the Amateur Radio publishing business 'for the duration' and we intend to remain a factor in this highly unpredictable hobby/service. Those who would count us out would do well to tend to their own business. CQ was around before 73 or Ham Radio were gleams in their publisher's eyes, and we'll still be around when other Johnny-come-lately's crop up, but we'll still be around, of that you can be sure. Onward and upward!"
Richard A. Ross, K2MGA, CQ Magazine, January, 1976.
Sure can't prove what you say with all of the unhappy customers. Maybe if you came out of the woodwork months ago, your so called improvement might have some credibility. But after angering so many customers with a lack of responsiveness, I think you lost many customers. I know I will never send a penny to you for what has been happening.
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Stan, check out the date of the quote.
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I was not a subscriber way back in 1976 so don't know how long their late delivery went on back then. Also don't know if they abused their customers back then like they do now. However, seems like they were a little more open and honest then, something that has been lost with the current management.
My belief with the current crisis at CQ, that they have handled it so poorly that the outcome may be much different this time. Some will stick by them, many will not, which is why I believe they will not survive this time.
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Stan, check out the date of the quote.
OOOPS! You got me on that one. Oh well just consider my comments years late then! :)
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Well here is the latest from CQ. They have a new advertising guy. I wonder how long he is going to stick around? Seems people in that position have a very short stay.
>>>Chamberlain Named CQ Magazine Advertising Manager
(Hicksville, NY) January 28, 2015 -- CQ Communications President Richard Ross, K2MGA, today announced the appointment of David Chamberlain, W7DSC, as CQ magazine's new Director of Advertising and Marketing.
David has nearly 25 years of sales experience, specializing in complex consultative sales and marketing. He has a successful track record of Fortune 500 B2B (business-to-business) enterprise sales with MCI, SAP and Checkfree, in addition to launching and running his own boutique international travel company, which specialized in "philanthropic safaris."
"David brings us his unique perspectives on print and digital advertising, search engine optimization, web marketing, e-commerce and strategic selling," noted Ross, "and we are looking forward to his putting that knowledge to work for the benefit of our colleagues in the amateur radio industry."
"I'm looking forward," said Chamberlain, "to helping CQ magazine help its partners in the amateur radio industry become extremely successful."
A resident of Reno, Nevada, Chamberlain became a ham radio operator last summer and enjoys operating the latest digital voice modes. Off the air, he enjoys outdoor pursuits with his family in and around the Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe. His home is also shared with several parrots!<<<
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Wow.....just like the revolving drummer situation in the movie, "Spinal Tap" :)
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CQ Magazine again deleted the negative comments from their Facebook page and blocked those who posted negative comments from posting any new comments.
One guy did make a post that said he heard CQ was going out of business. The reply of course was, no they are not going out of business, and that they will be at the Hamcation.
Amazing they have the money to go to Hamcation, but cannot send the magazine out on-time, or send it out at all, or issue any refunds to those requested refunds.
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Well, they can show up at Hamcation, but what does it really mean? If it is like the appearance that was made at the ARRL Convention in Hartford last July, that would be three people at a booth, including the new advertising manager and a stack of the last printed issue and calendars. Just showing up does not mean that the overall situation is OK. I remember when they were striving about 10 years ago, they had many different products, primarily books. It is a stark contrast to the current situation and it is very sad that it has become this way as I had enjoyed writing for them during the peak times.
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Same here--had a good thirty year run working with Ham Radio, Communications Quarterly, QEX and with Communications Quarterly. Writing, editing and cad cam paid for all of test gear and ham equipment, and the new shop. I doubt those days will ever come back, but at my age I am ready to retire and enjoy doing what I want. The work was fun, but the deadlines were becoming a drag. Especially when the pay was behind by two years at the end.
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Well, they can show up at Hamcation, but what does it really mean? If it is like the appearance that was made at the ARRL Convention in Hartford last July, that would be three people at a booth, including the new advertising manager and a stack of the last printed issue and calendars. Just showing up does not mean that the overall situation is OK. I remember when they were striving about 10 years ago, they had many different products, primarily books. It is a stark contrast to the current situation and it is very sad that it has become this way as I had enjoyed writing for them during the peak times.
What does it mean? It means instead of spending the money to send out the magazine and issue refunds, they are going to spend on a boondoggle trip to Florida. Are they really going to sign up enough people given their current track record and reputation? The money could have been much better spent to satisfying customers. It means that their business judgement is horrible and why they are in the position they're in. Hams would be smart of avoid their booth.
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This cannot be good. When you go to the CQ Magazine website and click to subscribe, you get a message that the site is down for "maintenance." A company in need of money, as many suspect, should not take down one of the methods of subscribing or buying other products for this long. I noticed it yesterday and it is still happening today.
I suspect that possibly the company that was processing their credit card transactions cut them off because of the number of credit card chargebacks. When a credit card company gets a lot of chargeback requests, it sends up a red flag. Don't know for sure, but why else shut down the ordering system for so long? Doesn't take that long to update a website.
Might come back up if they can find someone else, but then how long will that last before chargeback requests come in all over again.
Don't know the reason for sure, only my guess, but this cannot be positive for CQ being able to move forward.
http://store.cq-amateur-radio.com/Categories.bok?category=CQ+Subscriptions+NEW+or+RENEWAL+SUBSCRIPTIONS
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^^^ I don't think that's really unusual for a Sunday morning.
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^^^ I don't think that's really unusual for a Sunday morning.
Or a Saturday? Sure many websites will do updates in the middle of the night, but they are usually back up by around 6:00 AM EST. But down on a Saturday afternoon? That is very unusual.
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Or a Saturday? Sure many websites will do updates in the middle of the night, but they are usually back up by around 6:00 AM EST. But down on a Saturday afternoon? That is very unusual.
LOL - the sentence they posted is not very well thought out -
Our website is currently unavailable for a scheduled maintenance.
If it's unavailable for a scheduled maintenance, then it should be available for the public.
It should read -
Our website is currently unavailable due to a scheduled maintenance.
:D
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The CQ ordering page is still down as of this morning. I guess CQ really wants to make it hard to do business with them. Maintenance of a website is usually just a matter of uploading new content pages to the server. Takes next to nothing to accomplish. So this so-called maintenance points to something else. Hard to believe CQ is now on the third day (that I know of, could have been down earlier and a lot longer) of not being able to take orders on their website. I think maybe CQ is not telling us the truth again.
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^^^ That' prolly the way Radio Shack will end. They'll go down for scheduled maintenance and never return.
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^^^ That' prolly the way Radio Shack will end. They'll go down for scheduled maintenance and never return.
Ha, you're probably right! Too funny!
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Webpage works here... looks like they cleaned up the site a bit.
Pete
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Looks like they are starting to bring stuff back up. It may be they are now trying to clear all transactions through Paypal - even credit card transactions, but hard to tell. Earlier they had only 5 year subs listed. As of a few minutes ago, nothing was listed and you got a 404 error if you clicked on subscribe. Looks like a mess to me.
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As of this morning the CQ Magazine ordering website seems to be up and running again, but it appears that you can now only order 2 or 3 year subscriptions. That's a risk. I gave them money for a 3 year sub a few years back and got less than two years. I am never giving them any more money - EVER - but for those who want to subscribe, I would never do more than one year at a time. Too much money at risk.
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As of this morning the CQ Magazine ordering website seems to be up and running again, but it appears that you can now only order 2 or 3 year subscriptions. That's a risk. I gave them money for a 3 year sub a few years back and got less than two years. I am never giving them any more money - EVER - but for those who want to subscribe, I would never do more than one year at a time. Too much money at risk.
Nope -
Error 404 Page
Home
404 - Page not Found
Oops, This Page Could Not Be Found!
404
http://store.cq-amateur-radio.com/Categories.bok?category=CQ+Subscriptions+NEW+or+RENEWAL+SUBSCRIPTIONS
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As of this morning the CQ Magazine ordering website seems to be up and running again, but it appears that you can now only order 2 or 3 year subscriptions. That's a risk. I gave them money for a 3 year sub a few years back and got less than two years. I am never giving them any more money - EVER - but for those who want to subscribe, I would never do more than one year at a time. Too much money at risk.
Nope -
Error 404 Page
Home
404 - Page not Found
Oops, This Page Could Not Be Found!
404
http://store.cq-amateur-radio.com/Categories.bok?category=CQ+Subscriptions+NEW+or+RENEWAL+SUBSCRIPTIONS
http://store.cq-amateur-radio.com/product-category/cq-subscriptions-new-or-renewal-subscriptions/
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Yes, I have noticed that they have major issues with links. Some links on subscription/renewal give you the 404 Error and other will take you to a renewal site. It all depends on what link you click on what page. Whoever is working on this has a real mess to work out.
Kind of like the whole CQ Magazine company, it's just seems to be a big mess.
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No kidding! I used to build web pages, and this looks like a disaster.
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Given what has transpired over the past year, why would anybody give these guys
any money ? It appears they take your money and don't deliver.
I think ham radio would be better off if they just went out of business. At least
unsuspecting hams would not lose their money on this magazine.
Rod
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I think ham radio would be better off if they just went out of business. At least
unsuspecting hams would not lose their money on this magazine.
It would seem so, this is the date of the first post in this thread -
CQ Magazine
« on: September 13, 2013, 01:26:02 PM »
If they can't get it together by now it's not going to happen.
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I think ham radio would be better off if they just went out of business. At least
unsuspecting hams would not lose their money on this magazine.
It would seem so, this is the date of the first post in this thread -
CQ Magazine
« on: September 13, 2013, 01:26:02 PM »
If they can't get it together by now it's not going to happen.
Wow, this mess has been going on since 2013? How time flies when you are getting ripped off.
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I've been closely watching the CQ Magazine Facebook page. Every time a negative comment is posted, it is quickly deleted. Not to mention, hams have reported to me that after posting a negative comment about not receiving their magazines, they are banned from posting any further comments.
Clearly CQ Magazine is trying to keep the ham community from knowing what is really going on with the magazine and its delivery and non-delivery issues.
You know the end is near when they are trying to stifle any comments. Interesting, CQ never responds to or tries to address the complaints. They just ignore them. Reminds of the Wizzard of Oz....."pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." They pay no attention to their customers, all they want is the dollars.
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I've been closely watching the CQ Magazine Facebook page. Every time a negative comment is posted, it is quickly deleted. Not to mention, hams have reported to me that after posting a negative comment about not receiving their magazines, they are banned from posting any further comments.
But you mean also that they have positive comments that aren't deleted? What do the positive comments say in general?
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Yeah, comments like:
"I really hope this helps you guys out. I will continue to subscribe and hope for the best. As a business owner myself, I can imagine what the costs must be for a publication like yours. Takes a lot of advertising sales to pay the bills.
Good luck !!!"
"I really enjoyed the CQ+ digital supplement, nice content, good reading. I only get a digital subscription, so no print edition, no delays, no ripped or wet pages. The price is right too. Also Zinio platform seems to be more stable compared to ARRL QST app that's buggy..."
""HR Magazine" where are you ? We The People - opssss - The Real Hams are really missing some technical articles - not words ( or pictures ) "for pŕofit" or to "morally elevate" a dozen or so in 700k hams ! Bad they are gone, very bad. I was that part of hams that **still** believe in my hobby, after some 40 yrs on it ( begin at 14, in 1974 ) !"
But complain about never getting the magazine, never getting it on-time, where's my refund, you charged my credit card but I never got the magazine, and your comment gets deleted and you are banned from ever posting there again.
I guess they figure if they hide the truth from others, then people will continue to send them money. They need subscribers to get higher ad rates. But they also need to send out a magazine and send it on-time, not weeks or months late. Heard that subscribers are now starting to get the December issue and it's February and they should have received it in November. CQ is just a waste of money. This crap has been going on for over a year and the promise that the last combined issue would get them back on track never did. So now they have another combined issue and they want people to think this time it is going to solve their problems. Don't think so. Just think they are trying to buy time.
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I received my December copy today: Feb. 7, 2015. It is obvious that the magazine has been disingenuous (to say the least) with their subscribers. Their business practices can only lead to failure. That being said, it is still a shame. We will be left with one US-based amateur radio magazine; I will not be happy to see that. The current issue has several interesting articles. It will not be a happy day when CQ disappears, although many (especially 'NUT) have made it thoroughly clear that the magazine has brought this on themselves. Print media is disappearing too rapidly. I don't think amateur radio is better off for it.
73 de K6SBA
David in Santa Barbara, CA
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I have been reading this thread. I had commented months ago about magazines and how the industry worked. It is obvious they are not able to sustain the magazine - their main source of income is ad revenue. Subscriptions can't carry the magazine. First it was the third party vendor, then more excuses. They tried to cut costs by combining the magazines, then went to a combination of digital and print. It is obvious they are on borrowed time. To make matters worse- and no excuse on this one, they have alienated their loyal subscription base. Just fess up- if you can't deliver just close up shop. I agree with NUT on this one- you can't continue to pretend. Game over, and I don't wish this on anybody- I like the magazine and contest articles. My opinion, I give them three more months maybe six. :(
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It's human nature to resist failure as long as possible, sometimes at the expense of others, and not mentally recognize that the ship is sinking. CQ has been around a long time, but times have changed, and the print magazine industry is slowly succumbing to the digital world. Also, long- time advertisers now have their own web sites, recognized by search engines, so their exposure dollars have shifted in those directions...they don't need magazines and newspapers anymore to push their products. Even brick and mortar stores are being pushed out by online marketing. Former strong retailers, like Circuit City, Radio Shack, and others have caved in. Best Buy has been having trouble, now functioning as a new term called "showrooming"....go there to see, touch, demo and ask questions, only to buy the product cheaper online.
CQ, by their actions, seem to be heading in that direction, trying to hang on by a thread and just spinning wheels stuck in the mud (or snow recently). Unfortunately, they're not being up front with their loyal subscribers, and that's only going to hasten the nails in the coffin. Personally, I subscribed for many years, but didn't renew when they sent me notices. Heck, I didn't even buy their calendar, which was a staple purchase for years.
Sometimes ya' gotta know when to call it quits, but it's tough to come to grips with it. Just look at aging sports stars with diminished skills that hang on long enough to eventually embarrass themselves.
Again, human nature.
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Reminds me of a saying a friend of mine had about a very lazy individual and his employer. He said, "John Doe retired years ago, he just failed to tell anyone."
Same thing for CQ Magazine, CQ Magazine is dead, they are just failing to notify anyone.
It's really a shame, I don't think print is dead. Most people will tell you they prefer to read a paper magazine over a digital magazine. I also think there are plenty of hams who will support something like a CQ. The issue is that they have and still lie to their subscribers. "Production issues." We all now know it has nothing to do with production of the magazine. It apparently has to do with having sufficient money to print THEN mail the magazine.
My personal opinion is that if they told hams the truth and asked them to rally around them with subs, tell their friends to subscribe, etc., people would have come to their aid. But the lies continue, and they continue to waste money attending things like Hamcation, when that money could be better spent making their subscribers happy by mailing out the magazine.
Sure times change and so do the industries, but could companies with great management adapt and thrive. CQ Magazine in my opinion has poor management, making horrible decisions, adapting too slow, with poor communication with their customers. It's a prescription for death. Cannot see them making it through the rest of the year.
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As someone noted, it is advertising that makes a magazine profitable. Subscriptions don't pay the bills. Take a look at any recent ham magazines (besides QST) and compare the number of ads back in the sixties to what space they are able to sell today. And that doesn't include deeply discounted rate charts that is hurting them even more. None of us like to see too many ads, but in reality a 50% ratio of ads to editorial content is a sign of a healthy magazine.
Pete
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Agreed, so then who wants to advertise in a magazine that comes out perpetually late?
If you cannot deliver the ads people are paying for, then fewer companies advertise, and you lose subscribers, and when you lose subscribers, they ads bring in less since there are fewer readers and you end up losing money and get into a cycle that is hard to come out of.
Hence why my observation is that CQ Magazine is in a death spiral.
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I've been closely watching the CQ Magazine Facebook page. Every time a negative comment is posted, it is quickly deleted. Not to mention, hams have reported to me that after posting a negative comment about not receiving their magazines, they are banned from posting any further comments.
Just start an anti-CQ magazine Facebook page ... :o
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I just received my December issue yesterday, the anticipation was killing me!
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Must be nice to look at the ads for shiny new antiques! :D
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Came home and found that the December issue of CQ had arrived. The issue looked good, but you could see that ad count may have dropped. At least five ads were CQ-related (calendar, books and subscription)
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All I am getting is the digital issue through June of this year. I also noticed the ad content is off significantly. Why they hired another new ad guy. But advertisers have to be concerned about committing dollars to CQ. One, their ads are read by customers weeks late, and two, they know that CQ readers are mostly alienated right now thus ads in CQ could have a negative response instead of a positive response. More advertisers will commit to QST now and the ARRL will benefit. Just got the QST March digital edition yesterday which means the paper edition will probably be here by the weekend as it always does.
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their ads are read by customers weeks late
Considering the decades-old tradition of dealers running the same ad for months on end, with "call" instead of a price, I suspect that's not a major problem.
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If CQ fails, then whatever competition there is has some latitude to increase their rates. It is easy for the big gun publishing houses to offer substantial discount ad rates, and to hurt smaller competitors. CQ folding up tent will not be a good thing for advertisers in the long run, and I am sure they are aware of it.
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If CQ fails, then whatever competition there is has some latitude to increase their rates. It is easy for the big gun publishing houses to offer substantial discount ad rates, and to hurt smaller competitors. CQ folding up tent will not be a good thing for advertisers in the long run, and I am sure they are aware of it.
I doubt that the competition has that much power these days. The Internet has fragmented the market. There are so many places to advertise -- QRZ, eHam, AmateurLogic, for example -- that the print and online editions of QST and other publications are no longer the only or even most effective way to publicize sales and new products, or build mindshare.
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their ads are read by customers weeks late
Considering the decades-old tradition of dealers running the same ad for months on end, with "call" instead of a price, I suspect that's not a major problem.
I believe what he's getting at are the special pricing for the Christmas season, or the bigger conventions--especially Dayton. Imagine advertizers getting phone calls after the Dayton meet and hearing "Is the price you advertized in CQ Magazine for such and such an item still good? After all, I just got my magazine--late, but I just got it.
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I believe what he's getting at are the special pricing for the Christmas season, or the bigger conventions--especially Dayton. Imagine advertizers getting phone calls after the Dayton meet and hearing "Is the price you advertized in CQ Magazine for such and such an item still good? After all, I just got my magazine--late, but I just got it.
I couldn't find the May 2014 issue ― was there one? ― so I looked through the May 2013 issue instead. I didn't see any ads with prices that were good only around Dayton time. Or did I misunderstand you? I have seen Dayton promo prices from GigaParts, but those were always in banners and buttons on QRZ rather than in print ads.
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If CQ fails, then whatever competition there is has some latitude to increase their rates. It is easy for the big gun publishing houses to offer substantial discount ad rates, and to hurt smaller competitors. CQ folding up tent will not be a good thing for advertisers in the long run, and I am sure they are aware of it.
I really do not think the ARRL sets their ad rates based on "competition" from CQ at all, and I don't think that the rates will go up if CQ goes under soon. I actually think manufacturers, retailers, etc. will be happier with one publication that they can focus their ad dollars on instead of dealing with multiple publications. It will also give them some latitude to advertise in smaller publications like AMSAT, GQRP, etc. and will help those non-profit groups with some cash to expand their activities.
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CQ is now asking for opinions on the CQ Facebook page if hams will still support them if they go all digital. Remember, they denied this was going to happen last year. Of course those hams who complained on their Facebook page are blocked from making any additional comments.
So far it appears that most people want paper to continue. I also think this means the situation at CQ is worse than ever and could mean they no longer have the money to print the magazine. Did anyone go to Hamcation and stop by the CQ booth? Did they have any printed copies of the January/February combined issue? It's out on Zinio now, just wonder if it has actually been printed yet. Also, what were the latest comments from Moseson?
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I've tried using the digital edition and found it to be way too cumbersome. Magazines are meant to be held... I don't use Kindles or similar devices, so it is either one of the laptops or desk computing systems. I suspect many oldtimers are the same way.
pete
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There is quite a bit of discussion on the Facebook page about digital only CQ version. It was stated in one of the replies that CQ digital version would not go PDF - so it looks like Zinio is it. Digital only will mean a much smaller operation - smaller payroll, less amounts of advertising. I seriously doubt if writers would get paid very much if at all with a smaller payroll. There appears to be some bitterness from those who did not get print editions in the past. I think that digital version could work up to a fashion (like the Spectrum Monitor) but you are talking about a scaled-down operation overall. How do you sell digital subscriptions at ham conventions and flea markets if you do not have printed samples??
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Digital only will mean a much smaller operation - smaller payroll, less amounts of advertising.
Not necessarily. For example, the production staff still has to lay out pages. CQ doesn't have a press and finishing staff to fire. There also might be more work and thus more staff if CQ starts adding video and a lot of other digital content to attract and retain readers.
How do you sell digital subscriptions at ham conventions and flea markets if you do not have printed samples??
CQ could print them or have a QR code that visitors can scan to get a copy. Lots of options.
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I think the staff is as small as it can get right now. The only way they can save money is to stop printing and mailing issues, which is pretty much what they are doing now ;) .
There will not be pdf copies because that is an easy file to copy and mail to friends reducing their revenue, so they either have to come up with their own app (unlikely without money) or continue using Zinio.
But if they go all digital, I suspect it may give them life a little longer, but most people prefer a copy they can hold in their hands and read. Zinio is too hard to read on a computer, iPad, Android, etc. It would be best on a Kindle White, but then you lose the color, but it would be easier to read.
I think all digital means they eventually shut down unless they can get enough subscribers to pay to keep some staff. Ad revenue will go down substantially because ads in digital magazines do not have the same impact or return as printed ads.
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It could also be time to dump the expensive office space rental, and to go over to home publishing. Many magazines are put together by editors working from home offices. Everything is done over the internet these days. Editors edit, production puts the galley proofs together... all done via PDF files, including the final proofs to the printers. Office space in Long Island can't be cheap.
I see I may have been banned from posting on FaceBook, since there was no way for me to add comments regarding the question on going digital.
Pete
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Can't understand why anyone would support a company that uses censorship to make themselves seem better then they are.
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I see I may have been banned from posting on FaceBook, since there was no way for me to add comments regarding the question on going digital.
Pete
Yup, that means you have been banned. Join the club. Kind of a merit badge now. The interesting thing is that they never tried to answer anyone's issue about not getting the magazine, no "sorry we're trying", or "we're having financial issues and trying to do the best we can with limited resources", they just ignore everyone. They only started adding new news (other than propagation) and making some token responses within the past few weeks which makes me think their new advertising guy is the one making a few comments and banning those complaining about non-delivery.
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There is a lot of animated comments on the Facebook page on this topic (going digital) and some of the replies seem a bit pointed....check it out.
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I guess the question was more rhetorical than a serious inquiry... I suspect they will announce that a majority of readers prefer the digital edition... and that will be their justification for doing what seems to be the inevitable migration to digital only.
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I've yet to receive the December 2014 issue. I thought maybe it'd expired so I looked at the label and the format has changed, it no longer clearly shows expiry date like it used to.About the only thing that's perhaps relevant is "P-4 P14".
Anyway, my CQ expiry is sometime this summer so maybe I'll get one more issue :(
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I started this forum saga. My library includes every CQ issue, most in binders, from day one. But at the end of 2013 I gave up on the BS about printer problems, etc, and asked for a refund. I guess I was early enough to actually get one for my remaining several years. Watching with interest the play-out of this situation, I'm glad to only be a spectator, but still all in all, sad that a magazine with such a great history has fallen to such lows.
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Watch this interview of CQ Magazine's Rich Moseson at the Orlando Hamcation.
Can you find Moseson's big lie in the video? Also, note how Moseson is very careful with every word he speaks. Makes you wonder just how bad things are at CQ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYLM6ypLAOY
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If the economy and advertising is down so much, and it's hurting all magazines,
then why is QST still banging out print issues on time every month ?
His response seemed say that the problems CQ has are the result of the problems
every magazine has.
To some extent that is probably true. But I think CQ has other problems that will
eventually doom them.
73,
Rod WI0T
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I started thinking about the assertion Ross and Moseson at CQ were making that it is a difficult time for the magazine industry.
My family subscribes to a number of magazines and they all arrive on time, have plenty of ads, and seem to have zero issues. For example, the March issue of Cincinnati Magazine (1/4" thick by the way) arrived yesterday; on time as always. I'm sure there are a few magazines having difficulty, but is it really the entire industry? I don't think so. My belief is that the reason CQ is having a difficult time i because of their past disastrous business decisions.
CQ over extended themselves with CQ VHF, WorldRadio On-Line, Popular Communications, and running a bunch of contests. All did little to add to the bottom line and if anything, depleted their resources. Once they ran into financial difficulties, the magazine started missing delivery schedules. When that problem continued, advertisers started pulling back on advertising which further complicated their financial situation.
Sure maybe some young people don't read print magazines, but I know plenty who do. Maybe some magazines are having difficulty, but plenty are very healthy and doing just fine. Ross and Moseson's claims are just not entirely correct. The main issue in my opinion is that the business has not been managed properly and decisions they made have contributed to the current situation with CQ. In other words, CQ management has only themselves to blame.
As a result, I still do not see them surviving. They have not lived up to any commitments or promises. Each missed commitment further erodes support, eroding support means declining subscriptions and renewals, these declines contribute to lower advertising rates, fewer advertisers.......well you get the point. As they say, when you find yourself at the bottom of a hole, stop digging. CQ continues to dig deeper with each missed commitment. It's only a matter of time.
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Interesting interview. Some print magazines do well such as People and the AARP magazine. Ads are critical for these magazines. I think that CQ was somewhat overextended with different publications - the move to take over Worldradio did not yield the results that they had hoped for and ended up costing more money than what was gained. I think that with respect to smaller amateur radio companies, ads can often be put on Internet ham radio websites for less money.
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It was painful, but it was obvious that the advertising in CQ VHF and Pop'Comm wasn't close to covering the printing costs. Perhaps they should have been sunset much sooner. Also, the failure to carry forward any of the content from those magazines in the expanded CQ Plus digital edition didn't do much to keep the readership for those magazines. Ditto for HRM: none of the technical content every appeared in future issues of CQ (at least to any extent.) Kurt's antenna column from WR Mag would have been a great addition.
I just hope that the contests, awards and other activities they supported will be able to survive in some fashion.
Pete
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Pete, I agree about the Kurt n Sterba column. Any antenna expert could have taken that over and could have compared claims made by companies by referring to them as Company A or some other fictitious name.....
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I got two copies of the January-February issue in today's mail. The labels are identical, so I'm not sure why I got two.
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I got two copies of the January-February issue in today's mail. The labels are identical, so I'm not sure why I got two.
Send one to someone that hasn't received theirs :D
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LOL, I wonder how many people are receiving two issues just like you?
If this combined issue was supposed to get them back on schedule, getting it at the end of the second month is not a success. Makes a person wonder when they March issue is going to be sent out. What a never ending mess.
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I wonder if the double issue caused double mailing labels? ;D
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I wonder if the double issue caused double mailing labels? ;D
If it did, someone should have noticed that the press run suddenly got a lot larger. And if they printed the normal amount, but the list doubled due to duplicates, then the labeler would have run out of copies halfway through. It's strange.
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Yesterday, I got TWO copies of the Jan/Feb issue -- both identically labelled. Does anyone know how many subscribers CQ still has? I think that info is required to be published periodically to qualify for Magazine Postage rates.
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Yesterday, I got TWO copies of the Jan/Feb issue -- both identically labelled. Does anyone know how many subscribers CQ still has? I think that info is required to be published periodically to qualify for Magazine Postage rates.
Uh oh....another one! Me thinks we have a serial double-mailer out there. A pattern is developing...call in Inspector Clouseau ;D
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I wonder if half of the subscribers will not receive a magazine because the other half received two copies of the same magazine? If they printed enough, or double the amount needed, they wasted a lot of their precious resources which could put the March issue in question. Maybe we'll now see a combined March/April issue again! ;D
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I wonder if half of the subscribers will not receive a magazine because the other half received two copies of the same magazine? If they printed enough, or double the amount needed, they wasted a lot of their precious resources which could put the March issue in question. Maybe we'll now see a combined March/April issue again! ;D
That is what I was wondering... and what if the printer did a double press run, and twice the normal mailings? I hope it was a printer mistake and doesn't fall back on CQ. That could be a disaster. This was supposed to pull them out of the accounts receivable slump, not drive them further into a hole. What a mess. :(
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I was just notified that the digital version of the next issue of CQ is available. It will also be a combined issue (March/April). This is probably not a bad idea at this point.
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Zinio says it is a combined issue, but CQ has not said that yet and the cover still says just "March" so maybe Zinio screwed up or CQ now intends for it to be a combined issue. Won't know until CQ "management" makes some official statement.
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Has anyone seen a March issue in the mail?
Pete
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Has anyone seen a March issue in the mail?
Pete
Pete,
It's not even April or May yet? Why would you expect the CQ March edition now? Even though CQ said the combined January/February issue would allow them to catch up, just like last year's combined issue did not allow them to catch up as promised. They have never lived up to their commitments, I doubt they are going to start now.
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Hope springs eternal... ::)
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Scratch another advertising manager......
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Scratch another advertising manager......
Seriously? LOL! Where did you find that announcement?
I kind of suspected as much. The CQ Facebook page all of the sudden had a lot of comments from someone at CQ right after they hired the latest advertising guy. Then they seemed to have suddenly stopped. I wondered if it was the ad guy so if he left, it probably was him making the comments and they stopped now that he is gone.
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Yes, you are correct....lots of stuff initially when he came on board. Then it stopped about three weeks ago. I was told by a good source that he left in February. It appears to not be a steady position.
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Come on over to SeeQ Magazine's fun-site at Facebook. If you have been banned by CQ Magazine from making comments on their Facebook page, come over to SeeQ's Facebook page, make some comments and have some fun!
https://www.facebook.com/SeeQMagazine
And make sure to "LIKE" our page!
There will also be an important announcement on April 1st, so don't miss it.
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Yes, you are correct....lots of stuff initially when he came on board. Then it stopped about three weeks ago. I was told by a good source that he left in February. It appears to not be a steady position.
Wow, I wonder what is going on over there at CQ that the Advertising Sales/Manager position is such a revolving door? Are they not paying them? Are the advertisers angry or hostile to every sales person they have call on them over the constant late publication of the print magazine? Geez, every time they hire someone, a big press release goes out touting the person and how great everything is going to be, then they leave and the sound of crickets. Katie was gracious in her comments, we've not heard a word on what happened from anyone else. I wonder if when they join CQ if CQ isn't making them sign some sort of non-disclosure agreement to keep the truth from being known. Could it be that CQ Magazine is in a much more precarious situation than any of us are imagining?
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Worked All Press Releases (WAPR).....Four different people (including one non-ham) have held the position during the past 10 months......
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It could commission only with no base, based on accounts receivable. No magazine, no income, no commission. Advertisers leave, harder to find new ones, harder to retain older clients. Once you burn through reserve cash, it becomes very difficult to stay viable when the bills greatly outweigh possible income streams.
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Also, you have to look at it from an advertiser's perspective. You may get more visibility by having a link or button on a popular ham radio website and probably for a lot less money than running an ad in a print magazine. Over the years, there have been a lot of smaller ham radio companies that would place a 1/4 page ad. The Internet is a game changer. Most people do not buy daily papers but may buy the Sunday paper to get the coupons in the ads there.....
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It could commission only with no base, based on accounts receivable. No magazine, no income, no commission. Advertisers leave, harder to find new ones, harder to retain older clients. Once you burn through reserve cash, it becomes very difficult to stay viable when the bills greatly outweigh possible income streams.
I know we all see that, but CQ seems to continue to hang in there and have not closed up shop yet. It seems like they should have shut down by now. I wonder what is keeping them going? If the money from new subs is what is keeping the issues going out, late as they may be, that eventually is going to catch up with them. I think that if that is what is occurring, it is the definition of a Ponzi Scheme and it's going to crash sooner or later. But all we can do is guess as CQ is horrible in their communication to their customers. Anyone who watched the video of Moseson at the Orlando Hamcation saw a interview where it appeared to me that Moseson tried to carefully craft each statement to Gary.
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I know we all see that, but CQ seems to continue to hang in there and have not closed up shop yet. It seems like they should have shut down by now. I wonder what is keeping them going? If the money from new subs is what is keeping the issues going out, late as they may be, that eventually is going to catch up with them. I think that if that is what is occurring, it is the definition of a Ponzi Scheme and it's going to crash sooner or later.
Well if it does NOT go under it will not be for a lack of trying by people in this thread!
From the first page I said that it was a bad idea to keep this thread going as it only helps to make the problems worst for CQ. I guess all of you will be jumping up and down cheering if it does go out of business.
At this point in time I cannot see why anyone would keep posting negative stuff to this thread. The thread is almost 2 years old, most likely everyone's subscription has already lapsed. So if your no longer a subscriber why complain? And if you are a subscriber you must have known about the late issue problem and yet you still decide to subscribe! So why keep on moaning about late issues ???
This thread should have been locked after 12 months, at this point it just feels like a cheer leading squad betting on one of our best and nearly last magazines to fail and go under.
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The only people responsible for putting CQ Magazine out of business, if that indeed is what happens, is CQ Magazine itself.
This company consistently takes money from people and does not deliver product as expected or agreed and it should be discussed until the poor business practices are corrected and people get what they paid for, refunds are sent, and authors are paid what they are owed.
If money is tight, you don't piss it away by attending hamfests. If customers are unhappy, you don't lie to them and deceive them over and over again.
I've said it before, if a business is in trouble and they are straight with people, tell them the truth, ask for help, customers will usually rally around and provide support. CQ Magazine has done the complete opposite. As a result, there is no one to blame but CQ Magazine and its management.
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So why do you keep on subscribing to it if you think that they are so devious?
If I feel like a company ripped me off I don't go back and make another transaction with them! I just leave. You somehow feel that all your bashing is going to help to get the company running properly again while in truth it is only making things worst.
Then several of you guys have come out and made statements that could make you liable in court if they decide to get back at you.
For example:
If the money from new subs is what is keeping the issues going out, late as they may be, that eventually is going to catch up with them. I think that if that is what is occurring, it is the definition of a Ponzi Scheme and it's going to crash sooner or later.
You made a statement like that on an open forum with your name attached to it ???
If CQ decides to file a court case against you for liable, and claims that your statement has cost them subscribers and damaged their reputation and asks the court for you to present evidence that they are running a Ponzi Scheme, what are you going to do?
You guys really need to stop this thread before CQ magazine does go out of business or several of you end up in court.
73s
Rob
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No one wants to see CQ close up. This would leave us with only one ham radio magazine (QST) which is mainly a membership magazine and has a very tight space format for an article or column (three pages, typically) I have written for CQ publications (primarily CQ VHF) for about an 18 year period and wrote a book with Gordon West for them. We were noticing something was going on about five years ago as well as noticing changes in people's reading habit with regards to printed media. Many of the writers kept on during these times without compensation but it soon reached a point that it was not going to get better. Some transparency with the ham world at a much earlier date would have helped a lot. By the way, the printed magazine and printed book field, especially in the technical fields is getting hit the most. Textbooks are one example but another field is the aircraft book and magazine market - the market has changed over the past five years as well. There used to be about five major aircraft book publishers in the business - it is almost down to none, with one just barely hanging in there, also making major cuts in staff and expenses. It is a very sad state of affairs and things may not ever be the same.
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So why do you keep on subscribing to it if you think that they are so devious?
If I feel like a company ripped me off I don't go back and make another transaction with them! I just leave. You somehow feel that all your bashing is going to help to get the company running properly again while in truth it is only making things worst.
Then several of you guys have come out and made statements that could make you liable in court if they decide to get back at you.
For example:
If the money from new subs is what is keeping the issues going out, late as they may be, that eventually is going to catch up with them. I think that if that is what is occurring, it is the definition of a Ponzi Scheme and it's going to crash sooner or later.
You made a statement like that on an open forum with your name attached to it ???
If CQ decides to file a court case against you for liable, and claims that your statement has cost them subscribers and damaged their reputation and asks the court for you to present evidence that they are running a Ponzi Scheme, what are you going to do?
You guys really need to stop this thread before CQ magazine does go out of business or several of you end up in court.
73s
Rob
Rob, you have to read what I wrote. I said "IF" that is what they are doing......
Again, IF CQ goes out of business, it will be because of their business practices, not because of what people posts on forums.
Remember, anyone can sue for libel. The defense for libel is the truth. In other words, when CQ stated they had production issues or production problems, was that the truth? When CQ said the combined issue last year would allow them to catch up and get back on schedule. Was that the truth? When they said in a recent video interview that they answer all calls and emails, was that the truth? When they answered all my emails, but when I asked for a refund, suddenly no more responses - when they say they answer all emails, was that the truth?
BTW, I am not continuing to subscribe. I am still continuing to try get the money back they owe me after I requested a refund.
If CQ wants to rectify the situation, it's easy. Send the magazine out on time every month. Send money back to those requesting refunds, or if they are not going to give the money back, then send the magazine out on-time. Also, when they have issues, be truthful with people. When you make commitments, live up to the commitments. If you are not going to do that as a company, then why stay in business?
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No one wants to see CQ close up. This would leave us with only one ham radio magazine (QST) which is mainly a membership magazine and has a very tight space format for an article or column (three pages, typically) I have written for CQ publications (primarily CQ VHF) for about an 18 year period and wrote a book with Gordon West for them. We were noticing something was going on about five years ago as well as noticing changes in people's reading habit with regards to printed media. Many of the writers kept on during these times without compensation but it soon reached a point that it was not going to get better. Some transparency with the ham world at a much earlier date would have helped a lot. By the way, the printed magazine and printed book field, especially in the technical fields is getting hit the most. Textbooks are one example but another field is the aircraft book and magazine market - the market has changed over the past five years as well. There used to be about five major aircraft book publishers in the business - it is almost down to none, with one just barely hanging in there, also making major cuts in staff and expenses. It is a very sad state of affairs and things may not ever be the same.
I have noticed the same thing at the stores I buy magazines from. I would estimate that about 60% of them are gone! If CQ magazine dies it will not only be the magazine but also several contest that many hams look forward to. I think at a time like this a LOT of understanding is needed towards their plight and if that means late issue's and no replies to emails then IMO people should just accept that and understand that a Late CQ magazine is a lot better than No CQ magazine.
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It is strange how the printed book/magazine market has declined during the past five years. At one point, I had several avenues to choose from in the aircraft book/magazine business and to a lesser degree, the ham radio magazine business. Aircraft book publishers like Specialty Press, Motorbooks, Osprey, Tab and Squadron have left the business or drastically reduced their output. Part of it is that buyers were from areas such as engineers, modellers and pilots, of which overall numbers have flattened out or reduced. Worldradio was a key publisher for many years and served a niche market and gave me my big chance to print a book (on Six Meters). I am grateful for their help and for the opportunity. I made the most of it at the time and now they are gone. I think that it is an important discussion to have on this page and people to think about. I do not think going digital/internet only is an avenue of making much money. Printed market is tough but certain general-type publications like Nuts and Volts seem to be hanging in there......
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Rob, you have to read what I wrote. I said "IF" that is what they are doing......
Again, IF CQ goes out of business, it will be because of their business practices, not because of what people posts on forums.
Remember, anyone can sue for libel. The defense for libel is the truth. In other words, when CQ stated they had production issues or production problems, was that the truth? When CQ said the combined issue last year would allow them to catch up and get back on schedule. Was that the truth? When they said in a recent video interview that they answer all calls and emails, was that the truth? When they answered all my emails, but when I asked for a refund, suddenly no more responses - when they say they answer all emails, was that the truth?
BTW, I am not continuing to subscribe. I am still continuing to try get the money back they owe me after I requested a refund.
If CQ wants to rectify the situation, it's easy. Send the magazine out on time every month. Send money back to those requesting refunds, or if they are not going to give the money back, then send the magazine out on-time. Also, when they have issues, be truthful with people. When you make commitments, live up to the commitments. If you are not going to do that as a company, then why stay in business?
I think you should do some research on this before making an assumption that sticking the word "IF" in a post protects you from a Libel lawsuit. I am not an attorney but I was once told in one of my former jobs that words like "appears to be" or "Could be" are not saviors from lawsuits and that the only thing needed in libel and defamation cases is for the plaintiff to prove that your statements are incorrect. I am not sure about the use of the word "IF" but the general gist of guidelines I was given by the company is to make sure all statements are true and provable and not to depend on crafty wording because it will often times fail in the eye's of the court once real proof is presented.
There is plenty of stuff on the web about people being sued on websites and forums, I suggest you do your research.
73s
Rob
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Rob,
I suggest you do the same. Opinions are not libel. Opinions are free speech.
That being said, those who are worried about the contests, I think it has been stated here and elsewhere that other groups are ready to step forward to take over running the contests.
Those who feel we need an independent voice, well what exactly makes CQ independent? Independent from what - the ARRL? What exactly does CQ say that is contrary to an ARRL position that is much needed? Are there two groups of hams in the US that needs a publication to represent each respective group?
If QST was the only magazine, more ad money would go to the ARRL making them stronger. Manufacturers and retailers would not have to spend so much on advertisements (one magazine instead of two) making them more profitable or cost efficient.
Contests run by an independent not-for-profit group would be free of commercial influence.
Would I like to see CQ stay around, actually yes, if they could just deliver a magazine on time and deliver what people paid to receive. But would it be the end of the world if they were gone, well no. But should we as consumers tolerate poor business practices, poor customer service, and not receive that for which we paid for just to have an independent voice (whatever that means) and some contests?
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Rob,
I suggest you do the same. Opinions are not libel. Opinions are free speech.
Suggest you do some reading. Free speech does not cover.
libel
Slander
obscenity
pornography
sedition
hate speech
incitement
classified information
copyright violation
trade secrets
non-disclosure agreements
right to privacy
public security
public order
public nuisance
campaign finance reform and oppression.
73s
Rob
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Generally, libel or slander requires proving untruths or lies.
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Generally, libel or slander requires proving untruths or lies.
Exactly what I said in post 538.
The plaintiff only needs to prove that the statement is incorrect in order to win.
It does not matter if they are doing other things that may be unethical, the court will only deal with the statements that the plaintiff is filing about. Awards in such cases can be determined on damage done and the if the intent was malicious in nature.
I am just saying to you guys do you really want to be caught in a legal case with a company that you guys are saying is cash strapped.
73s
Rob
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That isn't all that is required, but it's useless to have legal discussions by a bunch of people who are not lawyers.
In any case, we'll just have fun over at the SeeQ Facebook page.
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I suggest that any comments calling the publisher or others as being crooks or being involved in any illegal or immoral activities are uncalled for.
I am sure they are struggling for survival. We've all seen what the magazine industry has gone through in the past few decades.
None the less, there are hams who have a legitimate concern that their magazines aren't arriving in a timely manner, and some authors who are concerned about late payments. Sure, some of us are hurting, some more than others... Guys venting about about failed subs aren't breaking any laws. Calling someone a crook, without knowing the facts, is pushing the envelope.
I fail to see any benefit in trying to force them out of business, or in suggesting they are crooks. I doubt that is the case. It would be great if they could honor existing subscription obligations at some point in the future. Maybe, just maybe, some of the authors who are in arrears might also be compensated. I doubt they planned this to happen. We are a lot better off hoping they survive; trying to force a refund by legal means on a thirty dollar sub is just going to make things go downhill faster than it is. They aren't doing this to steal 30 bucks from hams. Hopefully they can get ahead of the curve at some point. But, I strongly suggest that their survival, and being able to honor subscriptions, is the best recourse we can hope for.
pete
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That isn't all that is required, but it's useless to have legal discussions by a bunch of people who are not lawyers.
In any case, we'll just have fun over at the SeeQ Facebook page.
Actually Yes it is all that is required.
After the first set of posts I called the company lawyer on the Phone and asked about it. He said that all that was needed is for the Plaintive to prove the statement on a forum is false and make a claim that this statement caused damage to the companies sales. Hence why I said it's a bad idea to tangle with a company that some of you have said is losing sales.
The amount one will have to pay is based on the amount claimed/proven to be lost and the Intent of the statements made. So if a company can show that after a certain Libelous post started up their sales have dropped by $100,000 they can in theory ask for that amount. Will they get it, I have no idea but I sure as heck would not want to have to be hiring a lawyer and going to court to find out.
I have a very good friend who got sued just last month for losing some packages that he was contracted to ship to another country. He did ship the packages but he never did a detailed inventory or take photos of what was in the packages. Now the person is claiming that some of the items are missing. BTW The items missing add up to a measly $700 and I know this guy, he is honest to a fault, he is not going to steal anything, much less $700 worth of props and other corporate party junk. Anyway he is now in court, the lady refuses to take a settlement because she is claiming that the items not arriving cost her further damage to the event the company was hosting, so she wants the court to arbitrate the matter ???
My friend is now in his fifth week of dealing with this, he has lost about 20lbs and looks like hell. He tells me he cannot sleep, he says it's on his mind all the time.
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Thanks but you proved my point. He said all that was required is that someone prove a statement is false. I said that is NOT all that is required. You then spoke to a lawyer who said that you have to prove a statement is false (as only the first poster claimed) AND prove that the statement alone caused damages. Which was my point - two things are required, not just one. So you agreed with him, but then supported my position. Thank you.
Those who want to continue sending a company money and then not getting what they paid for, that is of course their choice. It's not my choice. Apparently some of you would still be buying buggy whips to keep an alternative to the car around. That's your choice, not mine.
But as Consumer Reports does with their reports, consumers should be educated so they can make buying decisions based on reports of buying experiences of other consumers. That is what many of these forums here and elsewhere are doing.
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Next time read my post more carefully before jumping up and down with excitement.
I never said "alone". That one added word throws everything you said out the window.
The steps are simple.
1) The company files a libel case.
2) In court they prove the statements are incorrect and bingo they have won.
3) They then file for Damages based on the loss of sales, future loss of sales etc. For example they show how many customers they lost since the time the statement was made.
4) The court looks at the request and determines what amount of this loss are they going to attribute to the statement and then they will award an amount based on the submitted request. It can be the full amount or it can be half etc. The defendant also has to pay their full legal fee's.
I am trying to help you, if you want to keep on with this, just don't come back and say I never knew this could happen. I suspect that the only reason you guys have not heard something yet is becuase they are weighing the ham communities reaction and all possible repercussions versus the financial gain. If they do indeed get down to near Zero $ or they feel the reaction is going to be one of "those guys hung themselves by not stopping" then they may no longer care what the ham community may think or in the latter they may feel that the ham community understands and will be sympathetic.
BTW from what I was reading on the web and keep in mind web stuff from the early 90's is sketchy. In the early 1990's AOL was one of the first to get caught up in this. A company filled a case against a member who made a libelous post.
The courts decided to treat the case like they would treat a case against a media organization in that it was not only the poster but AOL themselves that could be punished. AOL had to go through a number of court cases in order to get online laws put into effect. They basically made a case that there was no way they could read every message and know it's accuracy.
They won the appeal and of course the plaintiff had lost the ability to go after the cash cows millions and instead ended up with money from just the poster. If it was not for that ruling even eHam could be taken to court. As it stands now it seems as though forums are not totally exempt. If the lawyers from the plaintiff issue a letter requesting the information be removed and the forum does not comply, it seems from what I am reading that they can be held complicit.
You should also know that Libel cases just like patent infringement cases are not always filed right away. For example in patent cases the infringed company may decide to turn a blind eye for a number of months or years on a known violation so that they can hit them later with a much bigger lawsuit. Apple, Samsung, Gemstar and many others are famous for letting several years pass before going in for the kill.
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This discussion is what they call going down a rat hole.
Done.
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This discussion is what they call going down a rat hole.
Done.
Hi,
Smart move, when you find yourself in a deep hole, stop digging..........
73,
John
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OK, guys (and gals).....
To summarize:
CQ is not delivering their print editions timely (nor at all)
They're not honoring subscription refund requests
They're not answering phone calls or emails
They're "apparently" in financial straits and not acknowledging it
Their business ethics are in question
Everybody's pissed off about it
Did I leave something out? We've all had our say (myself included)...derogatory remarks, laughs, legal mumbo-jumbo, etc. Why not give it a rest, let it go, and just see if they can somehow pull out of this mess. Why continue kicking a man (company) when he's down? Your choice if you want to subscribe or not. If you have a current subscription and not getting issues nor a refund, I'm quite sure it's not going to break your bank and cause financial hardship. I know, it's the principle of the thing. But geez....enough already. Use this time to to get on the air and work somebody, or spend time with the family. I'm getting ready for CQ WPX SSB this weekend (might be the last one)..... :-[
73, Bob K7JQ
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Well, wadda ya know! A voice of reason--and someone who put the discussion AND the thread back on track.
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The reason he keeps getting kicked is his not responding to subscribers. Making promises he does not deliver on. etc etc etc
If the guy would just come out and say, "I am having sever cash flow/printing/shipping" or what ever the problem is people would tend to lay off.
People do not like people that wont be square with them. People tend to understand truths and honest statements and would be a heck of a lot
more willing to understand and work with the guy.
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UPDATE
Around late February I received the December issue ( even though I cancelled my subscription). The last third of the index was not in the magazine!
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The last third of the index is the material in the expanded digital edition (online subs..) It is shown, but it was never included in the print editions. Moot point: but they cancelled the expanded digital material a few month's back.
Pete
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I just noticed that CQ website shows March as the current issue. This being April, not a good sign.
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April issue appeared on Zinio yesterday. The online digital editions are getting out...
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I got the March issue in today's mail.
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CQ seems to be recovering from its rough patch. I have a digital subscription and enjoy reading each issue though I have to say that delivery has been a bit erratic. When they added CQ Plus I found it to be very interesting but now they seem to have cut much of that content. Maybe continuing content reduction isn't a trend.
I'll accept that an old ham publication is trying to survive and is struggling making the necessary moves. What they are doing now is enough to keep me as a subscriber because CQ is different than QST and I enjoy the material in both.
I am hoping that they can line out the business and remain a looked forward to publication each month.
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I also received the March issue in the mail... yeah, it is late, but it arrived!!! I noticed it had some content concerning the future of the AM BCB, which shows me they are finally trying to include material from the defunct Pop'Comm Magazine. I think this a positive sign.
I hope they can pull this off.. right now it seems they are the underdogs... I would hate to see QST as the only surviving ham magazine. Not that QST is a bad publication... but as hams we deserve a choice!
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Note too that as of the current issue, MFJ Enterprises has dropped ALL advertising in CQ. The shrinkage of issues after payment for them without a refund on anticipated ad placement was the reason, verified with MFJ personnel. Losing one's largest advertiser can't be overcome in a couple of issues.
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I noticed that a few issues back, but why beat a dead horse. They did manage to get the April issue in my mailbox on the last day of that month--a pleasant surprise. I did notice that the articles seem to be a bit more interesting, and they are finally including material that would have run in Pop'Comm or CQ VHF. It would be great if they can overcome the problems they've been experiencing.
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I am a digital subscriber, regular mail is just too unreliable in this part of the world, and I must say things are looking better.
The recent issues have been better and they are also seem to be kind of regular. Hoping they can pull this off, would be very sad to see them go.....
Good luck CQ team!
73, Rudi de ZS6DX/V51VE
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CQ has been a publication I've read for awhile now and generally enjoy each issue. I do hope it makes it. However, I'm not sure it is really over it's "rough patch". In the current issue, there are NO ads by the MFJ companies. MFJ was the largest advertiser for CQ (and QST, for that matter). I've confirmed that MFJ has dropped them due to the issue "shrinkage" after MFJ had paid for the full set of ads in those issues...without any refund on the lost advertisements. I'm not sure that CQ will recover from the loss of it's biggest advertiser in a volume or two.
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CQ has been a publication I've read for awhile now and generally enjoy each issue. I do hope it makes it. However, I'm not sure it is really over it's "rough patch". In the current issue, there are NO ads by the MFJ companies. MFJ was the largest advertiser for CQ (and QST, for that matter). I've confirmed that MFJ has dropped them due to the issue "shrinkage" after MFJ had paid for the full set of ads in those issues...without any refund on the lost advertisements. I'm not sure that CQ will recover from the loss of it's biggest advertiser in a volume or two.
When (or perhaps if) CQ can print ads in a timely manner and publishes said ads for companies whose money they have taken and failed to deliver on, companies like MFJ will return. Until then, they'll have to tread water the best they can with whatever funds they have.
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WI8P:
Possibly...but I don't think MFJ will return any time soon. I'm still getting it digitally but I did recently join RSGB in anticipation of needing a replacement. ;) But I do hope they make it...
Frank
CQ has been a publication I've read for awhile now and generally enjoy each issue. I do hope it makes it. However, I'm not sure it is really over it's "rough patch". In the current issue, there are NO ads by the MFJ companies. MFJ was the largest advertiser for CQ (and QST, for that matter). I've confirmed that MFJ has dropped them due to the issue "shrinkage" after MFJ had paid for the full set of ads in those issues...without any refund on the lost advertisements. I'm not sure that CQ will recover from the loss of it's biggest advertiser in a volume or two.
When (or perhaps if) CQ can print ads in a timely manner and publishes said ads for companies whose money they have taken and failed to deliver on, companies like MFJ will return. Until then, they'll have to tread water the best they can with whatever funds they have.
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The June issue arrived the other day--think it was on the 2nd. So, they are definitely making good headway. The content is getting better. Here's hoping the positive trend continues!
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Paper or digital copy?
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PAPER, in the mail. USPS delivered. The digital editions have always been timely. And the printed editions have been gaining headway.
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" The June issue arrived the other day--think it was on the 2nd. So, they are definitely making good headway. The content is getting better. Here's hoping the positive trend continues! "
2014??
klc
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Good, well I hope they now have enough money to send my refund. No magazine since September 2014 and no refund for the year+ I had remaining on my sub.
Things might be getting better, but they will never get a red cent from me ever again. But glad those who are sticking with them are finally getting what they paid for after 18+ months of late/no deliveries.