Whatever happened to our magazine subscription?

[Barnum01]

Those who do not care about the ever-shrinking list of benefits we get as DVC Members can skip this thread.

For everybody else, remember our subscription to Disney Magazine when it was still published? Today, I received a "Final Notice" billing statement from Family Fun Magazine, the magazine we switched our remaining subscription over to, stating that my account was in their "bad debt file" and that my payment for the magazines I received was seriously overdue. After calling Disney Publishing directly because there was no phone number on the notice, I was able to get in touch with Family Fun's subscription line where a nice lady named Pat took care of the situation, removed my account from their "bad debt file," and said she didn't know why we would have received the notification as the transfer subscription happened in 2005.

It's one thing to take away benefits, quite another to substitute benefits such as the magazine subscription, but then to turn around and charge us for something that we didn't ask for in the first place, no matter how accidentally, further solidifies my belief that members have become just numbers whereas we were at least made to believe we were more than that.

One ironic note, in going to Family Fun Magazine's website, what's the first thing that appears on the screen? A Flash-driven "peel-back-the-page" banner ad for DVC.

Regards

 

[dwelty]

Barnum05

Are you referring to the Disney magazine that went out of print several years ago? Keep in mind that that Magazine was not a perk specifically for DVC members, it was a seperate publication that DVC happend to give to it's members. I subscribed to it for over 12 years, and was not even a DVC member. I would not look at its demise as DVC taking back perks (most of its subscribers were not DVC members) Disney decided to stop publication of that magazine because it was not profitable.

I really miss that magazine, However, between my Disneyland AP magazine, my WDW AP magazine, and our DVC Magazine, And endless Disney Emails, I get enough Disney news to satisfy my craving for it.

 

[Barnum01]

Barnum05

Are you referring to the Disney magazine that went out of print several years ago? Keep in mind that that Magazine was not a perk specifically for DVC members, it was a seperate publication that DVC happend to give to it's members. I subscribed to it for over 12 years, and was not even a DVC member. I would not look at its demise as DVC taking back perks (most of its subscribers were not DVC members) Disney decided to stop publication of that magazine because it was not profitable.

I really miss that magazine, However, between my Disneyland AP magazine, my WDW AP magazine, and our DVC Magazine, And endless Disney Emails, I get enough Disney news to satisfy my craving for it.

Yes, this is the magazine and I too was a subscriber long before I became a DVC member. In fact, the expiration date on our subscription label was always two years out as we had a nearly full subscription when we joined DVC. As you state, DVC happened to give it to its members.

Forgive me for sounding naive, but when one entity gives something of value to another entity, on the basis of a paid membership in the first entity's program, that's a perk. Yes, Disney Publishing ceased publication of the magazine, and yes, we were offered another magazine for the duration of our subscription (which, by the way, was not fulfilled after the switch, just the DVC portion of the subscription). Yet, if members are no longer receiving something from DVC similar to the magazine, then DVC is no longer supplying this former perk of membership.

However, the point of my post was that someone, somehow was claiming that I never paid for something that was originally intended as being a perk of being a member.

Regards

 

[Chuck S]

The Disney Magazine was never designed to be a DVC member publication or a DVC perk. It was originally Disney News, and exclusive publication for members of the Magic Kingdom Club (later known as the Disney Club). Magic Kingdom Club originated in California as a discount card perk for employees of large California based businesses. MKC grew to include businesses and organizations nationwide.

When the MKC was a perk for large companies, California based businesses had to have a minimum of 200 employees to participate, other states needed 500 employees. As more and more large companies downsized and sold off smaller plants/locations the MKC evolved into the Disney Club, and became available to the general public for $50 for 2 years (including the magazine subscription). Employees of companies the formerly offered the perk for free, had to pay $35 to continue membership. Membership also included good discounts on National Car Rental, and some other products.

The magazine then wanted to appeal to a broader customer base, and became The Disney Magazine with paid subscriptions available to the general public, and a DVC perk...but alas could still not survive the competitive specialty magazine market and discontinued publication.

 

[tjkraz]

I agree with Chuck's recollection. The Disney Magazine was FREE to members of The Disney Club. IIRC, The Disney Club (in its final iteration) cost about $25 per year to join. I believe it was disbanded in 2003.

DVC members were offered discount subscriptions to The Disney Magazine, but it was never free. Our only print publication is the quarterly Vacation Magic.

The Disney Magazine published its final issue in mid-2005.

 

[sjdisneywedding]

The Disney Magazine was never designed to be a DVC member publication or a DVC perk. incl

The magazine then wanted to appeal to a broader customer base, and became The Disney Magazine with paid subscriptions available to the general public, and a DVC perk.

not sure what you are saying, first you say it was never designed to be a DVC perk, then you say it was a DVC perk

a perk is a perk is a perk it doesnt matter why it was given as a perk or what the history of that perk is(although I enjoyed reading the info) or why it was taken away as a perk.

OP simply stated a perk is gone and that seems to be the truth to me, right or wrong good or bad

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Those who do not care about the ever-shrinking list of benefits we get as DVC Members can skip this thread.

For everybody else, remember our subscription to Disney Magazine when it was still published? Today, I received a "Final Notice" billing statement from Family Fun Magazine, the magazine we switched our remaining subscription over to, stating that my account was in their "bad debt file" and that my payment for the magazines I received was seriously overdue. After calling Disney Publishing directly because there was no phone number on the notice, I was able to get in touch with Family Fun's subscription line where a nice lady named Pat took care of the situation, removed my account from their "bad debt file," and said she didn't know why we would have received the notification as the transfer subscription happened in 2005.

It's one thing to take away benefits, quite another to substitute benefits such as the magazine subscription, but then to turn around and charge us for something that we didn't ask for in the first place, no matter how accidentally, further solidifies my belief that members have become just numbers whereas we were at least made to believe we were more than that.

One ironic note, in going to Family Fun Magazine's website, what's the first thing that appears on the screen? A Flash-driven "peel-back-the-page" banner ad for DVC.

Regards

Glad you took care of the issue... many people don't even try.

 

[Chuck S]

not sure what you are saying, first you say it was never designed to be a DVC perk, then you say it was a DVC perk

a perk is a perk is a perk it doesnt matter why it was given as a perk or what the history of that perk is(although I enjoyed reading the info) or why it was taken away as a perk.

OP simply stated a perk is gone and that seems to be the truth to me, right or wrong good or bad

The OP implies that DVC is somehow responsible for the lack of these perks, including the loss of this magazine, with this opening sentence...

Those who do not care about the ever-shrinking list of benefits we get as DVC Members can skip this thread.

These discount perks, and remember the magazine was never "free" to DVC members, are offered as a courtesy to DVC members, but are not controlled by DVC and can be withdrawn at anytime by the suppliers.

 

[rantnnravin]

i think, (although i'm sure someone will tell me i'm wrong) that the OP is trying to say that the perk of the magazine subscription that he signed up for was subsequently and reluctantly changed to another magazine because 2 yrs. had already been paid for.
yet, the OP received a debt collection notice for a subscription that had already been "paid" for before the changeover. so, i think OP is just dismayed by being expected to ultimately pay for what was originally a perk of DVC membership

 

[Barnum01]

The OP implies that DVC is somehow responsible for the lack of these perks, including the loss of this magazine, with this opening sentence...



These discount perks, and remember the magazine was never "free" to DVC members, are offered as a courtesy to DVC members, but are not controlled by DVC and can be withdrawn at anytime by the suppliers.

Actually Chuck, with all due respect as I take much of what you say as great advice, my opening sentence in NO WAY implies that DVC is responsible for the lack of these perks, it simply states that those who don't care about the loss of perks might find this thread frivolous, which it has become since no one except for sj, daydreamer and rantnravin actually got what I was dismayed (thanks rnr) about, that I received a collection notice for something that I never ordered, but once received as a perk of membership.

I still don't think I'm confusing receiving the magazine as a perk, though, because I remember being concerned because a subscription was included when the MKC morphed into The Disney Club. I never was credited for that membership, as I was for the DVC membership.

BTW, rantnravin, you interpreted my post 100% correctly.

Regards

 

[Chuck S]

Actually Chuck, with all due respect as I take much of what you say as great advice, my opening sentence in NO WAY implies that DVC is responsible for the lack of these perks, it simply states that those who don't care about the loss of perks might find this thread frivolous, which it has become since no one except for sj, daydreamer and rantnravin actually got what I was dismayed (thanks rnr) about, that I received a collection notice for something that I never ordered, but once received as a perk of membership.

I still don't think I'm confusing receiving the magazine as a perk, though, because I remember being concerned because a subscription was included when the MKC morphed into The Disney Club. I never was credited for that membership, as I was for the DVC membership.

BTW, rantnravin, you interpreted my post 100% correctly.

Regards

I still don't remember DVC ever receiving a free subscription, only a discounted subscription. MKC/DC did get a "free" subscription when they started charging for membership.

Either way, you should not have been turned over to collections...unless you took the DVC discounted offer and forgot to pay it...but still, turning someone over to collections for a defunct magazine seems silly.