Aeroplane Monthly- Telephone Sales Offer- Dodgy?

[tonyot]

Hello Folks,

I entered a competition in Aeroplane Monthly magazine some time ago to try and win an Airfix Typhoon kit but I received a phone call on Thursday (7.8.14) saying that they were from the magazine (it sounded like a call room!) and that they would like to offer me 5 issues for £5,...........but they would not accept Visa and required my full bank details for a direct debit to be set up! He sounded very vague and I smelled a rat so declined the offer of passing my details over,......has anybody else received similar calls/offers?

It could well be kosher but even so,....would my direct debit automatically turn into an annual subscription following the five month `saver' offer?

I`d be interested to know how many others have been contacted and I`m not over chuffed about it, especially as I thought at first that t I`d won the Tiffie,..... on my birthday too!

Cheers

Tony

[PlaStix]

Yeah - got the same call yesterday morning and it did sound like a call centre. I didn't think I'd won because I'd already emailed to ask why they hadn't printed the result in the September issue when they'd said it would be (out last week of July!) and I assumed it was someone kindly replying - but no. I've been through the magazine several times and can find no mention of it. Still not had a reply over a week on from them, which is a bit rude. It might be genuine but they seem a bit disorganised.

[stevehnz]

You did the right thing there Tony. It is a given to NEVER give out your banking details over the phone unless you're completely certain of the callers ID. If Aeroplane is doing business like this they want a boot up the jacksee. In the modern world of banking fraud etc, to use such a business practice would be completely unacceptable imho, as well as hugely unprofessional.

Steve.

[tonyot]

Thanks for your replying fellas,.......I appreciate comments!

Cheers

Tony

[viscount806x]

My own humble opinion is that Aeroplane Monthly is not the magazine which I took and loved from issue #1 right through to about 2012. I have given up on it now. Is there ever an article these days with any proper depth? I'm thinking 'Fighters of the Fifties' and 'Pilots Progress' type stuff. You can keep those " Gosh! What a nice Spitfire/Hurricane/Hunter" picture type padding. Been there, seen it too many times. Even the 'Database' series which I felt held much promise seems not to deliver on technical minutiae. But then again, I do like those extreme facts which seem not to be visited these days. After all, they are out of place on a coffee table publication I suppose.

Sorry, cynicism kicks in with age I'm afraid. I apologise if I'm a lone voice here and everyone else still loves AM. I expect the journalists there work hard and constantly look for sales where possible but it no longer floats my boat.

I do keep my back copies though, with a basic indexing but rarely find much to refer back to in the later years issues.

Nige B

[Tripehound]

They want you to set up a dd in the hope you will forget to cancel it and go on subscribing. Nothing to do with the mag's editorial team, it will be the publisher's marketing team at work.

[tonyot]

They want you to set up a dd in the hope you will forget to cancel it and go on subscribing. Nothing to do with the mag's editorial team, it will be the publisher's marketing team at work.

That is what I thought too and I said as much to the operator,.......and that was the best case scenario! Worst case was that my details had been sold on the open market and that somebody was trying to get my bank details,.....once again! Once bitten and all of that.

Cheers

Tony

[colin]

To be frank, a lot of your bank details are on cheques, I know old fashion, but they have your details, account number, sort code, name, Bank address

As tripe hound says they hope you forget to cancel after the the special offer period.

Ho and before anyone says, no I still wouldn't give my bank details out over the phone

[tonyot]

My own humble opinion is that Aeroplane Monthly is not the magazine which I took and loved from issue #1 right through to about 2012. I have given up on it now. Is there ever an article these days with any proper depth? I'm thinking 'Fighters of the Fifties' and 'Pilots Progress' type stuff. You can keep those " Gosh! What a nice Spitfire/Hurricane/Hunter" picture type padding. Been there, seen it too many times. Even the 'Database' series which I felt held much promise seems not to deliver on technical minutiae. But then again, I do like those extreme facts which seem not to be visited these days. After all, they are out of place on a coffee table publication I suppose.

Sorry, cynicism kicks in with age I'm afraid. I apologise if I'm a lone voice here and everyone else still loves AM. I expect the journalists there work hard and constantly look for sales where possible but it no longer floats my boat.

I do keep my back copies though, with a basic indexing but rarely find much to refer back to in the later years issues.

Nige B

Hiya Nige,

I know exactly what you mean mate and I`ve noticed a decline too! It is occurring throughout the magazine industry where articles have intentionally been shorted and dumbed down as readers are not supposed to have the attention span to read long articles nowadays,......which is why my combined modelling and historical articles are no longer `fashionable' and have to be cut down! Some have said that it is to cater for an American market in order to improve sales but I`m not too sure? Flypast has also been dumbed down and there are lots of bloopers re incorrect aircraft identification so I wonder whether the contributors/editors are more from a journalistic background than from an aircraft enthusiast background and that the balance has swung too far one way?

Cheers

Tony

[Paul Bradley]

I have to say that I now prefer Aeroplane to Flypast - far too many articles now about the USAF in Korea and Vietnam for which I, personally, have zero interest! I had subscribed to Flypast for 20 years, and had copies of every issue since number 1, but gave it up last year and now only subscribe to Aeroplane.

[stevehnz]

I cherry pick both from the newsagents shelves. Some months it'll be both, some neither.

Steve.

[viscount806x]

Hiya Nige,

I know exactly what you mean mate and I`ve noticed a decline too! It is occurring throughout the magazine industry where articles have intentionally been shorted and dumbed down as readers are not supposed to have the attention span to read long articles nowadays,......which is why my combined modelling and historical articles are no longer `fashionable' and have to be cut down! Some have said that it is to cater for an American market in order to improve sales but I`m not too sure? Flypast has also been dumbed down and there are lots of bloopers re incorrect aircraft identification so I wonder whether the contributors/editors are more from a journalistic background than from an aircraft enthusiast background and that the balance has swung too far one way?

Cheers

Tony

Thanks Tony, I can confirm that I have enjoyed many of your journalistic efforts over the years. Keep chipping away at the proper stuff and don't be edited to suit 'modern tastes'.

Cheers, Nige