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SAMI/MAM/ and SMMi update on missing issues and future publication dates.


WarthogMKL

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Enquired about June Issues on 28th May and received the following reply the same day -

 

Hi Kevin,

 

Thank you for your email.

 

The June issues will be available to order over the weekend and dispatched from Wednesday next week.

 

Best regards

 

Mark

 

 

As yet (3 June) no sign on the website or in W H Smith or the other newsagent in the locality.

 

 

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15 hours ago, KLN said:

Enquired about June Issues on 28th May and received the following reply the same day -

 

Hi Kevin,

 

Thank you for your email.

 

The June issues will be available to order over the weekend and dispatched from Wednesday next week.

 

Best regards

 

Mark

 

 

As yet (3 June) no sign on the website or in W H Smith or the other newsagent in the locality.

 

 

OK i was wrong last night I said we had them in stock, . I went to go to start packing June magazine orders  this morning but the boxes delivered to me yesterday were a restock not June issues . Apparently June delayed till Monday/Tuesday due to quality issue with printing. I apologise I did not look after my shift last night just saw I had ten boxes in garage when I put my bike away. Went down this morning to start packing and turns out were F-15 books and a box of May issues. That will mean IN WHS/Menzie end of next week., Sorry my bad but I was very tired after 12 hour shift.

Edited by WarthogMKL
Wrong information
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A quick update something wrong at printers delivery of June issues all 3 titles delayed, not sure what why and when. Will update as soon as I find out anything.

Edited by WarthogMKL
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12 hours ago, KLN said:

Any update?
 

Relieved I didn’t take out a subscription to MA & SAMi at the beginning of the year.

 

I know why now and has  nothing to do with us as I have been told the printers have a  difficulty.  I still do not know when, though the latest was a hope that it  is this week. But not sure where it is going to be printed. This issue is effecting shop and subscription sales.

As soon as a date is 100% the latest issue will move to June on the web site. Ironically as we have all through the editors are on deadline and have just had the July issue signed off and are now working on August issues.

And to clarify everyone who took out a subscription has had their copies all but late and we are now getting only 1 enquiry a week about back issue losses. As far as I am aware only two May copies have not been delivered and were replaced in the UK which is slightly better than our normal loss rate of five issues per thousand units.

D

Edited by WarthogMKL
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1 hour ago, WarthogMKL said:

I know why now and has  nothing to do with us as I have been told the printers have a  difficulty.

 

 

I had asked my newsagent at the end of last week if he had received any notification about the latest issues and he told me that since the week of the last bank holiday quite a few publications dealing with a variety of subjects from different companies were running late because of unspecified 'printing issues'.      Long established practice seems to be that if anything publications arrive early over bank holiday weekends so he surmised that with the extent of the problem and the length of time taking for normal service to resume that it might be an issue with the availability of raw materials.

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I don't think " unspecified printing issues" is a viable excuse. How come I got this months "Aeroplane" magazine  by Key Publishing a week earlier than the release date in Tesco ? No issues with their printing material ?

Edited by T-21
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6 hours ago, T-21 said:

I don't think " unspecified printing issues" is a viable excuse. How come I got this months "Aeroplane" magazine  by Key Publishing a week earlier than the release date in Tesco ??  Me thinks this more likely have accounts to the printers been paid ?

 

The release date for the July issue of Aeroplane as advertised on the final page of the previous issue was the 10th. June which was when it appeared in my local newsagent so one can only suggest that your proximity to Key Publishing in Lincolnshire explains why yours was available a week earlier which I presume would have been around the 3rd June. 

 

I was not attempting to offer a 'viable excuse' merely repeating the explanation offered by my newsagent as provided to him by his distributor as to why a number of periodicals from a number of publishers presumably using a number of different printers located in different parts of the country had been delayed.     Definitely not intended to encourage your conclusion and personally I would always rather spend my spare pennies on sweeties and toys rather than risk being drawn into a legal case.

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20 hours ago, Des said:

 

 

I had asked my newsagent at the end of last week if he had received any notification about the latest issues and he told me that since the week of the last bank holiday quite a few publications dealing with a variety of subjects from different companies were running late because of unspecified 'printing issues'.      Long established practice seems to be that if anything publications arrive early over bank holiday weekends so he surmised that with the extent of the problem and the length of time taking for normal service to resume that it might be an issue with the availability of raw materials.

Des I think he was aiming at me not you. And the libellous claim has now been removed by the author.

 

Trying to compare a large player like Key to a company that is at the end of the day in a very niche market and and a lot and I do mean a lot smaller is pointless . (To give you an idea just one of Keys large portfolio of titles has a worlwide market equal to all three of our titles combined.)

Larger customers with print runs of tens of thousands of copies will always get priority in both material and print time slots when both are short. 

 

 

 

 

Edited by WarthogMKL
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Hi Warthog,

 

Sorry, but I have had too many excuses from MA Publications in the last eight month's to warrant some understandable reasoning.

 

Come on MA publications, get it sorted now!

 

It seems it takes a regular monthly email to complain about my non-delivery to MA, to get my issue delivered.

 

Poor delivery service, and poor customer service throughout the last eight month's , and no improvement seen. Will I be subscribing again..... what do you think?

 

Samuraiwarrior 

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On 6/19/2021 at 8:59 PM, Samuraiwarrior said:

Hi Warthog,

 

Sorry, but I have had too many excuses from MA Publications in the last eight month's to warrant some understandable reasoning.

 

Come on MA publications, get it sorted now!

 

It seems it takes a regular monthly email to complain about my non-delivery to MA, to get my issue delivered.

 

Poor delivery service, and poor customer service throughout the last eight month's , and no improvement seen. Will I be subscribing again..... what do you think?

 

Samuraiwarrior 

I do not give excuses just explanations, do not want them do not read thread and thank you for your custom

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Hi WarthogMKL,

 

Thankyou for your response.

 

I appreciate you can only give the facts as you have/see them. The reality is that there have been many problems that have not been redressed, some incorrect or changed information from MA Publications over the last months, as to when subscribers will get their issues, in relation to retail sales. 

I note your comments, sums it up nicely.

Thankyou.

 

Samuraiwarrior

Edited by Samuraiwarrior
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That is a side effect of giving information and one of the reasons it is like getting blood out of a stone. The publisher do not want to give out dates until they were 95% sure they are correct but then as I argue it is better to get information out and change it if something happens damned if you do damned if you do not.

 

They thought after May that were were back on course as we were only two weeks behind original pre covid publications. But the issue at printers pushed us back again with no firm commitment until  yesterday as to when it would go to print. For all the editorial and art studios team who have been hitting our production deadlines month after month without fail it is equally frustrating.

 

 

Edited by WarthogMKL
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WarthogMKL, ok, we get it, the editorial staff have played their part and are not to blame.  But to us punters, you, the one that has made an effort to keep us informed, represent the whole magazine production and distribution process.  Please forgive us if we take pot shots at the (only) one that sticks his head above the parapet.

 

I believe that subscribers have not had a problem-free edition since.... September last year?  And so far, I don't think that we've yet received an apology for the sub-standard service or been told EXACTLY what the problems are or have been.

 

Can you, or someone from MA, please explain:

What is the route cause of the problem(s)?

What is being done to repair the damage?

What assurances have been put in place to prevent it happening again?

When are we getting our June copies? 

What confidence level have you in that?

And, where are the formal apologies from management? 

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9 minutes ago, stephsf said:

WarthogMKL, ok, we get it, the editorial staff have played their part and are not to blame.  But to us punters, you, the one that has made an effort to keep us informed, represent the whole magazine production and distribution process.  Please forgive us if we take pot shots at the (only) one that sticks his head above the parapet.

 

I believe that subscribers have not had a problem-free edition since.... September last year?  And so far, I don't think that we've yet received an apology for the sub-standard service or been told EXACTLY what the problems are or have been.

 

Can you, or someone from MA, please explain:

What is the route cause of the problem(s)?

What is being done to repair the damage?

What assurances have been put in place to prevent it happening again?

When are we getting our June copies? 

What confidence level have you in that?

And, where are the formal apologies from management? 

If you have not done so already, read this thread.

And give the guy a little respect, yes as far as you are concerned he may represent the magazine, but he is not the magazine, he is one of the editors, he is NOT responsible for getting the magazine to the printers, getting it printed, getting it distributed, etc. He has done what he has on this forum whilst also carrying out his other job as a paramedic with the ambulance service and also whilst recovering from the effects of having Covid-19 himself! He did not have to provide any of the information that he has done. It's a double edged sword, on the one hand provide information to keep customers/subscribers aware of the situation, but on the other he has popped up over the trench into the firing line. Problems happen in all industries/businesses that have knock on effects. The linked thread does actually explain some of what you have asked, other aspects are out of their control and are dependant on third parties (eg delivery services). Other aspects may be in the pipeline.

Edited by treker_ed
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treker_ed, thank you for bringing that post to my attention; I had not seen it in the forum nor as an email in my inbox.

 

I have the utmost respect for Warthog.  As I said, he is (or was until that post was issued) the only one that I saw that tried to keep us informed.  But by doing so, he puts himself in the firing line.  In the absence of another target, he is going to draw fire.

 

Whilst that post puts us in the picture regarding the June and July issues, it is still far from an apology for the months of frustration suffered.  I KNOW IT IS NOT THE EDITORIAL STAFF TO BLAME, but how is it that the printers/distributors/Royal Mail et al can continue to have problems month after month?  It can't be simply put down to COVID as I'm guessing you, or people you know, subscribe to other magazines - have they all been suffering too?  I get 5 different magazines a month, 2 with a smaller circulation than SAMI, yet SAMI is the only one that has suffered.

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