I just caught this thread and have read it right through so for any that have lost their way let me summarise how I see it.
Bonsai Focus sends out account due/debt collection notices instead of invitations to continue the subscription.
René Rooswinkel Publisher responds to this criticism with threats of increasing the price of the magazine because it costs alot of money to send reminder notices. Yet does not concede that wording such letters differently costs nothing!
Nor does he figure that less flights gallivanting around the world as he often brags about in the editorial at the start of every magazine could considerably cut the cost to subscribers.
He also insinuates that we are a bunch of wingers.
And who is complaining then???
He writes the complaints off as a "misunderstanding of cultural compromise" Not a Eroupean thing? I wonder what culture he is compromising too that he needs to write renewals as debt collection if not Europe?
Then he states he has better things to do than to address his readers on this concern. Stating he has another issue to produce which I guess means another flight he has to catch.
I think the real reason is though that he wants to distance himself from this discussion.
Also to this we have comments from a few members that state akin to this debt collection letter they are also disappointed with the overall customer service of the publication.
As you may guess I am also one of those!
Then we have a few members that are affiliated with the magazine or friends with the publishers stating that they see no issue and have only had good dealings with them.
Then attilia seems to be in a separate class. Does not really care about anything as long as the magazine arrives but has alot to say none the less
I myself have stopped buying the magazine for exactly this reason.
I had never had a bonsai magazine subscription before but with the good reviews that Bonsai Focus got on the first edition I decided to give them a go.
I received the first magazine and although found it great, being a deciduous grower I was a little disappointed with the species covered but was looking forward to the write up on refining a hornbeam by Micheal Persiano that was advertised for the next issue.
The next issue arrived and I searched and searched for the article when I couldn't find it I read the editorial looking for an apology and information of it's absence. Nothing there so again searching the magazine thinking it must be in their. But it Wasn't.
This article was the deciding factor for me subscribing to the magazine so I corresponded with the publisher who responded they never gave it any thought to mention, explain or apologise for the missing article It will be in a future edition which could be next year. I thought this was fairly strange as it was advertised as a main feature of the magazine.
I always figure the best way to get service out of a company is to hit them where it hurts which is in their hip pocket so considering that I decided to subscribe wanting to read about hornbeams Imanaged to talk them into sending me a back issue that did have an article about hornbeams in it.
Then I ordered The best of Bonsai in Europe Vol. 6. This was the most I had ever spent on a book but had heard great things of how the book was a collector's item for years to come. The book arrived and I was very disappointed to find under the plastic cover the box of the book was quite scuffed and damaged as well as teh cover of the book. This was obviosly done before mailing as the plastic covering the book was not damaged. Then when I opened the book I found the pages had a horizontal crease mark in the first half of the book. Obviously the pages had been creased before the hard cover had gone on because it was impossible to crease the pages like this once the cover was on.
I contacted the publication about this and was told to email in some pictures which I did. I received no reply so after some time I sent another email. They asked to see the pictures again so I resent them again I got no response. I contacted them again and they started to tell me that I needed to pay for the return of the book to get a replacement. I noted that on their site they had a return policy that they paid. They stated it was outside the allotted time and sighted my order date. I made note that I had contacted them as soon as the book arrived but the book had turned up months late as they had had publisher issues.
I received a bunch of replies that made little sense and in this regard I found them rude. So I contacted them by phone I was addressed with total contempt and disregard. I could not believe the lack of concern they showed for a disgruntled customer.
I had no choice but to give up so I am left with the most expensive book I ever bought being a damaged book.
I had taken note of Bonsai Focus' split with Stone Lantern around this time and the message that René Rooswinkel Publisher had put on his site noting this. I found the undertone of finger pointing at Stone Lantern in this note as the reason for the split quite humorous and thought if your dealings with me are anything to go by I doubt they are they issue. I wonderd if this attitude would keep them going.
I also noted that with all the hype about Bonsai focus embracing the Internet age with videos and pictures on their website as extentions of the magazinesoon disappeared just like the hornbeam article with no explanation to it's readers.
As I said I have since not renewed my subscription afte4r the second year but just had a quick look on the website. Their may be a few new pictures that I had not seen before but I would not know when they are from as there is no description or date with them. It also seems to be at the expense of all previous pictures.
The last new video is still from the first issue this year when they stopped updating with every issue as they promised.
It seems to me the publishers have little regard to serving the subscribers but do enjoy gallivanting around the world taking pictures of trees and furthering their own purposes.
As to René Rooswinkel Publisher comment.
Look at it from another perspective and realize that you receive 6 times 100 pages - that is 600 pages total - of high quality information on bonsai each year for only $ 59.95 including shipping costs.
What BOOK can compete with that???????????
I have looked at it from that perspective and I decided that there are a number of great quality books out there that I would rather have than a one year subscription to a magazine that cares less about it's readers.
When I do decide to subscribe to a magazine again it won't be with him. America and Japan is not the only countries that appreciate good relations with the business's they deal with.
