View Camera Magazine - are unfulfilled subscriptions and diabolical customer service the norm?

Keith,

A lot more laymen than perhaps you would like to believe are fairly well-versed in "composition, light and shadow relationships" - especially in this forum. And though not "artists" as you are, they have earned the right to "grumble with authority". "The gist" of your post above appears to be that people ought to defend all art (even works they haven't seen) since if they disagree with or "not like" something, they belong to some sort of ignorant class of art consumer who, in your words, "view art through the amber walls of their own colon." Perhaps a little displaced anger, Keith?

My experience has been pretty good. The few times i had a problem, I called and it was resolved pretty quickly.

Hi there

 

I had a sub for which I received only 2 issues, even tho I was promised more when I phoned.

 

I am now in China on an ExPat assignemnt and would like to know the name and contact info of the Chinese distributor. Any Help?

 

Thanks

Bohdan, looking at art for so long now has taught me that things are often not as they

seem. This is one good example. I believe that art is not holy and I believe that art should

certainly not be defended at all costs. I'm about to drop my subscription to Artforum after

many years because I've had enough of the pretense. Artworld is a petty place for egos

who worship adoration and status and now they're even trying to ease into pedaphilia as

the new means to shock the viewer. So I'm gone. No more for me. Just letting you know

this so you can get a feel for how little I care about defending art for art's sake. Having

said that, my point still rings true - we should not shun art without first understanding it.

On another note, it sounds like you have previous experience with "displaced anger." Of

all the infinite possibilities for my response, your mind chose the one most familiar.

I was out of line, however, in assuming that someone did not understand recent art well

enough to grumble about it. That was a dumb assumption for me to make. My deepest,

sincerest apologies. I am guilty of my own accusations!

 

Let's get back to discussing that which helps us take better pictures ...

Mr. Simmons' quick response to these issues on this forum prompted me to purchase a 2 year subscription and Technique II book. I look forward to my 1st issue, I assume it will be Jan 2008.

If you subscribe by 12 noon Tuesday the 6th New Mexico time your sub will start with the Nov/Dec 07 issue.

 

www.viewcamera.com for paypal

 

800-894-8439 within the us 505-899-8054 from outside the US plus the US country code

 

thanks

 

steve simmons

I think its unfair to attack a publication based on chosen content, especially when its something like LF photography, very niche oriented. I commend Steve for attempting to bring in some "new blood" by showing more "off the wall" or "edgy" stuff, like the solarized images (which by the way were NOT my cup of tea either). I don`t know what VCM`s customer service is like, but I think if someone has an issue with it, that's one thing - but throwing your views on the subjective qualitites (such as relevance of content) in with CS related issues is not fair and down right silly and probably does noting but impede the solution to the original problem. Its akin to replying to a "My Ford Breaks Too Much" with a post that says "I hate them too, my granny got ran over by a Ford"...

If you read my subsequent post, you'll note that I do like the magazine and will continue to buy it despite not liking the solarized pictures. There's nothing wrong with "edgy" pictures and I do respect the difficult balancing act required to make monthly content selections. Perhaps I was merely trying to stimulate some discourse on what constitutes art and not assassinate the magazine? It definitely doesn't deserve that. IMHO it's far more petty to harp on the odd "typographical error" or inconsistent international mail service (an altogether different problem which the magazine has no control over whatsoever). Examine the thread. There are countless examples of this at the beginning.

I have read the other comments and my experience has been the same. I have gone to my local Barnes and Noble, and there is the magazine that I did not receive in the mail. They have told me in a nasty tone that the magazines are dropped off to the post office and that mailings are on October 1 for the Sept/Oct issue and none have been received as of Oct 30. I give up. This is for 2008! I wish I had read this thread before buying.

All you have to do is call us at 505-899-8054 m-f 7-3 MST, or e-mail

 

amiles@viewcamera.com

 

to get your problems taken care of. No one would have ever said the Sept/Oct issue was mailed Oct 1st. This is

simply untrue.It was mailed in early Sept.

 

 

If you are a subscriber and have a problem just contact us as suggested above and we will take care of it

immediately. We get e-mails all the time complimenting our customer service.

 

steve simmons

www.viewcamera.com

<p>It is 2010 and I had an experience with View Camera as well for which I believe they still owe me an apologize.<br /> I renewed through PayPal in May 2009 for another two years, but I did not receive a single issue. I kept emailing them with the scanned PDF and email records of the payment, and finally they responded and sent me back issues of 2010 this April. I then emailed them to say I do not want gap in my collection and I want back issues I missed in 2009. Several times and no answer. Finally I called and the gentleman was kind of rude and arrogant. He insisted there was no mistake, and never want to say sorry to me. I told him I understand that it is difficult enough today to be a paper magazine publisher, but the ignored PayPal 2-year subscription is your mistake and I am entitled to correct. He got irritated and was saying when they found the "problem" they immediately restarted my subscription for two years. Then I pointed out magazines are differ issue by issue, it is not the same thing that I paid for a book and they can send me a year later for the very same thing. Finally he agreed to send me the back issues they have in hand as some issued are totally out of stock, which surprised me. He mentioned for the other back issues he has only three in hands, so he is reluctant to give one copy to me. But Hey it is your mistake not mine, and I as a collector am entitled to get what you missed, correct?<br /> Steve would you help me to at least to get me an apologize from your stuff? Thank you very much.<br /> Leping<br /> www.lepingzha.com<br>

leping@att.net</p>

<p>Mr. Zha called yesterday and I spoke to him. I then looked up his subscription record while we were on the phone. Yes, we apparently missed his Spring 2009 subscription. However, we spoke to Mr. Zha in April of 2010, apologized for the problem, and sent him the missing 2010 issues. We then gave him a subscription for the rest of 2010 and all of 2011. This is the two years he paid for. Mr. Zha accepted this arrangement and has been getting his magazines. As for the 2009 issues he claims to have missed I explained that I think we have three of them and will send these three to him. The may be one or two from 2009 that we are out of. We are not holding anything back from Mr. Zha. Again, I apologized to him for the oversight on our part. We will send what we have of the missing 2009 issues to him at our earliest convenience. At the end of the conversation yesterday Mr. Zha thanked me for my help and seemed pleased at our efforts.</p>

<p>steve simmons</p>

<p>Hi Steve,<br>

<br /> I had no idea I was speaking to you yesterday, and thanks for replying.<br>

<br /> I did hung up the phone with you with a very bitter feeling in my mouth, even I tried to brighten up the mode at the end of the conversation by praising your publication, after I realized it was impossible to get an apologize from the place.<br>

<br /> 1. I have your only email reply to me in April, in which there was no apologize. I called in to start the complain in February, but was asked for evidence which I later managed to find in my old email box. I did not "accept" the arrangement in my returning emails, which you never replied. My basic point was, magazines are different from each other issue to issue unlike other merchandise, and if I paid for 2009 issues I should get 2009 issues, if possible, to keep my collection complete, after my forced and very painful relocation.<br>

<br /> 2. I have been trying to be nice and patient on this matter. I said in my email we are all large format photographers and we all have patience, so take your time to sort out the problems. But, I did request the missing 2009 issues in my email in April 2010, and by stating so never really "accepted" the arrangement.<br>

<br /> 3. If you were any bit close to apologizing over our maybe 10 minutes conversation over the phone yesterday, I would be more than satisfied. It is all psychological. I spent time trying to explain to you I do not want to take advantages in any bonus issues or favors, but just what I ordered, since I could feel you were trying to say you arranged to give me more issues than I deserve. However, even I repeatedly tried to rise the logic that it was your (or PayPal's) mistake, so I should be entitled what exactly I paid for (2009 - 2010 issues not 2010-2011), I was never offered an apology of any kind, and was told "there was no mistake" (that sentence was apparently addressed to the delay of the Paul Caponigro issue but the wording did not help loosen my bitterness).<br>

<br /> I have said many many times to my friends especially those in China, that western large format / landscape photographers are the best kind of people on Earth. All my mentors, David Muench, Charlie Cramer, Charles P Farmer, Richard Garrod, George DeWolfe, and Richard Lohmann, to mention but just a few, are all the ultimately nice, kind, helpful, considerate, and inspirational human beings. Thus, every time I try to communicate to some one in professional photography circle, my expectations are indeed much higher than, say, calling a bank or airline's customer service, and as the consequence, much easier to feel hurt by anything unexpected.<br>

<br /> I was quite a bit under the weather yesterday, and when I was on the phone my speaking and even my English was not my best. Steve I am sorry to you publicly if anything I mentioned caused misunderstandings or any feeling on your side that was not entirely positive. But, I still feel I deserve an apology, if it has not been previously given.<br>

<br /> Thank you with my best regards for your time on this small matter, and keep the publication great.<br>

<br /> Yours very truly,<br>

<br /> Leping</p><div></div>

<p>Yes, these people at View Camera magazine are really awful!<br>

I have been in correspondence with them now for three month trying to get my FIRST issue! Amazing. They made me feel like it was my fault for some reason for not getting my magazines!<br>

They took my money and then don't deliver anything. I was surprised to see the negative opinions on this forum as I thought I was the only one suffering. How can they remain in business like this?<br>

I've tried calling them and there's never any answer. I thought they were out of business. They refuse to send me my magazines and they refuse to refund my $48 Canadian subscription. What a bunch of dead beats.<br>

I hate to talk like that because the large-format photography world is a small community, but these people are incredible :-(<br>

PayPal won't refund my payment so what can I do?<br>

Richard</p>

<p>Yes, I wrote the above in anger, and frustration. And yes, I should never have subscribed!</p>

<p>Mr. Austin</p>

<p>Lets clarify a few things.</p>

<p>You have not been in correspondence with us about this matter for 3 months. Your order came in Oct 25th, 2010. Your issue was mailed with all of the rest of the subscribers, in Canada, in the US and elsewhere, on Oct 28th, 2010. Your order actually came in after the deadline for the issue in questions but we re-submitted the mailing list to the printing company anyway so you would be included.</p>

<p>When you first complained we asked you to wait because surface mail to Canada can take 3-4 weeks. We know this because we have people in Canada tracking this for us. That pits you to late November, less than a month ago.</p>

<p>I asked you to talk to your Postal system and file a report. Did you? If so I have never seen a copy of the complaint or report.</p>

<p>We have corresponded with you to confirm your address.</p>

<p>We have not issued a refund because you have never asked for one.</p>

<p>We have no phone messages from you and do not have your number to call you.</p>

<p>We have received literally hundreds of orders for the Paul Caponigro Monograh issue. These orders have come in via Paypal. the phone, and mail. We have sent out most of them and have another group going out tomorrow (Tuesday Dec 21, 2010). We have returned many, many phone calls from people who have left us messages which you have not done.</p>

<p>Here are your choices<br>

contact our office and tell us if you want a refund or for us to mail you another copy. Our phone is 505-899-8054. If we are busy and can not take your call leave a message and we will call you back.<br>

If we do not hear from you by noon Mtn time on Wednesday the 22nd of December 2010 I will issue a refund via Paypal.</p>

<p>steve simmons<br>

publisher<br>

view camera magazine<br>

www.viewcamera.com</p><div></div>

<p>Steve,<br>

I admit I wrote my rant in frustration, as indicated in my follow-up to my own posting!<br>

And you're right, it's only been about 2 months, not 3 months since my subscription; it just seemed like ages :-)<br>

I did speak with my postal system but didn't follow-up requesting a formal report. I guess that's the process to do in a case like this. And no, I hate to leave voice mail, preferring to write emails as that seems to offer the opportunity to leave more details.<br>

Having said that, I believe good customer support would be to simply send me another copy of the missing issue. That's what I kept asking for. Why do I have to go through all this investigative work to get an issue? Isn't good "customer service" to take the customer at his word and do what's needed to be done?<br>

In any case, I suspect there are mailing issues to Canada (perhaps with the printer) and I think it might be best if I simply purchased copies, if I'm interested, on the newstand in the future as no doubt I will continue to have problems. I'll take the refund.<br>

Thanks,<br>

Richard</p>

 

<p>Mr. Austin</p>

<p>Each time you sent an e-mail we have corresponded with you trying to resolve the problem. The reason I asked you to check and file the report is because if there is a problem your postal service should be made aware of it. Simply sending more copies without trying to take some preventive action would be silly, and frustrating for both of us.<br>

It is standard in the magazine industry to start a new subscription with the next issue. This has always been View Camera's policy and practice. You should not have expected anything from us until late November which is only 3 weeks ago. Since that time we have corresponded with you to confirm your address and to ask you to file the report which you apparently did not do. To go on a public forum and rant about us not sending your copy, exaggerate the time involved, etc., etc. is way out of line with the offense you think we committed. To get this angry and nasty over simply not receiving one copy of a magazine while we are still trying to resolve the problem is way out of proportion to the event itself.</p>

<p>As you requested, I have gonei into our Paypal account and issues you a complete refund. Paypal does take a small fee from the refund to do this. If you are angey about this fee that Paypal takes out please contact Paypal and not View Camera magazine.</p>

<p>respectfully<br>

steve simmons<br>

view camera magazine</p>

<p>i used to have a subscription to vc magazine.<br />it was a good read and the images were nice. <br />when my subscription lapsed <br />i decided not to renew ...<br />because of the way the publisher acted online and in other situations. <br /><br /> i decided i did not want to fund/condone that sort of thing.<br>

YMMV</p>

<p>View Camera has been the victim of a number of trolls over the years. These are people who lurk the forums and whenever they can they come in and make the same post over and over again. Mr/Ms J Nanian is one of these who seem to follow view camera around so they can, anonymously, take cheap shots from miles away.</p>

<p>View Camera has been in publication since 1988, we have published 134 consecutive issues and we have shown the work of hundreds of well known and not so well known large format photographers. We have also published hundreds of equipment reviews and how-to articles. Many of these older articles are available to our subscribers in a special Subscriber's Section of the web site (www.viewcamera.com. We pick up new subscribers every day and have many subscribers from our first issue.</p>

<p>The internet is generally a good thing but it is also prone to hyperbole and over the top drama and trauma. The postal service fails to deliver an issue and suddenly View Camera is diabolical. Hardly. We get comments every day about the good quality and timeliness of our customer service. When there is a problem we work hard to get the subscriber their issue and resolve whatever happened to make sure they get the next one as well.</p>

<p>If you are interested in large format photography take a look.</p>

<p>Happy Holidays</p>

<p>streve simmons<br>

publisher www.viewcamera.com</p>

 

<p>i don't follow you around the internet, and i for several subscription cycles received your<br />magazine, and enjoyed it. after the large format forum migrated to photo.net years ago, i<br />registered here, and read thread after thread where you and others fought + bickered. it<br />didn't seem that the publisher of a magazine should be acting that way. it bothered me <br />enough to not renew my subscription. it wouldn't be hard for anyone to read your thread<br />history here or other photography related forums or google " foto3 " to see for themselves. </p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Richard said:<br>

<br /> "Yes, these people at View Camera magazine are really awful!<br />I have been in correspondence with them now for three month trying to get my FIRST issue! Amazing. They made me feel like it was my fault for some reason for not getting my magazines!<br />They took my money and then don't deliver anything. I was surprised to see the negative opinions on this forum as I thought I was the only one suffering. How can they remain in business like this?<br />I've tried calling them and there's never any answer. I thought they were out of business. They refuse to send me my magazines and they refuse to refund my $48 Canadian subscription. What a bunch of dead beats."<br></blockquote>

<br /> Echoes my experience to a tee. Mr. Simmons is so much more conciliatory in this public forum. Wish I'd tried here first.<br>

<br /> Jon Archibald<br />Indian River, Ontario</p>

<p>Mr. Archibald does not even know what issues he has and has not received. He demanded that we send the July/August 2010 issue and then admitted he had it all along. He has repeatedly said he would no longer harass us with e-mails and then sent more incoherant and contradictory e-mails to us. He has accused us of not sending him his magazine and then admitted he received the Jan/Feb 2011 issue.There has been no way to resolve this matter in a reasonable manner with a man who does not know what he has and has not received and behaves as he has done.<br />We have a very good customer service record as many statements here attest. We routinely get e-emails thanking us for our quick service, our timely service, for being so polite and attentive, etc. But, we can't work with people who behave as Mr. Archibald has.</p>

<p>steve simmons<br />publisher<br /><a href="http://www.viewcamera.com">www.viewcamera.com</a></p>