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

If you, like me, enjoy large format photography, subscribing to View Camera

Magazine might seem like a no-brainer. I bought mine last December and after a

couple of weeks, received the January/Febuary 2007 edition. Little did I know

they were merely lulling me into a false sense of security.

 

 

Nine months, and five missing copies later I am NOT a happy camper.

 

Not one of my emails asking what happened to my subscription has ever been

answered and the few times I have actually managed to speak to an actual person

on the telephone, they seemed to go out of their way to be rude and unhelpful.

And STILL not send me the outstanding magazines! What on earth is going on at

VCM?

 

Has anyone else encountered similar problems with this particular publication,

or is it just me?

You are not alone! I experienced much of the same for the first year. Rudeness, when finally making contact, was the final nail in the coffin. From my point of view such behavior, in itself, over-shadows late and missing copies. When my subscription ends, so will my patronage. Sad and disappointing isn't it!

 

Harold

I believe the man who publishes the magazine is a regular on APUG - you may want to voice your grievances there, as well.

I have unfortunately experienced the same issues -- which is a real shame since it is (apart from occasional bad proof-reading) a truely great magazine.

I have been a subscriber for 10 years at least. The printer screwed up pages once and one or two times it got lost in the mail. The printer screw up was replaced automatically and the lost copies were replaced without charge.

 

I have renewed by phone, fax, and on line and never a problem.

 

Try a phone call and talk to a person. E mail is too easily ignored.

For this new subscriber, only one customer service experience, and it was a good one. They

(Andrea Miles, assistant to the publisher) returned my email promptly and was courteous -

resolved my issue.

I've been a subscriber for the last four years. The only issues I've had have been with subscription renewels. When I called them, they were always helpful and the problems were solved. They've always been courteous, never rude, no drama. BTW, I enjoy the magazine. I've even emailed Steve Simmons about a question on a lens once. He promptly replied with a helpful answer.

I have been a subscriber for at least 10 years. Recently I moved and did not receive an issue. I called Andrea and she immediately mailed me two issues (current and missed issue) and made sure of the address change. I have never had a problem with VCM that was not solved immediately and politely. I would call them instead of e-mail.

I apologize for any problems people are or have had. To straighten things out call us at 800-894-8439 m-f 7-4 mountain time.

 

steve simmons

Calling on the phone is usually the most efficient way to get your problem resolved. I'm sure Andrea will be happy to help you out. I've met her in person at the last few View Camera large format conferences. She's quite friendly and always willing and eager to help.

 

If you do send email, make sure you get their email address correct. If you send it to largeformat@aol.com, which seems logical, they won't get it. Their correct email address is: largformat@aol.com (not the absent "e").

 

Kerry

I live in Australia. Four years ago I took out a two year subscription to View Camera. The

postage rate was expensive, as they said it would be sent first class.

Not one issue ever arrived, and that was after waiting several months after each publishing

date. I had to email every time and ask for the issue. Most of my emails were ignored, and

I can assure you all my emails where very polite in just asking "where is my issue". When

they did reply, they were downright rude.

 

So much for the first class postage service they

made me pay. They never apologised once.

They now distribute View Camera through a local distributer in Australia. I now get in

regularly and on time. I don't know why I still buy it after their rudeness, but somehow I

quite like the magazine. However I am slightly disapointed in the layout, the proof reading,

and many articles are light on detail.I cannot believe they are still behaving in exactly the

same way after all these years. They do not deserve patronage, but they still get mine, but

only just.

Oversaes mail is a problem. We tried several solutions. Findig a distributor in Australia has been the best one and it now works very well. We also have a distributor in the UK and in Europe as well as China.

 

We work on our customer service everyday.

 

steve simmons

Who is the partner in EU?

 

Armin

Mike Walker

 

mike@walkercameras.com

 

for the UK and Taos Photographic in France

 

taos@wanadoo.fr

 

for Europe

 

 

thanks

 

steve

TAOS has given examplary service and very quick delivery - if you can manage to read the French home page and notification letters.

I cancelled many years ago. Magazines either are not delivered, lost in transit, damaged, or stolen before getting to my house. I had enough. I now buy at chapters, and I can decide if I like it or not. After 25 years of buying magazines you get the feeling that the same stuff is written over and over and over. If there is something in it I can learn, I buy it, if it is the same old thing....it goes back on the rack for beginners to appreciate. I now rarely buy any magazine, I got tons to throw out. Also what they charge for some magazines is a joke. I get more value, far more topics discussed, and better info from a quality hardcover book for $70 or more. This looks far nicer in a bookshelf, consumes less space, and it is easier to find information you need later on. Magazines are great for starting camp fires when fishing.

Van Camper's comments are content related and different from the OP issues.

 

I understand VCs (Van Camper's, not View Camera) comments, but this is an issue faced by all periodicals and the famed Lenswork is no better in this respect IMO. I'm tired of brown pictures with the same tonality. In this respect, "View Camera" beats "Lenswork". Not to say that "lenswork" isn't as good or better WRT art, but the tone and contrast seem all the same to me.

 

Being "fresh" every month or two isn't easy and I'll give "View Camera" a wide berth in that respect.

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

Steve, View Camera is a good magazine, but it is easier to buy it rather then have it undelivered, damaged by rain, or paying for issues of no interest to me. Problem solved. If they can't deliver, quit, buy at the store the mthly issues and brand of magazines you want, not what they want to give you. There are too many magazines, not practical to buy them all, yet they all once in a while have something interesting. I would rather hand pick the few I want.

"Being "fresh" every month or two isn't easy and I'll give "View Camera" a wide berth in that respect."

Yeah, okay. I'll do the same. But did anyone out there hate the 4 endless pages of burnt "solar streak" photos, a couple of issues ago, as much us I did. Jeez. I'll take "brown pictures with the same tonality" over that pretentiousness any day of the week. Anyone out there care to defend that nonsense as "art" ?

Bohdan,

 

Steve may not define it as art, I may not define it as art, you may nit define it as art and

yet there are those that do. When we go three issues in a row with nothing except

portfolios of more or less traditional images then folks who want to see the edgy fringe

images screech. Of course, when something like the images you refer to are published,

others shriek. Publishing a magazine is a balancing act. BTW, you'd be surprised at what

the art community considers art when they are talking about photography. I know I am

every month when I read magazines such as "Art in America."

OK,, my turn to nitpick. How can 4 pages be endless, the magazine has 72 pages!!!!!

 

steve simmons

I guess at some point you just give up but my experience with VCM has always been good. It

is hard to imagine they are not concerned when a customer experiences poor service. I have

to believe if you called and talked to someone there you would get a straight up answer. It's a

fine magazine and a valuable resource for the large format community. Hope you can work

your problems out.

Hey. For the record: I like your magazine and buy it whenever I can. I just didn't care for those photos. It's all relative anyways - what constitutes "art". I know someone out there was blown away by the solar streaks. The comment I made about those photos was not to insult the magazine as a whole - no doubt it is very hard to select items to publish and it must be a fine balancing act. By the way, thanks for going back to the basics recently and running the article on how to focus a view camera. As a relatively new large format photographer, I found that article very informative and useful. Please don't hesitate to publish similar articles in the future as it's entirely possible that many of your readers fit my profile and aren't necessarily veteran large format shooters. The digital revolution has driven the cost of equipment down so much that a number of us are now able to afford to play with bigger cameras. And we like it!

On "what constitutes art": No one is going to like hearing this bit of truth, but good art, as

opposed to lousy art, is the result of EXTENSIVE education in the formal elements of art,

the nuts and bolts and joists and beams and foundation. It is not much different from

building an enormous bridge or a highrise tower. You want an engineer who understands

all things structural. Art SHOULD be no different. If you find yourself saying "all I know is

what I like," then we don't want you building our bridge or highrise. Good art - even if

none of it is recognizable at first, like a pure abstract - will cleverly and successfully

achieve the difficult-to-achieve command of all the formal elements of art, which is

impossible (consistently, that is) without an intense and extensive education of what that

means. A Pollock, for example (if a knowledgeable person looks closer) nails, and I mean

nails, the the various light levels one would see in nature at a given time of day - much

like the zone system. The rules of composition are expedited flawlessly. Know the rules

of composition and you become a Pollock fan. The fact that the resulting picture is not

recognizable - and makes laymen grumble - actually incites intellectual cuiosity for the

art-educated. And intellectual curiosity is at the core of entertainment for an art-

educated mind. Good art, even though it at first seems "weird" or "ridiculous", is made by

an engineer, so to speak, and cannot be ridiculed without making the ridiculer reveal his/

her ignorance.

 

I did not see the solar streaks, but I did want to comment on the gist of the responses to

it. I certainly don't advocate that we all become intensely art-educated. I only advocate

that we do not grumble with authority until we FULLY understand composition, light and

shadow relationships, and color science at the very least. The "all I know is what I like"

approach comes from those who view art through the amber walls of their own colon.

As a longtime subscriber to VC I have followed this thread (and others like it) and must say

that I think Steve and his staff are doing a fine job. No, the editing isn't like The New

Yorker but I can forgive them the typos, etc. because, with every issue, I get exposed to

what is going on currently in the world of large format photography. There have been

times when I saw a portfolio that I didn't like but, at the very least, the work made me

rethink what I consider to be art or photography or simply trash. BUT AT LEAST IT MADE

ME THINK! And perhaps it gave me an idea that I could pursue in my own work. View

cameras (the actual cameras, not the magazine) are possibly the most anachronistic way to

take a photograph here at the beginning of the digital millenium. And yet View Camera

Magazine shows us, on a regular basis, that photographers are using view cameras in

many different and interesting ways.

 

On a personal note I had a problem with getting my issues right after Katrina. I called

Andrea at the VC office and she rerouted my issues to my brother's business until our mail

service got back up and running on a consistent basis. She was most kind and expressed

her sympathy for what we were going through in New Orleans. I will never forget her

kindness. At this past VC conference in Louisville I had a chance to meet her and Steve.

They were very busy and we didn't have a chance to really chat but I look forward to seeing

them again at next year's conference.

 

All of this is to say that yes, the editing could be improved and you may not like

everything in every issue but, I, for one, am grateful that the magazine even exists this day

and age. Keep up the good work Steve.

 

Thom