Focus magazine subscription

[dmarks]

Well,over a month has passed since David said the Feb issue had been shipped.Still nothing has arrived in my mailbox.It really don't take over a month for something to come from New York to Canada.You receive anything yet Dwight?

 

I think I'll be sending along that info that you need for your complaint.I'm just sick of these lame excuses that David's giving all the time.I really think he has no intention of fulfilling the subscriptions that we all paid for.Nothing but story after story about everybody but him screwing up.In my mind his actions are bordering on something a little underhanded.(David,you notice I didn't say fraud)

 

As subscribers we shouldn't have to constantly hound the magazine to give us what we paid for.David,if you can't fulfil your commitments to us you should refund us our money.That's the right thing to do.Anything less is intolerable.

[jeremy brotherton]

I've not received anything from Focus for almost a year now! I only received 2 issues since I subscribed. I'm suppose to have a 3 year sub. Seems it was just a two issue one instead. I'm started to get frustrated here...

[dmarks]

Jeremy,get used to the untruth's David will tell you.

[george_hickey]

I also signed up for the buy a two year subscription and get a third year free. After two email inquiries this winter I received the February issue a few weeks ago. This was the first issue I received since August 2007. So that's one issue over 5 or 6 months depending on how you want to look at it. So much for a third year free.

 

I've owned small businesses and have a hard earned personal understanding of cash flow. When I placed the subscription I figured that the buy two years get a third year free offer indicated they probably needed operating money and was happy to provide it for a good magazine. But Mr. Spivak's attitude expressed here sucks.

[george_hickey]

You may find these exchanges with Mr. Spivak interesting.

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00HICN

[dmarks]

Well,another week has passed and nothing from David.Seems some people in the US received the Feb issue by March 21st but others still haven't received their copy almost a month later.What's your excuse this time David? Refund me my money.

[david_spivak1]

How interesting. I've gone away for a while to run the magazine and work on the next issue, thinking that if I go away, the people who complain will go away as well.

 

Unfortunately, that is not so.

 

I've tried being patient with some of you, who seem to be just here for the sake of complaining.

 

Focus Magazine is NOT a web press magazine. Great time and care is put into each issue and when the final product is finally created, there is no doubt in anyone's mind that they have received something of great quality and content.

 

I will give you a list of magazines that are printed on a web press: People, The National Enquirer, Newsweek, PDN, GQ, Vogue and B&W. All of them are printed and mailed at the same time to distributors and to subscribers. There are machines that automatically pollybag and label each issue, put them in a box and send it out to the post office.

 

Some magazines even hire subscription houses for this so that at the end of the week, every subscriber receives the next issue that is to go out on newsstands before it actually does. These magazines are printed on low quality, web presses that are made for printing magazines. The printer itself may have their entire business surrounded on printing magazines. Their magazine will take about a week after the files are sent to the printer to have a final product.

 

As I have explained, as of June 2007, we left the printer who was just interested in printing as many magazines as possible without regard to care or concern of the final product and went to another printer who was interested in printing incredibly high quality photography, something you would see on exhibit at your local museum. Focus, on average, after all of the files are uploaded, takes about 6-8 weeks to print, bind and ship. Then, the subscription copies have to be hand-inserted into pollybags and the list has to be maually updated. Everything is done by hand here and nothing is done on cheap, mass-assembly.

 

A subscription to Focus Magazine does two things:

 

1. It saves you a great deal of money on the price of a magazine from snewsstands ($39.95 for 1 year, $54.95 for 2 years and you get the third year free with this). So that's 18 issues for $54.95 vs. $143.10.

 

2. It guarantees you a magazine, whereas if you go to a bookstore, you may see that they are completely sold out.

 

There is nowhere on the subscription form, on my website or even in our corporate by-laws that guarantees you a magazine by a certain date. A February issue may come to you in April and an April issue may come to you in June. Issues only have dates on them for newsstand purposes and not for any other reason.

 

I am at the mercy of my own schedule and the schedule of my printer, which do not coincide all of the time. If you are on the subscription list, you will receive a magazine.

 

When we are able to have subscribers receive magazines before newsstands do, we will try to implement that. Our next issue is a Summer 2008 issue and the issue after that is an October 2008 issue. I do not foresee the Summer issue being mailed and received anytime after July and the next issue anytime after September.

 

If you would like to confirm you are on the subscription list, please send me a brief e-mail with the subject line of "Subscription confirmation" and I would be happy to find out if you actually have a subscription with us. If you would like to stay up to date on the mailings of Focus Magazine, please subscribe to our free newsletter. I guarantee that all e-mail addresses are kept strictly confidential and are never sold to any outside party whatsoever.

 

Now Don, I've sent you 3 magazines already, 2 of great expense to me. If you would have mentioned to me, at that time, that those magazines were damaged, I would've happily sent you replacement copies.

 

An overwhelming majority of our subscribers (topping 4000) seem to understand this and have no problem with this process. They are patient and understand the magazine they receive in the mail when they receive it will be of a much higer quality in printing and editorial content than any other magazine on newsstands today.

 

If you absolutely cannot wait for the mercy of the postage system, I can offer anyone with an existing subscription, the opportunity to upgrade their subscription so they are put on the "comp list" and will receive their copies via FedEx Ground when everyone on that list receives it, which is usually 2 weeks after the magazine is off press. Shipping charges are around $10-$20 per issue. Please let me know, once again via E-Mail if that is a choice you'd like to make.

 

Please don't take this as any kind of a message or statement that subscribers aren't important to us. Of course they are, however; and I don't know how many times I have to say this, you are not subscribed to a web press magazine that arrives like clockwork in your mailbox. I would rather a magazine of extremely high quality arrive 2 months later than the cover date to someone's mailbox than a magazine of garbage quality arrive on time. If you want a garbage magazine, please look somewhere else.

[dmarks]

You sent me 2 issues.August and December.The rest you just keep promissing me.

[dmarks]

Btw,have a subscription to your magazine doesn't guarantee anything.As per Jeremy B's comment (I've not received anything from Focus for almost a year now! I only received 2 issues since I subscribed. I'm suppose to have a 3 year sub. Seems it was just a two issue one instead. )

[matt_thompson1]

You can add me to the list of subscribers unhappy with their service, though we have only been involved in the headaches for a few months. So far, I received the same issue twice (the Feb. 08 issue) and not the April issue at all. When someone signs up to receive a magazine, it is generally expected that it should arrive in a timely fashion, or at least the magazine would make an effort to alert subscribers that there is a problem with the shipping of an issue. My wife and I have e-mailed 3 times and called once and received no response to our inquiries concerning the April issue. Judging by the problems others seem to be having with their subscriptions, I think I'd rather take my chances buying the magazine off the newstand or not at all, as opposed to waiting many months for a product that may or may not show up. I expect better customer service than what I've seen, and would like info on how to cancel our subscription and receive a refund for all but the first issue of Focus we received (and I'm not paying for that one twice!)

[dmarks]

Matt, you have no chance of cancelling.I've been trying but David won't refund peoples money.If I had my time back I never would've subscribed to this mag.It's been nothing but a headache.Get used to bullshyt stories.

[david_spivak1]

Don's money has been refunded, minus the two issues we've sent him. I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused him.

[michael_dingley]

Wow!, I thought that I was the only one with problems regarding my subscription until I found this site. It is so frustrating not getting information after numerous emails. I was going to start pulling out my hair with frustration. As I live in Australia it doesn't sit well to telephone the company as has been suggested. I took out a subscription in November 2007 and am still waiting for my first copy of the magazine. I would love to send an email with the line "Subscription confirmation" but my recent emails have all gone unanswered so I am suspicious that I will get a reply. What does annoy me that I see issues that I haven't got, but paid for, sitting at the newsstand here downunder. It seems from my point of view that a subscription means nothing. I thought that subscribing actually helps the company by receiving money in advance and thereby letting marketing work out the number of issues better without a lot of wastage. My subscription with another US magazine gets to me before it reaches the newsstand so why can't Focus do it? So I really suppose that my main gripe or complaint, as David puts it elsewhere, is not getting answers to email questions. Keeping the customer satisfied should be an absolute priority in any business.

[dmarks]

Yep,he refunded my money and then had the nerve to put this off as my fault.He informed me he no longer wishes to have me as a customer.Anyway,good riddance.Now I'll subscribe to a magazine that actually cares about it's subscribers.Off to B & W's website to subscribe.After the dealings I've had with Focus Mag,anythings got to be an improvement.

 

 

GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL WITH YOUR DEALINGS WITH DAVID.YOU'RE GONNA NEED IT.

[david_spivak1]

Nowhere in any of the E-Mails did I blame this on Don. In fact, I apologized to him twice. Obviously, if I cannot fulfill orders and a customer is unhappy and it appears as though there is nothing I can do to make a customer happy, I no longer want them as a customer.

 

Michael, you asked: "My subscription with another US magazine gets to me before it reaches the newsstand so why can't Focus do it?"

 

It is because of the way Focus Magazine is printed and handled vs. the way other US magazines are printed and handled. Other US magazines sacrafice quality for speediness. They mass produce magazines within a week and mail it out to you automatically. Within a week, my printer is still going over every single image inside of that issue of FOCUS and making sure they're each perfect and if they're not, correcting them for contrast, color balance, etc. Every image is carefully looked over and esnured the highest quality of reproduction and detail. By the fourth week, our magazine has finally finished printing and is off to the bindery. It then takes another two weeks to bind all of the copies of FOCUS and manually place every single copy in boxes. We don't use a cheap in-house binding machine. We use a bookbinder to bind copies of FOCUS, ensuring a level of quality that is unsurpassed. All of the finished copies of FOCUS are then seperated into 4 groups: Newsstands, galleries & museums and subscriptions and extras. We have a trucking company pick up the newsstands and galleries & museums copies and then my printer picks up the remaining copies. My printer then, once again, when they are able to, takes the subscription list and one-by-one by hand inserts every single magazine into pollybags and then into seperate containers for the post office and then the post office comes to pick them up and mail them out. By the time they're done with this process, the newsstands have already received their copies.

 

A major US magazine printer would print, bind, box and ship magazines to newsstands and to subscrtibers at the same time. The level of quality is far inferior though. Compare one of the latest issues of Focus to one of the latest issues of B&W. There is much more detail in Focus than there is in B&W. Our paper is of higher grade and quality and is triple if not quadruple the price... as is the printing. Yet our subscription prices are less than B&W's are.

 

Yes, I suppose we could ship out our magazines to a mailhouse and they could rush the subscriptions. But that costs a great deal of money for us to do and we would have to increase the cost of our subscriptions much higher.

 

The solution to all of this is for us to be one issue ahead of newsstands. This is something we're working on, but it is a difficult and time consuming and relatively expensive process to come out with two issues at once.

 

If you feel you'd rather receive a lower quality magazine with little content to offer just so you could receive it at a faster pace, please go ahead and do what Don did. You have triple the editorial content and triple the quality in Focus for the same price. It just takes longer and I ask for people to just be patient.

[don_e]

This is a monthly? With those production and quality issues it might be better as a quarterly.

[david_spivak1]

No. It's bi-monthly.

[dwight_magee]

Sorry for being away for a while lads. I had an unplanned trip come up that took me away. But anyway? I?m back and guess what ? no surprise?no copy of Focus magazine despite Mr. Spivaks malignant assurances that it would soon come.

 

The arrogance of Mr. Spivak has become quite amusing. He rants about him being tired with our complaints. Well the solution is simple my friend ? give us what we paid for and you would be surprised at how fast the complaints will stop.

 

In Mr. Spivak?s post of April 18th, he writes A subscription to Focus Magazine does two things: It guarantees you a magazine, whereas if you go to a bookstore, you may see that they are completely sold out. Well Mr. Spivak the only thing a subscription to Focus Magazine seems to guarantee me is that I will die of old age long before I receive a single issue to what I have paid for and what you owe us.

 

One thing I did on my trip was visit a friend of mine in Vancouver who manages one of the larger photography store in Vancouver. What did I see but a shiny copy of Focus magazine. I commented to my friend about the difficulties I and others was having getting our subscription honored. He told me (and no surprise) that a number of his customers who bought the magazine said the same thing. They too had purchased subscriptions in good faith and never received them. He then told me that he would seriously consider no longer stocking the magazine due to the complaints he was fielding from his customers. Well done I said, and I encourage you to stop. Thankfully I have a very ethical friend there who hates to see other?s get screwed.

 

I also note Mr. Spivak?s ramblings on his most recent post where he again continues to tell us what a wonderful printing company he has engaged to print his magazine. Sorry Mr. Spivak but I will call you on that as well. You see I am in the business and work as an editor so I am able to call you when you with this tale of yours.

 

One other comment Mr. Spivak. When you write Compare one of the latest issues of Focus to one of the latest issues of B&W. There is much more detail in Focus than there is in B&W. Our paper is of higher grade and quality and is triple if not quadruple the price... as is the printing. Yet our subscription prices are less than B&W's are. I am sure if we had copies of Focus Magazine to compare others against we would agree. Unfortunately you have to send us our copies first in order for us to validate your comments.

 

I have received the information from the New York BBS and will complete it this weekend. Anyone who has not sent me their information yet please do so. In addition, if anyone here is a member of this site http://www.largeformatphotography.info please post this letter to their site along with my email address dwightmagee@fineartgrafics.com asking them to contact me over their problems with Mr. Spivak.

 

Remember one thing Mr. Spivak? all of this bad publicity is on the internet. I found this site by typing in ?focus magazine scam? on google as I suspect others have. I wonder really how many of the other 4,000 subscribers you claim to have are having the same difficulty with you as we are.

[dmarks]

It's better to get a magazine of a little lower quality in paper than not to get one at all.David,if you remember from way back,I told you I went with your mag because of the quality.But what is the good of quality if you can never get it delivered to you.I would've been quite happy to stay with your mag if you could've actually delivered them when you said you would.You've told me many times you've sent them when you actually haven't.This last one was supposed to have been sent to us almost 2 months ago.No sign of it yet.When you sent me my refund,you took the money for 2 mags that I received but you never mentioned the one that's supposed to be on the way.Actually,you're not even saying to anybody else that it's on the way.You claim that we're nothing but a bunch of complainers for wanting something we paid for and you refuse to send.You need a major attitude adjustment and hopefully the demise of your mag will do it.You don't deserve the business that people are giving you.You're way to arrogant for somebody that his livelyhood depends on others and hopefully you'll learn that before it's too late.

 

Oh,another thing,just because you finally gave me my refund,don't think I'm finished with this.I'll let anybody that wants to know what kind of dealings I've had with you.In my dealings with you all I see is someone that's a terrible business person and an even worse person.

[george_hickey]

David Spivak, Apr 25, 2008; 07:41 p.m.

 

"No. It's bi-monthly."

 

I paid for the buy two years get three years subscription offer.

 

By my count Focus is not a bi-monthly magazine- at least over time.

 

In 2006-As expected I received 6 issues numbered 5-10 every other month Jan-Dec.

 

In 2007-I received three issues numbered 11,12,13 dated February, May and August. (There was a newsstand only issue #14 so that's quarterly publication for 2007.)

 

In 2008-After two email inquiries I received #15 dated February 2008. I see that the Focus Magazine website is advertising issue #17 (June 08)so I'm now missing #16 which must have been dated April.

 

With a 28 month old subscription I should now possess 14 Focus magazines. I have 10 and I think that I likely purchased the first issue at the bookstore.

 

It is my opinion that the buy two get three year offer was made to drum up needed operating capital; and the problems Focus has had meeting it's subscription obligations are probably due to inadequate cash flow. It's a tough business and with this slumping economy and magazine subscriptions being a discretionary purchase...

[david_spivak1]

#16 is being sent out this week. It was barely even done being printed and shipped to newsstands 4-5 weeks ago. The Summer 2008 (#17) issue isn't anywhere near done and won't go to print until 2-3 weeks from now. Originally it was going to be a June issue, but this issue is delayed. Not because of finances, but because I'm trying to put together a comprehensive list of exhibitions taking place this summer in hundreds of galleries and museums worldwide for our Summer 2008 Exhibition Guide. This is not something you can find anywhere else. I've already received a guarantee from the printer that when this issue is printed, all subscriptions will go out the same week as our newsstand editions.

 

Focus Magazine launched with 2500 copies overall. We will have, by the end of this year, a total overall circulation of 30,000. Focus Magazine is outselling B&W, Aperture, Eyemazing and Blindspot on newsstands worldwide. Our sell-through rate is consistently above 70%, while our competition staggers around barely able to reach the 30% range. Focus Magazine is not only healthy, but due to the overall demand of Focus, we are doing many more things than just running a magazine. We are receivng more and more advertisers and more money for ads each issue. We just launched, a month ago, a new book publishing company. We are launching a new online photography bookstore, plus re-launching our online exhibition guide. In 2009, we plan to launch an fine art photography art fair that would be the biggest photography art fair ever seen in New York City.

 

We have been, as I have admitted, disorganized with subscriptions since starting at our new printer. I have apologized for this and have extended everyone's subscription by one year or six issues, whichever comes last.

 

George, your subscription was originally good for 3 years OR 18 issues. Whichever came first. This has been stated on our website. With the subscription extension, your subscription is good for 4 years OR 24 issues. Again, whichever comes last.

 

Inside of every single issue of Focus that you've received since issue #13, the reproduction has been second to none, the editorial content is triple that of our competition and is also much higher in quality. Our in-depth interviews allow our readers to see inside the mind, heart and soul of our subjects. Bruce Davidson, who is well into his 80s today feels that the interview done with him in our April 2008 issue is "the finest edited and printed magazine edition of his work to date." Try finding the quantity and quality of our editorial in those web press magazines you're going to subscribe to, Don. You won't.

[jeremy brotherton]

Any new updates about this topic? Has anyone been receiving the issues like they are suppose to be or has anyone been given their money back? Any tips on what to do for the next step if David doesn't send anything?

[dmarks]

Jeremy,David doesn't give a shyt about the subscribers of Focus Magazine.He already has stolen your money.Like I told you previously,don't believe the lies he'll tell you.I did get a refund but it was because of months of hounding him.He's doing nothing but suckering innocent people out of their money.He's one of the lowest forms of human.Swindler,swindler,swindler.All I can say is to keep after him and make his online presence uncomfortable.

[david_spivak1]

Jeremy, how did you like the magazine? Did it arrive ok?

[dmarks]

Wow,that's fast Jeremy.David promised the mag to you on March 16th,2 day air and he's asking you about it on May 19th.I guess he must have sent it to you after May 13th.Now,that's service for you.