jeremy brotherton Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 Nope and nope. I've received neither of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john schroeder Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 I know nothing about running a magazine but I do know customer service. This is where you need to stop making excuses and start making refunds. Squabbling with you customers in a public forum isn't very professional. You need to find a way to move forward. If that means issuing refunds then do it. If it means personally mailing back issues to your customers then do that. Possibly a combination of the two would be in order. It sounds like you have bitten off more than you can chew and you need to hire some help (distribution/customer service). Running an entire magazine by yourself is a huge undertaking and not something that the average person could do with any degree of success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john schroeder Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 David, I took a look at your website and, aside from a few broken links, I am very impressed. You do an excellent job laying out your magazine. I have book marked your site and when you get your distribution problems solved I would consider subscribing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_spivak2 Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Hi John, welcome to the forum. I have hired a distribution and customer service team to take care of the subscriptions. They were mailed out. Apart from putting magazines in the mail, I can do nothing else. There are no excuses. You put something in the mail, you expect it to get there. Foreign subscriptions have just run out their elapsed time, so I have only one person out of close to 1000 foreign subscribers who is claiming he hasn't received his copy. Two months ago, I received close to 10 subscription complaints from foreign subscribers. Within the past week, I received one and that one was fulfilled. Domestic subscriptions take up to 21 business days. We still have an entire week. If people don't get their subscriptions domestically by the end of this week, I'll find out what the hold up is. The problem before was that I couldn't figure out how to get subscriptions to subscribers the way I needed to. I have solved that problem and everyone has been sent their foreign and domestic copies of the April and August issues. As you can see from the numerous recent posts on here, many subscribers have received their copies and are happy. I will repeat this once again - the subscription problems with Focus Magazine are over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pawel1 Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 My issue arrived on Sat, Aug 23 in Indianapolis. Thank you. Hopefully the recent string of successful deliveries listed in this 'conversation' marks the beginning of the end of the subscription problem. Great magazine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_spivak2 Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 Michael Vernon, Dana Gomez, Patrick Cornack and Linda Kehew, if any of you are visiting this thread, your internationally shipped magazines have been returned to me - all for insufficent address. Please contact me via e-mail on how to get these copies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas_hardy1 Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 "My issue arrived on Sat, Aug 23 in Indianapolis. Thank you. Hopefully the recent string of successful deliveries listed in this 'conversation' marks the beginning of the end of the subscription problem. Great magazine!" Yeah it is a great magazine. That's what all the hub-bub was about. If it was crap nobody would care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_spivak2 Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 Thank you Thomas for that wonderful comment. After the most disasterous first issue in the history of all magazines, to be working on issues 18 and 19 simultaneously and to be able to personally handle and fix the subscription problems and talk with all of you, is an honor. I get frustrated because, like all of you, I take this magazine very personally. I am as emotionally invested in this business, not only the magazine, but the book publishing company, the new online bookstore, the new online exhibition guide, the upcoming photography art fair, I take it all very seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david brown Posted August 26, 2008 Share Posted August 26, 2008 Hi David, I have no problems nor a subscriber at present but have noticed this thread and read most of the posts. For you to personally handle this for this amount of time is amazing in todays world, you must be given credit for toughing it out as long as you have, it shows how passionate you are about what you do good for you. I must say that if you had your time again you may have organised your business distribution differently, but you have not caved in and are trying or have succeeded in righting any wrongs. Over the years I have had the displeasure of dealing with con men and I can personally say that you are NOT one of them, just my 2 cents worth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_spivak2 Posted August 26, 2008 Share Posted August 26, 2008 Hi David - hindsight is always 20/20. If I would've known about this printer in Exton, PA I would've avoided doing business with other printers and started the magazine with him. Unfortunately, or fortunately depends on your outlook on life, you don't get back to correct the mistakes you made - you can only learn from them and hopefully not repeat them. This mistake will not be made again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarks Posted August 26, 2008 Share Posted August 26, 2008 Well David.The April issue has finally arrived.I do have to say it's a fine magazine with a very nice quality to it.I always said it was a beautiful magazine.I really hope you have all the delivery issues taken care of as it's too nice of a magazine to eventually falter because of distribution problems.Thank you for the April issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_spivak2 Posted August 26, 2008 Share Posted August 26, 2008 Don, if you would like to re-subscribe to the magazine after you receive the April issue, I would be happy to take you back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_jones2 Posted August 27, 2008 Share Posted August 27, 2008 In follow up to my July 5, 2008 post, I have received word back from the Better Business Bureau of New York that all attempts to contact Focus Magazine by telephone and letter have been unsuccessful. They have told me that they are therefore downgrading Focus Magazine's rating to "unsatifactory". I eventually received issue #16, several months late, but have never received the issue #14 which Mr. Spivak personally promised to send me. Weird. Great magazine. Poorest business I have ever dealt with. An FTC complaint still remains a choice for those who wish to pursue it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_dingley Posted August 27, 2008 Share Posted August 27, 2008 I have just received the August Issue which was close on the heels of the April issue. I hope that mailing has now been rectified. Now I am a happier Australian subscriber. Mike Dingley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_spivak2 Posted August 27, 2008 Share Posted August 27, 2008 Scott - I have no recolection of our conversation, however; if you'll read here issue #14 was a newsstand only issue. No subscribers received it and I would have never promised you that you would receive it. I have made all of my subscribers happy by giving them what they paid for and going out of my way and spending hours worth of my own personal time to talk to them and resolve their problems with them here. In the end, though, there are always going to be people who are unhappy. No matter what you try to do to resolve the problem, no matter how much time and effort you put into it, they think everything should be perfect in their perfect little world and nothing should ever go wrong. It's unfortunate. I must commend you, Scott, for being a perfect human being and being flawless. Surely that is the case if you cannot understand or even forgive me for the mistakes I made. In the words of a very famous person: "Judge not lest ye be judged." Oh and by the way, the BBB has never attempted to contact me via phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy brotherton Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Yep I still don't have them David. How shocking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy brotherton Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 O and just to let you know it normally takes a box from Freestyle photography that is located in CA to get to me in o about 3 to 4 days and I live in Ohio. For a magazine from you it takes, how longs it been now about a month almost maybe 3 weeks now and I still don't have them. David this is beyond annoying. Give me my money back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_spivak2 Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Sure, if you send it 1st class mail, it takes that long. The magazines were sent bound and printed matter and periodicals class. You were on the list, Jeremy. You'll get the magazines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy brotherton Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Why are you just not giving me my money back David? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_hickey1 Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 Here is an update to my post here dated 4-28-08: A couple weeks ago I received the special issue of Focus. I don't recall the issue date ( I left it on a bus) but I do recall noticing that I was receiving it two or three months after the issue date and wondering if it was a returned unsold issue from a magazine store that was now being sent to me. I have now received two issues this year for a total of 11 issues over three years. Like another commenter above, I have given up hope that Focus will ever meet it's responsibility of providing me with magazines as promised. I read Mr Spivak's comments above and how he does go on. He alternates between being a reasonable guy, a jerk, and threatening to sue subscribers who complain. But this is a simple matter. Subscribers paid for magazines to be provided at a time promised by Focus. Focus set the terms of the agreement and has failed to perform. To any potential subscribers of Focus who have read this far and are still thinking of subscribing to Focus. Are you nuts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_spivak2 Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 Jeremy, at this point I don't know what's going on with the issue to you. You're the only US subscriber, I know of, that hasn't received a copy. So, what I'm going to do, is send you copies of the April and August issues on Monday via UPS. I'm using a new e-mail program right now that doesn't incorporate old e-mails for some reason... I'm still trying to figure it out. So if you e-mail me your paypal e-mail address, i'll refund you the amount you paid. I apologize to you for this taking so long. I don't know what's going on, really. I've had people in LA tell me they've gotten their issues. So, hopefully this will make you happy and you have my sincere apologies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_spivak2 Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 What's the matter with you Greg? 99% of everyone here has received their copies. I followed through with what I promised. I kept everyone up to date all the time and the problem has been, for the most part, solved. You're about to receive your third issue soon, which would make 3 issues out of 3 that have been printed this year. People who have reason to complain and have a valid concern receive as much attention from me as I can possibly give them. People who complain just for the sake of complaining and trying to disrupt my business and hurt my business after everything I've done to make the wrong's righted will indeed be yelled at, cursed at, and I will be as rude to you as I possibly can be. How would you like it if someone unfairly threatened your way of life? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg_hicks Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 Hi David. Just to let you know that there is another US subscriber that has not received the recent issue. I know you have me on file,,you asked me to confirm my zip code in a previous message... Greg Hicks Fort Lauderdale, FL USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_spivak2 Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 Which recent issue? April or August? If you haven't received the April issue, I'll send it to you via UPS this week. If it's August (girl crying) then that's another story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_hickey1 Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 Gee Mr Spivak, I don't have the "girl crying" issue or the new October issue shown on your website. Are you going to be rude to me now. What's the problem, a printer, a shipper, a new email program, loud street noise in NYC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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