Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Popular Science is among many of the magazines currently engaging in the practice of contracting out billing...which then gets subcontracted and sometimes sub-subcontracted out. This means you may have to contact three or four different companies via half a dozen (or more) phone numbers with subscription-related issues. In fact, one subagency, Magazine Billing Services, has closed down their call center, so cancelation requests must be sent by snail mail only. (We've also seen notices from and numbers for Publishers Billing Agency and Publishers Unlimited, in addition to Popular Science's direct numbers.) Additionally, renewal notices are sent out regardless of the actual expiration date. If subscribers aren't vigilant, they'll find themselves paying for 20 year's worth of subscriptions. And then, due to the entanglement of companies described above, it will take days of calling, holding and letter writing to get the problem of the deceptive renewal notices straightened out. If that particular agency wasn't involved in that particular renewal notice that was responded to (and we've received "renewal" notices from all of them simultaneously), then the subscriber gets continually redirected. Get used to hearing the phrase, "I can't help you with that." Also get used to requests taking months or more to be processed (if they get processed at all) and get used to getting no responses from emailed queries, requests or complaints. This is becoming an increasingly common practice, but that doesn't mean consumers have to put up with it. If Popular Science believes it's good customer service to subcontract out billing and relentlessly pepper subscribers with intentionally deceptive "renewal" notices, they can keep their rag of a magazine.