Why Can’t I Renew Online?

I read loads of magazines every month, most of which I subscribe to.  Sure, the delivery mechanism is so . . . yesterday, but I find the experience richer and the format much easier to manage than the online version of the same information which, of course, is not even always available.

Because I have so many subscriptions, I’m inevitably renewing one or another every month.  And, I’m simply shocked how many publishers won’t allow me to renew online.  I can create a new subscription online almost always but, for some reason, I frequently can’t renew.  What’s up with that?  This pisses me off so much that once in a while I don’t renew just to show them who’s boss.  When I stop receiving a magazine I like, though, I realize that they’re my daddy and I actually have no power at all.

I just got a renewal reminder – although they have my email address, they sent it via the postal service – and followed up by hitting their web site.  On their site, I can enter a new subscription, but there’s no place for a renewal.  I briefly considered just letting my old subscription run out and getting an entirely new one so I could do it online, but I’d miss a copy or two and I’d have to think about it twice – just dumb.  Here’s the really wacky part – the hardcopy renewal they sent me has only one option – renew for one year.  If I subscribe online, though, I can sign up for three years.  Why wouldn’t they want to hook me up for a three year tour of magazine duty with their mailer?

I just don’t get it.  Am I missing something?

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