It does appear that the probs with deag go back some years. Same excuses same complaints etc. Read on. I found this:

Comments:

I subscribe to treasures of the earth, and i have found that this is the worst subscription service i have ever come across. I have rang numerous times and emailed to complain that i have not been receiving my subscription to no avail. I am now considering a legal action as they have broken a contract by accepting payment without delivering the agreed subscription. I wish that we had a negative rating as this company would be well into the minus score.
turbojohn at 12th Jun 2008, 01:00AM
My experience of this company is very much like everyone elses. ever since we started subscribing to treasures of the earth magazine for our ten year old son, these people have been totally useless. After recieving a few magazines we were told our details had been removed from their system as payment had been refused which, as we already knew, was a complete pack of lies as they had not even requested payment. Several phone calls later they still had done nothing, but eventually we were told our details were on the system again. Then we actually had about a month where we did not have to contact them, until now. They have now sent us an issue that we already have and so far I have tried ringing and have sent, to date, four e-mails which have been totally ignored. If possible, i would rate this company as a minus score.
Rath at 30th Jan 2008, 09:48PM
A resume of how my subscription to Star Wars was dealt with by DeAgostini.
I subscribed on behalf of my 10 year old son. After receiving a number of issues, I suddenly received an additional binder which we did not want as we already had one as a free gift with earlier issues. I rang to say we didn�?t want it and was told that unless we specifically cancelled it in advance, we would have to pay the £5.99 for it (how are we supposed to cancel something in advance when we don�?t know its coming???). So I dutifully sent a cheque for £5.99 on 20th October. I cancelled my subscription by phone on 6th October 06. I was then told that as issues 16 and 17 had already been despatched to me and so I would have to pay for them. I sent a cheque off immediately.
As of today, 28th November, I have still not received issues 16 and 17, despite 3 phone calls (costing me money) to the company to be told that they had been despatched and I should get them �?in a few days�? �? a stock answer it seems. I was then told that I had still not paid the £5.99 for the binder (I didn�?t want) even though the cheque had cleared my account. I was also told that one of the 2 issues outstanding, was also not paid for �? despite the cheque for £11.98 having cleared my account. I was then told that I might have to forward a copy of my bank statement to prove I had paid.
What a complete and utter shambles. When I asked to speak to a supervisor I was told they were busy, a line manager �? not available and so on. So it seems that it is impossible to complain to DeAgostini. Luckily I found this website and have emailed Jackie Smith with my complaint. Needless to say, I will never subscribe to anything from DeAgostini again.
D.Rowlands



diana@rowlandsandnaylor.co.uk at 28th Nov 2006, 02:24PM
Dear Subscribers,

I would like to start by offering my sincere apologies for any problems that you have experienced to-date, and to assure you of my best attention in this regard.

I would greatly appreciate it, if you would kindly afford me the opportunity to investigate and resolve any outstanding queries that you may have with regard to your De Agostini subscription account.

I can be contact directly via email on jsmith@jacklinenterprises.com or telephonically via the De Agostini Customer Care number.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Jackie Smith
DE AGOSTINI CUSTOMER CARE

I work for a large British bank, and the current focus is on treating customers fairly. In fact, this is the focus for many financial institutions at present after the crap of the last couple of years.

The idea behind it is that if the customer is happy with the service they've received, then they're more likely to invest in another product, and also to recommend the company to friends and colleagues.

DeAg need to provide good service to customers to ensure that once a build is complete, the customers already gained are more likely to move onto another build, and continue to add funds to DeAg's coffers. With customers leaving mid-way through this build, they are no only losing revenue for the Victory line, but also any future funds.

So customer satisfaction needs to become their main focus, and they need to start doing it soon. They need to have someone other than Admin looking at these forums to understand the problem being suffered from their main source of income, because we are their lifeblood.

Nothing here, very fed up now

i agree with you david, so long as we get our model at the end of the day although some info would be nice on whats going on, and tomick is a godsend so far as the build is concerned, as ive already stated on another thread, lets just get on with it and enjoy the banter, stop the moaning or create a moan thread to keep it all in one place. yes freedom of speech but i have enough moaning at work without hearing it with my hobby

Im getting worried about you Jack, the more time your spending with that Pearl, the more your sounding like a Pirate!!

pmsl OK I now have an image of Spongebob in my head now, I think it's time for a coffee lol

after a day of logging in & out of the forum reading nowt but doom & gloom how refreshing to get a bit of light hearted humour
cheers jack

Quick, stick some in the post!!!! And yes, sorry peeps.

I think you are bang on. The question is how or when do you jump ship and go independant and how do you manage the gap between subscription copy and shop purchase.
Whatever the answer is, I'm sure you are right. That way DeAgostini don't get my money early but they'll never learn.