IFS Magazine

[Fireplace7890]

I’m in the same position with a prepaid subscription but considering the circumstances, I never considered asking for a refund. This wasn’t some major publication house but a one-woman show and her family doesn’t need the aggravation of trying to handle pro-rated refunds from subscribers around the world. Please reconsider your position and perhaps write this one off as a charitable act?

 

[Afar]

I’m in the same position with a prepaid subscription but considering the circumstances, I never considered asking for a refund. This wasn’t some major publication house but a one-woman show and her family doesn’t need the aggravation of trying to handle pro-rated refunds from subscribers around the world. Please reconsider your position and perhaps write this one off as a charitable act?

I appreciate your gesture and the sadness of the situation but I was not aware how the business was run and much as I sympathise I dont have the spare money to make an over £70 donation to charity which is what I will have spent on non magazines not received if I am not refunded. Maybe if it was only a few pound I might feel the same as yourself.

At the end of the day I have entered a contract for goods not received, and with the possibility of never receiving. If I died with debts my estate would be expected to pay them. If I had the money to give away then no problem, but sadly I dont.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

I appreciate your gesture and the sadness of the situation but I was not aware how the business was run and much as I sympathise I dont have the spare money to make an over £70 donation to charity which is what I will have spent on non magazines not received if I am not refunded. Maybe if it was only a few pound I might feel the same as yourself.

At the end of the day I have entered a contract for goods not received, and with the possibility of never receiving. If I died with debts my estate would be expected to pay them. If I had the money to give away then no problem, but sadly I dont.

Afar, I can understand your position. If I was a subscriber, I would be looking at in in the same way as you. If it were a few pound, I wouldn't think any more of it. But £70 is a lot of money, especially at the moment when the cost of living is so high.

People in other countries just do not understand quite how cash strapped most people in the UK are at the moment. A few of us have tried to explain it on here in terms of attendence at skating events in the UK being low because ordinary people can't afford the tickets, but we get told that we are talking rubbish because the prices we are complaining about are very cheap! Not to us they aren't!

That said, given the sad circumstances that led to this situation, I wouldn't be going down the legal route. I would just write and explain nicely that since it looks like you won't be getting the magazines that you paid for, you could be doing with having the money back. And hopefully the people sorting out Susan's affairs will do the right thing in the end.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[icewhite]

Afar, I can understand your position. If I was a subscriber, I would be looking at in in the same way as you. If it were a few pound, I wouldn't think any more of it. But £70 is a lot of money, especially at the moment when the cost of living is so high.

People in other countries just do not understand quite how cash strapped most people in the UK are at the moment. A few of us have tried to explain it on here in terms of attendence at skating events in the UK being low because ordinary people can't afford the tickets, but we get told that we are talking rubbish because the prices we are complaining about are very cheap! Not to us they aren't!

That said, given the sad circumstances that led to this situation, I wouldn't be going down the legal route. I would just write and explain nicely that since it looks like you won't be getting the magazines that you paid for, you could be doing with having the money back. And hopefully the people sorting out Susan's affairs will do the right thing in the end.

CaroLiza_fan

It's not just people in other countries I guess. Figure skating fans tend to have some money I think... not rich, but I am often astonished at the prices that people think are totally fine for events. There just isn't much awareness that for many people 500 Dollar or Euro is a huge sum.

 

[Afar]

Afar, I can understand your position. If I was a subscriber, I would be looking at in in the same way as you. If it were a few pound, I wouldn't think any more of it. But £70 is a lot of money, especially at the moment when the cost of living is so high.

People in other countries just do not understand quite how cash strapped most people in the UK are at the moment. A few of us have tried to explain it on here in terms of attendence at skating events in the UK being low because ordinary people can't afford the tickets, but we get told that we are talking rubbish because the prices we are complaining about are very cheap! Not to us they aren't!

That said, given the sad circumstances that led to this situation, I wouldn't be going down the legal route. I would just write and explain nicely that since it looks like you won't be getting the magazines that you paid for, you could be doing with having the money back. And hopefully the people sorting out Susan's affairs will do the right thing in the end.

CaroLiza_fan

Thank you for your understanding. I have emailed and asked them to refund. I think I had a computer generated reply as I got the same one a couple of times. I would never have known IFS was no longer if I hadn't Googled and found this thread!

I will certainly wait a while. I dont want the hassle of legal recourse but I don't think my request is unreasonable so I hope they will make the refund. I think I was disappointed they had not made subscribers aware of the situation. With all the strikes in UK I thought that was the reason the April issue hadnt arrived. The cost of living in UK has rocketed and disposable income is a thing of the past for most people. It was no where near as bad when I subscribed last year (I would never have done it this year!). Hopefully the refunc will be made

 

[Jeanie19]

Thank you for your understanding. I have emailed and asked them to refund. I think I had a computer generated reply as I got the same one a couple of times. I would never have known IFS was no longer if I hadn't Googled and found this thread!

I will certainly wait a while. I dont want the hassle of legal recourse but I don't think my request is unreasonable so I hope they will make the refund. I think I was disappointed they had not made subscribers aware of the situation. With all the strikes in UK I thought that was the reason the April issue hadnt arrived. The cost of living in UK has rocketed and disposable income is a thing of the past for most people. It was no where near as bad when I subscribed last year (I would never have done it this year!). Hopefully the refunc will be made

Afar, I hope you get your refund. And welcome to Golden Skate.

 

[Afar]

Afar, I hope you get your refund. And welcome to Golden Skate.

Thank you, and thank you

I promise future posts will be more lighthearted!

 

[gsk8]

My understanding is that the business was not doing well. I doubt there are any funds available to "return." It's been a rough time for magazines all around, especially with everything going digitial.

 

[LolaSkatesInJapan]

My understanding is that the business was not doing well. I doubt there are any funds available to "return." It's been a rough time for magazines all around, especially with everything going digitial.

Which is a pity
Call me old fashioned but for me digital magazines will never replace the feeling of waiting anxiously to receive a printed issue, the nice smell of a brand new magazine, handling it with your hands etc

 

[Pixie Cut]

Thank you for your understanding. I have emailed and asked them to refund. I think I had a computer generated reply as I got the same one a couple of times. I would never have known IFS was no longer if I hadn't Googled and found this thread!

I will certainly wait a while. I dont want the hassle of legal recourse but I don't think my request is unreasonable so I hope they will make the refund. I think I was disappointed they had not made subscribers aware of the situation. With all the strikes in UK I thought that was the reason the April issue hadnt arrived. The cost of living in UK has rocketed and disposable income is a thing of the past for most people. It was no where near as bad when I subscribed last year (I would never have done it this year!). Hopefully the refunc will be made

What sort of legal recourse do you think you're going to pursue? The owner is deceased. If you paid by credit card or debit card, contact the company with proof of the publisher's death and ask for a refund. Other than that, forget it or you will spend a lot of energy and thought trying to get blood from a stone. If by chance someone/something takes over the magazine, then that entity will take over your subscription or refund you. There have been a couple of instances over the years where magazines to which I subscribed folded. One publisher literally sent out an email telling subscribers not to ask for a refund because he was broke. I forwarded his stupid email to my credit card company and was refunded in full. If you paid by check or money order, you're out of luck.

 

[NanaPat]

What sort of legal recourse do you think you're going to pursue? The owner is deceased. If you paid by credit card or debit card, contact the company with proof of the publisher's death and ask for a refund. Other than that, forget it or you will spend a lot of energy and thought trying to get blood from a stone. If by chance someone/something takes over the magazine, then that entity will take over your subscription or refund you. There have been a couple of instances over the years where magazines to which I subscribed folded. One publisher literally sent out an email telling subscribers not to ask for a refund because he was broke. I forwarded his stupid email to my credit card company and was refunded in full. If you paid by check or money order, you're out of luck.

The credit card company may have tried to recover from the publisher/company. If they failed (as seems likely), they would absorb the loss. Credit card companies make lots of money from transactions fees and interest and are able to easily cover such losses.

 

[Pixie Cut]

The credit card company may have tried to recover from the publisher/company. If they failed (as seems likely), they would absorb the loss. Credit card companies make lots of money from transactions fees and interest and are able to easily cover such losses.

Yes, that is absolutely correct. Protocol is the credit card company reaches out to the seller and asks for the seller's side. Sometimes, the seller explains why it should keep your payment. If the seller fails to give a response, typically the credit card company will just refund you.

 

[Afar]

Yes, that is absolutely correct. Protocol is the credit card company reaches out to the seller and asks for the seller's side. Sometimes, the seller explains why it should keep your payment. If the seller fails to give a response, typically the credit card company will just refund you.

This is very helpful, thank you

 

[noskates]

Hah - figure skating fans have money? Don't think so. When I've gone to pricey competitions it's at the sacrifice of something else in my life. And I certainly don't go to them every year!!

What is surprising to me about IFS is that it sounds like it was a one woman show? Was there not some sort of organization or company that had a hand in producing this magazine? It's just sort of odd that the owner dies and there was no plan in place to either refund subscriptions or at least notify subscribers. Odd. I'm sorry to see the magazine go.

 

[Afar]

Hah - figure skating fans have money? Don't think so. When I've gone to pricey competitions it's at the sacrifice of something else in my life. And I certainly don't go to them every year!!

What is surprising to me about IFS is that it sounds like it was a one woman show? Was there not some sort of organization or company that had a hand in producing this magazine? It's just sort of odd that the owner dies and there was no plan in place to either refund subscriptions or at least notify subscribers. Odd. I'm sorry to see the magazine go.

I couldn't agree more. On all counts.

 

[TallyT]

Hah - figure skating fans have money? Don't think so. When I've gone to pricey competitions it's at the sacrifice of something else in my life. And I certainly don't go to them every year!!

Perhaps part of the impression that fs fans have money comes from it being an expensive sport so the fact that most skaters are/need to be reasonably well off brings a 'rich person's sport' aura and gets subconsciously transferred to us. And another part comes from the media for some years liking to highlight and talk about fans who followed their favourites across the globe...

The fact that tickets to big events cost an arm, a leg and another arm doesn't help.

Be nice if it was true

 

[LolaSkatesInJapan]

YES! Every time someone asks me what I do besides work and I say "figure skating", they make sure to point out it's an expensive, rich person's sport and I can afford it with my job.
The only other sport I'm involved in during season is skiing and I think figure skating costs less than skiing.

I wouldn't say these are cheap sports, they do require a financial investment, but I wouldn't say it's rich people only sport either. Usually people who are very serious in this sport don't spend money on other things and prefer spending their money in ice time, coaching, equipment instead of spending money in bars, films etc. It's a matter of what's priority and budget accordingly.

 

[icewhite]

Rich is probably something very different, but I think many must be well off. Or they have just accepted the ticket prices.
I constantly wonder how a niche sport can have such very pricey tickets. If I wanted to see Messi and Neymar in the Camp Nou it was about 80 Euros. Okay, that's just 90 minutes, but man, these football/soccer players are incredibly high profile. It's also more expensive to go to most bigger figure skating competitions than to go to Glastonbury for instance.
I sometimes bring that up and people say they find the prices acceptable (not paying reluctantly), so my guess was that they are very well off. Other explanation of course is that they are very passionate fans in comparison.

 

[noskates]

I don't think figure skating is all that expensive to fans when you compare it to professional football, baseball, basketball, etc. or seeing a favorite performer in concert. Priced tickets to Taylor Swift lately? I really don't know how a family takes their children to any of these events without spending a fortune. People pick and choose how they want to spend their money based on their interests and/or their passions. I just don't think it's possible to classify a fan's socio-economic standing based on how they spend their money. And actually, kind of resent the implication!

 

[icewhite]

I don't think figure skating is all that expensive to fans when you compare it to professional football, baseball, basketball, etc. or seeing a favorite performer in concert. Priced tickets to Taylor Swift lately? I really don't know how a family takes their children to any of these events without spending a fortune. People pick and choose how they want to spend their money based on their interests and/or their passions. I just don't think it's possible to classify a fan's socio-economic standing based on how they spend their money. And actually, kind of resent the implication!

Why do people here often feel so offended when I just state my observations? You can totally reject them - tell me I'm wrong, disagree, but "resent the implication"? I didn't mean to insult anyone by saying they seem well-off.
Maybe my English is so bad that I don't get things across the right way, maybe I just sound rude to you, but I don't get why this is offensive??
I have compared it to other events - I am not familiar with the prices in the US, maybe entertainment events and hobbies are just more expensive in general there. It's also not the original topic of this thread, so this is likely not the place to go into details. But I am certainly not telling anyone how they are supposed to spend their money. I just observed that I find the ticket prices very high and that it astonishes me that it's possible to take them and I was trying to find an explanation. Nothing more.