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vxf · 12-28-2011, 04:50 PM

I posted the following on SONY's forums, regarding newspaper subscriptions.
I know some people here are partial to SONY - and I am truly sorry if my feedback somehow offends them. But I don't see anyone ever talking about subscriptions, auto-delivery and periodicals, so here it is:

I have multiple problems with newspaper subscriptions. Some of those problems are old, some new.

I have been a subscriber of both The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times through SONY's store for about two years (since the PRS900 was released... I don't recall the exact date).

Here are the problems.

1) Since the beginning, SONY's store has missed issues. On some days, the newspapers are just not made available. Some of those issues will be posted over the following days, which is of dubious utility. Other issues are completely missed and never made available. One example: the Financial Times on 12/5 was never made available. Today's Financial Times (12/27) is also unavailable. Calls to SONY's customer service have had no results - SONY blames the newspaper editors. But, for some reason, those same editors are capable of delivering content on time on competing devices (for example, iPad).

2) Auto-delivery is hit-or-miss. Even if the issue is available, on any given day it may or may not be automatically delivered on either devices or PCs, even if the devices and PCs are online.

3) Auto-delivery just doesn't work with the PRS-T1.

4) The old SONY Reader Library adds newspapers correctly to the list of periodicals. The new Reader for PC is hit-or-miss. Some issues are added to the list of periodicals, some are added to the list of books, while some, even if they are auto-delivered (and saved in the correct folder), cannot in any way be imported into the actual software.

5) The WSJ SONY edition is full of typos and formatting errors. Spelling errors, page numbers in text, missing headings, wrong pictures associated with articles, I have seen it all. I suppose this is not SONY's fault, but I would expect some sort of quality control, given that the subscription is sold through SONY's store.

I truly enjoy reading my newspaper on e-ink in the morning, so I have patiently waited for over two years, conscious of the fact that this is a new market and a new product, expecting some sort of improvement. But, as time goes by, the number of missed issues is increasing, the new software has more problems handling periodicals than the old one and the new device does not support auto-delivery (apparently that is a bug, but recent updates have not addressed it). SONY is apparently oblivious to the problem - and, recently, the price of a WSJ subscription has actually increased, despite the problems.

The lack of co-operation and the clear lack of interest have led me to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and to cancel my subscription to the WSJ. I am, for the moment, keeping my subscription to the FT, as, at least, that does not suffer from the same formatting and spelling problems.

I am offering feedback, because I believe customers should be informed. But the complete lack of any response from customer service after multiple phone calls leads me to not expect any action on SONY's part on the issue.

12-28-2011, 04:50 PM	#1
vxf Guru Posts: 944 Karma: 1490348 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Norman, OK Device: Sony PRS 350, 900, 950; Kindles (ALL of them!); Kobo Aura One	Newspapers I posted the following on SONY's forums, regarding newspaper subscriptions. I know some people here are partial to SONY - and I am truly sorry if my feedback somehow offends them. But I don't see anyone ever talking about subscriptions, auto-delivery and periodicals, so here it is: I have multiple problems with newspaper subscriptions. Some of those problems are old, some new. I have been a subscriber of both The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times through SONY's store for about two years (since the PRS900 was released... I don't recall the exact date). Here are the problems. 1) Since the beginning, SONY's store has missed issues. On some days, the newspapers are just not made available. Some of those issues will be posted over the following days, which is of dubious utility. Other issues are completely missed and never made available. One example: the Financial Times on 12/5 was never made available. Today's Financial Times (12/27) is also unavailable. Calls to SONY's customer service have had no results - SONY blames the newspaper editors. But, for some reason, those same editors are capable of delivering content on time on competing devices (for example, iPad). 2) Auto-delivery is hit-or-miss. Even if the issue is available, on any given day it may or may not be automatically delivered on either devices or PCs, even if the devices and PCs are online. 3) Auto-delivery just doesn't work with the PRS-T1. 4) The old SONY Reader Library adds newspapers correctly to the list of periodicals. The new Reader for PC is hit-or-miss. Some issues are added to the list of periodicals, some are added to the list of books, while some, even if they are auto-delivered (and saved in the correct folder), cannot in any way be imported into the actual software. 5) The WSJ SONY edition is full of typos and formatting errors. Spelling errors, page numbers in text, missing headings, wrong pictures associated with articles, I have seen it all. I suppose this is not SONY's fault, but I would expect some sort of quality control, given that the subscription is sold through SONY's store. I truly enjoy reading my newspaper on e-ink in the morning, so I have patiently waited for over two years, conscious of the fact that this is a new market and a new product, expecting some sort of improvement. But, as time goes by, the number of missed issues is increasing, the new software has more problems handling periodicals than the old one and the new device does not support auto-delivery (apparently that is a bug, but recent updates have not addressed it). SONY is apparently oblivious to the problem - and, recently, the price of a WSJ subscription has actually increased, despite the problems. The lack of co-operation and the clear lack of interest have led me to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and to cancel my subscription to the WSJ. I am, for the moment, keeping my subscription to the FT, as, at least, that does not suffer from the same formatting and spelling problems. I am offering feedback, because I believe customers should be informed. But the complete lack of any response from customer service after multiple phone calls leads me to not expect any action on SONY's part on the issue.