May/June View Camera

[Andrew O'Neill]

Got mine tonight. Will be reading it on the plane tomorrow.

[sanking]

Got my issue yesterday as well.
Some good stuff. Seemed to be of good product value.
Liked the alternative printmaking section, particularly tri-color gum. (would like more hands on detail on the process, particularly carbon printing)
Nice images.
Still glad I subscribe...

The current article in View Camera on my carbon transfer printing was an opportunity, for which I thank Steve Simmons, to show a portfolio of recent work, and to make some general comments about my photographic aesthetic. It was not intended to provide technical working directions for carbon printing. If you are looking for more details about carbon transfer printing have a look at my technical article at Ed Buffaloe's unblinkingeye.com site. http://unblinkingeye.com//Articles/Carbon/carbon.html

Sandy King

[Frank Petronio]

I suppose if you're mad about the missing issues and whatnot you could simply publish the ID and PW here. That would get their attention.

[sidmac]

May/June? I'm still waiting for the previous issue. In march I used my Visa Card to statr a subscription. About the first week of June I sent an email asking where my subscription was. Their email answer was "We never heard of you and you are not in my files. They told me I needed to present them with a Paypal reciept. Since I had paid through my Visa card, not my Paypal acoount I had no PP reciept. I was told I could not have gotten a subscrciption unless I used Paypal.

Later I returned to my office in California and their on my computer was a statement showing that my Vias card had indeed paid their PP account. I sent a copy of this to them and thus far have heard nothing no magazine , no refund, nothing.

So in answer to your question No! I have not recieved my May/June issue.
Sid

[Don7x17]

May/June? I'm still waiting for the previous issue. In march I used my Visa Card to statr a subscription. About the first week of June I sent an email asking where my subscription was. Their email answer was "We never heard of you and you are not in my files. They told me I needed to present them with a Paypal reciept. Since I had paid through my Visa card, not my Paypal acoount I had no PP reciept. I was told I could not have gotten a subscrciption unless I used Paypal.

Later I returned to my office in California and their on my computer was a statement showing that my Vias card had indeed paid their PP account. I sent a copy of this to them and thus far have heard nothing no magazine , no refund, nothing.

So in answer to your question No! I have not recieved my May/June issue.
Sid

Call them directly -- my experience is that they are very responsive to phone calls (and even emails). Give them exact date paid, and offer to fax a copy of the credit card statement. It will get fixed. Don't let it lanquish. Really, its more fun to read the latest issue than to complain on this forum (although you'd never know it from all the other posts).

[Jim Cole]

May/June? I'm still waiting for the previous issue. In march I used my Visa Card to statr a subscription. About the first week of June I sent an email asking where my subscription was. Their email answer was "We never heard of you and you are not in my files. They told me I needed to present them with a Paypal reciept. Since I had paid through my Visa card, not my Paypal acoount I had no PP reciept. I was told I could not have gotten a subscrciption unless I used Paypal.

Later I returned to my office in California and their on my computer was a statement showing that my Vias card had indeed paid their PP account. I sent a copy of this to them and thus far have heard nothing no magazine , no refund, nothing.

So in answer to your question No! I have not recieved my May/June issue.
Sid

I had the same experience. Each of my first year's issues required a phone call to Steve's assistant with numerous emails and invoice numbers from PayPal to prove I had a subscription. This was the same for the first 5 issues. Each time she would mail out the issue in an envelope. For the sixth issue I had the honor of talking to Steve personally since his assistant had just quit and had to go through the same proof of subscription again. At one point he told me rather sternly to "shut up!", then "fixed" the problem and mailed out the sixth issue of the subscription.

I pondered long and hard after his rude behavior whether or not to re-subscribe. I decided to go ahead because there is just no other alternative for good LF articles. I reluctantly subscribed on line with my credit card. Lo and behold I received my first issue of my new subscription last week with no phone calls, emails, 3rd degree or pleading required.

Great issue, by the way!

[sidmac]

I've tried all that and judging by the responces I've gotten they just don't care. I'm very glad that thry are having so much success that customers don't matter
Sid

[lilmsmaggie]

At one point he told me rather sternly to "shut up!", then "fixed" the problem and mailed out the sixth issue of the subscription.

Now that is truly unprofessional behavior. Nothing like dissing your customers, or biting the hand that feeds you. A little humility would seem to be in order.

Think I'll just stick to getting my copy from the newssstand. Good publication or no, that lack of customer service and rudeness is totally uncalled for.

[BradS]

...but, it is NOT a good publication. It is, at its very best, mediocre. Most of the time it is just poor.
It probably survives simply because it is the only publication in print in this field.

The attitude of the publisher is just the frosting on the cake.

[BrianShaw]

At one point he told me rather sternly to "shut up...

Could he have been speaking in "current-day street English" where 'shut up' (generally spoken with an inflection that cannot be written easily on paper/CRT/LED/LCD) means "you are absolutely correct" rather than the archaic rude version of that term?