disappointed – feel I have been cheated

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

I subscribed to an annual digital subscription of Model Engineer.

Was not particularly enthralled by its content & never read the last 4-5 issues much. So when the subscription period expired I did not renew.

but what i did not realise was that when this happened i could no longer get access to the ones I had paid for.

I had tried down loading the copies but never actually managed that so not sure if that was what I was supposed to do or not.

Bit of a con that one

Was going to change magazines to Model Engineer Workshop which would have been more appropriate to my needs but never again.

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

[Marcus BowmanParticipant @marcusbowman28936]

I think this is also an issue with other magazines from other companies. I have a digital subscription to another magazine and find the digital copy not half as handy as the paper copy, while the paper copy would come via surface mail from far away and be much more expensive. I will not renew that digital subscription, but, as you found, I think I will lose the ability to access the digital copies.

So it seems as though we buy access only and not actually a copy of the magazine.

For the magazine to which I subscribed, I have already decided that the content is not worth the continued subscription, so that solves the problem.

This, of course, is the software subscription problem, where software companies are moving rapidly to a subscription basis where you get to use the software, but only as long as you pay the monthly subscription. The accumulated cost is very high indeed, but you are effectively paying a ransom to be able to continue to access the files you create using the software. Local copies of files are fine, but if you can't access the software to open the files, you will be stuck.

Can you download the issues as PDF files?

Is there a Kindle version available, because there is no annual subscription for the device, and the files are added to your perpetual "cloud" storage area?

Marcus

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

Apart from keeping my local newsagent in business a hard copy never expires and is user friendly.

I took my latest MEW to a doctor's appointment (to save reading the drama mags) and when the doc called me the bloke in the next chair asked me to leave it as he thought that I had picked it up from the pile.

Here's an idea Neil, send all unused copies of the mag to doctor's/dentist's/outpatient's waiting rooms.

Could be tax deduction for spare copies (ask the bean counters) but more importantly, potential new model engineers.

* Danny M *

[Stephen BensonParticipant @stephenbenson75261]

That is insane, on pocketmags I have access to all the mag's I have ever bought from them stored in "my Library" any articles of particular interest I print to PDF and store on my computer.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Posted by Sam Longley 1 on 06/03/2017 08:02:20:

I had tried down loading the copies but never actually managed that so not sure if that was what I was supposed to do or not.

Probably where the problem lies, where were you viewing them? If just via this website then you will not have them available, if on Pocketmags they should still be available.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

As Jason says, all your subscription copies are still available to you through Pocketmags and if you download them to your device you can keep them as long as you want, just like paper copies and even read them offline.

Access to the website archive of back issues is a bonus for digital subscribers (who buy their subscription direct from MyTimeMedia) that lasts for the duration of your digital sub.

Unfortunately a small number of subscribers just access the archive and don't realise they can permanently download their pocketmag issues.

Please check this page for details:

http://www.model-engineer.co.uk/editorial/page.asp?p=1334

Neil

 

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 06/03/2017 08:55:20

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 06/03/2017 08:55:39

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Marcus Bowman on 06/03/2017 08:12:06:

So it seems as though we buy access only and not actually a copy of the magazine.

No, see above, you get a digital copy to keep, just as if you had bought a digital music album.

Neil

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

ME and MEW are unique in that people actually want to re-read them unlike most newspapers and lifestyle mags. Buy a cinema ticket and you get a one off view, pay TV licence tax even if you only watch adverts. How do you feel about having to pay tax for schools even though you have no children and health insurance but stay out of hospital. Most of the cost of your football ticket goes to some fat cat manager or player and if you keep your money in the bank it just goes to the fat cat banker.

Some things are good value. Get a decent lathe and it lasts 50 years. Buy the paper mags and ditto.

Half the cost of living in the UK is paying for nothing so just think of this as part of that cost of your pleasure and security.

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 06/03/2017 08:54:48:

As Jason says, all your subscription copies are still available to you through Pocketmags and if you download them to your device you can keep them as long as you want, just like paper copies and even read them offline.

Access to the website archive of back issues is a bonus for digital subscribers (who buy their subscription direct from MyTimeMedia) that lasts for the duration of your digital sub.

Unfortunately a small number of subscribers just access the archive and don't realise they can permanently download their pocketmag issues.

Please check this page for details:

http://www.model-engineer.co.uk/editorial/page.asp?p=1334

Neil

Which then tells me that my order No is invalid & to click the link for help which then leads me to a page which no longer exists as a help page but would like to sell me more magazines !!!!!!

I did try down loading the mag before on both Ipad & laptop & failed miserably

But to be honest the magazine is not for me. I had thought of getting a totally different couple of titles from Time media but this has taught me a lesson so I will not get caught again.

Thanks for trying anyway

Sam L

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Sam Longley 1 on 06/03/2017 11:38:54:

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 06/03/2017 08:54:48:

As Jason says, all your subscription copies are still available to you through Pocketmags and if you download them to your device you can keep them as long as you want, just like paper copies and even read them offline.

Access to the website archive of back issues is a bonus for digital subscribers (who buy their subscription direct from MyTimeMedia) that lasts for the duration of your digital sub.

Unfortunately a small number of subscribers just access the archive and don't realise they can permanently download their pocketmag issues.

Please check this page for details:

http://www.model-engineer.co.uk/editorial/page.asp?p=1334

Neil

Which then tells me that my order No is invalid & to click the link for help which then leads me to a page which no longer exists as a help page but would like to sell me more magazines !!!!!!

I did try down loading the mag before on both Ipad & laptop & failed miserably

But to be honest the magazine is not for me. I had thought of getting a totally different couple of titles from Time media but this has taught me a lesson so I will not get caught again.

Thanks for trying anyway

Sam L

Sam,

If you email help@pocketmags.com and copy it to help@me.secureorder.com they will get it sorted out for you.

The digital copies are yours and you should be able to access them.

Neil

[AndyAParticipant @andya]

So does that mean you need accounts with both MTM and Pocketmags?

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

No, you only need a pocketmags account to view your magazines, but a forum account is needed to view the archive if you have a live digital sub.

Problems arise when people only have a forum account and don't activate pocketmags.

You can also set up a subscriptions account to manage your sub.

Neil

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

I've logged into pocket mags, MEW is only available back to Dec 2015 which I supose is when I went digital, but I can't for the life of me work out how to download them to my PC. I've tried following the links above, I think I finished up in Scunthorpe. HELLLLLP

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