Subscriptions – Going Forward

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Following an email I sent to Mortons earlier, I have been asked to post the following:

How will this affect my subscription?

– For subscribers to Model Engineer: The value of your remaining issues will be transferred to the new Model Engineer & Workshop magazine.

– For non-Direct Debit subscribers to both Model Engineer and Model Engineers’ Workshop: Your Model Engineer & Workshop subscription will be extended by the equivalent value of the remaining issues from your Model Engineer subscription.

– For Direct Debit subscribers to both Model Engineer and Model Engineers’ Workshop: You will instead receive the equivalent value of your remaining Model Engineer issues as a subscription to The Railway Magazine, another title published by Mortons Media Group Ltd. Your Model Engineers’ Workshop subscription will continue under the new title of Model Engineer & Workshop. We understand that these changes might not suit everyone. If this is the case, please contact us on 01507 529529 or email emailqueries@mortons.co.uk, and we’ll be happy to suggest an alternative magazine or arrange a refund.

For those who subscribe to Model Engineer’s Workshop only, your subscription will continue as usual, and you’ll receive the new Model Engineer and Workshop magazine, now bigger and better!

Key Dates:
The final issue of Model Engineer will be Issue 4761, on sale 24 January 2025.
The first issue of Model Engineer and Workshop will be Mar-25 on sale 21 February 2025.

Thank you for your continued support!

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

The following may not very relevant yet but it might be in a few weeks time when searching on the forum when or refering to back issue articles.

We shorten the current magazine titles to ME or MEW, but the new one could be ME&W or MEAW (or something else?), what do we think the (Mortons) preferred abreviation should be?

Ian P

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

I would as a first choice still use MEW, second choice would be ME&W. Noel.

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

Jason,

I am feeling a bit thick at the moment and am struggling to make sense of the process that will be followed if you have Direct Debit subscriptions to both magazines running concurrently as I do.

If the DD for MEW is the one that will go forward with the new magazine then surely I should get a refund from the DD already paid towards ME, not have The Railway Magazine foisted upon me.  Surely Mortons should be contacting me/others about a refund not taking the easy way out and giving me/us a magazine we do not want, or putting the onus on us to contact them re a refund/alternative.

Colin

[Chris GillParticipant @chrisgill22114]

I completely agree with Colin – I don’t want to be fobbed off with a magazine I have no interest in.

I believe I agreed to purchase Model Engineer, I did not agree to buy some other publication so, surely, this is Morton’s changing the contract without my agreement. And without bothering to communicate with me.

This makes me less than likely to subscribe in future. If they want to keep customers they need to learn to respect them.

Chris

[Stuart Smith 5Participant @stuartsmith5]

Looking again at the info from Morton’s, it doesn’t make sense. I think some of the text is missing. Of course I may be wrong!

I certainly don’t want a different magazine.

Stuart

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

P**s up in a brewery comes to mind

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Yes – may we have that paragraph with the The Railway Magazine reference, re-written properly, please?

Like the others here, I don’t want to buy TRM as well as MEW, MEAW ME&W or whatever its official abbreviation; though I think I buy by annual invoice, not DD.

Indeed, the entire press-release from Morton’s makes a Telecommunications Company T&Cs look a model of clarity!

Also, may we know the preferred, archiving abbreviation for Model Engineer And Workshop – a somewhat clumsy title anyway, I think, though to be fair I can’t immediately concoct anything a bit more mellifluous.

 

Let’s look back a century…

Do we know how The Model Engineer & Electrician was officially abbreviated, to use as a template? I have a bound volume from 1917, and that gives no abbreviation, but interestingly the Readers’ Letters are all prefaced, “To the Editor of The Model Engineer; Dear Sir,” so omitting the & Electrician phrase.

Perhaps this will give a clue to what may happen: we will simply omit the & Workshop in common use. It may indeed be better if Mortons simply admit what they are doing – closing Model Engineer’s Workshop and transferring its contents to ME – by just retaining the Model Engineer title.

Indeed, that would respect and reclaim the publication’s original spirit. Browsing that volume shows in Percival Marshall’s day, it was effectively The Model Engineer, Electrician & Workshop, even though as Editor, Mr. Marshall used only the first noun in the letters’ headings.

I even spotted a short article on using the wind to power a generator – whatever will they think of next?

 

 

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, I also agree with Colin. My subscription is for Model Engineer, and I don’t want any other magazines as a replacement. Morton’s are ceasing the Model Engineer one, as a separate magazine, not me cancelling my subscription, so they should refund any remaining subscription, or carry it forward to ME&W, until it is used up. When EIM finished, they refunded all the remaining subscription without any fuss, and without having to ask for it.

Regards Nick.

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Like the above posters I don’t want a different magazine to “use up” the balance of my Model Engineer subscription.

In this day and age of electronic banking issuing pro rata refunds should be pretty much automatic.

The last time a magazine died on me mid subscription a refund cheque (it was along time ago!) arrived quite promptly. Readers were also told of the forthcoming demise in the magazine itself several months beforehand. I want to say that the subscription process was suspended immediately when future cessation of publication was announced, 4 or more months ahead but after so many years memory may be in error. Not even sure which magazine it was.

I would say that Model Engineer was well past its formal warning for cancellation. That “Eating of Elephants” drivel was very much the last last straw.Heck even the authors mother must have given up by now.

One very hard thing that a practically orientated hobby magazine has to get right is a certain leavening of interesting articles that pretty much any reader will be happy to read. Way back Jeynes Corner did that pretty well being readable about things of no proper interest. Of necessity most of the projects in practical orientated magazine cover things many readers aren’t specifically interested in doing get speed read to see if there are nuggets worth stealing for your own use. The older the reader the rarer the nuggets. Having subscribed to ME since 1971 its pretty rare for me to find real novelty.

All I ask of ME and MEW is an average of one nugget per issue per year. ME dropped below that some time ago but Lurker and his different approach to model locomotives made me sit up and take notice of the bits between the lines. Hard as my interest in locos is near enough negative. But techniques…

Regrettably the nugget count in MEW is fading. Maybe another years subscription, maybe not, on current trajectory.

Clive

 

[BazParticipant @baz89810]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>I paid my model Engineer direct debit just before Christmas, cost me £68.00 and my understanding at that time was that I was purchasing 12 months worth of Model Engineer magazines at a rate of two per month, as it has been for years. If I had been aware of these coming changes I would not have subscribed, I want Model Engineer, not a hybrid of ME and MEW. I believe I am entitled to a refund.</p>

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Like Baz I renewed my subscription barely a month ago. I sought council and was assured that all was well ! I paid for 12 months at a rate of 2 issues a month and that’s what I want ! I DO NOT WANT some railway magazine I have no interest in.

If Mortons are not sharp they will loose the whole affair, both titles ! Noel.

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

On Saturday the 4th I had an email from Classic Magazines (model Engineer) offering me a subscription for 26 copies at £68.

The offer included a free T-shirt.

I don’t wear T-shirts!

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Nothing to do with me I just gave then a nudge and that is what came back, I’m just the messenger.

Extract from the email I sent

“On our forum and others the question is being asked why there is still an option to take out  subscriptions to both magazines. Emails also being sent out to renew or take out new subs with no explanation of the imminent changes.

Seems a good way to P**s off a new or existing subscriber if a week or two later he finds he won’t be getting what he thought he would.”

And my reply to what you see posted above.

“I expect the DD subscribes may not be happy with a railway title but you have made provision for that. Personally I would have treated it like the paragraph above and just carried anyones total value to the new title.”

 

I would also point those commenting in the direction of Neil’s initial announcement where he said

There are many different permutations of readership and subscriptions, complicated by around a quarter of the readership taking both titles. All subscribers will be contacted soon with full details of the changes.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I do not blame Neil, the editor. 

I doubt he has much say in the matter, if any.

Mortons’ sales office (presumably) issuing of poorly-composed statements, cf. “no-one was available for comment but issued a statement” on the Today programme, is not good enough.

This company should have explained long before now, properly and clearly what it will be doing and how it will affect subscribers – who are after all its employers. Not make vague “soon” promises and statements as clear as well-used cutting-fluid…. .

If this nonsense continues like thet, I may start worrying Mortons is really trying to kill off sales by making the titles and service unattractive, so as to justify to itself closing both titles altogether.

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

They are still sending me reminders to renew my MEW subscription “NOW” as I only have two months left, but no mention of the change in that email.  If I wasn’t on this forum I would not be aware of what is going on.

Russell

 

[Russell Eberhardt]

On Russell Eberhardt Said:

They are still sending me reminders to renew my MEW subscription “NOW” as I only have two months left, but no mention of the change in that email.  If I wasn’t on this forum I would not be aware of what is going on.

Russell

 

Being on continuous Direct Debit, I have seen none of that nonsense … but I do find it rather worrying in respect of the ‘Administration’

MichaelG.

[Ian P]

On Ian P Said:

The following may not very relevant yet but it might be in a few weeks time when searching on the forum when or refering to back issue articles.

We shorten the current magazine titles to ME or MEW, but the new one could be ME&W or MEAW (or something else?), what do we think the (Mortons) preferred abreviation should be?

Ian P

At last a question with a definitive answer:

ME&W

Although my email will stay as meweditor@mortons.co.uk as adding an ampersand in an email address is not allowed. In time, Martin Evans’ meeditor@mortons.co.uk address will forward to me as well.

Neil

[WearyParticipant @weary]

Jason,

Thanks for your efforts in pursuing this matter on our behalf.

I find it extraordinary that Morton’s asked you, a volunteer moderator and non employee, to post a response on their behalf, and that somebody from Morton’s has not responded directly on this thread nor on the forum generally on this matter.

Anyway, thanks again Jason.

Phil

[Colin Heseltine]

On Colin Heseltine Said:

Jason,

I am feeling a bit thick at the moment and am struggling to make sense of the process that will be followed if you have Direct Debit subscriptions to both magazines running concurrently as I do.

If the DD for MEW is the one that will go forward with the new magazine then surely I should get a refund from the DD already paid towards ME, not have The Railway Magazine foisted upon me.  Surely Mortons should be contacting me/others about a refund not taking the easy way out and giving me/us a magazine we do not want, or putting the onus on us to contact them re a refund/alternative.

Colin

Hi Colin,

You will be contacted soon, the process for choosing a refund will be kept as simple as possible and should be as simple as sending a brief email, no more complex than that.

Neil

[Peter Cook 6Participant @petercook6]

A related query.

I have a rolling DD subscription to MEW, so there is no real issue for me, however one of the most useful features of my subscription is access to the archives.

What will happen to archive access when the magazines are combined? Will my existing MEW  subscription provide access to both archives?

Apologies if I have missed some  announcement post giving this information.

[Chris Gill]

On Chris Gill Said:

I completely agree with Colin – I don’t want to be fobbed off with a magazine I have no interest in.

I believe I agreed to purchase Model Engineer, I did not agree to buy some other publication so, surely, this is Morton’s changing the contract without my agreement. And without bothering to communicate with me.

This makes me less than likely to subscribe in future. If they want to keep customers they need to learn to respect them.

Chris

Hi Chris,

The decision on subscriptions was only finalised yesterday, the announcement above is a courtesy to forum members. All subscribers will also receive information in both magazines, and in a cover letter, and all subscribers we have details for will receive an email as well. Please don’t think that the changes will be made without bothering to communicate.

The subscription T&Cs state; “6.1 The seller reserves the right to substitute goods of an equivalent or better specification or design.” – this is a standard clause for subscriptions, as these circumstances do happen from time to time.

Note that the T&Cs also state: “You may switch to another one of our titles for the remainder of your subscription. The new issues allocated will be based upon the value of the existing subscription. If you have any questions on this, please call us on: 01507 529529 (Mon-Fri 9-5)” so the right to change your magazine is balanced by a right for you to switch whenever you want.

In addition to these contractual obligations, Mortons have decided it is fair to offer the option of a refund as well.

I hope that clarifies the situation.

Neil

 

[Nicholas Farr]

On Nicholas Farr Said:

Hi, I also agree with Colin. My subscription is for Model Engineer, and I don’t want any other magazines as a replacement. Morton’s are ceasing the Model Engineer one, as a separate magazine, not me cancelling my subscription, so they should refund any remaining subscription, or carry it forward to ME&W, until it is used up. When EIM finished, they refunded all the remaining subscription without any fuss, and without having to ask for it.

Regards Nick.

Hi Nick,

I’d just like to stress that requesting a refund is just a brief email to queries@mortons.co.uk, it doesn’t even have to be as long as your post.

Neil

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Well we have got the abbreviation, just need to decide on the cover layout now as two versions seem to be getting implemented. I would have thought it a good opportunity to bring the style and font into line with the two other titles and like model boat Make the “Model” smaller as the main content seems it will be as per current MEW

This is different to what is being used at the top of the forum

[Neil Wyatt]

On Neil Wyatt Said:

On Ian P Said:

The following may not very relevant yet but it might be in a few weeks time when searching on the forum when or refering to back issue articles.

We shorten the current magazine titles to ME or MEW, but the new one could be ME&W or MEAW (or something else?), what do we think the (Mortons) preferred abreviation should be?

Ian P

At last a question with a definitive answer:

ME&W

Although my email will stay as meweditor@mortons.co.uk as adding an ampersand in an email address is not allowed. In time, Martin Evans’ meeditor@mortons.co.uk address will forward to me as well.

Neil

Thank you Neil
At last an difinitive answer!

I wish you and the ME&W magazine all the best for 2025 and beyond.

Ian P

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