2nd Class Citizens

wyrm

wyrm

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2001
Messages
733
I really hate being treated like a second-class person by larger corps, just because I live in Canada.

The new Tactical Knives has been on the stands for at least 2 weeks, but I have yet to receive my subscription copy. I subscribed because I moved and the only store I could find it in was half-way across the city. I also had to pay at least full newstand price if not more due to the exchange rate and extra they charge for 'foreign' deliveries. The last time this happened, I called and complained, it only took 4 days for a replacement copy to arrive, one day after the original copy showed up.

I think we Canucks are the only people getting screwed by the magazines and it drives me bonkers. I'm venting, but does anyone have an explanation (not an excuse) for this kind of poor Customer Service?

Dale.
 
All mags now have websites. I would visit the one for TK and express your feelings. They probably can't do much about the price probs, as that is a function of the exchange rate. But maybe something can be done about service.

The US dollar is extremely strong relative almost all other world currencies. This is both good and bad, even from the American perspective. We can travel and purchase abroad at very favorable rates, on one hand, yet nobody wants to buy our products abroad due to the absurd prices, so our balance of payments probs get worse.

Go figure. :( :(
 
Rather than out of some desire to treat Canadians poorly, the problems may simply arise as part of the complications in sending mail from country to country in large quantities. Complaining, no doubt, gets you a response mailed to you individually -- whereas the original shipments of magazines are all sent by some sort of cheaper bulk rate, ultra-last-class. Even in the states, magazines usually hit the newsstands before they arrive in subscribers' mail boxes.
 
Let me go on record stating that you are NOT a second class citizen with regards to U.S.-based companies, you are not a citizen at all. There seems to be frequent confusion, but you do live in another country (I think it's independent, but maybe it's still a Brittish colony). You guys were invited to join in our revolution, but declined. There are still some barriers to commerce as a result of that choice. I wouldn't hold the magazines responsible.
 
Not anti-Canadian per se, just pro-American. Listen, those are American magazines. If you want them for the American price, then live in America. Pay in American dollars for your American products, and then you won't get reamed by the America/Canada exchange. Say America or any verbal derivation of America as many times as you can, and maybe those American magazine publishers will start sending those American magazines to your non-American country a little quicker, provided you don't whine about the non-American price.
 
You could get a green card, move to the U.S., and be a second-class citizen here. ;) That would result in you getting your "knife fix" a just a bit faster. Then you wouldn't "feel" like a second-class citizen anymore (a lesson in semantics). :)
 
Dale,
Being in roughly the same area as you :) , I can sympathize.
I used to get my subscription magazines 2 weeks after the newstands. To add insult to injury, they were usually, crinkled and had that "well read" look.
I could just picture the Post Office...
"Has everyone read this magazine that wants too?"
No? Well take it home for the kids, but bring it back soon, so we can deliver it..."
:rolleyes:
Rob
 
You've got a point Rob.

My wifes Home and Garden type magazines all arrive on time and immaculate condition, but my gun magazines are always late and in "not quite new" condition.

It's nice that my mailman is a gun nut, but I wish he'd get his OWN subscriptions!
(Hmmm, maybe I should leave him a G&A subscription for Xmas instead of a tip!)
:D
 
The explanation is very simple. Americans treat us badly because the bastids have a terrible inferiority complex. 1} Ever since we beat them in the war of 1812 they've been pissed. 2) Besides, they have teenie weeney little 'uns in comparison to the average Canadian John Thomas.
So what if they have the greatest military and economy in the world. They're just overcompensating. :D

[a little levity to celebrate my 1500th]
 
Oh Oh...:eek:
I just realized they were using inches and not centimeters.
Forgot reason #2 :D
 
Wyrm:

I know your situation seems bad, but 3rd class citizens have it even worse. Remember titanic? ........
 
It is true that subscriptions for some magazines take a lot longer to get to Canada than they do to the US. In most cases this is because these magazines use bulk mailing companies to distribute their publication. Canadian subscriptions make up a very small part of their overall sales. For this reason they not consider Canadian subscriptions to be a priority. Also, because they are American companies, they feel that getting out magazines to American customers first is the right thing to do. There is nothing wrong with having this attitude. If there were a Canadian knife magazine I think that I would expect to get my copy before people in foreign countries do.

As far as the price goes, it is not the exchange rate that causes the difference. Canadians must pay in US dollars so the exchange rate has nothing to do with it. The reason for the added cost is the price of mailing to Canada. It is at least a dollar more per issue to do so and probably more than that. This is a cost that must be passed on, so we Canadians will just have to live with it.

On the other hand, Canadians get a great deal at the news stand. The price in the US is $5.95, which at the current exchange rate would be about $9.15, but we pay only $6.95. People that put out magazines know that they would never sell in Canada if they were sold at the actual exchange rate, so they subsidize them. Since I have found it cheaper to buy US magazines off the news rack than to subscribe, the price of a subscription does not concern me.

Maybe you could try asking a store closer to you if they would be willing to bring in your knife magazines for you. You just never know, they might be able to do this for you.
 
Before people complain that the original poster should move to America (which is hard to do, unless you can't speak english and have no skills: I know, I tried) due to the complaining about the price, please re-read the original complaint. The citing of the price difference is just adding emphasis to the main point. Canadians pay nearly newsstand price on Tac Knives: no savings. Why would a Canadian want a subscription then? Well, companies like subscriptions, it is a way of showing how much you like a company's mag, and you get it regularly in the mail. if youa ren't getting your mag until 2+ weeks AFTER IT IS ON YOUR NEWSSTANDS, what is the point of getting a subscription?

That is the point of the original post. I doubt very much that we get our American knife magazines 2 weeks late due to some ill felt conclusion of Canada's choice not to join in the American Revolution. Razor's post is probably spot on.

Everything I get through the border takes a bit. If you were a customs guy and a load of knife mags and some new folders came in, wouldn't you grab a folder and some mags, sit on the can, read the articles and flick the knife? :D
 
There's a simple reason why it takes so long to get the magazines -

The stores get them UPS'ed to their distribution centers in mass quantities. Zips right through customs, etc. That's why the stores get them before we do in America as well.

Mail sucks, nothing you can do about it.

Kevin
 
e-mail sucks too when you get 600 a day right Spark :) I bet if I beat Morse Code on a drum Spark would get my message faster than he'd get to reading an e-mail from me!
 
Sorry, mgeoffriau, I got a little scared of the way this thread was headed, so I retracted my worthless two cents :).

Looks like it's under control though, and people have made some good points. The last thing I wanted to do was add to what the Southpark movie started ;).

Professor.
 
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