India Today Subsciption / Subscirber No: ITE331705

          

I have a 10

year subscription to India Today with the above subscriber number.  India Today solicited this type of subscription through their magazines promising that subscribing to the above offer will insulate customers from any price increase for a period of 10 years.  However what they have not told is that the supply of magazines will be very erratic.  I have complaining to the India Today vide emails and telephone calls to their customer care for more than 3 months now on the following grounds:
1.  I do not sometimes receive issues of the magazine
2.  Sometimes the issue is delivered very late i.e., almost after 2-3 later issues are in the market - which defeats the very purpose of getting that magazine

          

First they said it is a courier problem - that the courier person was not delivering properly.  They said they will switch to a postal service.  Nowadays with the postal system being so good, I should be getting it in one day but still there are delays of more than 2 weeks when again - more than 2 later issues have come to the stands.

          

On contacting their Chennai office, I am told that since the subscribers in Chennai are low, the subscription copies are received only 3-4 days later than they are found in the news stands and then after that if they despatch it correctly, I will get an issue only when the next issue is already on the news stands.

          

When I asked for a refund, I was told that I should surrender some ’Cash Back’ certificate for which they have no proof that they have given one like that to me.  So in effect they have stopped my subscription and also not refunding my money.

          

In summary my complaint is that India Today is cheating customers in to entering into long term binding with them.  After collecting the money up front they are not ensuring the proper distribution to the customers and instead trying to go after issue-by-issue customers.

          

I am not interested in my money but I want India Today to publish the following sentence in big and bold lettering in all their communications with the customers where they are soliciting subscriptions: "INDIA TODAY DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE DELIVERY OF MAGAZINES EITHER ON TIME OR EVER AT ALL.  IN CASE THE NUMBER OF SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE LOW, THERE COULD BE INORDINATE DELAYS IN MAGAZINES REACHING YOU OR SOMETIMES NEVER AT ALL.  CUSTOMERS ARE INFORMED THAT ISSUES WILL BE AVAILABLE PROMPTLY ON NEWS STANDS BUT THE SAME CANNOT BE SAID ABOUT SUBSCRIPTION COPIES"

          

I have been cheated into entering a long term (10 years) binding with India Today which is almost worth Rs. 11000/- (eleven thousand) calculating at Rs. 20 per issue, 52 issues per year and for 10 years.  That is only the tangible amount.  The government is free to calculate the intangible in terms of value of trust placed on the publication, entertainment and knowledge value that was perceived that will be had by subscribing to this magazine and most important of all the value of cheating and tricking customers into getting into long term binding contracts.

How often is this magazine printed:	Weekly
Are you a subscriber:	Yes - For more than a year
If a subscriber, will you renew your subscription?	No - Not at all
If not a subscriber, how often do you buy this magazine:	No Comment