magazine subscription pet peeve

[Connonym]

There are a lot of things that piss me off about subscribing to magazines (renewal notices after the first issue, huge variants in subscription prices, those stupid postcards, etc.) but what I really hate is when you subscribe to a new magazine you never know how long it's going to take and my subscription invariably starts with an issue I've already purchased at the store. I wish they'd ASK you when you would like your subscription to start. How fucking hard would that be for them?

[Phentex]

1. They always do this! The only way around it is to

wait a month or two (or more!) so that you haven't seen them yet. It stinks to get 3 at the same time and realize they're old issues. I have often wanted to complain to the publisher, but it seems like most of them do this.

[Connonym]

2. exactly! It's like they're dumping their extras on you

I did once complain, can't remember which magazine, got 3 months' worth in a 2-week period. When I called customer service they extended my subscription so that I didn't have to pay for magazines I already had. But I hate going into something knowing that there's a good chance I'm going to have to make a stink about it.