Musings from Brian J. Noggle: I Don't Just Want To Cancel; I Want To Besmirch, Too

I Don't Just Want To Cancel; I Want To Besmirch, Too

So I've mentioned that I've fallen back into the BOMC, buying a handful of the books so I could get some relatively recent titles for less than full price. Well, now. It required the commitment of buying one more book over the course of a year at regular club prices, and I ordered Robert Crais's Chasing Darkness. Then I marked the next mailing "Cancel" because I'd completed my obligation, right?

Wrong!

The next mailing came yesterday and said I was still obliged to buy a book. So I called to see what was up, if maybe my payment for the Crais book hadn't cleared. Oh, but no. The fellow politely explained that the book I bought was on a "promotion" price, not regular club price, so it did not count. I asked if this was all noted in the mailed catalog materials, and he said it was.

So I looked.

Oh, yeah, here's where it says only books over $13.98 count:

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It is right there. But the catalog could be a little more explicit, no? I mean, they call it "Member's Edition" price regardless of whether it's "Promotion" (doesn't count) or regular (does count).

Here, let me illustrate some of the pages to identify for you what counts and doesn't count. Since Book-of-the-Month Club does its bed to obfuscate it.

The new Spenser is out, and old ones are available, but do not count:

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The new David Balducci is out, but again, if you want the old ones, they don't count unless you spend $14 on them:

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Poor Anne Perry; none of her books fulfill the members' obligations:

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And those books printed on the inside of the envelope? Good luck.

In case you're bored enough to actually look at what's inside the envelope

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Of course, outside the BOMC News flier, your odds are probably worse.

Meanwhile, today I got the chastising letter that I'm trying to slip out of my agreed to obligations:

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Don't worry. I will fulfill my obligation now that I understand it. Also, note that I will never, ever play this game again. Increased deception-lite, cheaper books (newsprint pages, almost), and the double-gotcha "Dual Selections"--you can just continue faltering. Your business model has always been based on taking advantage of your customers, but I hate to see how much further you'll go before collapsing under your own negative brand management.

- posted by Brian J. @ 3:00 PM