Hello again, all. I posted this afternoon at the Ferrets Magazine
message board and I don't know what happened, there must have been a
glitch in the system because BOTH of my posts have been deleted...
weird!!

Anyhow, since I don't know if there will be a glitch again, I'm going
to post my argument for FM to remain in print here, don't know if it
will help but certainly more people will see it if I put it here if it
accidentally gets deleted again!

Yes, I am the one who cross posted it. Just like everyone else, I think
the way it was done wasn't right. It is poor customer service to say
'oh hey guys, one more issue and then we're done!' Lack of traffic on
the web site means there is little interest in the magazine? So you
move the magazine to the web site? Does that make as much sense to
everyone else as it does me...??

1) Lack of interest in a web site does NOT mean there is a lack of
interest in the magazine. Just as pretty much everyone who has posted
here says, there will now most likely be a lack of interest in the
magazine because it was moved online, not the other way around.

2) Economic factors - ok, I understand this one, the price of
EVERYTHING is going up, believe me, I know this - I work in the oil
industry. HOWEVER, why not give us a warning and say something to the
effect of 'hey guys, prices are going up, here are the options - we
stop printing the magazine and go online or we raise subscription
prices'. I would have paid more and I'm not the only one who (in
private conversation with me) has agreed with that. Sure, you may
have lost a few people but now you're losing A LOT of people and
you're going to be refunding a lot of money.

3) People get information from web sites, yes. But do you get the FML?
When the new issues come out, do you see how much conversation is
generated from the actual hard copies of FM and how much information
we get from it and then share online?

I understand that you guys all probably talked about all of this for a
very long time, as business decisions like this are not made overnight.
However, the way you sprung it on us makes it seem like someone just
woke up one day and said 'oh, hey, let's stop printing FM' I'm sorry
and I am repeating myself but this just screams poor customer service.

I called and was given a refund of my money. I was given a phone
number, I still don't know where this person found it but I called
it and will get my money. I think it should have been printed on the
letters that were sent out that if we weren't interested in any of the
other magazines, we could get a refund. Did you want that kept secret
too, so you wouldn't be losing as much money? *tsk tsk tsk*

FatherNature, I'm really sorry to hear about what happened with you
guys. Do you get the FML? Maybe you could post on there and get some
donations or something to help you with your surgeries? I know quite
a few shelters have raffles on the FML and I guess they raise pretty
good money through that.

In closing, I guess this explains why you weren't at the York show in
Dec. It's funny I didn't put 2 & 2 together when you weren't there -
The Ferret Store wasn't at the last show they could have attended right
before Fosters & Smith bought them out. Fool me once, shame on you -
fool me twice, shame on me. I guess not realizing that was my bad.

By the way, aside from 'more frequent updates than a bi-monthly print
issue', what are the positives of going online, again? A bunch of angry
ferret owners?

Since permission to cross post was NOT given, I'll just mention that if
you go to the link that I gave out yesterday, you'll find the board and
where I posted this. : D

~Tammy - a.k.a. Kesrael

"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by
the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the
shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be the blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king."
"May it be you journey on To light the day; When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun"

[Posted in FML 5863]