04-27-2009 UPDATE KC STAR CARRIER DISCUSSES TV GUIDE "...re: StarTV guide charge...they are printed separately & carriers stuff them in for no extra pay. The Star still considers StarTV as part of the Sunday paper when it comes two their interests in raking carriers/subscribers over coals. "FYI: we pay for the daily bags out of our pockets...of course these cost much more on Sundays. Customers don't consider this aspect when they request an extra bag and basically ask us to throw it for free or risk a $5 complaint charge deducted from our check if they call to report a wet paper. "I've been delivering papers (more than 15 years) and can't see how the Star can claim it's customer-driven. If that's the case, loyal customers are in for a heck of a ride while the Star defends these terrible business decisions to save on printing. Thanks."
03-09-2009/03-13-2009 KC STAR NOW SELLING ITS OWN TV SECTION How bad are things at the Kansas City Star these days? So bad that the newspaper is now going to charge customers 25 cents extra each week if they want its flimsy, 12-page StarTV section that has been included in its Sunday paper for years. Home delivery customers will no longer receive the section after April 5 unless they agree to pay the surcharge. In fact, if the carriers forget to deliver the paper they could be penalized up to $5 per customer. Logistically (see comment below) it will be a nightmare for carriers to determine who paid the 25 cents for the section. Also, the section is printed inside other sections. Will carriers have to pull them out of those customers who did not pay the extra quarter? Rather than attempt a rate increase, the paper simply hopes its loyal subscribers will agree to pay for something it agreed to as part of its subscription. Ironically, when many subscribers signed up to take the newspaper it was 2-3 times the size it is today. However, as the paper has continued to dramatically sink in size and editorial space (with many of its finest writers and editors having been let go), the cost has never been reduced. In the future readers wouldn't be surprised if the newspaper tries to charge customers extra for its crossword puzzle, comics, sports section, FYI, etc. Pay an extra fee to have your paper delivered in a bag or get it soaked? Business personnel announcements used to be free, but now can cost up to $200 each; wedding notices, engagements, anniversaries and obituaries are other examples of services the Star used to provide for free, but now charge a hefty fee. If the Star is at the point it feels the need to squeeze existing customers a quarter for a section that was agreed upon as part of its subscription price, then there is no end to what the McClatchy-owned paper will charge for in the future. It would be like a car dealer selling you a car and a year later stopping by to charge you extra for one of the tires. It is a business model doomed to failure.
FEEDBACK (04-05-2009)
Thank you for your excellent reporting on the Kansas City Star. Of course, we got caught up in the mess of no TV Guide this morning, then they promised they'd send one out,and then refused. The poor customer service employee who had to listen to me after that mess....oh well. You are doing a great job!
You are doing an awesome job. I knew about the T.V. Guide change long before others did, due to Kris Ketz Twittering your website. I didn't call the 1-800 number it, cause I'm not sure the Kansas City Star ran the ads. I read it from from front to back. Of course, we got caught up in that mess today. Today, we called and placed the order for the .25 added onto the bill.We just paid our bill on March 13th, for the entire year, the day before I read bottomlinecom.com. Then, I began to see we probably made a mistake.
I have an 86 year old step dad, who is only interested in the T.V. Guide. I didn't get one today. I called the paper, we paid for the T.V. guide, I explained what was going on,and was promised a T.V. Guide section to be thrown this morning. I called in plenty of time, and I was kind. I went and had my taxes done,and did some other things, and realized at 1:00, they had not provided us with a T.V. Guide. So, I called them. This time I wasn't nice. In fact, I was very inappropriate. They assured me I'd get a T.V. guide in tomorrow's paper, the section. I yelled, and said, "I can go up to Hy-Vee and get today's paper, if I have to, but if I have to print off a T.V. guide section, I'm sending the bill for the paper and ink to the Star." That was the polite, repeatable words I said. The rest, I'm not typing. I like the newspaper,and don't mind paying for it. I'm mad cause I paid for it, and no one told me a thing about these troubles until March 14th, and it was your website I'm getting my information from. (By the way,there wasn't a thing in the paper about letting those great journalist go. I looked.) I am grateful.
...You were exactly right in everything you've stated on your website. I read your website every day. You keep us alert, and I'm looking for the Kansas City Star to eventually stop circulation, and those of us who paid our entire yearly bills (without any notices of any changes, by the way, with the bill) we'll be out of luck. So, thank you so much for your excellent reporting.
(03-10-2009):
"I couldn't agree more with your analogy. As a long-time subscriber, it is very depressing to open an ever-shrinking newspaper every morning, and this note just annoyed me to no end. How about charging everyone who's downloading the schedule from the web a quarter each time instead?" PS: And if you type in the web address mentioned in this notice, you get a 'page not found' error. Nice!
03-13-2009 "I am wondering exactly how they are gonna take the tv section out of the Sunday paper as it is printed with/inside another section at the same time on the same press using the Sunday circ. numbers. And being that it goes straight to P&D to get stacked and then it gets the insert treatment. Btw, it was printed this morning."
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