Hi all... I have an update
I contacted ACD and told them I wasn't happy waiting five months for a subscription that was supposed to be with me 6-8 weeks after paying... you have to admit I've been pretty patient. I decided to bombard everyone that had a link on the ACD website (that would be of any use to me) Anyways... these re my responses:
From Brenda:
"Hello, Fiona. Yes, it is true that we are upgrading. The system should be completed and in place by the end of this month and we will all be relieved. Thank you for your patience in this time. If you subscribed in Sep 06, our system will show that next week. In the mean time, I would like to send you out the Dec/Jan and Feb/Mar issues you would have been due. "
And from the Publisher
"Hello Fiona,
I am sorry you've had trouble communicating with our customer service about your subscription. We are in the midst of changing firms that we work with to handle subscriptions because we've had some problems with them. Hopefully things will improve with the new company. I will be happy to check on the status of your subscription for you when the database is available. I appreciate you providing me with the information about your payment as that will help me figure out the problem In the meantime I would like to send you the issues that you were supposed to have received. Can you please provide me with your complete mailing address? "
These are pretty much the same responses I know, but the fact that EVERYONE I emailed replied to me (there are others, but they had the same line of information so I didn't put them here)... Anyways... sounds like they have had some major inhouse issues and are in the midst of fixing them.
Thanks again to whomever posted the details of Brenda - you were a huge help - hopefully I will see a magazine in the very near future!
-- Fi
All I can say is 
sometimes, but then again, I quite enjoy what DH calls my "Cake Porn" when I get a magazine because it usually means I'm going to be soaking in the tub to read it from cover to cover 
O.k. on a couple things... Dee Dalquist (sp?) the original owner/publisher of MBN is who died about a year or two ago, but a few years before that is when Grace McNamara took over..
Next issue: The subscriptions... Just when they had a system that was good and working, the company they were using bailed ship. Gone... Poof... Out of Business... Prior to that they were doing FANTASTIC on making sure the magazines were out on a deadline.
I've actually been to their office as it's about 20 minutes from where I live, and Moy is right, they don't have a very large staff or office for that matter. I will say though it was surprising one night when I was walking through Sam's buying the food for an ICES meeting and there stood Craig Gustafson 
.. LOL... Yea, I was not exactly well dressed at that moment (in other words, I looked just presentable to go to the store, but not really enough to interact with someone)..
As for the response I mentioned, that's because everyone on the boards here, the other cake site I go to, and everyone in the area (Moy) gets their copies before I do... They ship out of New Richmond, WI... I can drive 30 minutes and get the copy myself or I can wait for weeks after everyone else has theirs... But, it's the nature of the shipping and how the postage rate they have works (different zips actually leave the P.O. on different days), so it's something that's out of the control of ACD or MBN at that point.
Now, to find out what cake stores around here sell ACD because I think I'm going to miss this issue because DH never gave me the $$ for updating my subscription... And, like others experience, (MBN) it's ALWAYS at the cake store LONG before it comes in the mail...
Feefs -- I find your reply from the Editor very interesting. Last year, just about this time I e-mailed the Editor because I had sent a check for both ACD, and MBN about 5 or 6 months prior and had never received an issue. My check had been cashed within a month of mailing it. Without ever receiving an issue of either magazine, I received a notice that my subscription had expired! After receiving my e-mail, the Editor called me. He gave me pretty much word for word, the same story you got. Funny it's a year later and they are still having the same problem. I should be getting magazines up thru the April/May issues, but once again I got a notice that my subscriptions have expired and the magazines have stopped. I give up. It's not worth giving myself high blood pressure over. I did enjoy the magazines I received, but I will not renew my subscription.
Wait a minute, did I see correctly? Was Mary Alice from Charm City CAkes posting on here?
I too am frustrated with this. I have also been waiting since September and have not gotten one issue. Now, they are behind on two issues and when I receive those "Back issues" winter will be over. Although there were wonderful things in these books, my husband and I don't have money to throw away. I have decided not to order them again. What a bummer for the publishing company, they lost my money, because of problems.
Moydear, I understand completely about the people being wonderful. I also understand when life happens. Unfortunatley I also understand how the other people feel. Some have been waiting 2 months, but there are other people that have been waiting 4 months for their first issue. That is what I think is irritating. Also, last time I ordered I only recieved 3 issues, then they told me my subscription was up. I paid for 6 issues and only received 3.
By all means, I don't think anyone is bad mouthing the individuals. I think they are just truly frustrasted with the situation and having no control over it.
Just my thoughts....
If they are mad at the company than they are mad at the people who run the company.
They will be at UMBC next week.
As I said in a previous post that they are members to this forum. I just think that it is bad form to talk ill will about someone, somebody or the company when they frequent this forum.
With a size of company like this I agree, they are also mad at the people if they are mad at the company. Some people, whether they know it or not, may not really be mad with the company but the situation.
That is what I am irritated with. Not the company, not the people, the situation. I am pretty sure on their end they are irritated with the situation also, getting a ton of phone calls and emails that they to have no control over.
Like I said, sometimes people say they are mad at the company, a person, put sometimes it may just be the circumstance. You know the saying (wrong place at the wrong time). Same goes here. (Ordered a new subscription at the wrong time.) Noones fault, just the situation.
Now, I may be completely wrong, but I would like to think that they are just irritated with the situation.
I get that they are irritated with the situation I just think that if I were a member and came across this post I would be hurt.
Sometimes things are out of our control. Where I used to work they stopped giving out Balloons because of the helium shortage. Now all the kids are mad but what can you do right-out of our control.
If the Data base is not accessable by the company then you really have no choice correct.
It would seem that they have had trouble with this and it is something that is not fixed by pushing a button.
I think the wait is worth it. I love getting my cake "porn" as couture said!
Nothings new..... 3 years ago when I ordered ACD, I kept waiting and waiting and waiting. After 4 months I called to inquire and the lady on the phone was extremely nice and sent me the back issues. No problems since! Now I just made a change of address , so lets see how that goes.
i am just irritated with the situation, not the people personally. i wasn't told that i would get any back issues and what i'm afraid of is that i won't get the number of issues that i paid for. 
i understand that some employees may visit this forum but they also work for a business and business is business. when you are taking someone's money and not providing the product or service that was promised, its definitely cause for complaint.
i'm sure everyone who works there and also frequents this forum understands why we are venting. again, it is not a personal thing at all.
If we're not going to say anything against any company that may frequent here - or people that work for that company who come here - then we're going to have to go back and take off all of the posts about Wilton products not working or being poor quality or the fondant tasting bad..... I appreciate honest opinions and customer reviews. I think it benefits all of us.
it is true when you work for a company that you don't have a lot of say in things - HOWEVER - if you are at the top of the company and the one making decisions, then you do have a say in how things are run. For instance that balloon issue - if a lot of people complained, perhaps the management could have done something to get more helium - OR they could have offered some kind of alternative or something. If complaints get to the management, then things should change.....
Heck I don't think we're all blaming every little person that works at the Snickers company for the commercial that they aired at Superbowl which offended some people (I wasn't offended - just using it as an example). I'm not blaming their secretary at their warehouse for the commercial - when you're airing your complaints, you're saying you're frustrated with the people making decisions - not just the ones licking envelopes or processing payroll.....
Even in a small company - there are those that make the decisions and those that just have to follow and do their job.... in the job I mentioned where I was one of about 2 or 3 people - I didn't make the decisions. I had no control over how they spent money or any of that - so if people were upset with the company I didn't feel they were personally upset with me - I just did my job to the best of my ability.... and I knew that I didn't have control over some issues.....
moydear, I'm sorry you feel this is a personal attack against people working there. We are frustrated at the situation and at the people making decisions - for not communicating clearly to their customers that there is a situation. Maybe they shouldn't have accepted any new subscriptions while they were fixing things. They could have issued a statement on their website that they would not be accepting subscriptions until ____ 2007 because they are having issues with the database and don't want to accept subscription orders they are unable to fulfill. Then people wouldn't have been so upset..... for me it's all about communicating to the customer. yes when I called they were fairly pleasant - but I think they could have done more to communicate to the customer and to reassure the customer their business matters......that's my beef so to speak
Next issue: The subscriptions... Just when they had a system that was good and working, the company they were using bailed ship. Gone... Poof... Out of Business... Prior to that they were doing FANTASTIC on making sure the magazines were out on a deadline.
Hello everyone! WOW, all I can say is that I honestly appreciate everyone's comments. 
(We actually learn the most from our sometimes harshest critics!)
A couple of things:
Subscription Databases: To quote CoutureCake: that is exactly what happened. Early last year, our fufillment house (a separate company that manages our subscriber databases and customer service department) "bailed ship" (ha! I love that term). Since then we contractetd a different company to do the same thing. They didn't work out so well (and actually caused more problems than solutions), so now we have contracted with yet another company. Once the conversion is complete (hopefully by the end of this month) we have very high hopes that things will be much easier not only for us, but for you (our subscribers) as well.
In the office: Craig Gustafson (Editor in Chief), Susan Griffith (Publisher), me (Kimberly Anderson, Editorial Assistant), and Brenda Johnson (Circulation Manager), are the only people in our office that have been working with our subscribers to rectify customer service problems. In addition to us, there are two designers that make the magazines.
Our Magazines: We publish two magazines: ACD (American Cake Decorating) and MBN (Mailbox News: The Idea Book For Cake Decorators).
Each magazine is bi-monthly (6 issues per year). They are offset, however, so if you subscribe to both, you will get 12 issues per year. For example, MBN starts the year with the Jan/Feb issue, as ACD starts the year with the Feb/Mar issue.
If you have a problem: PLEASE contact one of us! All of our contact information is online at www.americancakedecorating.com. Our office phone number, as well as links to our emails are posted there. If you have a problem with your subscription, we will do everything in our power to fix it. Because of our conversions, we are not always aware of the missed issues and unreasonable delays in deliveries that occur, so it is imperative that we hear from you.
More Information: We are constantly updating our website, so check there to see if your questions can be answered.
Again, thank you to everyone for your comments and patience.
Just finished reading through all of this post and am very conflicted. I really wanted to subscribe to both magazines ACD and MBN but I live in Canada, so if all of you are having problems in the US I can only imagine what problems I would have living in Canada.
Again, thank you to everyone for your comments and patience.
Just a note from me....
I have always had great communications with Kimberly and I'm sure she and her co-workers are working their butts off to get things right. It's just the kind of person I get the feeling she is from some e-mails we have exchanged. I say find it within yourselves to give them a break because they truly are a caring group...not just a bunch of corporate bigwigs. 
I subscribed to ACD back in October of 06, and just received my first issue, the Feb/Mar 07 issue today. I was thrilled to finally see what everyone else has been talking about, but I know worried about missing out on issues I should have received in the meantime.
Hello decorating enthusiasts:
I've read the recent comments regarding the challenges some of you have had regarding your subscription inquiries. On behalf of Craig, Kim and I, we apologize for the inconveniences caused to you - our loyal readers. We have converted our database over to a system we feel confident in, regarding our customer service. The subscription files are active now - Below, I've posted the numbers to call for service regarding ACD and MBN, as well as my contact information, should you wish to contact me directly. It's important to me that your inquiries are handled efficiently and that you are completed satisfied with how things were resolved. Please feel free to provide me with your feedback on your customer service experience. For questions regarding ACD, please call 800-490-5671, for questions regarding MBN, please call 800-490-5685. My contact information is 651.762.2043 or [email protected] Thank you. Susan Griffith
I got you all topped... I ordered by subscription to MBN and ACD in early October!!!! I still haven't received yet. Apparently there is a problem and they are trying to fix it. I have been on the phone with them so many times and the subscription manager had to send me the last of MBN and ACD. I just called her yesterday because I haven't received the new ones and now she has to send me that too and hope that it gets straightened out!!!!!
Soula
mine just got here yesterday. after they emailed me and told me they had no record of my subscription. right.
mine just got here yesterday. after they emailed me and told me they had no record of my subscription. right.
YES that is entirely possible.
speaking as a journalism teacher(yearbook 5 years, newspaper 3 years)
fulfillment S****!
in many if not most magazine operations (please do NOT compare to your newspaper -- that's a whole different beast!) it is the norm to have an outside company handle fulfillment -- aka labeling and mailing the issues out and maintaining the subscription data base.
don't believe me?
look at all the addresses on the blown-ins (those little postcard that always fall out of every issue) and you'll note they don't go to the editorial offices (address of those offices near front and at end of letters to editor column).
go ahead, call the editorial offices of Time, Newsweek, Reader's Digest, National Geographic, etc. about your subscription. 100:1 they'll say "so sorry, not our job -- please call.......
in fact -- compare the cards from several magazines and you'll find they go to a select few cities. many to one on Colorado and another in Minnesota. (same w/ all those rebates we send in for -- they don't go to the company itself but to a fulfillment house -- usually one in Minn.)
the editorial offices generally only worry about just that -- the content of the magazine and making it pretty, spelled correctly(argh!), correct grammar (double argh!), right photos in right place (triple argh!) and out the door to the printer by deadline (and the staff is usually almost dead by the time they get to the line!)
any of you every worked on your high school's yearbook??? if so, condense that down to 1 month -- a new yearbook a month--a full color yearbook a month!
or for those who worked on school newspaper -- let's see most run less than 32 pages -- so triple if not quadruple the size of the paper and do it monthly -- full color glossy! heavens -- it takes my staff of 15 (and that's even making the business manager and layout person write stories too) a full month to turn out one issue!
and if that outside company quits, is inefficient, stinks, etc. -- yep, your subscription gets delayed, lost, etc. -- and we all blame the editorial staff
uhmmm...that's like blaming your next door neighbor's kid for breaking the vase your own child just laid waste to. --- not fair.
so I'll cut them LOTS of slack, since they, just like we are w/ our suppliers, are at the mercy of others.
Did you all get the private message from Susan Griffith? I took her up on her offer to email her direct and she went WaaaaYYYY out of her way to satisfy me. Talk about AWESOME customer service! She fixed my account information, address and mailed me the issues that I missed! I'm so stink'en happy!!!
Did you all get the private message from Susan Griffith? I took her up on her offer to email her direct and she went WaaaaYYYY out of her way to satisfy me. Talk about AWESOME customer service! She fixed my account information, address and mailed me the issues that I missed! I'm so stink'en happy!!!
They are great people! They have had a run of bad luck.They had a company that was doing all there subsciber info drop out on them.
You can get the magazine at specialty cake supply stores also.
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