An apology from Unix/World

[johnk at UCB-VAX.ARPA]

Dear UNIX/WORLD Reader:

I owe you an apology.

In the last six weeks we have received complaints that some of 
you were being invoiced unfairly.  At first when the numbers were 
small, we were not surprised.  It's not unusual to receive a few 
complaints from people who simply do not remember requesting
the magazine.  (Some of the complaints have indeed come from 
subscribers from whom we've received valid, signed subscription cards.)

However, as the numbers swelled, and inquiries began showing up on 
the uucp network, we quickly looked into the problem.  What we have 
found is that almost all complaints are coming from potential 
subscribers who have attended one of several trade shows this year:  
UniForum, Usenix, Comdex/Spring, and Computer Faire.

I developed a plan with my staff for these shows to give anyone who 
was interested in Unix/World an opportunity to receive the magazine on 
a trial basis and then choose to subscribe or not. I thought that the 
instructions to my staff and the signs we placed in the booth were 
adequate to explain how this promotional offer was to work. Obviously 
from the complaints we have received the offer was not clear.  

We were going to accept a business card from you, send you a free 
issue of the magazine, and follow it with an invoice for a one year 
subscription.  If you found your free issue of Unix/World useful you 
could pay the invoice and continue receiving Unix/World for an 
additional year at a great discount  with very little effort on your 
part. If Unix/World did not meet your needs you could simply write 
"cancel" on the bill and we would remove your name from our trial 
subscriber list.

It's clear that I made a serious mistake in judgement. My staff 
and I sincerely regret any misunderstanding that may have 
occurred.  We want you to know that we genuinely value all of our 
readers in the Unix system uucp network, even those who are not 
subscribers.

I am taking a number of actions to rectify this situation.  First, 
and most importantly, we are discontinuing this procedure at future 
trade shows.  Secondly, I have ordered a halt to the invoicing of past 
trade show participants.  (A few of you may receive an additional 
invoice after receiving this letter due to postal delays.  If this 
should happen, simply ignore the invoice.)
 
Once again, please accept our apologies for inadvertently creating 
this misunderstanding with you. We hope that at some point in the 
future you will reconsider subscribing to Unix/World.

Sincerely,

John M. Knapp
President/Publisher
UNIX/WORLD Magazine
...!ihnp4!vortex!u-world!johnk
...!ucbvax!dual!u-world!johnk


P.S.: Apparently a number of people are concerned
about paying $.20 for first-class postage. Simply
ignore the invoice. I hate to give away the tricks
of the trade, but virtually all magazines send three
invoices, and no one ever attempts to collect on
them or report them to credit agencies. Again our
apologies for not explaining the offer clearly to
those who have been sincerely concerned about their
credit ratings.