Subscribers to Rachel Ray’s magazine Every Day with Rachel Ray recently received their November issue of the magazine along with an unwelcome surprise. Along with the issue, readers were greeted with a letter stating that the issue was a “special issue” that will count as two issues and as such the duration of each subscription would be adjusted accordingly. A similar letter accompanied the November issue of The Family Handyman. Both magazines are published by Reader’s Digest.
The current fine print on each magazine’s website states that each “1-year (11 issue) subscription includes a special issue, which counts as 2 in your subscription.”
But what does this mean? Does this mean that your “1-year” of the magazine is actually only 10 issues because one of the 11 is a special issue, or is it just an explanation of why these magazines only publish 11 issues per year and not 12?
Furthermore, when was this language added? If this is a recent addition, certainly current subscribers will be shocked to learn that they will be receiving one less issue of the magazine than they paid for.
We are investigating a potential claim against Reader’s Digest for cutting short the length of subscribers’ magazine subscriptions. If you or someone you know is a subscriber to a Reader’s Digest magazine, including Every Day with Rachel Ray and The Family Handyman and believe that the magazine subscription is getting cut short, please contact us to discuss your legal options.