Chiang Mai Citylife

[altman]

Chiang Mai City Life has a new policy, in conjunction with Asia Books, to award a free book to the first five 'Letters to the Editor' published each month. (See http://www.chiangmainews.com/ecmn/viewfa.php?id=1746)

In January I wrote a letter which was the second one published in February. I wrote an email to the address specified on the letters page on Valentines day to let them know I was alive and was wondering how to claim my 'prize'.

I received no response.

When the March issue came out I noticed they still proclaim to offer a prize for the first five letter writers, so this was not just a fluke that was immediately dropped, but an on-going marketing strategy.

I wrote to the same address and a copy to the editor of Chiang Mai City Life magazine, questioning what I had done that did not meet their requirements for claiming their offered 'prize'.

I have received no response.

Oh well.

Scam, bogus marketing strategy, or just bad email monitoring? Whichever, it does raise questions.

[miltonbentley]

Chiang Mai City Life has a new policy, in conjunction with Asia Books, to award a free book to the first five 'Letters to the Editor' published each month. (See http://www.chiangmainews.com/ecmn/viewfa.php?id=1746)

In January I wrote a letter which was the second one published in February. I wrote an email to the address specified on the letters page on Valentines day to let them know I was alive and was wondering how to claim my 'prize'.

I received no response.

When the March issue came out I noticed they still proclaim to offer a prize for the first five letter writers, so this was not just a fluke that was immediately dropped, but an on-going marketing strategy.

I wrote to the same address and a copy to the editor of Chiang Mai City Life magazine, questioning what I had done that did not meet their requirements for claiming their offered 'prize'.

I have received no response.

Oh well.

Scam, bogus marketing strategy, or just bad email monitoring? Whichever, it does raise questions.

Funnily enough I responded to a thread on TV which promised a years subscription to City Life to the first 10 or 15 people to respond by email. I responded well before the 'they've all gone' post but never received the magazine. What about the others who responded . Did you get your copies?.

I am not alleging any deliberate disception by City Life as I think they are a good company but it seems the marketing arm needs to get its act together.

[mongoose]

Try the telephone or walk in. Talk to the editor. They have a good reputation and I suspect she will make it right.

[p1p]

I have emailed Pim, the editor. I am sure she will address your problems soon.

[Ulysses G.]

Pim is a member here, but she isn't on-line constantly (like some of us).

I'm sure that she will straighten things out when she becomes aware of the situation.

[WaiWai]

it seems the marketing arm needs to get its act together

(What is the sound of a single arm getting its act together ?)

I am sure, like others above, that the issues(s) ( ) will be remedied if you get directly in contact with Pim.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

Did anyone see this month's article about ecstasy? It read like it was cut and pasted from Wikipedia!

[ThaiPauly]

I receive a complimentary copy every month.even though I was not on the list of the first ten people to ask for a free copy.

The March edition arrived today.

I am sure its an oversight or something...from my e-mail converstaions with Pim I dont think She would ever scam you.

Very good article about drug/alcohol abuse in this months edition...its a touchy subject..drugs in LOS...but it was reported superbly

[realthaideal]

"Try the telephone or walk in. Talk to the editor. They have a good reputation and I suspect she will make it right."

I have no doubt they will make it right. But don't forget TIT. Just because you won somehting doesn't mean they're gonna call you or send Ed McMahon to your door with an oversized check to present to you. Chances are YOU have to follow up and go pick up what you won. And calling in advance is probably in order too. I'm sure Asia Books did right by you too, and has already left the books or certificates there for you. Should be easy.

[Pim Kemasingki]

O dear, thank you for forwarding me this link. I am most grateful.

I am afriad that all emails about the Asia Books come to me and I have trawled through my emails and note that everyone I responded to received a copy. As far as I know, our email system is very good, so I don't know what happened to your email. Please try to send it again to [email protected] and I will be sure to address the matter. We still have about 5-8 books unclaimed (not sure of exact number as haven't checked). What we did was ask people to email their claims, when they did so, I responded and asked them for their mailing address and sent a confirmation email. As far as I know, everyone who emailed receive a response from me. I am slightly concerned how you can think that this is some kind of a bogus marketing strategy, as I can't see what we get out of it, except paying for the mailing of books, and perhaps soliciting an extra letter or two a month! One would think that it would be obvious that if this were bogus, the negative effects from broken promises - as seen here - would far outweigh any benefits gained from false promises.

As to the free Citylife subscriptions, please can people who received it (and I went WELL over the ten subs promised) respond and defend my honour pretty please! We definitely gave away more than 10 and sent email confirmations to all who emailed us with their addresses. If we did not email you, then you were post-deadline.

Anyway, next time you have an issue with my company I would be so grateful if you addressed me first. When dealing with over 90 employees, over 350 clients and tens of thousands of readers, occasionally things fall through the cracks, when this occasionally happens I will do my very best to rectify the situation, but would rather be told of this than to read it on a public forum. I am not complaining, if I happened to have mistakenly deleted your email, or had your correspondence been lost by our server, then I will be the first to apologise - trust me, these things have been known to happen! - but just ask that you address me first and give me a chance to look into it.

Thank you very much for all of your continued supprt.

Pim

[Pim Kemasingki]

Oh! I just saw the topic heading, 'Scam at CM Citylife'. Wow! Altman, that is slanderous and I do think terribly inappropriate.

One doesn't accuse a company of scamming based on a lost email. That is a tad too nasty for my taste.

[WaiWai]

As to the free Citylife subscriptions, please can people who received it (and I went WELL over the ten subs promised) respond and defend my honour pretty please!

Yes, indeed. I have been receiving my free City Life for a while now. There was some kind of hitch early on, (I forget what, exactly; seem to recall a thread about it in this forum ) but it was quickly straightened out.

Pim's good reputation is made clear in responses above.

[chanchao]

I think he was pretty tongue-in-cheek though... And it did get your attention didn't it.

And don't forget, people who send in 'Letters to the Editor' are SUPPOSED to be excellent at complaining & raising issues.... If you promise them something and there's even the slightest glitch, then that provides excellent complaining-ammo.

Don't take it too personal. I love your magazine more with every issue. Even the Letters to the Editor section....

Edited March 8, 2007 by chanchao

[WaiWai]

I must say I did not read it as tongue-in-cheek, either. More mildly paranoid, a condition that all expats are prone to at different times . But only the OP can tell us his/her intention.

And I just noticed that the " " after "issue(s)" in my own comment earlier might be open to misinterpretation. It was just a reference to the bad, accidental pun ... all magazines have issues.

Keep up the good work, Pim. When does the year's free ride end ? Will you make another offer ? Please give us warning so we can be logged in and ready to pounce.

[Austhaied]

Pim i will "defend your honor", i received my Citylife copy yesterday. I have been receiving them since Oct-Nov-ish, i assume because i emailed you with regards to the free subscription .. No complaints here.. Thanks. AT. Altman, read the http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?act=boardrules with regards to slander..

Edited March 8, 2007 by Austhaied

[p1p]

Okay.

I'm closing this thread now.

The complaint was made and we can appreciate it has been dealt with in as timely and honourable a manner as we would expect from Chiang Mai's premier English Language publication.

I will also edit the thread title to indicate the resolution of the matter. We don't want people getting the wrong idea now, do we?