The Globe & Mail’s Epic Fail

It’s no secret that I love The Globe & Mail. The Life section (and in particular the weekly feature on food and wine), John Ibbitson’s coverage of the American Presidential election, Stephanie Nolan’s pieces on the state of African countries, and in general, my default interest in national and international news (as opposed to local stories) makes the Globe an indispensable way to start off my day (for me, I need an actual paper – the online version is just not the same).

Up until June, I would stop at a corner store just before arriving at work to pick up a paper. But after looking into subscription services, the idea of the Globe waiting for me in my mailbox ready to be taken and consumed on my morning commute was an attractive one. Noting the comparable price between the newsstand and delivery, I figured a six month weekday subscription would be a great way to ensure my morning fix.

Not so. I signed up at the end of May online, and received an e-mail notification that there would be at least a two day delay before my subscription could commence, as they needed time to verify my postal code. There had to have been some miscommunication, as I actually started receiving the paper the day after signing up…but at noon, and not at 7am, as promised on the website.

I figured it was a first day glitch, with the delivery person needing to adjust to a new route. But after a week of receiving the paper between 11am and noon, I called to complain. I was told by a customer service representative that my area didn’t have an assigned carrier, and the lateness of my delivery was due to the fact that my house was an ad hoc addition to the route of a carrier in another area. At that time, I chose to suspend delivery (accruing credit to my account) until they could guarantee a carrier for my area. I was told that it was up to me to continuously call to check on the status of this situation – I guess they knew, as a smitten Globe consumer, that I would take time out of my day to do so on a regular basis.

Returning to my routine of corner store visits, I let a month pass before calling the customer care centre again (their voice recognition system cracks me up, by the way – I find myself speaking a robotic monotone to make sure my words are understood). In mid-July, they still didn’t have an assigned carrier to my area (I could just hear the words “overheated economy” waiting to be uttered by the Ontario-based representative).

On August 11, I called again. This time, good news! On the Thursday prior, a new carrier had been hired (or assigned) to cover my neighbourhood. The representative assured me that the paper would be there, around 7am, on Tuesday morning.

Opening the door on Tuesday, it came as no shock that the Globe wasn’t there. No paper on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday either.

I finally cancelled my subscription today. Perhaps I should have been more vigilant about calling every morning to inquire about the location of my paper, but it was difficult to remember to do so on weekdays when starting work became the most immediate priority upon my arrival at the office. In paying for a service, especially one that guarantees the Globe income for next six months, and the possibility of continuous renewals, you would think that they would have more due diligence to ensure a happy customer.

While I’m disappointed that I won’t be privy to the convenience of a daily delivery, I’m actually not that sad about ending my subscription – I hardly knew ye.