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I’m Not Renewing My Consumer Reports Subscription
I’ve been getting Consumer Reports (CR) for maybe 30 years. Over that time I’ve used it to research all kinds of consumer purchases from cars to appliances, TVs, headphones, computers, tires, luggage, tools, electric razors, you name it. A few years ago I began to notice a shift in the type of items CR covered. Instead of concentrating on basic consumer purchases, they started getting more into “issues.” Some examples just from the past year include:
“Whole Wheat, Soba, Legume Noodles: Which Are Healthiest?”
“March Madness E-Scams: How to Spot and Avoid Them”
“How to Eat Less Plastic”
“Which Fast Food Restaurants Are Healthiest?”
I realize there are some people who are interested in issues like these, but I found myself grumbling more and more each month as I read the President’s increasingly mushy monthly message and flipped through the issue. The letters page was becoming insufferable (“When I bought my new Prius I was offended that the safety features I wanted weren’t available on my model.”) Hey, I’m offended that I actually read your letter). Unless it was the annual car issue, or I was really interested in a TV or laptop review, I spent about five minutes flipping through it and then dumped it in a pile in the office. The back page “Selling It” feature with sometimes-hilarious blooper ads that readers send in was often the monthly highlight.
I also became more irritated each year when they started sending out renewal “reminders” staring six months before my subscription expired. Three months later, they’d send one every two weeks, or so it seemed. How many more clothes dryers or food processors might they be able to review by saving the postage costs spent on all these flippin’ reminders?
Then this month the proverbial straw broke the you-know-what’s back. In between computer monitors and power drills, the feature article was “Keep Calm and Come Together,” or as I retitled it, “Let CR pontificate on how should celebrate the Holidays during a Pandemic.” You know, like “Check Covid-19 rates in your area and communities other attendees might be travelling from.” Then on to “Prep Your Home” (hand soap, sanitizer, masks, wipes, tissues everywhere), “Go for Smart Seating” (WTH?), “Have a simple, safe menu” (Thanksgiving sandwiches!), “Choose a Virtual Meeting” (and make sure your Wi-Fi is stable!), and of course “Get Virtually Playful” (online games like Scrabble).
Then I flipped a few pages and came to “How Race Can Change Your Medical Care.”
OK, I’m done. Goodbye, CR. It was a good 30-year run, but that’s it.
Published in Business
It also helps stores to avoid living up to “we match anybody’s price” promise.
It can make the supply chain management harder for spare parts, too, because the designs usually differ by a bit. We had a home warranty when our in-door refrigerator ice maker quit working. Ultimately they had to buy us a new refrigerator because there were no doors available anywhere. They installed one that fit, but the handle attachment was completely different.
Haven’t you heard? The swimsuit issue is for lesbians.
The problems you run into with external drives are heat – very few of them have any kind of decent cooling – and the (lack of) quality of the power supplies, most of which are just cheap “wall warts.”
I’ve been thinking about this also. You have prompted me to quit as well.