The Chronicle's $99-per-year offer to new Peninsula subscribers--it has since expired--was too good to pass up; it was one-fourth the cost of a subscription five years ago. I mailed in a check.
A week, then another, and a month went by without a paper on my doorstep. If the Chron's finance department had put the kibosh on the promotion, it would have been perfectly understandable since it didn't even cover the cost of production and transportation; nevertheless, they should give me my money back.
I e-mailed Circulation and attached front-and-back copies of the check (hooray for traditional proofs of payment). Within 24 hours Amy R. responded with an explanation: the Chronicle was being delivered to the same street address as ours in Hercules, which is 50 miles north. Our one-year subscription would begin on April 20th, Easter Sunday.
Comments: 1) Many suburbs have street names with maritime and/or English themes (e.g., Spinnaker, Marlin, Bristol), but they're now so prevalent that duplicate-address mistakes have become common; 2) this was an unexpectedly quick response by Chronicle customer service---if the rest of the operation has improved to that extent, I'll give some thought to retaining their subscription, yes, even at much higher rates.
© 2014 Stephen Yuen
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