Magazine Subscription missing free gift.

Annabella2912

Hiya
I paid for a subscription to Practical Fishkeeping with Great Magazine in early July via the internet. It was an offer in their magazine for 12 issues plus a free gift of an external filter worth at least £80, all for £47.
I waited the mandatory 28 days stated for delivery of the free gift but received nothing. I emailed them and they said they were out of stock, wait another 28 days. After a further 2 weeks I wrote again and asked about stock, this time they said their external suppliers had sent out all orders except mine for an unknown reason. He then offered an either/or option of 2 other gifts, a heater or a CO2 kit, each one is worth only £25. In the small writing of the original offer it says an alternative of equal type/value would be offered if the filter wasn't available. So I complained in reply and said the options given were neither of equal type nor value, but I was answered with a repeat of what was previously said. I in turn said I would be forwarding the email to trading standards though I haven't done this yet. Today I was sent a further email saying a manager would be in contact.
What I'd like to know is am I in my rights to complain about this? What can I do if they still won't offer me a gift of equal type/value, should I just cancel the subscription and ask for money back or stick to my guns?
Any advice would be appreciated.

tinkerbell28

It could be seen as bait and switch. They aren't offering you an item of equal type or value. So you could take them to small claims for breach of contract.

Annabella2912

Hi tinkerbell28,
thanks for replying. I'll look into taking them to small claims.
kind regards

paddyrg

Also, make your case via the ASA(.org.uk) - there are industry guidelines publishers should certainly be aware of, like making sure you hold enough stock to have a fair chance of fulfilling all orders. It'll be a slap on the wrist, but it may also prompt the publisher to take more positive steps to satisfy you.

fawnsinthegarden

Not sure if you have sorted this or not but I had a similar problem with this company, free gift sent to wrong address and returned to them so they gave it to someone else and didn't think to get in touch, the free gift was out of stock, no suitable alternative offered. Eventually buckled and said I would have another gift out of the two choices but wasn't happy, gift didn't arrive, it was temporarily out of stock. Eventually I said I had had enough and wanted my subscription cancelled and refunded otherwise I would go ahead and get my bank to do a chargeback. They did refund the subscription fee, and said to keep the free gift if it arrived, which it did several months later.

pmduk

Talk to the circulation director at the publisher, that often sorts these problems, subscriptions are often dealt with by external agencies who vary greatly in their efficiency.