SAGA Magazine lifetime subscription - compulsory shift to digital format

eskbanker

An update to this thread: @Mandir33 posted recently to advise of progress with their legal claim against Saga, in terms of a court hearing happening next month (23rd I think).

As has happened on more than one occasion, subsequent discussion was perhaps a little more animated than it ought to have been, and so several pages worth of posts have been wiped - given that context, it's clearly not sensible to go into any further detail or for anyone to restart the debate, but it just seemed worth adding a factual note of what's happening, for the benefit of those involved.

Hopefully there'll be a progress update late next month....

GingerTim

Today's the day, if I recall correctly.

PHK

I wonder if this is the case referred to:

(Times Article)

https://apple.news/AVMc1RZg5TFqTXOhUBr2HzQ

TLDR The judge found in Saga’s favour and the claimant had to pay £19,500

Doc_N

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82033759#Comment_82033759

You may very well be right. An interesting case, but only of course in a lower court with non-binding judgments. The case failed for lack of evidence, Saga incredible claiming to have had no evidence of the terms of these contracts. Anyone who has evidence, or anyone who bought the life membership prior to the existence of online magazines might well get a very different decision. Saga offered this guy £750 to drop the case. That might tempt a few more!

PHK

I think you mean that the judgement doesn't set a precedent?

But I broadly agree with you.

I don't think it's unusual for there not to be a record of the exact wording of the offer after 24+ years.

There's also the possibility that the terms say that they can be altered in the future with notice. (Most terms and conditions say that), so it's far from clear what a future court may find.

Doc_N

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82033869#Comment_82033869

As you say, County Court judgments set no precedent. Their judgments are not binding on other County Courts.

Funnily enough, this thread contains a reference to some evidence which might not have been available to the court - two letters each signed “Roger De Haan, Chairman””

“It is my pleasure to welcome you as a Life member of the Saga Club. Your records have now been updated to ensure that you will receive 12 issues per year of the Saga Magazine for Life. We will be sending you a membership card within the next twenty eight days.”

“I have pleasure in enclosing your new Life membership card. Your new membership card entitles you to receive twelve copies per annum of Saga Magazine for life.

Noreference to paper or hard copies, but if that agreement were made, say, in the mid-1990s before internet magazines even existed, it’s possibly different from the 2002 in this case. Who knows?

GingerTim

This is just really sad. Pity no-one stepped in (and is what posters upthread warned about when he was encouraged here).

Ahmed, 77, who has three children, was so outraged that he took Saga to the small claims court, spending his £19,080 nest egg on legal fees in a bid to force the magazine to honour what he felt had been the original terms of the deal. A former draughtsman who lives in a housing co-op in London, Ahmed’s only income is the state pension topped up by pension credit

[…]

Speaking after the ruling, Ahmed said he was outraged but would not appeal. “I am flat broke,” he said.

Aylesbury_Duck

If this is the poster that people have been egging on for the last couple of years, those cheerleaders should be ashamed. They've been happy to hide behind the skirting boards to watch a fellow mouse put a bell on the cat.

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82033759#Comment_82033759

For those disinclined to line Murdoch's pockets, is there an unpaywalled version of the article visible anywhere?

GingerTim

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82034007#Comment_82034007

I couldn't get my usual paywall evader to work, but it's been pasted in a Reddit thread (which is where I saw it): https://www.reddit.com/r/compoface/s/NUi5HUAx3d