Northern Hills Magazine
3.4|10 reviews
A
Anonymous
1 reviews | Active since Member
30 Nov 2016, 12:24
Not such an awesome deal after all !!
<p>Stefan Kemp, the owner came to me with a 3 issue offer to advertise my company in his Northern Hills Magazine, which gets delivered to affluent estates in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town. The R15 000 offer, of which I paid upfront for the first 2 issues and the balance a bit later was supposed to be distributed in August, October and December 2016.</p> <p>The offer rested on the premise that we would get an exclusive spot on the front page and a full page add in first edition and a half page add per issue in two remaining issues of the magazine, which would all have been distributed by 4 December 2016.</p> <p>We were sent a Mock-up of the front-page for the first issue and promised exclusivity and that we would be sharing the front page with only four other advertisers.</p> <p>When we finally received the magazine we discovered that our “EXCLUSIVE DEAL” was sold to 16 companies and not just the 5 as they initially pitched to us. We ended up sharing the front page with the majority of the advertisers that were in the book and our logo was barely noticeable on the front cover between all of them.</p> <p>I made contact with Stefan to voice my disappointment, he was quick to try and convince me that it was still a good deal and that everyone else was happy with it. He went on to offer me full page adds instead of half page ads for the two remaining issues. He confirmed this offer in writing, as I requested, and clearly stated that the remaining two issues would be distributed on 28 October 2016 and 4 December 2016.</p> <p>To cut a long story short, after struggling to get hold of him for 3 weeks, it appears that the October issue was never printed or distributed.</p> <p>When I queried this, he told me that his clients requested this as October and December were too close to each other for two issues. He claimed that all clients were made aware of this and that it was Candice’s (his secretary/ sales rep) fault that I was not informed.</p> <p>I telephonically requested a pro-rata refund for the two remaining issues to which he agreed and requested that a send my request in writing, which I did.</p> <p>He ended up replying with a bunch of excuses and a ridiculous offer to refund about a 1/3 of the remaining contract value, he also claimed that they designed my add for free, which was somehow worked into the costing. They never designed my add, I had it done by a 3rd Party, and have the invoice to prove it.</p> <p>Please be cautious and as the saying go’s….. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.</p> <p>Regards</p> <p>Mr Gullible</p>
Helpful (0)
Replies (56)0
Replies (56)Northern Hills Magazine's replyOfficial
30 Nov 2016, 15:09Dear Stephan le Roux / NPC Painters & Renovators
Firstly: The claims you made are not correct or factual. You mentioned that you received a deal for R15 000 - 3 issues full page representation + your logo on the cover of 3 issues.
If you would break that down into 3 issues, it works out to R5000 per issue for a full page advert and your logo on the front cover. This is a great offer sir, even if you have to share the front cover with 16 other logos. We in fact went a step further, to try and go the extra mile, by placing a related article next to your full page advert, showing the importance of using services like the services you offer. If you can get a better offer from any other media source, I will be surprised. Not to mention you did receive exclusivity, meaning you had receive representation inside the magazine without any competitors. Then with regards to upfront payment, you absolutely correct, this was an up-front payment special, yet we changed this for you, and you were allowed to make payment over instalments, from which your last instalment was made well after the agreed due date.
Secondly, the reason why we did not bring out an October Issue, was because we are in the process of launching another publication, and due to deadlines and various other customer requests, decided it makes more sense to bring out our December Issue. Let me explain, clients sign up quarterly, meaning once every 3 months they will be represented within the magazine. So seeing that we brought out our publication in August, the next issue would have been at end October /beginning November - if that was the case, we would have had no time to prepare for our December issue. It’s for that reason that we thought, and decided, it’s in the best interest of our advertisers, to bring out December instead of end October / beginning November – and then again 30 days later the December issue. You have to take into consideration that we are a 118 page publication, and not a 40 pager. Importantly, this does not mean that you lose out on representation, absolutely not – you will still be represented within 2 upcoming issues, in this case the December issue, and then the first issue of 2017. We have acted within our terms and conditions where it clearly indicate that this can be done and is at the sole discretion of the publisher.
Thirdly: You made a claim that you cannot get hold of me in weeks. This is untrue, as you never called me on my mobile, and you have my number, instated you whatsapped me. I called you sir, and informed you to please call me on my mobile if you like to get hold of me, because I am not constantly on WhatsApp, and therefore will cause delays.
Finally: With regards to your refund sir, you cancelled within 21 days from publication, which clearly states on your signed and agreed booking form will result in a no refund. However, we did tell you that we will make an exception and refund you, but you will be charged normal rates for your participation for your issue you have been represented in, and the balance will be refunded.
Yet, after your ‘bad experience ‘you once again changed your mind about cancelling and emailed me inquiring on a magazine collection date for our upcoming December issue.
Unfortunately, your advert has been cancelled, and although you did not follow the agreed and signed cancelling procedure, we will be refunding you. However, this is a process, and our cancellation refund time line is 14 days, meaning you will receive your refund within 14 days.
Thank you
Best regards,
Northern Hills Magazine's reply30 Nov 2016, 15:09
Official
Dear Stephan le Roux / NPC Painters & Renovators
Firstly: The claims you made are not correct or factual. You mentioned that you received a deal for R15 000 - 3 issues full page representation + your logo on the cover of 3 issues.
If you would break that down into 3 issues, it works out to R5000 per issue for a full page advert and your logo on the front cover. This is a great offer sir, even if you have to share the front cover with 16 other logos. We in fact went a step further, to try and go the extra mile, by placing a related article next to your full page advert, showing the importance of using services like the services you offer. If you can get a better offer from any other media source, I will be surprised. Not to mention you did receive exclusivity, meaning you had receive representation inside the magazine without any competitors. Then with regards to upfront payment, you absolutely correct, this was an up-front payment special, yet we changed this for you, and you were allowed to make payment over instalments, from which your last instalment was made well after the agreed due date.
Secondly, the reason why we did not bring out an October Issue, was because we are in the process of launching another publication, and due to deadlines and various other customer requests, decided it makes more sense to bring out our December Issue. Let me explain, clients sign up quarterly, meaning once every 3 months they will be represented within the magazine. So seeing that we brought out our publication in August, the next issue would have been at end October /beginning November - if that was the case, we would have had no time to prepare for our December issue. It’s for that reason that we thought, and decided, it’s in the best interest of our advertisers, to bring out December instead of end October / beginning November – and then again 30 days later the December issue. You have to take into consideration that we are a 118 page publication, and not a 40 pager. Importantly, this does not mean that you lose out on representation, absolutely not – you will still be represented within 2 upcoming issues, in this case the December issue, and then the first issue of 2017. We have acted within our terms and conditions where it clearly indicate that this can be done and is at the sole discretion of the publisher.
Thirdly: You made a claim that you cannot get hold of me in weeks. This is untrue, as you never called me on my mobile, and you have my number, instated you whatsapped me. I called you sir, and informed you to please call me on my mobile if you like to get hold of me, because I am not constantly on WhatsApp, and therefore will cause delays.
Finally: With regards to your refund sir, you cancelled within 21 days from publication, which clearly states on your signed and agreed booking form will result in a no refund. However, we did tell you that we will make an exception and refund you, but you will be charged normal rates for your participation for your issue you have been represented in, and the balance will be refunded.
Yet, after your ‘bad experience ‘you once again changed your mind about cancelling and emailed me inquiring on a magazine collection date for our upcoming December issue.
Unfortunately, your advert has been cancelled, and although you did not follow the agreed and signed cancelling procedure, we will be refunding you. However, this is a process, and our cancellation refund time line is 14 days, meaning you will receive your refund within 14 days.
Thank you
Best regards,