Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, marvel, midtown, subscription

Marvel, Midtown And Subscription Services

Published Wed, 17 Oct 2012 17:00:31 -0500

Earlier this year, Marvel Comics moved its subscription service from specialist magazine subscription service Sun Belt to New York retailer chain Midtown. But it has not been without teething problems.

A Little Bleeding reprted to Bleeding Cool about not receiving any comics for about a month, with multiple unanswered emails for the last few weeks.

One forum thread on CBR is full of other examples, initially praising the increase in titles being offered, only to come smack bang up against some procedural difficulties.

Since mid town has taken over I've had nothing but trouble. Books on auto renew that didn't renew… Books on auto renew that renewed early

I moved in early August. So I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. The usps is crazy stupid with address forwarding. However i had properly updated my address with marvel 2 weeks before we actually moved. Despite all my efforts delivery is at a pain full crawl

I started noticing it early July myself. I also emailed them. Was told this that and some of the other.

Needless to say the results are what they are… Living in Ohio it takes mid town comics and usps on average 5 weeks to deliver a book. I have 10 subscriptions with them. The last book I got was asm 692 sept 11

I would not recommend it at this point. I've decided to let mine run out as I rather pay the money and save the frustration

I subscribed to Amazing Spider-Man 12 weeks ago. They've shipped 4 issues. I've received 0. So… it's kind of hard for me to recommend the service.

After 13 weeks, I actually got an issue of my Amazing Spider-man subscription! Issue 693 arrived today! Granted, the "My Account" page says they've shipped me FIVE issues. But one out of five isn't bad, right?

I got a reply last Friday from the Subscriptions Manager and his reply doesn't inspire confidence. My email mentioned all the problems brought up here as well as my own difficulties, but his reply only referred to my problems, and even then it was basically "bear with us, we're working on it". I haven't received any comics since those released on 15th August.

And I'm still waiting on a reply to an email I sent to their customer service last week on a different matter.

Please come back Sunbelt, all is forgiven!!

today i got avengers 30 which was released sept 19…… 14 days after the street date.. thats sunbelt good… but what happened to uncanny xforce, cap, and new avengers all released sept 12th?

i appreciate that life isnt perfect things come up… things get delayed. I do believe that everyone at mid town wants to do this subscription service well. everyone wants to be productive and do well at work. i just pray they are as interested in "working on it" as id assume

I'm in Ireland. And according to Midtown, they are using the same international delivery service as Sunbelt, so at this stage there's no reason for the delays in delivery. Sunbelt was 2 weeks, occasionally 3. I'm currently on week 7 and counting. I emailed them yesterday for an update, let's see what they say.

And to put this in context, I get my DC subs within days of release, usually the Monday or Tuesday after release. And response times from their customer service is much better too. An email to DC last week was answered in 2 days. An email to Marvel/Midtown at the same time is still waiting on a reply.

However, of recent days, things seemed suddenly to start improving.

I got home today, and there were 4 weeks worth of comics waiting for me! That brings me up to comics released on 5th September. Normally I would have comics up to 26th September by now…

It's too early to say if my delivery problems are solved yet. The last two deliveries have been a couple of weeks combined as well, then leaving me waiting weeks for the next delivery. On the plus side… I have more stuff to read this weekend

Same, I am way behind on ASM (692+ only 1 issue has arrived), but caught up on most with a flurry over the past two days.

I just got asm 694

Compared to the locked up delivery system we all reported a week or two ago, to where we are to day……..it's definitely a good sign

The test will be if next week deliveries continue trickling in or start stacking up in piles somewhere. Part of me enjoys getting a big stack like that, but its not worth the torture of waiting.

As a reward to them I renewed my captain America subscription. Positive reinforcement

It was also noted that Tom Brevoort wasn't responding to queries about this on his Formspring.

I made enquiries of my own to Midtown and received the following response from Midtown's Gerry Gladston. And also the possibility of a couple of new industry jobs in Manhattan…

Yes, it's true, Midtown has taken over fulfilling Marvel subscriptions from Sunbelt. While there have been some challenges along the way, we are working diligently through them all. We've inherited an enormous backlog of issues from the previous processor, along with new ones that have popped up from shipping carriers (among other sources) due to the transition, all of which have landed squarely into our lap. We've increased our customer service team threefold, and we're still hiring.

There is good news as well, and one of the key things we're doing is expanding the number of available titles (and we're not done yet!), with the ultimate goal to increase the print customer base for everyone. We've drastically improved the Marvel Subscriptions website, and we'll be sending a monthly newsletter, among many other improvements. We believe that a subscription is just a gateway to expanding readership, encouraging customers to visit their local comic shop to experience all that it has to offer.

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