I received an email this afternoon from The New York Times asking me to reconsider cancelling my subscription. They were offering me 50% off the regular subscription rate for the next 16 weeks if I’d come back.
The problem is I never left. After getting the email I checked my last bill and determined I was paid up through the middle of next month.
I called the number in the email. I wasn't even given the option to wait. Instead I got a recording telling me to call back later. Apparently they were getting quite a few calls about this. According to this story by Matt Schifrin, in Forbes, “about 8 million other readers mistakenly got the same email…”
Later this afternoon I got another email from The New York Times telling me to disregard the earlier email and apologizing for “any confusion this may have caused.”
Well okay, but what about that discount?
“I imagine some heads are rolling at the NY Times circulation department tonight and I assume plenty of longtime readers like me will be either demanding 50% discounts for 16 weeks or considering switching to the cheaper digital only subscription option.”
