In Focus

To Claim or Not to Claim?

By Dawn H. Babich

Working in the subscription industry for the last several years has certainly been enlightening. Prior to my accepting a job with WT Cox Subscriptions, I would have said that maintaining a serials collection would have been a relatively simple pursuit; I now know that the words “simple” and “serials” can rarely be used together in the same sentence.

While unemployment was on the rise, and the economy was in a downfall, library patronage increased. How is the typical library to service the increased demands from their communities while facing budget cut backs themselves? One simple way is to make the most out of the serials to which a library purchases. There are some common misperceptions in the subscription world that can seriously impact your bottom line and working with a subscription vendor can help you squeeze out every cent.

First of all, you should always consider your subscription vendor a part of your library staff - a “willing hand” and expert who is ready to ensure you receive the full value of your entire collection. Problems will arise because you are dealing with serials, but your subscription vendor should be happy to and readily available to respond to your needs. But what do you do when there are problems?

When in doubt, place a claim. What should be claimed and how do you know who to call? If working with a subscription vendor, you need only to call your Customer Service Specialist and they will assist you. If you maintain your collection on your own, most publisher information is available with an Internet search and then a prolonged call into their call center. Claim types can vary widely, but most importantly, you should be placing claims when issues are missed, if they arrive damaged or if your service has not started within three months of your order being placed.

One very important thing to be aware of is that most publishers have a very strict 90 day claiming policy. This means that if you receive a damaged issue in the mail or perhaps miss an issue altogether, you have only a three month window in which you can place a claim with the publisher. In order to receive proper fulfillment of your subscriptions, it is very important to place claims.

It is imperative to realize that duplicate copies of a single issue do not equal a free issue. If duplicate copies are received, place a claim with the publisher or your subscription vendor immediately. The longer the duplicates continue the more issues you are losing off your expiration date. Put simply, when you submit a renewal for your subscription, the publisher should be attaching your renewal to your existing account, but this does not always happen.

For example, if your 12 month subscription was to set to expire with the December 2009 issue, your renewal should begin in Jan, 2010. Unfortunately, publishers do not always recognize that an existing account is on file and a new account is created. Your “new” subscription will be started with the next batch of mailing labels to be printed; if the next batch is October, you will then receive duplicate issues for October, November and December, 2009. Your renewal that should have run from January – December, 2010, is now running from October, 2009 – September, 2010. While this is still a full year of service, it is ending three months earlier than would have been anticipated. This not only creates a lapse in service, but also some unhappy patrons!

However, if you report duplicate issues to your subscription vendor, they can contact the publisher on your behalf, have the accounts combined and your expiration date will be extended in compensation for the duplicate issues. This creates a seamless renewal and your patrons can look forward to seeing the new issues as they are released.

Your subscription vendor should provide a free replacement issue library. When you miss an issue, receive an incorrect quantity or receive a damaged issue through the mail, place a claim and your vendor will send a replacement from their library whenever possible. This helps your library as publishers can often take up to 6-8 weeks to respond on claims and then another 2-4 weeks to send out replacements, vendors are able to send out issues in a much more timely manner…another happy patron not having to wait for the newest issue!

As you may have noticed, more and more publications are merging or going out of business. Often there are several months left to your subscription, so what are you to do? When the publisher offers a replacement title you can either chose one of the replacements or request a refund. If you use an agency, they should request your refund and issue a credit to your account. Publisher bankruptcy is another can of worms!

What if the replacement title being offered is already a title to which you subscribe? You can still opt for the replacement and receive an extension on your existing subscriptions expiration date. The choice should be yours.

Remember, when in doubt, place a claim! It’s the simple way to ensure proper fulfillment of your periodicals.

Dawn H. Babich is an account manager at WT Cox Subscriptions. www.wtcox.com