Elliott C. Back: Internet & Technology

I’ve got three complaints about the print WallStreet Journal (WSJ) subscription that I have:

• Delivery is inconsistent. Some days it comes, some days it doesn’t. I’d say a good 40% of the time it doesn’t come at all.
• Delivery is often late. If I get, there’s a 20% chance it’s when I’m coming home from work, not when I leave.
• Delivery “on hold” didn’t work. I put the subscription on hold for two weeks while I was in Shanghai, so what did I come home to? A huge stack of Wallstreet Journal magazines, and two emails notifying me of the hold period start and end effective dates. Clearly, not very effective.

If you want to read the WSJ (and it’s a great magazine to read), I strongly suggest you pick up the Wallstreet Journal Kindle Edition and get it wirelessly without any of the physical delivery issues.

When Apple released the Macbooks for the first time, people speculated that the white finish would pick up dirt over time, discoloring. Now that the Kindle 2’s are out, the race is on to see how dirty they get, how fast. So far, mine has picked minor amounts of cleanable grime, and retained its white coloration. The back has picked up some scratches, deep into the aluminum. But, the e-ink screen so far is flawless, which in the Kindle ebook reader, is all that matters.

Strangely, I was paid $165.95 twice by Yahoo in April, and the charges were then reversed a week later. The payment came through ACH, which rules out various credit card services. The only thing I can think of is a Yahoo Publisher! payment, but I don’t use Yahoo Publisher anymore–and haven’t, for years:

Appears on your Chase (CHASE FREE CHECKING) statement as Yahoo REVERSALPPD ID: 2000223247 on May 6
Appears on your Chase (CHASE FREE CHECKING) statement as Yahoo EDI PAYMTSPPD ID: 2000223247 on Apr 30

I’m sending them an email to figure out what this is about. I like being paid, I don’t like so much money being taken away. And, oddly, in Yahoo Publisher I’m setup to receive a check, not an ACH. So, I don’t even know which Yahoo service is screwing around with my bank account!

Update: As I thought, it was Yahoo Publisher:

Hello Elliott,

In response to your email, we apologize for any confusion this transaction may have caused. We had some technical difficulties with this month’s payment cycle that caused several of our publishers to see such transactions on their banking statements. We are sorry for this error.

We have since confirmed that as of May 1st, 2009 we have resolved this billing issue and all misprinted payments have been reversed. We would advise to contact your banking institution for confirmation.

We understand that all banking institutions have their own policies regarding holding periods for pending payments. We would advise to contact your banking institution for confirmation of the payment reversal. Typically, it may take up to 5 business days for pending payments to drop off.

If you have any further inquiries, we would like to speak to you via phone. We may be reached at 866-785-2636. Our hours of operation are Mondays through Fridays from 7:00 am to 5:00 p.m., Pacific Standard Time.

Please feel free to contact us via email once more if you have any further concerns.

Sincerely,

Kristell Larios
Yahoo! Publisher Network