Time Out Chicago is usually the bible from which I read and is the first place I turn to when I want the skinny on what’s going down in the city.
On Thursday mornings I wake up all giddy and cannot wait to get myself to my friendly, neighbourhood convenient store to pick up a brand new issue that will guide my weekend shenanigans. Sometimes, while waiting in the queue to check out, I even peek at the “Around Town” section to see what event is going to blow my mind.
“What will it be today?” I ask myself. “A Cat Circus? Kinky burlesque lesssons? A talk on glow-in-the-dark rabbits?”
The possibilities are endless.
But a few weeks ago, I popped into my regular corner shop and there were no Time Outs in their regular area. When I enquired about the missing Time Outs to the cashier he just shrugged. “The girl didn’t make the delivery today.”
HAVE YOU SEEN ME?! ＮＯ，ｓｅｒｉｏｕｓｌｙ。Ｗｈｅｒｅ ｔｈｅ ｈｅｌｌ ｉｓ ｔｈｉｓ ｉｓｓｕｅ ｂｅｃａｕｓｅ ｉｔ ｈａｓ ｎｏｔ ｂｅｅｎ ｄｅｌｉｖｅｒｅｄ ｔｏ ｍｅ ｙｅｔ！
Over the next few days I visited nearly every gas station, corner store and magazine rack nestled in pharmacies around Lakeview and low and behold…no Time Outs. Little stickers on the front of shops claiming that “Time Out IS SOLD HERE” misled me.
It was not until I wandered into a shop on Sheffield where I got my lede. The shop owner told me that Time Out was no longer delivering to smaller stores. Instead, only big bookstores like Borders would be carrying copies.
What do you think I did next? Of course I bought a subscription online…five weeks ago. Has it come yet? Nope. Will it? I hope so but I am not too sure.
While I have been waiting for my issues, Time Out’s price went down. That is awesome but hopefully it does not mean they will lose any of their current content。
But my love-hate thing is more than just subscription-deep. I know it can only be so many pages long, but I would pay an extra dollar for bigger print. I am only 22, but I feel like my Mom trying to read that print! Come on, Time Out!
I love Time Out Chicago and will still turn to it in times of need, but until I get my subscription and can actually read what is in the pages, I am going on a tyrade!
I want my Time Out!
Dev xx
9 comments
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29/04/2009 at 3:22 pm
Jessica
Have you tried contacting our Subscriber Services people? Their e-mail, address and phone number are all located on our site:
Contact us
If you can’t find the answer to your subscription questions on this site, please send us an e-mail at tocg@kable.com.
Or, you can write to us at:
Time Out Chicago
P.O. Box 387
Mt. Morris, IL 61054-9907
You can also call at 1-877-843-8862 between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.
29/04/2009 at 3:33 pm
makingchicagohome
Thanks Jessica!
I am on the phone with them right now.
Best,
Dev xx
29/04/2009 at 3:43 pm
Frank Sennett
Dear Dev,
Thank you for sharing the love about Time Out Chicago. I’m so sorry you’ve been having trouble getting the copies you crave. Thank you also for subscribing! If you’re having delivery issues, please call 877-843-8862 for assistance.
It is true that, regretfully, we are no longer delivering the magazine to small retail outlets ourselves. Those small outlets that sell other publications and want to carry TOC can still get them through a newsstand distributor, however, and we hope they will. Even though small outlets represented a small percentage of our distribution, we loved the fact that we were in those places so customers such as yourself could feed your fix.
Meanwhile, you can find copies at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Whole Foods, Fox & Obel and other larger outlets. Please let me know when you start getting your subscription. And thank you so much for your loyal readership.
Best,
Frank Sennett, editor, TOC
29/04/2009 at 4:59 pm
makingchicagohome
Frank,
Thank you so much for replying – what an honour to have you on Making Chicago Home!!
I do, indeed, love TOC. One day I could only hope to write for it. I have called the hotline and believe your staffers have helped remedy the problem – let’s hope so!
It is sad to me that TOC is no longer in small retail outlets but I do wish there was some sort of notice that went out when this happened. Since many Chicago publications are facing hard times and bankruptcy, I was terrified that TOC was going under as well and a notification sent to my local TOC provider would have alleviated my fears.
Thank you for your concern in my individual issue with TOC as I greatly appreciate it. I will be sure to let you know when I receive my subscription!
Best,
Devin Kidner
Making Chicago Home
30/04/2009 at 6:29 am
Tony
The subscription is so worth it. I am from London and I tell you, you will pay a LOT more for this magazine and a LOT more on subscription.
Here it’s like 40cents a week on subscription. They are basically giving it away. Why pay $2. It’s a mildly useful rag, and it’s nice to have it pop through the letter box on Thursday or Friday every week. At this price you’d be daft not to.
Tony
30/04/2009 at 7:11 am
makingchicagohome
Tony,
I agree – a TOC subscription is soooo worth it. Hence the reason I subscribed. I am still waiting for my first issue, though strangely a copy from last week arrived on the doorstep yesterday. So I guess I should say I am still waiting for my first on time issue.
Thanks for reading!
Dev xx
02/05/2009 at 8:44 am
KingT
Time Out is a complete joke. Half those people arent even from Chicago. Its all one bug tourist BS trap esp. the food, the food editor is a complete joke.
07/05/2009 at 9:10 pm
My love-hate relationship with TimeOut Chicago magazine, part 2 « Making Chicago Home
[...] think all of you have read my first post on how I love/hate TimeOut mag. My main problem with the magazine is that even though I ordered a subscription, it had not [...]
29/06/2009 at 10:09 am
Brian
I’m in the NYC area just and cancelled my subscription with them. I love the calendar of events they publish, but they can’t seem to deliver it. I live within 15 miles of Manhattan, but they can’t deliver the current issue until Mondays. They expect me to pay for basically 1/2 of a magazine. And their subscriptions department doesn’t seem to care about customer satisfaction, so to hell with them.