Sports Illustrated subscription scam?

So sometime within the past year, I got a good deal on a subscription to Sports Illustrated. Because the price was so low, I ordered it for two years.

Within probably 8 weeks of receiving my first issue, I began receiving notices that my subscription was going to run out soon. The notices kept coming for a couple months until I finally received one that read "FINAL NOTICE" and they said I was receiving my last issue.

The whole time I kept telling my wife that there was no way this was right.

I haven't really even been reading the issues I've been getting because, frankly, it's just not as compelling as it used to be (I used to read it cover to cover every week), so I decided to just let it go.

Funny enough, since that "final notice," I've continued receiving my weekly issues. I've also received several offers saying "We want you back!", often in the same day's mail as that week's issue.

Has this happened to anyone else? It feels like they're just trying to scam me into paying for another subscription even though mine won't run out for a year.

I could just call them to ask about it if I cared more about whether the subscription has actually run out, but it just seems like a shady practice and I was curious if anyone else has run into this.

 

Yes, a Sports Illustrated subscription is a scam.

 

SI people are kind of shady too. I know two of them. They both have some bad habits.

 

Did you check the expiration date on the address label?

 

I had no idea that exists.

 

it's on mine. should be on the far right of the label holding it upside down at least usually my address is upside down.

 

I'll check that out. Thanks for the heads up.

 

I'm going through this right now with Entertainment Weekly. Bought a two-year subscription off Amazon. It ran out in October but for pretty much this entire year I'd get notices once every couple weeks to renew, renew, renew.
I ignored them all.
Then, in the lead up to my subscription running out for real in October, they'd send me a note seemingly every week. The last few issues of my subscription then came with a renewal reminder stapled as a two-page spread on top of the cover.
Subscription ran out three weeks ago. I'm still getting the magazine.
I assume at this point that they're going to just keep sending me issues until I renew but I'm not paying for any new copies so I guess we'll see.

 

I can't remember the company, but I know once years ago I took advantage of a great offer for a subscription renewal for Autoweek. Soon after I started getting renewal warnings from Autoweek. Long story short, I didn't renew Autoweek, I had paid some scam artist instead. Probably the same company that did this SI deal.

 

Magazine subscription scams are quite popular. A lot of shady third-parties mail out "Renewal/subscription" orders that look a lot like bills at inflated prices targeting seniors. Your best deal will always be directly with the magazine. And if you order a teaser rate, expect new offers trying to lock you in long term.

 

Getting an issue or two after your subscription runs out is not uncommon. I've had several that did that. Might depend on when your subscription officially runs out, or maybe it has something to do with billing. Like they let it go an extra month or two just in case you renew, so they don't have to start a new account.

 

For some reason my wife has been getting Vogue, Seventeen and Latina in the mail for the past 5 or 6 months. We're not sure how or why. I wrote to Vogue customer service but they never responded.