Melbourne Bride is another title being used to play with newsagent cash. 

The new issue came in today and the old issue is not to be returned until the first week of January – meaning that the return credit would not be reflected until the statement due for payment on February 20. 

If we return Melbourne Bride today, as should happen, the credit would be reflected in the statement to be paid on January 20. 

Maybe I am being cynical but this appears to be a grab by the distributor, Network Services, or the publisher for newsagent cash.  There is no reason for the return to be delayed to next month other than to delay refunding newsagents for unsold stock.

Newsagents cannot afford to have a thirty day delay to accessing credits due them for product which has failed to sell.  Network Services would know this from their own accounts people.  This practice must stop for the financial health of the channel.

Product packaging issues affecting print media (magazine) distribution in Victoria is a report written by Mark Thomas of Loadrunner transport.   Mark worked with 1^st Fleet and then with Zip Couriers handling magazine distribution.  His report documents issues and challenges which demand attention, issues which were first raised a year ago.

I am grateful to Mark for his permission to publish his report here for people to read. The report eloquently covers challenges which frustrate newsagents and many others which I am sure are new to us, challenges which impact on the magazine product consumers are presented with in newsagencies.  Mark’s passion for customer service is evident in his words.

In general there is still much that can be done to improve quality of service, delivery standards and to reduce the number of human related errors. A large number of parcels are still packaged with inadequate, insufficient or inappropriate strapping that directly contribute to product loss, damage to stock and numerous other problems.

I feel it is necessary to identify a number of problems that require urgent attention and strongly believe if the below issues are examined in a responsible and professional manner, that many of the current problems associated with magazine deliveries could be avoided entirely.

If magazine distributors are serious about improving the quality of service then may I suggest that there is a great deal that requires attention in their own backyard. The contractors and drivers responsible for delivering stock into stores are not always at fault, and there are far more productive measures that can (and should) be introduced apart from wrongly directing blame for any problem encountered.

Unfortunately, Mark’s complaints last year fell on deaf ears.  Rather than listen to the message, those who should care shot the messenger.

The breakdown of issues by title ought to be of particular interest to the publishers of the titles listed.  Remember, this is from a transport operator trying to do the best for publishers, to deliver their product in a merchantable form.