Economist is not economical choice

We have this publicist in Poland, Daniel Passent, who’s one of the greatest to me. He once said that the Economist is the greatest newspaper in the world. And I agree with him. I’ve tried many, but there’s no single one which I would enjoy as much. There’s at least one which is close, but let me tell you something else first.

I’ve been subscriber to Economist many times, usually it was digital subscription. Because it’s not cheap and I have limited time I was cancelling and then coming back. Recently I’ve ordered their trial print + digital subscription for 20 Euro per first 3 months, and then 86 each quarter. I’ve started this trial 90% sure I’ll keep my subscription.

Because I like to have control over my spending, especially when paying for something online, I’m either using PayPal or my prepaid card I have with Revolut. I’ve used the latter this time. As my subscription was valid till March 9th I’ve kept this card almost empty. But on January 22nd I’ve received a notification from Revolut about insufficient funds to process transaction from Economist. I’ve ignored it as I’ve thought it must have been some kind of mistake, because usually companies are charging for the new period at the end of the trial and I still had more than a month. But no, after few days Economist’s agent called me to ask if everything is fine with my payment method. I’ve explained situation to her and she confirmed that indeed my subscription is paid till March 9th and I should just make sure I have funds couple of days before this date if I want to continue my subscription. Fair enough, I’ve thought. Still more or less sure I’ll keep it even though I was a bit irritated.

In the meantime I’ve “discovered” Bloomberg Businessweek and I’ve liked it. They have good texts, although not so diversified as Economist. Somehow language is more comprehensive to the person for whom English is only a second language. However I was missing Economist’s puns while reading Bloomberg’s articles. Anyway, I’ve started reading it for free. Then bought monthly subscription via their iOS app. I’ve enjoyed it so much I’ve decided to keep it as supplement to my Economist subscription.

But then I’ve received a letter, a real letter, from the Economist stating that my subscription has been suspended. Actually it’s still valid, but it’s a notice that it’ll be suspended unless I’ll update payment details by March 8th, which I’ve already known. Later I’ve received another identical letter from them. I’ve felt a little bit bullied by all this. I’ve started thinking about moving to Bloomberg, but it was 40$ per month, after 3 months trial with 10$ a month, so more expensive than Economist. And I still liked Economist more. But then I’ve learnt that it’s the price for full Bloomberg experience and I’ve actually wanted only Businessweek. And for that they have sweet offer of 12$ for first 3 months followed by 30$ per quarter for the first year. I have no idea what’s the price after the year, but I’m willing to give it a go. It’s just economically better decision than the Economist.

I’ll miss Espresso which is a great service. I would also miss great articles and puns. And I’ll probably come back to the Economist at some point. But right now Bloomberg has won me with the price (and not being a nag). Yeah, I’m cheap.

As a side note. Why buying experience with any newspaper has to be so horrible? I’ve bought subscription of Bloomberg Businessweek on Friday, it’s Monday and I’ve still not received an email confirmation. They’ve not charged me yet, but subscription works on mobile app and web. However mobile app still shows buying options instead of active subscription when I go to settings. It’s a mess.