‘PART B’
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EMAILS No. 3 & 4 – SENT BY LEE, REPLY BY ‘SKY and SPACE’
Orig Message
Subject: Re: Sub problems
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2007
From:
Mario.Nucifora@SkyandSpace.com.au
To: Lee x
Lee Pfennig wrote:
> Hi, I have emailed you a couple of times now with no response.
Hello Lee
Thanks for your email alerting me to a problem. The only email I've received from you is dated 7 Aug where you requested for the sub to be changed to start with the Jul/Aug. This I did and I sent the magazine together with the DVDs ordered.
This previous 7 Aug email you sent had a Subject Line ‘oops’. If these other above referenced emails (I didn't receive) had other similar obscure Subject Lines then perhaps they were blocked by our spam filters.
For obvious reasons, we are keen to ensure that all valid emails get through. So that I may investigate the problem further and avoid a repeat for someone else, would you please forward me these emails from your Sent folder in an email showing the above Subject Line as per this email.
> Back in August I paid for a subscription with your magazine and am
> still waiting for the current issue to be delivered.
The current issue of ‘Sky and Space’ has been mailed out to all subscribers by our mailing house (I did double check the data base and you are definitely on it – so there is no problem at our end). As you have not received your one then obviously it has gone astray in the mail.
With the very high volume of mail we send out, we find there are a few that do not get properly delivered. When that happens – we automatically send a replacement.
Over the last 19 years of publishing we have had numerous discussions with Australia Post who deny all responsibility and we have now given up even raising it with them. We simply replace lost issues and absorb the added costs. I do apologise on behalf of Australia Post.
> This was a gift for my partners birthday, Darren x, who
> has also emailed you regarding this, with again no reply.
Again – I have had no email from Darren. As mentioned above, please forward me Darren's email so that I can look into the matter and avoid a repeat of the problem.
> I now notice that you are finally advertising the Sep/Oct issue to
> be in stores today (besides the fact that it is only 2 weeks til the
> end of Oct), I was under the impression that subscribers recieve
> copies before mass distribution.
Yes - we do our best to have the subscribers get their magazine first. I do apologise you have become embroiled in this Australia Post problem.
> I would dearly love, and think I deserve, an explaination as to what
> is going on.
> Regards
> Lee x
I confirm that a replacement is being sent Express Post. Please confirm receipt as I would not like to find out that it too has been lost!
I look forward to receiving copies of the emails not been previously received and to being of further service to you.
Yours sincerely
Mario Nucifora
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EMAIL No. 5 – SENT TO LEE/DARREN
Orig Message
Subject: Darren x's recent posts on Iceinspace forum
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2007
From:
Lyle.Rumble@SkyandSpace.com.au
To: Lee x
CC:
Mario.Nucifora@SkyandSpace.com.au
Hello Lee
Mario sent to me today the copy of an email that he sent you.
A little while ago this evening, I was alerted by one of the many supporters of ‘Sky and Space’ to view a post that your partner, Darren x, made on the forum – Iceinspace.
A copy of that post is attached [to email]
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=24958
I have just now visited that forum and, quite frankly, I was somewhat flabbergasted by Darren's reckless and derogatory post. The ensuing flak that such an irresponsible post (No. 1) has created for ‘Sky and Space’ is certainly reprehensible and potentially libellous.
I have also now seen a second post (No. 35), also attached [to the original email] made by Darren that has further totally misrepresented the situation. This second post in no way indicates the facts as to what happened as explained to you by Mario.
This is so much so that I believe Darren's two posts have been vexatious to the extreme. For some very strange, inexplicable reason he has decided to vent his/your spleen against ‘Sky and Space’.
We would be writing to Darren direct but we do not have his email address.
We have many thousands of very happy readers. I acknowledge, like most businesses, we also have a small number of people who have a very legitimate complaint (and we work very hard to fix any such problems and satisfy those folk).
Also, we have a handful of mischievous troublemakers (who strangely enough all seem to be on the Iceinspace forum). We do not want to waste our time and energy with those few mischievous people who have no real constructive criticism to offer but are merely intent to cause us problems.
I have learnt many years ago that there is a small number of people who cannot be satisfied and in trying to do so you inhibit your ability to be of service to the many thousands of other people who share the ideals of a 100% locally-owned and 100% locally-produced magazine.
With this in mind, we would prefer not to have you as a subscriber as we believe you (or at least Darren) fit into the mischievous category.
Therefore, tomorrow I will send you, via Express Post, a full refund of the $44 sub. This means we will have sent you three magazines at no charge but we'll write that off to experience.
Upon receipt of the re-sent magazine and of the refund cheque I would expect that you post Mario's email and this email onto the Iceinspace forum so people can see the true facts.
I would also advise we reserve our rights to pursue any/all legal redress to have this matter resolved in a satisfactory manner.
I look forward to receipt of an email from you when the above post has been actioned.
Lyle Rumble
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EMAIL No. 6 – SENT TO LEE/DARREN
Orig Message
Subject: Confirmation of despatch of refund cheque
– Sky and Space
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007
From:
Lyle.Rumble@SkyandSpace.com.au
To: Lee x
CC:
Mario.Nucifora@SkyandSpace.com.au
Dear Lee
I confirm that we have today mailed off to you via Express Post a $44 refund cheque. We look forward to you confirming receipt.
Also, Mario is still looking forward to receipt of copies of your previous emails that were never received into this office.
Lyle Rumble
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EMAIL No. 7 – SENT TO LEE/DARREN
Orig Message
From:
Lyle.Rumble@SkyandSpace.com.au
To: Lee x
CC: Darren x
CC:
Mario.Nucifora@SkyandSpace.com.au
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2007
Subject: [September Issue] - Response from Lyle Rumble
Hello Lee & Darren
I have received, by automatic default, your below email you sent to Mario. The reason for my receipt of an email sent to Mario is because you have incorrectly spelt Mario's name and it is an automatic default to me.
All emails to:
info@SkyandSpace.com.au go direct to Mario.
As stated previously to you – there was definitely NO previous emails sent to Mario as I have also had a look at Mario's computer and there is no other email from you.
Of course, this does beg the question in that in your email that we did receive you said:
> I have emailed you a couple of times now with no response.
However, in your original forum post you stated:
> We have both tried emailing them multiple times but they
> simply do not respond at all.
So, it appears that you actually emailed us only twice (which we did not receive). Yet, you have made out on your forum post that you both (ie 2) emailed multiple times (ie minimum of 3 each) which comes to a total of a minimum of six emails. This is the number of emails the forum members would have thought you sent.
Given the above it is a little wonder that if you did send these emails that we did not receive them.
I concede that you have not set out to stuff things up and you have acted in good faith ... right up to the time you made your original reckless and irresponsible post that was headed:
> SKY and SPACE What a Joke!
This you wrote in red with a big thumbs down.
(I presume you inserted the thumbs down and the red – is that correct?)
Your post (particularly the heading) was most reckless and insulting to the magazine and its many supporters.
Then, in your second post, after Mario made a very detailed explanation that it was not our fault – you saw fit to simply say:
> I received a reply email today which covered all the questions
> of all the previous emails.
This is a very disingenuous and condescending wrap-up from you of the actual events. Forum members were left none the wiser.
I was rather incensed at your last statement:
> ... it has made interesting reading ...
It might be ‘interesting’ for you as you quaintly term it but is has created a fire-storm for ‘Sky and Space’.
You need to understand that the owner of the Iceinspace forum is a Contributing Editor of our major rival (AS&T) and they are his major advertiser. For this commercial reason – whenever our name comes up on that site there are about half a dozen stooges who bag ‘Sky and Space’ relentlessly.
Interestingly, this only ever happens on the Iceinspace forum. Just have a good look at some of the venom that has been displayed by these stooges in the thread you created.
One fellow even keeps taking pot shots at me about our sub-editor as he take objection to the fact that person lives in London.
He conveniently and purposely leaves out the fact that the person in question is my daughter who does all her work for the magazine on a voluntary basis. Does he want my daughter not to help the cause just because she lives in London? Or does he want her to return from London to voluntarily help on the magazine just because he objects to her living in London?
I have gone to a lot of trouble to explain the whole thing to you with time I can ill-afford as I am doing the work of about five people in publishing the magazine on my own with no paid staff (Mario does not work on actual magazine production).
I stress I'm not complaining as I really enjoy what I do – I am just making a plain statement of fact. We have many thousands of happy readers and the Iceinspace forum is the only problem area for us.
The sad thing is – there only a handful of these people. It does really irk me when these few trouble troublemakers sit back, make no constructive criticism and merely take pot shots at the magazine and all its supporters.
I am willing to understand that you may have inadvertently made a genuine mistake and thought you were making a legit complaint. However, in not knowing all these above facts – you didn't realise there were these few very vocal trouble makers who seize on every opportunity to always bag ‘Sky and Space’ mercilessly.
If you like – you can help to rectify the problem you created by your inflammatory posts. You can, in fact, be part of the solution and not part of the problem.
You could achieve this by making a proper post and explain that it was not our fault and we have, indeed, responded in a proper manner. If you like you could also ask why these few people don't want to support a local magazine and ask the question is that because the forum is owned by a person who is a contributing editor of the AS&T rival magazine who is the forum's biggest advertiser?
... and you thought you were joining an astronomy forum to just swap a few stories??? – Instead, you find you are involved in this fire-storm that you have inadvertently and innocently created.
Over to you ....
Lyle Rumble
[ END OF ‘PART B’ – PLEASE SEE ‘PART C’ ]