Selfsufficientish.com

Ok... so I thought I'd save some paper and buy an online magazine subscription. Great... but actually after playing on forums, and on flickr etc I actually didn't have the time to read the mags online and so several issues have gone mostly unread.. a quick skim through when they arrive is the best I've managed, and what I really want is something to take and read while curled on the sofa/in bed.

So... my online sub is coming to an end... I'm thinking of taking up the paper edition, and asked the question 'can I still read the back issues of the 12 mags from my online sub?' - errrm NO... you can't.

I like to dip into mags whenever I feel the need.. I've got photography mags from years back, and ethical consumer mags from even further back! I don't see the point of paying a reduced fee for the online use, if, when I want to dip into that mag from August 08 I have to renew my subscription indefinitely.

When I expressed my dissatisfaction I was informed that "In a sense the online is a different product and rather than paying to keep the content one is paying for the access and search. I'm afraid there is a cost involved in providing the hosting ( the servers) and the search functionality and delivery. Sadly its not free ( even to us!)"

Am I being unreasonable in expecting to be able to access just the 12 months mags that I 'paid to access'?

I would've thought they would have given you the option to download and keep them. I dont think your request is unreasonable at all. I'm just like you and have magazines from ages ago that I still look in.

Just looked on their site and it's clearly stated in the FAQs. Still seems poor value to me.

That is really unfair Shirley, I also have mags from and age ago. Seems crazy that you can't keep them in some kind of pdf format

I know one of the green building mags even lets you download issues that are (I think) older than 6 months in a pdf for nothing. Really aimed at students and those with low incomes, but it surely demonstrates that online mags should be down-loadable in pdf format for keeps!

Anything that you read online is available to save in some format or another.
You may need to save the articles individually, but all web browsers will let you do that. However I would have expected a pdf version (or similar) if you are subscribing and they state they do not hold the magaziens after a certain time has past.