March 2013 Print Issue of BCM is now Arriving!!!

[Lisa - Office Manager BCM]

The First Class issues of the March 2013 BCM magazines have started arriving, and the Standard Print issues will be arriving shortly. Please allow up to three weeks to receive your magazine.  This magazine is going out late (again), but we are definitely working on that problem and expect to soon have this resolved.  If you haven’t received your magazine by the end of the first week in April, please contact me and I will send one out to you using First Class delivery that day or the following day.

Some folks are having problems receiving their magazine.  If you have been with BCM for a while, you know this has always been an ongoing problem that has never been able to be resolved.  But the bottom line is, USPS Standard Class mail does not always get delivered.  It gets a low priority and sometimes just gets tossed out or lost. With the advent of discontinuing Saturday delivery of mail, we are predicting it will only get worse.
 
The only sure fire way to guarantee you receive you magazine monthly, if you are having a problem, is to upgrade to a First Class subscription.  We have no control over the delivery of the magazine, but we do know every subscriber that is on our mailing list is mailed a copy directly from the printer.  The current Publisher, Gary Hall, had the same problems several years ago and he lives less than 15 miles from the printer that mailed the magazines.  After upgrading to First Class delivery, he never missed an issue.

This issue contains the following articles;

   An Off Grid Paradise on Wheels by Roger Lehet

   When You Have An “All Electric” Coach, ALL of Your Electric Needs To Work by Bruce Fay

   Where I Take My Bus by Larry McHale

   To Convert or Just Dream by Jon Halcomb

   Down in the Keys by Wulf P. Ward

We have been very generous in mailing out magazines to Bus Enthusiasts, whose subscriptions have expired.  We have been giving subscribers the benefit of doubt, because we failed to include the expiration dates on the magazine labels until our January issue.  Unfortunately we will have to discontinue this practice starting with this issue, as printing and mailing the magazines are very expensive as you can imagine.  If you are not sure when your subscription expires, please look at the expiration date on the mailing label on your envelope or poly wrap. If it has expired, or is close to expiring, please renew your subscription now so you won’t miss a single issue. 

You can renew your subscription immediately on our website at www.BusConversions.com by clicking on the Magazine tab, and choosing the sub-tab “Subscribe-USA” (or the appropriate tab) at the top. If you would like detailed instructions on how to renew on-line, please contact me and I will email you the instructions immediately. Or you can fill out the Subscription Form that comes with your magazine and mail it back to us.
 
Some readers with expired subscriptions may have already received, or will soon receive a letter from Linda (Gary’s sister), our Accountant, regarding past due subscriptions.  If you have any questions about your subscription, or have an address changes, please email Linda at Linda@BusConversions.com.
 
For all other information email me at Lisa@BusConversions.com or call me at the office at (714) 903 1784.

We hope you enjoy your Magazine.

Lisa

[Rick59-4104]

 28 years with the USPS here and I 100% agree with Lisa on upgrading to First Class. Would not ship my worst enemy standard mail, bulk rate or parcel post.

Rick

[belfert]

Millions and millions of magazines are shipped bulk rate every month.  There shouldn't be a reason someone needs to upgrade to 1st class.

Although, I did once order some stuff directly from the Postal service which they shipped parcel post and took three weeks to arrive.

[Rick59-4104]

Millions and millions of magazines are shipped bulk rate every month.  There shouldn't be a reason someone needs to upgrade to 1st class.

Although, I did once order some stuff directly from the Postal service which they shipped parcel post and took three weeks to arrive.

 You are 100 percent right there should not be a reason, but my almost 30 year experience working there tells me there may be.

 The Post Office is being run in the ground by politics, incompetent management, and Fed-Ex and UPS lobbying Congress to privatize the Postal Service. Please remember what I just said when the PO is no more and Fed-Ex or UPS wants $7.99 to deliver that 1 ounce letter to your aunt on the ranch in Montana.

 If your are not in a hurry to get your magazine Standard Mail will work, it will just be delivered several weeks later than the first class mailed issues. Standard Mail is in the system longer, is in an entirely separate mail stream from acceptance up to the time it arrives at your local Post Office, on the way it passes through more machines, and spends more time on trucks and sitting in a corner on a pallet, all of which increases the chances of a label being ripped off, being missent, or not forwarded to you at a new address.

 Standard mail, Parcel Post and bulk mail all go through massive Bulk Mail Centers and is trucked across country. First class,Express and Priority mail never cross a Bulk Mail Centers Dock, the sorting machinery inside, and usually is flown across the country to more local Mail Processing Centers bypassing the Bulk Mail Centers and the horrors inside. Gentler/kinder/ less handling and less time in the system equals a greater chance of you recieving it readable, in a timely manner.

A huge publisher or printer handling accounts like Better Homes and Garden or any of the large magazines will get more timely delivery (almost the same as First Class Delivery standards) than a smaller more specialized publisher because when the Bulk Mail Center recieves truckloads of the same magazine they tend to process them quicker because of space concerns. It is easier to stick a few thousand copies of Bus Conversion Magazine or the Bee Keeper's Digest over in the corner than it is to stack 10 million copies of the National Geographic in the hallway.

I am not trying to tell anyone how they should get their issues, just how I get mine. To me the extra cost is worth it.

Rick (Retired Postmaster and former incompetent Postal Manager))

[Sam 4106]

So, how much extra is a first class subscription?

Thanks, Sam

[Lisa - Office Manager BCM]

Attn All BCM Subscribers!!!

Thank you Sam for your question on First Class delivery pricing as I am sure many of other subscribers would also like to know this information as well. If you decide to upgrade, it will be $30 per year, but we can prorate it for the duration of your subscription for only $2.50 per month. 
 
If you do decide to upgrade, please send us a check for the prorated amount or call or email or call me with your credit card information and we will send your magazines First Class from now on.  This should resolve any delivery problems. If you have any questions about the amount, let me know and please don’t hesitate to contact me for any and all your Bus Conversion Magazine needs. Thank you for your continued support of Bus Conversion Magazine.

Lisa Garcia
Office Manager
Phone: (714) 903-1784
Email: Lisa@BusConversions.com

[Lisa - Office Manager BCM]

Attention Standard BCM Subscribers.  We just received this email (unedited) from one of our subscribers.  

"We had our mail forwarded, and the Post Office advised us that if a magazine isn't sent first class they throw it away! Is it possible for you to resend the Jan & Feb issues to Box 211?  We really hate to miss an issue - we've saved all of them,and we've been subscribers for many years - long before we bought our first bus in 2002!  We'll be home Monday, and I'll get a check in the mail."

This pertains to anyone who forwards their mail when they go south for the winter or wherever they go.  This does happen, but hopefully is not the norm. It doesn't hurt to maintain a good relationship with your postal carrier.  You should also ask them what their policy is for Second Class mail before you consider using mail forwarding.  If you live in a small town, where everyone knows everyone else, this is generally not a problem, but in a larger city, all bets are off. We can easily do a change of address in our system to divert your magazines to a friend or neighbor while you are away and change it back when you return to avert this problem.  Just try to give a couple of months notice before you leave or return.

Thank You

Lisa Garcia
Office Manager
Phone: (714) 903-1784
Email: Lisa@BusConversions.com

[Dave5Cs]

I was missing 1 issue and e mailed Lisa my new BFF and she emailed me right back and told me it would be in the mail soon.I received it in 3 days. Thank you Lisa.You ROCK Girl.

And now know why my Bee Keepers Digest is always late or missing. Thanks for the heads up on that.

Dave5Cs from Galaxy S III