Should Magasines be held responsible

T

Toby_Zaphod

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 August 2005
Messages
9,301
Location
Midlands
Visit site
for adverts contained in their books? When you buy an equine magasine piles of unwanted adverts cascade out of it. This coupled with large adverts within the magasine for some companies who seem to have little regard for their customers or the service they allegedly offer....particularly Equine Insurance.
frown.gif


We have all either heard of or are currently in horror stories regarding the reluctance of certain companies to honour their obligations. These problems are known to the Equestrian Press however they continue to accept the advertising.
mad.gif


How many times do posts appear regarding this matter on this forum with owners at their wits end because the company either won't settle a claim or keeps stalling. Also occasions when vets request money up front for treatment when they realise which company the animal is 'insured' with.
crazy.gif


Should the media take action & refuse to apparantly endorse the company and continue accepting their advertising?

Comments please.

Admin....I deliberately have not mentioned any particular company, although i think most of us are aware of the one I am mainly thinking about. If you consider you know the company I am thinking about then why are H&H continuing in accepting their adverts?
 
££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££
££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££
££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££
£££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££
££££££££££££££££££


Because of those!
 
If I had control I would only want reputable companies using us, but that prticualr company always pays there bills
 
Should H&H, Your Horse, Horse & Rider etc etc not have a duty of care to their subscribers?

Obviously H&H & the others want advertising, they are here to provide a service & make money......but surely with some conscience?
 
Nope

They have a bunch of fresh faced grads who prob wouldnt know one end of a horse from t'other who need to hit targets....


On the plus side the ads keep the cost of the magazine down.
 
We discussed this subject here a while ago and yes I agree it is irresponsible to accept payment for advertising from a company that is known to be 'difficult' although the official line from the publishers is that they take no responsibility for the content of advertising material, I believe.

It is all about the money, disappointingly.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Should H&H, Your Horse, Horse & Rider etc etc not have a duty of care to their subscribers?

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope! No proximity for a duty to be owed, and not only is an advert in a publication clearly not a recommendation, there is also no professional assurance offered or owed by the magazine.
 
When complaints regarding a particular company reach epidemic proportions then surely it's about time that the publishing editors take action?
frown.gif


Incidentally, incase anyone is wondering, I am not covered by nor ever have been covcered by the particular company we all appear to be discussing!
smile.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Admin....I deliberately have not mentioned any particular company, although i think most of us are aware of the one I am mainly thinking about.

[/ QUOTE ]

You do not have to name a company to be defamatory about it. If you believe that most people know who you are talking about, then careful what you say
wink.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Admin....I deliberately have not mentioned any particular company, although i think most of us are aware of the one I am mainly thinking about.

[/ QUOTE ]

You do not have to name a company to be defamatory about it. If you believe that most people know who you are talking about, then careful what you say
wink.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

conversely, of the hundreds of companies and individuals that advertise with Horse and Hound, we all know who we are discussing here, that speaks volumes in itself
 
I have given no name of the company, no clue to their identity apart from their abysmal record in dealing with their clients.........can that be deflamatory, I don't think so.
mad.gif
 
I'm happy to pay the price of magazines as they are currently (whilst binning any adverts I have no interest in)... if magazines were to take the approach you are suggesting they would then be effectively 'recommending' every company they did print?

To do that they'd presumably have to do research into each company etc etc etc????

It would really push up the price of the mag- both lost revenue from the ads and the time taken to 'vet' the business.

I'm happy with the way things are.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Admin....I deliberately have not mentioned any particular company, although i think most of us are aware of the one I am mainly thinking about.

[/ QUOTE ]

You do not have to name a company to be defamatory about it. If you believe that most people know who you are talking about, then careful what you say
wink.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

conversely, of the hundreds of companies and individuals that advertise with Horse and Hound, we all know who we are discussing here, that speaks volumes in itself

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes it does. I'm just stating a fact that you CAN be defamtory without naming the company, therefore the comment the OP makes at the start of the thread about not naming them, does not mean we shouldn't watch what we say to save the thread spiralling and getting in trouble.
 
I am not saying that they should vet every advert they accept, that would be impossible.
Initially adverts would be taken on face value, as they are at the moment. However when complaints reach the proportions that they have for any particular company advertising within the magasine then action should be taken & their right to advertise in that magasine suspended.
 
Well except that you have given a clue to their identity because you mentioned equine insurance and fliers falling out of magazines.

Don't shoot the messenger, I'm just stating a fact.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Well except that you have given a clue to their identity because you mentioned equine insurance and fliers falling out of magazines.

Don't shoot the messenger, I'm just stating a fact.

[/ QUOTE ]

no shooting going on (at least not from me), you are quite right..they don't have to be referred to by name..doesn't stop the whole situation frustrating me a bit though
confused.gif
 
We are NOT discussing deflamatory posts here, we are discussing responsibilities & actions that could be taken following numerous complaints regarding a company advertising within certain magasines....try to keep the thread on the right subject
smile.gif
 
crazy.gif
Well the two seem rather intricately linked....

Ok, I don't think the responsibility lies with the magazines:

1) As law it would be impossible to enforce were publications to be expected to be held responsible, and considered to be offering a personal assurance, on the quality of every company/product that they advertised.

2) The financial implications of above as lzt has already mentioned

3) Freedom of choice - the market should be such that people are able to choose, not have it controlled.
 
1) I'm not talking about law:- We are talking about the responsibility of editors of these publications have to their readers. Should a company who deliberately & persistantly fails to provide the service they advertise & are constantly complainted about by the readership, be allowed to continue to advertise within the publication....I would say NO.

2)The Financial implication could amount to something however we are, in this case, talking about one constant company. Their one account surely the H&H & others don't solely depend on for revenue?

3)You mention freedom of choice, you mean the freedom or choice to pay money for a service you believe you will be getting but aren't going to get ?

It's nice to find someone who seems not to have a problem with companies of this nature
confused.gif
 
I'm totally with TZ on this one. I think magazines should have a duty of care to their readership, many of which will be novice owners who, because they have been bombarded with the flyers and are used to seeing them everywhere, assume they must be a good company to deal with when nothing is further from the truth.

Years ago, H & H was run by horsemen for horsemen even though they might have also been businessmen too, (it's not untrue to say it was the most respected equine publication in the world, sadly a far cry from today; the previous owners and editors would be turning in their graves I feel,) If someone could show you a copy of the paper say from the 50/60's, you would see what a downhill dive it has made! Now the money men have taken over and it seems to have lost all integrity in matters like this which is a crying shame and to our detriment.
 
The company you are talking about seems to advertise more than any other, surely if they spent less money on advertising and more on paying people's claims then everyone would be a lot happier!
smile.gif
 
I'm not sure why those with pull/fall out ads bother - every magazine I buy gets shaken over the bin - if it falls out, I don't read it...
 
Its part of the magazine income to put these flyers in so to leave them out would mean an increase in magazine costs. To be honest I suspect most throw them away and apart from the environmental cost there isnt much agrument against having them in there really.
 
[ QUOTE ]
1) I'm not talking about law:- We are talking about the responsibility of editors of these publications have to their readers. Should a company who deliberately & persistantly fails to provide the service they advertise & are constantly complainted about by the readership, be allowed to continue to advertise within the publication....I would say NO.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok, well you were using legal terms like "duty of care"?!

As for resposibility, but not legally, what "morally"?! Moral responsibilies aren't really enforceable though are they. I mean, they're all well and good in an ideal world, but as I say, it's infeasible that an editor would have a duty to thousands and thousands of readers - who would want that job then!?
crazy.gif
I just don't think a horse magazine should owe us a professional assurance. It's not how I view them.


[ QUOTE ]
2)The Financial implication could amount to something however we are, in this case, talking about one constant company. Their one account surely the H&H & others don't solely depend on for revenue?

[/ QUOTE ]

But you just can't have one rule for one. If you forbid advertising from one company due to them not being up to scratch, you must then assure that all those that you DO advertise ARE up to scratch. After all, if you ban one company, then you are suggesting that the remaining ones are ok - therefore you are implying an assurance. It is far better to leave choice and let word of mouth do the rest. Goodness, I bought my first horse ten years ago, and at the age of 15. Yet I knew enough re. insurance co.s to know which insurance company to get my mother to insure the horse with, and who to avoid - the one you mean here as it happens...


[ QUOTE ]
3)You mention freedom of choice, you mean the freedom or choice to pay money for a service you believe you will be getting but aren't going to get ?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sorry, I don't think that statement really makes sense. Choice does not infer a reliable service...

[ QUOTE ]
It's nice to find someone who seems not to have a problem with companies of this nature
confused.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

FYI, I actually helped a forum member last year write a letter to this company, using some law jargon
grin.gif
and quoting statutes, and as a result got them to pay out for her.

I just believe in being objective instead of idealisitic when it comes to proposals like this - I guess it's the law student in me
wink.gif
 
"most just throw it away"

That made me smile, I have a thursday ritual where I rip said flyer into shreds and put it in the bin even before I read the magazine
wink.gif
 
I think the if it was merely one mag and one industry then the H&H might listen

However, H&H are part of IPC Media that publish LOTS of different mags.

Ironically though that the company not being mentioned advertises in other IPC magazine for, e.g. dogs, and other product types that they insure.

So IPC would lose a lot of revenue if they didn't accept adverts from the company concerned, not just H&H money.

As for vets only taking money up front if you are insured with that particular insurer.....my vets only take money up front anyway - and then it's up to me to recover the money from the insurer, with the vet co-operating in filling in the relevant parts of the claim form.
 
So am I really bad to shake the magasine a bit as I pick it up in the newsagents so all said flyers just happen to fall out on the shelf?!
grin.gif
 
yes - because the shops won't recycle the flyers - they'll just go in the bin
if you take them home in the magazine at least you can put them in your paper recycle bin

shame we can't recycle the company they are for though ;-)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top