I've had the $34.95 digital only subscription to Fine Woodworking for a number of years. I've found it useful for looking up the odd article or video now and then. I don't use enough to justify the $99 unlimited, and I don't want the print magazine. Canceled that years ago. FW has discontinued that particular subscription, but they had said that you can keep it as long as you keep paying for it.

5-6 months ago my credit card was hacked and the bank issued a new card with, of course, a new number. Earlier this month I got an email from FW that they were unable to process my renewal payment and they were canceling my membership. There was a link to reorder my membership and it took me to a page where I could update my card.

Unfortunately that didn't restore my membership and customer service says that they can't renew my digital subscription, I have to resubscribe. Only problem is that there's no option to resubscribe to digital only.

Now, most vendors I deal with in that type of situation send an email saying that they can't process the credit card on file, please update the card. FW didn't do that. They just immediately canceled the membership. (Customer Service insisted that an email is always sent first, but I've checked my inbox, deleted folder and spam folder. There's no email.)

Remember that you can keep it as long as you keep your membership current pledge? It seems to me that they grabbed on to the first excuse to cancel without giving a chance to correct what has become a all too common issue with credit cards, namely they often get reissued. Can you off the top of your head list out every single place your credit card is on file? In particular the ones who only use it once a year?

Yes, I admit that they were acting within the letter of their pledge. If they were hoping I'd sign up for the unlimited plan, they're out of luck. And as I mentioned, I don't want the print subscription. So they've gone from receiving some revenue to no revenue. And left a very bad impression of Fine Woodworking and Taunton in the process.

So if you still have a digital only membership, be SURE to keep your credit card updated. It seems that they're looking for any excuse to clear out those subscriptions.

Cliff