Hot Rods The State of The Rodder's Journal - a note from Steve Coonan

strange reading all the replies here with messages of "support" or "allegience" towards Rodders journal....maybe you have been lucky and received what you ordered but I see the replies mainly originate from inside the states....now a few years back an offer of a lifetime sub was put out via email, and I along with numerous people from Europe and Australasia quickly pounced on that offer, in fact if memory serves me correctly we were asked for a further $100 as we were indeed outside the states...now it may have been a mistake with the timing at which the offer was released but the very next day folks from the states were complaining that they didn't have chance to take up on the offer as it would have been night time ....so the supposed one off lifetime sub offer, which I repeat was now $400 to us outside the states, was repeated and open to folks in the states, as it should be, albeit at $300....I remember saying to my wife when I paid it "they are in trouble"....the magazines/book started arriving and all was good, I think I then saw, and I will apologise if wrong but they then offered a further batch of lifetime subs....the pandemic hit and all of a sudden the due issues didnt arrive ..ie #83 and then #84....I contacted the customer services via message on instagram and finally I got a reply saying that there was a problem with the mail due to the pandemic but the UK distributor would be sending my #83....nothing showed...back on the messages and I was told that there was a problem with some of the issues being shredded by US distributors to shops and that the UK distributor hadn't got any yet, change of story....in the meantime I got emails saying #84 was nearly ready to ship....back on the messages and I was told I should go out and buy a copy as there wouldn't be an 83 on the way.....I'd like to know what happened to the ones destined for outside the states, did they suddenly get shipped to people in the states, why else would I be told to go buy a copy of 83, which incidentally was impossible due to the fact nobody sells it here anymore....It's ok Mr Coonan stepping up with his apology on here but wouldn't it have been better to sort out the problem then let everyone know why...and also why are they still taking orders.....I've not had anything since 2019 apart from the catalog, ok we have the pandemic but the mail system has been ok for ages now...like I said I got the catalog no problems...so summing up, and believe me this has been the longest reply on any forum that I've ever done, it seems to me that even though us, from outside the US, who payed a lump sum to the Rodders journal to help them out first are the last ones they care about....Over to you Mr Coonan, put my money where your mouth is and prove me wrong.....
apologies Ryan for the rant....but I'm sick of the bullshit that has been messaged to me over the last year or so with constant changes to the story

 

Totally agree with Surf monkey, something stinks here and they are not being 'up front' about it. If your in the States then fine, if your overseas then they appear not to give a s**te
I though Mr Connan was sorting out an e-mail to all subscribers.........................another case of empty promises??

 

It has been over 2 weeks since this post and no contact, no Facebook update and no email.
What’s going on then

 

Well he did say the office would be closed for two weeks. But that’s now passed.....hmmm

 

This is good @TRJ ! Print must not Die! Long Live Print!!

 

Print is already dead, some of them just don't know it yet.

 

The date & time is not carved in stone, I honestly believe Steve is trying and he estimated his thoughts. HRP

 

Maybe he should try a little bit harder and actually send out issue 84 to international subscribers.
Apparently they are sitting at the fulfilment house ready to ship, so it begs the question why haven’t they shipped?

 

Folks his entire office staff quit so figure out from there

 

True. No sense going down with a sinking ship.
And don’t tell me I’m not a supporter, I have been a subscriber for decades and have a full set. I talked to Steve at the SR Nats in ‘94 and subscribed a few months later. The quarterly schedule eventually fell to the wayside but I put up with that, the content was always worth the wait.
I did receive #84 with no problem but as a quarterly the production is five years behind, to me that says the end is near.
My sub money was used to prop up the enterprise, just as the Lifetime Sub money or the online store purchases did. Suppliers and creditors wanted their money and I helped with that willingly, but now, with no information coming forth and falling 20 or so issues behind I think the fat lady is clearing her throat.

 

It's a deep abyss and I hope Steve can climb out, if he can't save TRJ I feel for the guys that paid for a lifetime membership and they will be left hanging and out their hard earned cash.

I had my lifetime subscription from day one when offered and if you tally up what each issue cost I am fortunate enough to get my moneys worth and then some, I will be one of the lucky ones.

I hope the magazine can make a comeback and no one looses anything, only time will tell. HRP

 

Does he actually have to physically carve his statements in stone for it to have meaning? He said he would send out an email "early next week" more than 2 weeks ago. Not really a fluid time period. Not really a huge commitment either. Would probably take about 30 seconds to complete. Yet nothing.

They have jerked customers around for over a year with unfulfilled promises then come on here and ask for forgiveness and patience and then fail to live up to the very first thing they said they were going to do. That in itself speaks volumes.

 

KI3 is correct.
Does anybody really think TRJ is going to dig itself out of this hole? Think about the cost of producing the magazine and shipping it out, I am pretty sure if Steve had the money to do the above he would have already been sending magazines out. Or maybe at least tell us it is on it way.
Guys don't hold you breath, some of us have been ripped of.
And I will say it for the 10th time it doesn't cost a thing and very little time to keep people informed.

 

I get it your pissed, I don't know Steve from Adams house cat but I understand getting behind the 8 ball, I've seen it happen and it can get ugly- even when people are trying to make good.

Like I said, I hope he can get out of that hole and if and when he does I hope no one will push him back in.

Ever hear the old expression ,"No news is good new's", Steve hasn't came back and posted SCREW YOU.

We all know it is/was the best publication out there. HRP

 

well said !

 

I have no skin in this game, but will chip in anyway. My degree is in communications and I've worked in the advertising industry for 38 years and counting. Sure, stuff happens. But no matter what happens, we advise (and demand) our clients to be open and communicative. Do what you say and say what you'll do. No more no less. I hope TRJ survives but the communications and community relations part of this has been handled all wrong.

 

@TRJ,
All I have to say is a BIG THANK YOU for providing such high quality content year after year! Everyone deserves some grace these days.

 

I have one of those, maybe one day it will be a collector’s item and I’ll be able to sell it and get back what I paid to get it

 

^^^^Only if your luck improves^^^

 

I don’t have anything in this game other than an opinion, but from a business standpoint a “lifetime” anything is a death nell. Revenue now, costs forever. It’s not a sustainable business model and is a sign of the end.

 

Lifetime subscriber here. If I don't get another issue, I got my money's worth and more. Some lifetimes aren't as long as others.

 

Lifetime subscriptions hinge on two lives. One of the subscriber and one of the subscribee. I think we know who's life has expired.

 

I will pass on the Koolaid.

 

If I don’t get another thing from TRJ I am pleased with what I did get while they were published. Enjoyed the magazine. Won’t be the first time I paid more than what I got. In this hobby it seems to happen often! I hope Steve and TRJ survive, but they might just be another causality of the “hot rod magazine” phenomenon. Now it just a wait and see. No amount of griping or eloquent verbiage will change the eventual outcome. Only Steve can decide that.

 

Bingo!!!!

 

Thank you to Steve for many years of good work!! I have been a subscriber since edition 6. The only publication I subscribe to now. So sorry to see it go, it was a class act.Best of the future to Steve!!

 

Have you hear from a source that they are out of business?

 

when he sold the roadster (to pay bills ??? ) that told me the end was near...?

why else would a owner sell the best......

 

I have every issue and most of the posters. I am thankful for all the enjoyment I've gotten from RJ and I will read and reread them until they shovel dirt over me. As far as selling the roadster, many of you may have never been in that position. I've been in the Hot Rod business for 40+ years and have certainly known some lean times when something near and dear to me had to go to survive.