The latest on Sally Blanchard and CPQ magazine.

[jmerrell]

I have a few issues I'd like to comment on...


Bird Talk is getting smaller because of the economy. Businesses don't have the monies to advertise and consumers don't have the monies to buy their products.

Sally is offering back issues of The CPQ to make up for the descrepencies (spelling?). Those issues have relevant issues in them.

If you don't want to read an online magazine, you can copy the article and read it.

Sally's first online issue is free.

The reason Sally couldn't continue to produce the printed magazine is because of the escalating cost of producing a printed magazine.

Sally has given seminars for free and has even lost money going to some seminars.

Sally has given free consultations over the phone.

You can still find endless information for free on Sally's site.

Sally has 35 years of experience.

Yes I am one of Sally's supporters. She has had a lot of terrible stuff happen to her personally in the past few years. A dream of hers was to open a business to promote the understanding of parrots. It failed miserably. Can you imagine what it must've felt like to have a dream fail? Then her mother died, who she had taken care of for 7 years. How many of you have had to be the sole supporter of an elderly parent and to watch them ultimately die? The bankruptcy has taken most everything from her. The online magazine with the NPPO was supposed to go online in January. I know that a few of you will understand and some of you will still say nasty things about her, even after reading this, but I feel that I needed to write this. I can understand that you are tired of "excuses", but please, just give her a little more time. I know she is trying her best to set everything right.

[tracie]

I didn't have a membership with her, so I cannot comment other than this. Her situation sounds very familiar to Wayne's Parrot stands. I orderd it online, paid for it online, he promised to produce the product, and he didn't. He will not return phone calls or emails and has cheated many of us out of our money and wasted our time. If she was accepting new suscriptions and not producing the product it is fraud. Personal problems are sad and unfortunate, but do not have a place in business. Let's not get things confused with personal feelings and business obligations. I have read her stuff, learned from her etc, but I would not purchase a membership knowing what I have read. We all have ups and downs but in the end it comes down to supplying people what they have paid for.

[tielfan]

Update on Sally's offer to give back issues to unhappy subscribers: I wrote to her twice in the last two weeks saying that I would accept back issues. There was no reply. So today I sent a third email politely informing her that I would have to report her to the Colorado attorney general if I didn't receive either the back issues or a refund by Oct 5. I got a same-day response saying that the back issues had been mailed last week by media mail and should arrive within the next week. So apparently she actually is honoring her offer.

[FeathersNFur8]

Tielfan, do you know if she is sending back issues of her own accord to all the paid subscribers or do I have to keep emailing her to get something for my $? She has never answered any of my emails to date.

[tielfan]

The back issues are only going to people who ask for them so you have to email her. There's information about it on her webpage at Companion Parrot Home in the "THANK YOU for All your Supportive Emails" section midway down the page. Try saying something like "please let me know when the issues will be mailed" in your request. Who knows, she might answer and save you a few weeks of wondering what the heck is going on. I didn't say anything like that, foolishly assuming that she would naturally let me know that yes she would send the issues. So I was in the dark until I started talking about the attorney general. Which demonstrates that it can be helpful to talk about adverse consequences for not cooperating.

[FeathersNFur8]

Thanks for the info! I emailed her again asking for back issues instead of her honoring the subscription for new issues I paid for....we'll see what happens this time.