Every year that the New York Yankees have won the World Series in 1996,1998, 1999 and now once again in I, my Wife or other family members has ordered Sports Illustrated for me because they offer some Yankees World Series items if you subscribe and have signed up to get me these items as a gift. I'm a die hard fan and retired cop from up there and having relocated far away from my team's market, they try to get me Yankee items which are hard to come by in the south. This year would be no different. Its important to note that I do not and would not otherwise subscribe to this magazine if they didn't offer these items, there are many other Baseball publications I would get before getting SI, period. So the night the Yanks clinched, I went to Yankees.com and there was an add from Sports Illustrated offering the following items if you signed up for a year's subscription. An Authentic 2009 World Series Baseball, A 2009 World Series DVD set and a special 2009 World Series Champion Yankees Book. I quickly signed up for the offer within only minutes of the final pitch in the Series, as soon as the Yankees had won (11-04-09)! A couple of days later, (while staying with my mother in the hospital) I got a confirmation email that I had subscribed, but the email indicated that I wasn't getting any of the Yankee World Series items described, but I was going to get an "Athletic Tote Bag". I called Sports Illustrated customer service (from the hospital) because there was no way I would sign up for this magazine if not for the 3 items promised for said subscription. After waiting 30 minutes to actually talk to someone when I called, I told the customer service rep, what the email said and told him I did not want to order the magazine if not for the World Series Baseball, DVD and Book. He looked at my order and told me the email was an error and not to worry. He assured me that I would be getting the subscription and would get the (3) three "gifts". Today, my very first issue of the magazine arrived along with an invoice for the subscription with monthly bills to submit for my subscription. As I was making out the check to return my payment, I looked close at the invoice and once again, there was no mention of the (3) Yankee World Series items. The invoice once again said that I would be getting an "Athletic Tote Bag"!! I called 1-800-528-5000 (customer service) which is located on the invoice. This time, once I was actually able to speak to someone (the only way you don't wait 30 minutes on hold is to press the number if you "Want to place an order". If you select any other option such as "Discuss your account" your left on hold forever. So once I finally reached a human being to ask them what the problem was with my order, I was told that I was not going to get the Yankee items (the only reason for my order) but was going to get one of these other "gifts". I told them this was a mistake, that I had placed the order on 11-04-09. The woman ("Sandra" who gave an Employee ID number of "PXH") was extremely rude! She was rude and acted totally inconvenienced for the call the entire conversation. Here were the revelations she gave me for the problem. First, she is claiming I did not make the order as soon as it appeared on Yankee.com on 11-04-09. She is claiming that I didn't order the subscription until 11-09-09 which was wrong. She told me that because I didn't order when I said that I did and under the terms of the offer I made my order, that was the reason I would not get the Yankee items that were offered. She told me she could correct the problem, but because I didn't order my order the right way, that I could now only get (2) of the Yankee World Series items that I had been promised when I placed my order. I was told that she could now only send me the Yankee DVD and the Yankees World Series Book, but she couldn't let me have the World Series Baseball now.!!! Here is the truth of the matter. Someone I talked to told me the reason they are doing this now, is because they are running out of the World Series Baseballs, so they have messed up many orders because they can't take care of all the orders and just want to give the DVD & Book but no WS Baseball. When I told this woman that I had been getting SI only when the Yankees have won the Series in years past, this fool had the nerve to say to me, "Well, thats not possible, because this is the very first year they have won the World Series!" What kind of people do they hire at a sports magazine that don't know that the Yankees have won more Championships then any other sports team in SPORTS HISTORY! I was simply getting the run around and "Sandra" was just coming up with one excuse after another for Sports Illustrated not HONORING the terms of the offer which made me choose to purchase their product! She also claimed to be a "supervisor" and when I asked if they had a transcript or recording of the conversation I had with Customer Service the first time I called, I explained, THAT CUSTOMER SERVICE REP PROMISED ME I WOULD GET ALL (3) WORLD SERIES ITEMS, she refused to check that information and claimed I didn't place my order on 11-04-09, but on 11-09-09 which was wrong and wouldn't honor anything the other Customer Service Rep had promised in my previous call. I can't believe with all the subscriptions my family or I have made to this magazine back in 1996,1998, 1999 or 2000 would act this way. It's just one more reason people should only buy this publication when there is something worth reading in ONE issue when it's on the stand. Don't subscribe to Sports Illustrated because they don't honor their promises and their customer service treats you like crap!
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