Question about delivery of GRM to my door

Are all Issues delivered sealed and / or in plastic?

Reason for asking is I just got the most recent issue in the mail today and it was not in plastic nor was it sealed shut in any way. It has a fold in the middle of it and to be honest looks like some one has read it already (the back of the binding is not sitting flat like a new unread one should. It ahs that tell tail bow extending out from the binding for 1-2 inches

The reason for asking is I had issues about 5 years back when I got my new (current) house my GRM issues started getting slower and slower to arrive. Then a bunch of issues went missing. The great folks at GRM replaced them shipping them in a envelope arriving in 3 days. About the same time I went to the local post office and complained to them about the missing mail. With in days the "missing" issues started showing up and they looked well read. I brought this to the attention of the post master and he assured me that he would look in to it and the problem went away. Fast forward to this spring. My issues are starting to slow down getting to me (only comparison I have is when I start seeing posts on the site about content). I really am not sure how late this issue (if at all) but its condition has me wondering if my issues are being read again by some one.

Anyway I was just curious if the issues come sealed either in plastic or with a sticker / tape thing as some others do.

Thanks!!!

Unless they are including a calendar/program/similar item, no plastic for me. I must be lucky as my copy rarely gets dogeared before I get it.

[rant on]

I just hate the dirtiness of seeing issues on the newsstand before I get my issue in the mail. Don't care what issue it is, its crap. Yeah, it is NOT GRM, for the most part, but it does happen, but the conglomerate a-holes at Primedia/Source Interlink. Good thing I only paid $12 for a 4 yr subscription to a few of the Mustang rags that are starting to suck again. Sorry I don't have 40k to "invest" another 25k to go 8's on a Coyote. Don't even get me started on the cornering articles.....

[/rant off]

I get mine at least a week, usually two after posts start showing up here. I joke that my mail carrier is reading them first, but I do believe somebody is.

We'll do bags for our calendar issues, or other issues that carry separate pieces, like the World Challenge guide, but for just the regular issues it gets pretty expensive Besides the actual cost of the plastic, there's a whole different process the finished products go through to get the addresses zapped on.

As for shipping delays, it's not surprising to hear that you're getting your mag a week after some other folks, but two weeks might be cause for concern. The magazines are printed in Kentucky, but they get sent via truck to insertion points all over the country to go into the mail system. So folks around KY will get theirs first since they go straight in the mail, but someone in Seattle will have to wait for the truck to arrive before it goes in his or her regional mail system. That method is still faster than mailing directly from the printer, though.

The best way to diagnose a delivery problem is by consistency. If it's consistently late or torn up every issue, it's usually a problem with the mail system that they may not be able to solve easily. Your best bet is to call or email us and see if there's something we can figure out.

If it's an occasional problem, though, it's likely an issue with your local carrier or distribution office. Working your way up the mail chain usually solves these issues.

jg

Yeah, mine is occasional. 90% of the time I get it a week after the comments start popping up, maybe 25% of the time its 2+ weeks after. I don't think I've ever missed an issue so I deal with it.

DrBoost wrote: Yeah, mine is occasional. 90% of the time I get it a week after the comments start popping up, maybe 25% of the time its 2+ weeks after. I don't think I've ever missed an issue so I deal with it.

How far from civilization are you? Do you have a real, uniformed mailman or someone in civilian clothes using their own car?

jg

JG Pasterjak wrote: The magazines are printed in Kentucky, but they get sent via truck to insertion points all over the country to go into the mail system. So folks around KY will get theirs first since they go straight in the mail

Um, I live in Louisville and always see posts on here before I get my issue. My postman IS a gearhead, but its mostly Mustang Drag cars.

HMMMmmmmmm........

Junkyard_Dog wrote:

JG Pasterjak wrote: The magazines are printed in Kentucky, but they get sent via truck to insertion points all over the country to go into the mail system. So folks around KY will get theirs first since they go straight in the mail

Um, I live in Louisville and always see posts on here before I get my issue. My postman IS a gearhead, but its mostly Mustang Drag cars. HMMMmmmmmm........

Okay, that's weird... Give us a call when you can. Clearly I'm not circulation, but I'm up, and watching the boards, and they have families and lives and E36 M3, so I'm giving you the best info I can.

At some point when those tracking chips get better we're going to put them in a couple of porblem issues at the printing plant and follow them along. That should help solve a lot of problems.

jg

Look at JG, hanging out on the message board on a Friday night. Oh, wait....

Mine is always in plastic and I get it about 2 weeks after you guys start talking about the articles.

The perils of shipping across the border.

JG Pasterjak wrote:

DrBoost wrote: Yeah, mine is occasional. 90% of the time I get it a week after the comments start popping up, maybe 25% of the time its 2+ weeks after. I don't think I've ever missed an issue so I deal with it.

How far from civilization are you? Do you have a real, uniformed mailman or someone in civilian clothes using their own car? jg

Im in a what youd call either a large town, or a small city. I'm about an hour north of Detroit, 15 minutes south of Flint (now THERE'S a sammich most would not want to me in). We have a regular uniformed mail carrier.

No plastic here. Usually not too late except that one I commented on a few issues ago, and was told many had issues (no pun intended) that month, and was immediately sent a new one. (A week later the original copy showed up, so I gave it to a Scion friend to try and win him over.)

Dayton OH here, so shouldn't be far from a KY origin. This last one seemed fairly quick, maybe got it a week ago? Two weeks? I forget, not enough to worry about anyway.

I still haven't received mine, Dean. I think Massachusetts is just way behind in delivery.

DaveEstey wrote: I still haven't received mine, Dean. I think Massachusetts is just way behind in delivery.

I've had an issue get lost in the mail once before, so you're not the only one. It happens. But that many times? I'd contact your post office.

I'd look out for a mail truck that's lowered with autocross slicks making turbo noises, and you'll find out who's reading your magazines.