Make Magazine

I discovered Make Magazine right about the time the first issue was published. Probably I saw it mentioned somewhere on the net. I didn't get around to subscribing until last year, right about this time, and because of a special offer, chose the "Premier" version of the subscription. Amongst other things, this gives me the, ahem, pleasure of an automatically renewing subscription. According to the FAQ on their website, I will always receive 30 day notification - "via email we contact you 30 days prior to expiration of your current subscription to let you know that your subscription is going to be shortly renewed."

Yep, that didn't happen. I've checked my spam folder, and nothing there either. And I never have any trouble getting the newsletter or other email from them.

Which brings me to today. I get home and have a mysterious letter, which the envelope tells me is from "ESP Computer Services". Surprisingly enough, I don't have the foggiest idea who the hell "ESP Computer Services" is.

The letter inside starts out "Thank you for your recent order" and references a credit card account that had to be cancelled because of fraudulent use last summer. Alarms start to go off.

I look a little closer and notice that at the top of the piece of paper it says

Notification
Make

This is not a letterhead, mind you, but just some text in what looks to be about 16 point Arial Bold.

NOWHERE on this piece of paper does it mention the word "Magazine", which maybe would have been a clue to WTF this was all about.

Who the HELL is running this service, some 14 year old with a copy of Access and a laser printer?

So now I'm wondering why on earth I'd want to renew this subscription, and how to avoid having to deal with "ESP Computer Services" ever again.