The FRUSTRATIONS of the MMM Magazine.

[DAVE9999]

Just purchased my first MMM Magazine. Knowing WHEN to purchase a Motorhome magazine is quite important. It's handy to be able to look through the magazine on the magazine stands to see WHEN the next edition is out. We don't want to purchase one, then find out that in two days time the next one is out. We are not all made of money!. Of course WHEN magazines are sealed in selophane you can't find out!. Also when the Motorhome Magazines Web site do not have it "Anywhere to be seen" as per THIS ONE you just have to keep going back into the Newsagent to see if its there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ANYWAYS, despite all that, (I can get over that) I picked up the "June" edition of MMM. Which is where the FRUSTRATION of the MMM Magazine comes in!. Where the FRUSTRATION of the Magazine comes in, is; the MMM BUYER'S GUIDE section. In the current "June" edition starting from page 247. If you have the particular edition fish it out and you'll see exactly where THE FRUSTRATION of the magazine comes in. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHY on Earth are the details on the RIGHT side of the magazine. Has sales and marketing research found that the adverts are read more when the adverts are placed on the LEFT??. Does it really matter to the MMM Magazine buying public what side the "New motorhome info page" is on?. YES, absolutely YES. Because nearly 2/3rds of the Magazine has gone allready, any writing on the far left of "The right hand page" IS DOWN THE GRAND CANYON OF THE CRACK OF THE MAGAZINE. WHAT is down the GRAND CANYON of the magazine? Only the NAME and MODEL of the Motorhome we want to find out about. __________________________________________________________ The only way to find out what Model you are looking at is to shove your EYEBALL down the GRAND CANYON of the crack of the Magazine. And of cause, push desperately, with the palm of our hands against the TSUNAMI size force of the 100 or so pages on the right. WE are having to bend, pull and wrestle about with the Magazine to see the WORDING. ( We want to read it in a relaxed manor) otherwize we get AGITATED. It would definately be a painfull and frustrating experience for readers afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis. They would struggle. The "Old Man's" got it, so I know. OTHER than the PRICE of the Vehicle, the NAME and MODEL of the vehicle is the MOST IMPORTANT thing on the page. AND where is it?. Down the GRAND CANYON crack of the Magazine!. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The whole lot of it can be shifted over to the right of that page by about 1 cm. Most of the info doesn't even fill 1/2 of that section. Hardly even 1/3rd. The largest length one, has nearly a whole cm of space left. Take a look. BETTER still, have the whole page ON THE LEFT OF THE MAGAZINE. BETTER still, have the whole page ON THE LEFT OF THE MAGAZINE. That is unless there is some financial reason why WGP plc doesn't want to. The way it is all set out makes me want to kick the TV screen in with frustration. ( Luckely for me I don't have a TV!). Am I the only person to have raised this issue?. Some people might not be too bothered about it, that is, Editorial staff of WGP plc and even the buyers of the Magazine. They might not be..... but I am for certain!. Can an Editorial member of staff fix it. It is something that needs looking at. Many thanks, and by the way the 32 page booklet, "MMM the expert guides, Understanding your Motorhome" Written by Dave and Fiona Batten-Hill which came with the MMM june edition was quite good. Well set out and informative. I thought worth the price of the Magazine itself. There is nothing better than people who know their eggs!, in whatever field they may be. Those are the people who make the World go round. I didn't quite work out whether the LPG from the "Autogas" to fill up the "Gaslow" Re-fillerble gas cylinders was the same LPG that fills up LPG cars and such. Still I'm hopefully off to the 2nd June RV show. If there is a MMM representation there I'll Quiz you all then. AND I'll inquire about the GRAND CANYON fiasco as well. Something to look forward to, is'nt it!. Thanking you. Yours sincearly. Mr GRAND CANYON.

[colin]

Saw june issue in shop the other day, wrapped in plastic so couldn't read contents page so didn't buy.

[Derek Uzzell]

If you are fortunate enough to be able to read your motorhome magazines "in a relaxed manor", surely you should be sending out your butler to sort out such minor matters for you?

[MOTORHOMER]

Hello On this website Here it says the July issue is out in 24 days time & today is 29th May. Here it says the June issue has been available for 4 days. Before the forum changed if my memory serves me correct it used to give a brief list of what is in the current issue & what would be in the next issue. Alas no longer.I agree I like to be able to see what the content of a magazine is before I buy & I loathe those magazines that are in sealed sellophane. I as a result leave them on the shelf.Motorhomer

[Lilbunny]

Am I the only one who likes their magazines to come in a cellophane wrapper? Who wants to buy a magazine that's been read and left dog-eared by all and sundry. Lilbunny.

[Greynomad]

The obvious answer to your first dilemma re content and publication date is to SUBSCRIBE to MMM, it's much cheaper than purchasing from the Newsagents and you tend to receive it sooner direct through the letterbox. I have been a subscriber for about 15 years - when we last moved home, my wife insisted that I dispose of 10 years of MMM !! Your main frustration Dave9999, that of the Buyers Guide being on the right hand page [of the June issue] with the Advertising copy on the left, is quite new, it only changed sides with the May issue, I have checked my back-copies for six months and they all had the Buyers Guide on the left hand page, which would suit all advertisers who, prefer to be on the right as, statistically, this side is invariably read first and, therefore can sell more product, many years ago when I used to purchase advertising space, I always tried to get a right hand position. As regards your opinion that the first printed characters are difficult to read due to being hidden within the magazine's binding, all I can say is that your personal copy of the June MMM must have been produced on a different machine to my copy, as I have no difficulty whatsoever. MMM sets all it's editorial copy within a fine black-lined 'box' with the same width border top and sides which I have never experienced cutting-off any of the copy. I will concede that the Buyers Guide, especially, was easier to read when positioned on the left, why the editorial staff took the decision to move it to the right, from the May issue, defies comprehension, perhaps if they ever read these postings, they may realise that it does not necessarily please all readers. MMM is a great magazine, possibly the best Motorhome mag' published, although I subscribe to a couple and enjoy them both. Greynomad

[Mel B]

I must add that I find it difficult to hold the mag to read it in bed (the only place I get the change for some peace and quiet!). I have difficulties with my hands (too much secretarial work) and find the pressure needed to keep it open painful at times so I end up looking at other 'less popular' motorhome mags instead to give my hands a rest. This is really frustrating when all I want to do is read MMM!!!

[colinbridgend]

I have recently bought my first copy of the MMM magazine, (Cellophine wrapped) and at £3-10p was very disappointed - there are far more pages of advertising than helpful reading matter. If I wanted to purchase a magazine of adverts I would have gon for either Free Ads or the Exchange & Mart. I know that advertisments help to keep the costs down and also can be informative to Joe Public but the ratio of advertisments to reading matter in this magazine is rediculous.

[Derek Uzzell]

I skip over all the travel-related stuff, ignore most of the professional advertising and rarely look through the classified adverts. Even though this means I'm choosing to reject large chunks of MMM each month I still don't begrudge my subscription.

[Guest starspirit]

Does it really matter what month you buy as a 'one off'? The adverts are mainly from the same businesses each month (and can in themselves be very informative) and the articles, tips, and letters are very rarely time sensitive. There is so much information there and so much knowledge available from experienced folk. I am not interested in travel articles as I prefer to make my own discoveries, as I never use sites the 4 tenners is pointless - particularly as it is usually just one person's viewpoint about known club sites, but the whole point is the sheer volume of information - some of which, sooner or later, will be invaluable or money saving or both. But then again that's only one man's viewpoint?

[livewire]

I must admit to being frustrated too. Th magazine tends to have a pompous air about it that has little appeal to those younger than retirement. I for one am not interested in sites that charge you £15 to stay overnight. A wild camping feature would be more useful instead, after all, why buy a motorhome otherwise. A few articles that arouse a bit of excitement wouldn't go amiss either, rather than tips on things such as how to stop your toilet roll unwinding on the move. I mean pur-leeease.

[enrico]

I sincerely trust someone from Warners is reading this and taking note. Personally I enjoy the magazine MMM but more testing on different vans especially the British ones and more on the cheaper campsites,whether they have facilities or not would appeal to lots of people. What about a monthly article of each of the clubs(CC,C&CC and MCC) could also appeal.An interview with the chairman from each club about what they think of us m/homers,future plans etc.Also interviewing members of each club to get an insiders point of view. I`m sure they could get some mileage out of this and lead to a more enlightening magazine and not just advertising.I appreciate they are running a business but if they never listen to their readers they may not have a business to run (!) (!) (!)

[Guest starspirit]

I am convinced that Warners are in cahoots with CC & CCC or why else would they be so polite and accommodating about printing only what the clubs will see as positive about themselves and never any grumbles from the editir or staff writers. Not that these two clubs lack any self confidence, indeed their management's self confidence borders on arrogance at times, particularly the CC who as we all know are NEVER wrong even when they are! The clubs may be slightly interested in their members views, but not in the least the views of minority groups like motor caravanners. So until we outnumber the tuggers and tenters we face an uphill battle which, it seems, Warners are not really interested in supporting if it risks upsetting the big players. For a start the four tenners feature should EXCLUDE all CC and CCC sites as these are all very well publicised anyway.

[Mel B]

Now now starspirit, calm yourself down. I disagree that the CC and CCC campsites should be excluded, NONE should be excluded, that's called censorship and we wouldn't want that would we! Why don't you send in some pieces for the 'Four tenners for a site' pages, that way you can show there are other non-CC and non-CCC sites that are just as good and also get some dosh in the process. Warners is a company and it is there to make money, if it didn't it wouldn't exist and neither would the magazines or this forum. Whether you agree with how they get their income, or whether others agree with the view that you have of them or not, the simple fact is that people like different things, some people will love some aspects of their mags that you hate and vice versa. Me, I know what I like and what I don't, so I just read what I want and ignore the rest .. it takes me long enough to read the bits I like as it is! Some people have positive experiences of the CC and CCC, others haven't (somehow I think you are in the "haven't" camp!). If people really don't like these clubs then they don't have to join them, thereby making their stand by not giving them the income. Similarly if you don't like the mags you don't have to buy them, especially now that you don't have to be a subscriber to participate in the forums - something which I think you really love doing! All publications can be criticised in one way or another, they're never going to please everyone, there are certain aspects I question like some of the too favourable comments by some contributors but then again, maybe they are just happy little souls and don't see things my way which is different to theirs, but then you get others who are quite happy to make genuine concerned comments, neither view is blatantly right or wrong, just different!

[Guest starspirit]

Sorry Mel, as I very rarely use sites, club or otherwise, I am not qualified to jusge or submit articles - even for the princely sum of £40. Even if I did use such sites, for us the main reason for touring is exploring the coast and country and that does not include sitting in my van on site writing stories about showers and how short the grass is and then taking boring pictures to prove it! I have no axe to grind with CCC or MCC because their 'no need to book' weekend meets and holiday sites alone are worth the subscription. I do know that 10 nights at £5 rally prices is so much more pallatable than 10 nights at £15 site fees - and the difference will buy over 600 miles worth of diesel. Thanks again for taking the bait Mel and, in case you are worried, I am very calm - just have a read of my profile for clues! On balance Warners and MMM do seem to do a fair job - and even more so by allowing us free speech on here - so thanks Warners!

[Mel B]

starspirit I think I'm going to be ill ... you're getting a bit mushy now and I'm not used to it!