There is nothing worse than knowing your newspaper should have 2,3, or 4 inserts and finding newspaper stand after newspaper stand with only 1 or 2 (or none!). Many times we blame this on coupon thieves- people who put in a few quarters- take the entire stack out- remove the coupons and put the paper portion back.
The truth is that could be why but another reason is that the coupon insert companies (Smart Source, Red Plum, P&G) don’t provide the newspapers with enough sets for each and every paper they print. Someone has to be shorted- and it’s going to be the stand and boxes.
The reason why is that most newspaper guarantee full & complete papers to their home delivery subscribers. They coupon vendors provide a quantity of papers based on how many home delivery subscribers they have plus a percentage of the papers sold in stores and boxes and it’s not 100% of those.
One week I drove to find the early edition of the newspaper a few towns over. About 10 boxes and 3 stores later, I could not find a single paper with all of the inserts it should have had. Some had 1, some had 2, some had 3 but not a single one with all of the inserts. I do not have the patience to do this every week!
My local paper guarantees that their papers will be complete. If you live within the county lines and contact them before 11 a.m. they will bring you a replacement paper. Many newspapers have this same guarantee. Check with your paper on their policy. On the weeks that we don’t expect any inserts you can place your subscription on “hold” at many papers that will extend your subscription another week and you won’t have to pay for multiple papers with no coupons!
I got a great deal on my newspaper subscriptions when my local paper was running a $1 Sunday only special. Check with your paper to see if they offer Sunday only and if they have any promos running. I’ve also had good success with Discount Newspapers.
I have had Winston-Salem Journal delivery and it is horrible. I call and complain all of the time; my Sunday paper had all of the coupon inserts an average of once a month, sometimes I’d get lucky and get them all twice. Calling by 11 sounds fair, but really I leave for church early and don’t get to look in the paper til I get home at 12:30. If you contact them, they just apologize and extend your subscription for another week. I’ve asked numerous times if they can get them for me and the they say no.
Finally I just quit the subscription because its not worth it. I get it from the hawker up the street. Sadly, there are no other sunday paper options in our city.