Our Most Fabulous Summer Experience Our garden produces bumper crops of vegetables interspersed with flowers and the more than occasional weed (many of which are quite edible). Among the bounty are bushels of bird houses ... actually bird house gourds, which when dried, drilled, and hung, are frequently put to good use by birds. This summer, one of our gourds was home to a pair of wrens. When their young 'uns were nearly fully feathered, and for reasons we can only guess, the parents disappeared. After long hours of waiting fruitlessly for them to return, we took the babies inside. For the next 11 days, we were on almost continuous nursing duty, feeding them a concoction we came up with, along with aphids and assorted other bugs. When they outgrew the small box we had first kept them in, we built a cage, and furnished it with twigs, which they loved. When that closed in on them, tree branches and moths filled our guest room as the babies learned to fly and feed themselves. Our hearts broke over the few who didn't make it, but the day came when the guest room was too small, they could eat on their own, and the greater world beckoned the four who remained. So we opened the window and watched as one by one, they flew off. We sure fell in love with those little wrens, as did the six of our nine grandkids who got to meet them -- Andrew, Stephen, Josh, Caity, Alison, and Lucy. It was a wonderful, grueling experience. We miss them terribly, and have great compassion for every parent who is now dealing with the empty nest syndrome. Next time we rescue orphaned birds, which we hope won't be for a good long time, we'll raise them to be more neurotic. They never stop by, call, or write.

The Times They Are A-Chargin' (not a typo) By Marc Eisenson and Nancy Castleman Back in December of 2001, a friend we'll call Olivia, spent $65 to give her boyfriend, pseudo-named Ethan, a one-year gift subscription to The New York Times Book Review section. Tired of the papers piling up, she decided not to renew, and simply tossed the first few renewal notices she received. All the while, Ethan continued to receive the Book Review section every week. Then last February, Olivia received a "suspension notice," followed shortly thereafter by a bill for $11.25 for the issues Ethan received from December, 2002 through February, 2003. At this point, Olivia was moved to respond -- she sent back the bill saying she didn't order the issues and wasn't going to pay for them. The next piece of correspondance Olivia received was from International Media Concepts, Inc., which describes itself as "a collection agency representing The New York Times. Your New York Times account balance of $11.25 is seriously past due." (Emphasis not added by us.) The letter went on to state: "We are attempting to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose. Unless you, within 30 days after receipt of this notice, dispute the validity of the debt, or any portion thereof, the debt will be assumed to be valid. If you notify us in writing within the 30-day period that the debt or any portion thereof, is disputed, we will, upon your written request, obtain verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment against you … ." (Emphasis added this time.) What Would You Do?! Say you got a letter like this about an $11.25 bill from a collection agency that mentioned a copy of a judgment against you. From the tone alone, wouldn't you worry about what would happen to your credit report? Would you just pay the friggin' bill or invest the time to fight it? Olivia chose to call the toll-free number. Shirley, the customer service rep, said she'd been hearing from many people complaining about bills like the one Olivia had received. Shirley also said that there should have been a check-off box on those bills to indicate that Olivia didn't want to renew. In any event, Shirley said she couldn't do anything to wipe out the $11.25 bill. Would you pay or continue to fight? Olivia chose to call The Times' subscription department, where Betty told her that automatic renewal was The New York Times' policy -- meaning that Olivia was liable for the bill and that she should have let the newspaper know she didn't want to continue the subscription -- even though all Olivia signed up for was a one-year subscription. Knowing Olivia as we do, we're certain that the original order form she filled out didn't make the automatic renewals policy clear. She simply assumed it was like virtually every other magazine subscription, where you get an extra issue or two, as well as a few renewal reminders, before the publication gives up. You don't get a bill for the extra issues you're sent. Is The New York Times Fabricating Again? Olivia told all this to Betty, who reiterated the paper's automatic renewal policy and denied Olivia's request to speak with a supervisor. Betty said she was a senior rep, and anyone else would tell her the same thing. That's when Olivia let her know she thinks the policy stinks, and that she didn't appreciate having this $11.25 dispute show on her credit report. Betty then told her it wouldn't appear on her credit report, and that International Media Concepts, Inc., is a part of The Times, and not a "real" collection agency. The $11.25 would show as a bad debt with The New York Times, and the only consequence would be that if Olivia ever subscribed to the paper in the future, she'd have to pay off the old debt first. Olivia said she'd never subscribe to anything from The Times again, so that wasn't going to be a problem, and she certainly wasn't going to pay for something she didn't order. The dunning notices stopped, and Olivia's ignored more than a few other offers from The New York Times. She vows to read the fine print before she ever subscribes to anything again. You should do likewise! But watch out! Even though a publication has an automatic renewal policy, it may not be stated when you subscribe. You may only find out about it once the renewal notices start pouring in. As for The Times … well, consider this update: In researching this story, we went to the paper's Web site to see if there was any clear mention of its automatic renewal policy on subscriptions to sections like the Book Review. Finding it hard to locate any relevant info, we emailed a query, and received this response: "A Book Review subscription is available for 1 year terms only. The product is mailed out 9 days before it appears in Sunday's newspaper. A 1 year subscription to the Book Review is $65.00. If you are interested in subscribing … " blah, blah, blah. A one-year term only and no mention of the automatic renewal! "That's great!" we thought. Maybe The Times has seen the light and no longer feels the need to rope people into paying for a "product" they didn't order, or to use a collection agency look-alike to catch any stragglers. But just to be sure, we sent in another query specifically about automatic renewals. Here's the response we got: "In regards to your inquiry, the subscription will automatically renew, unless you request otherwise." Request Otherwise! Automatic renewals offer no benefit to subscribers, as far as we're concerned. The only beneficiaries are the publications -- or rather, the mega-corporate types who run them, and are so focused on the bottom line, they don't mind violating the trust readers have in them. (It's clear from The Times' emails to us that no editors had their hands on the copy.) Whether it's a holiday gift subscription for a loved one or a publication for yourself, our initial thought was that you include a note that specifically says: "I am not authorizing you to automatically renew this subscription." But then, just to be sure, we called The Times' toll-free number, where we were instructed to call in about six months later to request a "stop date" -- that a year is too long for their system to register such a request. Hard to believe, huh? Before you subscribe to any publication, make sure you find out if it has an automatic renewal policy. If it does, ask what you have to do to opt out. And while you have customer service on the phone, make sure to say that you don't want your name, address, or other personal information sold, traded, or rented to other marketers -- or to anyone else for that matter.