MEDIA: EdWeek Site Access Customer Clearinghouse

In light of EdWeek's prolonged problems providing site access for print subscribers (aka, "Premium Access"), Editorial Projects in Education, which owns EdWeek, has asked me to use allow them to use this space to provide readers with a place to describe whatever problems they are having accessing the site.

Please detail whatever issues or concerns you've been having in the comments section below.  This might include passwords that don't work, claim codes that are "already" claimed, customer support that hangs up on you or tells you that you are not in the system or that they are going through a "transition" of vendors and to call back in a few days.  A representative from EPE will get back to you as soon as possible.

On behalf of EPE, and EdWeek, I'd like to express my empathy for any of you who have had problems over recent weeks and months. 

Comments

[jeanne]

Dear Alexander,

Thanks for the public service announcement and for continuing to send people our way! Glad to see you filed this post under the "Made-Up News" category: right where it belongs! :)

Of course, we at EdWeek are always trying to improve our customers' experience; and we want to hear any and all comments.

So to anyone experiencing problems, please e-mail us at
epesubscribe@icnfull.com

or take a minute and tell us about it, here:
https://myaccount.edweek.org/epe/cust_service.php

Thanks again Alex!

jeanne mccann
managing editor
edweek.org

[john thompson]

Thanks.

Ed Week is such a great periodical but its computerized services are always screwed up. For years, I have had all of the problems you list. I frequently get nice notes from reporters and staff, trying to help. But every facet of the technical side of Ed Week services is dysfunctional.

And rarely do I ever get my print edition on time.

Which reminds me of another great post of yours. I'm always impressed with the Washington Post's reporters. How come their work is never featured in the Washington Post Weekly. The editorial side obviously knows where its bread is buttered, and educated people nationwide aren't that interested in urban education. I think that's one reason why its so easy for Rhee's public relations team to pull the wool over the eyes of editors and owners and columnists who don't share the knowledge of reporters.

But whether we're talking the Post, the Times, or Ed Week, I've got nothing but respect for the reporters. I'd like people to consider why their work is usually more solid than the education research and policy studies. I think that reporters, and think thanks like the CEP, who deal with the "people side" of education have an advantage because they realize that education is a "people process."

[Matthew K. Tabor]

"But every facet of the technical side of Ed Week services is dysfunctional."

I'll comment on one facet of that.

I have said/e-mailed at least 10x - including a recent message to Ms. McCann - that EdWeek's RSS blog feeds are a mess. I have unsubscribed from all but one or two because I simply can't take the time to de-jumble them.

It's not an incredibly technical, expensive fix to ensure that RSS feeds have such basic formatting elements as line breaks and paragraphs. I know that RSS/blogs are free and probably not a priority, but getting slapped with a big, fat 400-word paragraph is a turn off. I unsubscribed and found other blogs to fill the niches.

Education Week has problems with content - no need to go into that here, nor do I think it would be heard/considered. But problems with conten *and* the inability to deliver it properly?

When someone who follows 400 education blogs reads a post like this and doesn't realize it's fake until they start reading the comments, you've got a problem.

[jeanne]

Thanks John,
Sorry to hear you continue to have problems.

Matthew: Look for improvements in RSS.

Both: Please write me at
jmccann@epe.org

We would really like to get things straightened out for all our readers.

[No-longer Frustrated Xcustomer]

If you "really like to get things straightened out for all our readers," whomever i kept calling about my online subscription not working wouldnt tell me repeatedly that they woudl call me back and never do it. I was put on hold transfered from 3 different departmetns because no one says they handle the online subscriptions. I finally gave up and cancelled payment on the BS. I've never seen such disregard for customers. I didnt think this post was a joke because Alexander described everything i went through with EDW/EPE. I'm so over them and the fact that they take $$MONEY from foundations to cover things like leadershipmetc. It's called objectivity.

[No-longer Frustrated Xcustomer]

If you "really like to get things straightened out for all our readers," whomever i kept calling about my online subscription not working wouldnt tell me repeatedly that they woudl call me back and never do it. I was put on hold transfered from 3 different departmetns because no one says they handle the online subscriptions. I finally gave up and cancelled payment on the BS. I've never seen such disregard for customers. I didnt think this post was a joke because Alexander described everything i went through with EDW/EPE. I'm so over them and the fact that they take $$MONEY from foundations to cover things like leadershipmetc. It's called objectivity.

[John Norton]

I experienced the frustrating access problem two weeks ago, after Ed Week made changes in their sub/registration system. When I called customer service, a very kind and helpful woman looked up my account, gave me the secret number I needed, told me what to do, and I did it. Works fine now.