Print publications and customer service

I present three incidents totally unrelated to the current business woes of print publications:

1. I renew my longstanding subscription to the New Republic. Two months after the subscription lapses and the check has been cashed, I'm still magazineless. I call customer service and am informed that I should expect a 10 week lag between the processing of a check and the renewal of a subscription. A 10-week lag? I'm trying to imagine the system that produces such a delay. (I may be unwittingly dealing with one of those shady intermediary renewal companies, but still. Why do those still exist?)

2. The Washington Post is sending email to an obsolete address of mine. After much rooting around, I find a FAQ that explains how to fix this. Alas, it directs me to a page with zero relevant information. So I email the address offered for unresolved issues: Questions@washingtonpost.com. The email bounces back; there is no such address, according to the error message. Time well spent!

3. I take a flyer on a loss-leader subscription to Sports Illustrated's golf magazine. (Yeah, I know: golf.) They treat me to this old-school move: they send me a copy of last month's issue and then, a few days later, the current issue. Voila: they've saved themselves 1/12 the cost of a yearly subscription at the small cost of a seething customer! When this happens--and it happens all the time with new subscriptions of every sort--I usually call to get the subscription extended, but this time I don't care enough.