OK, I said I wouldn’t talk about the sub anymore unless there was news. Well, there is – and it’s a surprisingly direct address of the problem I mentioned in my editorial earlier this week (definitely not saying I had anything to do with this, but at least they seem to be aware of the problem).

Please Read: A special message about your MattyCollector.com experience from Digital River

Dear MattyCollector.com Customers,

The Digital River Team has heard you loud and clear and we would like to openly address the feedback that you have provided regarding your experience on MattyCollector.com.

We realize that there have been some challenges. And we want you to know that we are fully committed to providing you not only with an easier and simpler way to manage your subscriptions to our clubs, but also an improved customer service experience.  The good news is that we have already taken steps in this direction, and are planning on making even more enhancements in the coming months. Here’s how…

Read the rest after the jump.

• Shorter response times: In fact, customer service response times have been reduced by over 70% during the last few months. And based on the recent feedback from customers, we believe you are seeing the improvements as well!

• Increased emphasis on first call resolution: We’ve stepped up MattyCollector.com-specific training for our customer service agents so we can address your questions on your first call. This will be an ongoing focus of ours as we realize it is very important to you.

• Easier subscription management: We are pleased to announce that we will be presenting you with a fully tested and certified self-service subscription management feature in late fall of 2012, ensuring that it is fully available for our 2013 subscriptions!  What does this mean? You will be able to log in to your account and manage your own subscriptions with ease. Updating your credit card, as well as your billing and shipping addresses will be simple and under your complete control. You also will be able to combine your subscriptions for one monthly shipment.  (Of course, if you want to ship your subscription figures separately, you will be able to do that, too!) Our goal is to ensure that you have the tools to easily control your subscriptions via Mattycollector.com.

• Early access exclusively for subscribers: We are presenting our 2013 subscribers with all-new functionality that enables them to buy non-subscription products before they are available to the general public!  We believe this will be a huge perk and an absolute bonus for subscription customers.

Together with Mattel, we are confident that the challenges that you have seen in the past will be just that…a thing of the past.  In the meantime, we are looking at new ideas for collecting and addressing your feedback, such as surveys, and we will update you regularly on our progress.

We appreciate all the feedback that you, the fans, have provided and look forward to providing you with the best experience possible.

Regards,
The Digital River Team

-Matty

The first three bullet points in particular at least show they have indeed been listening to user complaints; the second is something I specifically called for in my editorial.

The question for those of you who still haven’t subscribed due to your experiences with Digital River is simple: whether you’re willing to believe them or not. I’m sure for many this is a “fool me once” situation, while others are going to be cynical no matter what. Both positions are probably fair.

I’m not going to urge you one way or the other. I will give credit to Digital River for admitting there are problems and making a public vow to address them; that said, I’m as skeptical as anyone as to whether those problems will actually be rectified.

I subscribed because I decided that I wanted the figures enough to do so – knowing full well what the risks and potential problems were. And I fully understand the position of anyone who isn’t willing (or able) to do so.