Notice to new members intending to register - from January 9th 2012

GingerM · #1 05-05-2012, 02:54 PM

I got my dad a subscription to a weekly magazine. The OAR states that "Multiple copies of the same publication to an inmate shall be prohibited." I'm assuming that this means you can't have, say, two subscriptions to Generic Magazine or two copies of Lord of the Flies or such, correct?

He received the first issue of the magazine (it's a science magazine, absolutely nothing contraband-ish to it), but hasn't received one since then.

I plan on contacting the magazine to make sure there isn't something amiss with the subscription, but I wanted to check here too - is there a rule against getting weekly publications? I wouldn't think so given that some of the news magazines are weekly.

Also, is there someone I can call at OSCI to see about finding out if it's being stopped and if it is, why it's being stopped? Because honestly? My dad loves it, and I do too. Scientific magazines aren't cheap. And I'm guessing that the mail room people have never seen this periodical before - it's pretty hard-core science. So I'm wondering if they're getting confused about it and possibly thinking that he's got more than one subscription, when, in fact, it even states very clearly on the cover that it's a weekly publication. And I highly highly doubt that the trade value of a magazine about physics, chemistry and biology has much intrinsic value inside the walls.

Any guidance, suggestions etc would be greatly appreciated.

TLAn4ever · #2 05-05-2012, 05:21 PM

You might check with the magazine subscription dept. On one of my husband's magazines, they started leaving off the SID# for some reason and as you know, without that, no magazine

. Once they fixed it, he had no problem and they even extended his subscription.

GingerM · #3 05-05-2012, 05:50 PM

I'll check with them as soon as I get home - I'm working the weekend, again. bleh.

Thanks for the quick response though, it's much appreciated!

GingerM · #4 05-06-2012, 06:56 AM

The address was a little screwy, but I don't think it should have been so bad as to make it undeliverable. His name was listed as John X. J Doe. They took his first name and made it a second middle initial. I don't think that would be enough to cause the mail room to abscond with it - especially since he got the first one. But I'm becoming familiar enough with the system that I realize it might be the problem. The address has been fixed, but I still don't know if it's going to be enough.

Sheryl P. · #5 05-06-2012, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GingerM

The address was a little screwy, but I don't think it should have been so bad as to make it undeliverable. His name was listed as John X. J Doe. They took his first name and made it a second middle initial. I don't think that would be enough to cause the mail room to abscond with it - especially since he got the first one. But I'm becoming familiar enough with the system that I realize it might be the problem. The address has been fixed, but I still don't know if it's going to be enough.

Maybe someone in the mail room likes science and took the address error as an excuse to make off with them.
Prisons are usually very precise about how they want an address and for one tiny error,things can go missing.
I had quite a go around with Barnes And Noble over how they were writing an address since I knew it would be a problem.

Athena26 · #6 05-07-2012, 09:25 PM

I have his SID on the label of the magazine. That said, some months his expensive particular sporting publication arrives, other months it doesn't.
I expect nothing from the DOC institutions. On the rare occasion that things go smoothly, it's a rare pleasant surprise.

GingerM · #7 05-08-2012, 06:53 AM

I have his SID on there too - I even checked to make certain that it appears on the address (it does).

Hrm - I just realized that his last name is spelled correctly on the magazine script, but DOC has it spelled incorrectly. I wonder if I need to misspell his last name too - along with having the SID number on there.

*grumble*

Athena26 · #8 05-08-2012, 07:40 AM

You should try a subscription with the DOC spelling just for kicks! That's pretty incredible that they have his last name spelled wrong. I'll bet that they have the correct spelling listed as his alias.
With so many inmates, errors are bound to happen. The DOC has my love's eye color listed as brown, when his eyes are actually a
striking shade of light blue. How did they miss that?!
*grumble*

Scott · #9 05-08-2012, 07:52 PM

No rules about weekly magazines. I got several (including "The Week" which I can't recommend highly enough for news junkies).

You do have to make sure the address is spot on. 4th Class mail gets processed after everything else, so sometimes it's a tad later than usual, but it usually ends up in the right spot.

GingerM · #10 05-09-2012, 07:36 AM

Quote:

I'll bet that they have the correct spelling listed as his alias.

Yup!! And the only way to change it? Get a certified copy of his birth certificate. Despite the fact that every form of ID he has (and he has PLENTY) has the correct spelling of his last name, only a certified copy of his birth cert. will work.

Scott, any idea if the misspelling of his last name might come back to bite him for some reason later? I figured we'd just leave it alone for now (though I have requested a copy of his birth cert just in case, since it takes 6 weeks to process...)

GingerM · #11 05-09-2012, 07:37 AM

Quote:

4th Class mail gets processed after everything else

super thanks for this information! I'll pass it along.

tslittlesister · #12 05-09-2012, 07:23 PM

my brother's first name was spelled incorrectly and a letter I sent to him with the proper spelling was sent back. then a few days later, his name was updated. I've had 2 other letters returned since then but I never found out why...