Global disappointment

The Boston Globe had declined in many ways from what it was in the 1970s and 80s.  Pressure from the Internet is a primary cause and newspapers need to establish strong web presences to remain in the game.  The Boston Globe’s website has always been disappointing.  It does not update often, loads much more slowly than, say, The New York Times or Wall Street Journal sites, features clunky navigation, and lacks expected customer service features.  I’m suspending the weekend Times and Globe through Labor Day.  I suspended my Times delivery by selecting the stop date, start date, weekends only on the website.  A few clicks and it was done.  I couldn’t suspend the Globe as simply.  The website allowed a vacation suspension menu, but suspending every Saturday and Sunday delivery requires entering each set of weekend dates in ten separate transactions.  Silly.  I had to call customer service, wade through the inevitable options menu, and ignore repeated requests for information so my call would be transferred to a human being.  Then I had to repeat my request four times because the rep had difficulty understanding what I meant by “every weekend through Labor Day.”  I’m less than 50% confident that this request will be processed correctly.  Frustrating, because it shouldn’t be this hard.