5 Letter Lately 10/2025

Is it just me, or are some of you seeing an annoying trend of a kind of negative change with 5 Letter where your magazines request are brought precisely on time to the first nest - and you get that first "hey 'im here and ready to be brought to Tom Hank's big bird and go to Broadway" note, and then it' trails off to almost nothing. No matter where you look or who ( if you do get a person ) you talk to, you see the same status that you first got 8 hours earlier ? Thoughts of hopefully it's just a lazy stork that didn't scan and all is fine compete with "is it lost? stolen?"
You have no clue. ANd 5 Letter doesn't care.
Eventually you get this catch up note on the app ONE. Not the 6-7 that they used to do.

Plus they have little to zero chance to speak to someone who can trace. They can. I've had it done - but They just don't
For me that was like 2-3 years ago - and it might have been Brown and not 5 letter.

Just curious if people who found 5 L at least sufficient are now thinking they are pretty horrendous with the updates.

drjimmy1964 said:

Is it just me, or are some of you seeing an annoying trend of a kind of negative change with 5 Letter where your magazines request are brought precisely on time to the first nest - and you get that first "hey 'im here and ready to be brought to Tom Hank's big bird and go to Broadway" note, and then it' trails off to almost nothing. No matter where you look or who ( if you do get a person ) you talk to, you see the same status that you first got 8 hours earlier ? Thoughts of hopefully it's just a lazy stork that didn't scan and all is fine compete with "is it lost? stolen?"
You have no clue. ANd 5 Letter doesn't care.
Eventually you get this catch up note on the app ONE. Not the 6-7 that they used to do.

Plus they have little to zero chance to speak to someone who can trace. They can. I've had it done - but They just don't
For me that was like 2-3 years ago - and it might have been Brown and not 5 letter.

Just curious if people who found 5 L at least sufficient are now thinking they are pretty horrendous with the updates.

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I fully despise everything to do with them as they consistently and continuously leave shit at my door that doesn’t belong to me no matter how many different people I tell, call, email whatever. And of the very few times I’ve had the misfortune of needing them, 90% of the time it ended up at the door of the person who’s shit always went to mine. I would never willingly get a magazine subscription if they were the option.

But br0w-n has a similar update issue, unrelated to mag subscriptions I recently had a new electronic come through them and it was ‘out’ at a not very distant area early in the morning and got 0 updates until the dude showed up, about 9 hours later. Both of these options really suck at their jobs IMO

5 letter has always been utter garbage with tracking updates and misdelivered reading material. The reason why I only subscribe to publishers who ship books via 3 letter or 4 letter

LW815 said:

I fully despise everything to do with them as they consistently and continuously leave shit at my door that doesn’t belong to me no matter how many different people I tell, call, email whatever. And of the very few times I’ve had the misfortune of needing them, 90% of the time it ended up at the door of the person who’s shit always went to mine. I would never willingly get a magazine subscription if they were the option.

But br0w-n has a similar update issue, unrelated to mag subscriptions I recently had a new electronic come through them and it was ‘out’ at a not very distant area early in the morning and got 0 updates until the dude showed up, about 9 hours later. Both of these options really suck at their jobs IMO

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This might be somewhat region dependent as well. 5 letter, 4 letter, and br0w-ñ all seem to not update super frequently for me but br0w-ñ is decent about updates once it's "out." In terms of reliability, for me br0w-ñ is the most reliable, almost always on point (granted I've not used them for subscriptions much at all), followed shortly by 4 L. 5 L has historically been horrible for me, similar issues with leaving stuff at the wrong door to the point that I won't subscribe from somewhere (including stuff other than the subscriptions we discuss here) if 5 L is the only option, but they seem to be improved a bit lately for other people's subscriptions in my area.

LW815 said:

I fully despise everything to do with them as they consistently and continuously leave shit at my door that doesn’t belong to me no matter how many different people I tell, call, email whatever. And of the very few times I’ve had the misfortune of needing them, 90% of the time it ended up at the door of the person who’s shit always went to mine. I would never willingly get a magazine subscription if they were the option.

But br0w-n has a similar update issue, unrelated to mag subscriptions I recently had a new electronic come through them and it was ‘out’ at a not very distant area early in the morning and got 0 updates until the dude showed up, about 9 hours later. Both of these options really suck at their jobs IMO

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Thanks for replying ! Man your situation with 5 is terrible ! That obviously HAS to be the 5 mule that sounds like he/she is on the phone in 24/7 convo with a love interest and figures "who cares, as long as he/she gets it". The problem that makes it worse - as I see it - is if you come across a GREAT vendor, and they specifically only use 5 - and the donation is too good to refuse for the books you want to read, are you going to go donate MORE with another just cause 5 is the worse of the two evils between them and Brown ?

I am ( SADLY ) careful these days when it comes to complaining about someone that is vital to a process - and this last step sounds like he/she needs to be complained about - Is it always the same burnout ? Do you have a security cam installed or Doorbell cam showing that it's always same ? There is no way to blame the label obviously. If my complaint gets action taken like changing that person for another ( hopefully not canned just watched ? ) I am not comfortable that people aren't told WHO and WHERE they live are the ones that ratted you. That's what I mean - You can't get a great discount on the entire catalog of mags and books because the LAST STEP. And one day you may need that and they leave it at 123 Jain Street instead of 123 MAIN Street ( example being you are Main St LOL )

I am careful with my complaints. I don't want some last step to get a new job and on his her last day bring my tractor tire catalogs as I mentioned to another street - not lost forever....just kinda...lost for an urgent anxiety attack.

In my case - I guess 5 was OK for a while - and hten lately they take in my books after printing them, and I know 5 has them - and then I go to bed wondering "Wait - this got there an hour earlier than last time - it HAD to have gone - but - " And then I have to hope and pray that my high price novels that I am on the LAST PAGE on last edition WILL be here tomorrow and I will see an update - OR ELSE I need to reach out to MR VhEnD@r - start there and nicely ask "Are you sure you got there before the stork picked up his worms ? Oh yes ? Say - I was supposed to get this AM and I know you say "you did it all ok" and I beleive you but - Possible you could maybe call and see if the TN simply ran the marathon - is on its trail and I'll see a sk@n soon or maybe it's still on the 5 Park bench waiting on TONIGHTS stork instead ..? Oh you can't do that ? ( all in email of course)

Then I am in "hope and pray" for a sc@N mode. Refresh the m@bull app over and over - check to see if 5 Letter Is having a system update outage....

Crap like that. Mine is "Smooth - I know pretty much the times and park benches arrive and leave =" to "We have your books.... TOUGH SHIT - only WE know where they are"....

Then you get that 6-7PM dinner bell showing YES INDEED - it dropped at the start line AFTER the stork left and stork wasn't late - stork was on time - Mr OvahPryce decided to drop and run cause - hey - he's
MY FREIND LOL

Hope I make sense....

PS: Please excuse my typos - I didn't do this reply till 24 hours later Fri night and didn't want you guys to feel I dissed your responses - I type fast at times and typo city!

meepmoopmeep said:

5 letter has always been utter garbage with tracking updates and misdelivered reading material. The reason why I only subscribe to publishers who ship books via 3 letter or 4 letter

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I hear you
I am getting more annoyed with 5 where I am close to the same feelings you have !

Now I’ve been dealing with the problem of publisher seemingly on time and arriving at the 5 nest to start the walk, and then 5 marking my mags as “too bad - stork left - now you’re mags went from OH En to 2 d@y.

And no $$ back on mistakes publisher does. They are never wrong .

Three times in a row for me

jjjjjjjjj said:

This might be somewhat region dependent as well. 5 letter, 4 letter, and br0w-ñ all seem to not update super frequently for me but br0w-ñ is decent about updates once it's "out." In terms of reliability, for me br0w-ñ is the most reliable, almost always on point (granted I've not used them for subscriptions much at all), followed shortly by 4 L. 5 L has historically been horrible for me, similar issues with leaving stuff at the wrong door to the point that I won't subscribe from somewhere (including stuff other than the subscriptions we discuss here) if 5 L is the only option, but they seem to be improved a bit lately for other people's subscriptions in my area.

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My publishers seem to be going to same 5 Letter nest to start the marathon, and there seems to be issues 3 out of last 5 races!. I use this publisher because they do have good printing and donations. However that sometimes goes out the proverbial window if I donate so I can read tomorrow and NOT 48
later ! I cannot stand that when a publisher I am using is asked “why is this still at the 5 Nest and not flapping wings till tomorrow?

“Oh we donated and got there when it had to be!”

Yea ok. So you didn’t appear 10 minutes after main Stork came, grabbed all the worms and left . No, you’re never wrong