I would like to constrast the French and the Singapore experience. If I am rambling on, just don't bother reading on.

I subscribed to the Economist in Fontainebleau with some dodgy Books Services company. I learned that my new housemates (or flatmates, call them what you like so long as you don't venture as far as saying that they are my roommates) have an ongoing subscription here in Singapore. The French company was about three issues late continuously. I was receiving news from the beginning of December toward the end of the month, or I would be able to read news from every other week which made me sound completely incompetent in our strategy class.

I scientifically compounded these two well-articulated reasons into a single most powerful conclusion: I should sit down at my broken French wooden desk, take some of my precious time -usually dedicated to solve an imbroglio of cerebral cases- to write down an extremely polite letter to this company to cancel my subscription and ask for a refund.

The letter was of a most respectful nature.

"Dear Anybody,

Your mailing system inaccuracy is as reliable as the strike schedule at SNCF: it is when I am interested in the news that I do not receive The Economist. Since I have been trying to get a landline for the past 4 months and have not solved my bathroom issue with the local plumber after 1.5 months of discussions, I have decided to avoid taking on another dispute liability with an incompetent local business and resort to a clean-cut cancellation of my patronage.

You will hereby find my letter of resignation as a self-volunteered victim of your cartel activities with La Poste. I would like to request a refund for the services that you will never perform since I am in effect relieving you from all of your obligations toward my humble person, if we set aside this small outstanding financial settlement.

I thoroughly enjoyed doing business with you. I have certainly stocked up enough stories for my lineage for the centuries to come.

Yours sincerely

Finance Monkey"

The cancellation took effect mid December. I sent an e-mail about two weeks ago to enquire about any possibility of a refund. I got an e-mail yesterday telling me that my request had been sent to headquarters in the capital (Fontainebleau is about 1 hour drive away from Paris) - and that they expect to receive a reply at which point, they will contact me.