Here is what has been "explained" to me by the various unhelpful, uninterested people I have dealt with: the subscriber number is the long number printed with the mailing address; the format for the number for overseas subscribers is not the same as the format for "home" subscribers; the computer systems in the UK and North America that are supposed to keep track of such things and reconcile them, do not do what they are supposed to do (no surprise there); and, as I said, no one wants to bother to go the to trouble of putting things right.
The comments that have mentioned the problems associated with outsourcing probably hit the nail on the head. In general, and in my 35 years of business experience, outsourcing is one of the evils of our time, diffusing responsibility and diminishing the quality of the product or service a company offers. The accounting wizards can massage the numbers to "prove" that outsourcing "saves money," but that is complete nonsense; the data can be tortured in any way at all, until they confess and give the answer desired by the two or three dullards who make "executive decisions." Outsourcing can be made to work for manufacturing companies, but it does not work for companies that deal with live, retail-level customers. Ever try to communicate with someone half a world a way to try to solve a computer problem?
to Colin: thank you for offering to help. (What is your association with the magazine, may I ask?) I will send you my subscriber number when I receive my December issue in the mail...if and when that happy day arrives...
Cheers,
Capt. Spaulding