Dear Mr. Pulver,

        We also have experienced problems with EVA, beginning in early 2007, the first year of a three-year contract. We had used EVA for at least seven years prior to that with only the usual vendor problems in dealing with domestic titles. On the other hand, their performance with international titles was inadequate, so we drew up a separate contract for them & awarded it to a different vendor.

     In 2007 the main library, but more especially the branch libraries, began having problems starting new subscriptions and some renewals. Repeated claims were ineffective, so we withheld some payments until performance improved, which it did. This year the main library has experienced the same problems again, and worse. We have not received any copies of "Science" or Physics Today" since early 2007, despite countless claims. Recently we learned from those publishers that no subscriptions had been entered for us last year or this year. When we asked Standard & Poors in June why our subscription to "The Outlook" had lapsed, an employee there said EVA had entered the subscription but not paid for it, and that the same was true for a number of other libraries. Later S&P restarted our sub & told us it had been paid for by a credit card. (Our contract requires EVA to pre-pay all subscriptions.) We have only just started to receive one of our 2 renewal subscriptions to "Publishers Weekly," and it is clear from the label that the subscription has only recently been entered. To date this year we have claims against more than 75 of the 350 or so titles that we receive through EVA.

     A public library on the North Shore contacted us when their "New York Times" stopped and EVA did not answer their phones for a couple of week. I will get in touch with them again. Library management and the city purchasing agent have demanded explanations from EVA, without reply.

        Thanks for posting your experience with the BBB and the Mass. AG. The information has been forwarded to library management & the city purchasing agent. I would like to hear more about your particular experiences, either on or off the list.

Yours truly,
Hugh M. Crane
Assistant Head of Reference
Cambridge (MA) Public Library

> -----Original Message-----
> From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum
> [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Pulver, Issac
> Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2008 5:11 PM
> To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
> Subject: [SERIALST] EVA Subscription Services
>
> Good afternoon;
>
> After encountering some very serious and ongoing service issues with
> EVA Subscription services, I have spoken with several others who have
> had the same or similar problems.
>
> Having had no luck with the BBB (case closed because EVA did not
> respond), today I spoke with a person in the Massachusetts Attorney
> General's office about our experience and was advised that a complaint
> by a single library through their Consumer Complaint and Mediation
> services hotline would be unlikely to have much effect. However,
> complaints from multiple libraries would be likely to "get the
> attention" of the AG's office.
>
> I would encourage anyone who has had an experience similar to ours
> (I'll be glad to share if you'd like to contact me directly) to follow
> up with a consumer complaint by visiting the AG's webpage
>  http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=cagohomepage&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Cago  and
> following the links to Complaints and Mediation Services.
>
> We'd also be interested in hearing about others' experiences with EVA.
>
> Thanks,
> Ike
>
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> A. Issac Pulver, MSLS, Director
> Saratoga Springs Public Library
> 49 Henry Street
> Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
> 518-584-7860  www.sspl.org <http://www.sspl.org/>
> ipulver@sals.edu