Deposit, But No Return

I booked in ad in the Washington Post Magazine's annual spring home and design issue -- the perfect one I thought to reach my target audience especially as it came out the same weekend as the Leesburg Flower & Garden Fest. I paid for the ad in advance, submitted the text, proofed it, and anxiously awaited its publication last month. The issue came out - no ad. I thought maybe my eyes deceived me so I asked others to check their editions. Sure enough, no ad. Several days later I heard back from the WP ad rep -- apparently they goofed and I wasn't the only one who's ad was missing. That person responsible for the ad layout is now fired. How does that even happen though? Honestly I can't imagine how something so fundamental to the Post's business could have happened.

I'm pretty ticked that: A. I have yet to be offered or receive a refund or any compensation for this lost opportunity; and, B. They keep trying to push other editions of the magazine on me. The only reason I chose to try out the issue I did with them was that it included a lengthy garden article by Adrian Higgins and is well-read among area green thumbs. The other issues, from education themes to cover stories on women prisoners, just do not have that same core target audience I'm seeking i.e. Washington-area gardeners!

So now I'm in the process of getting a refund for the un-run ad and maybe seeing if I'll be placing in ad in the Washington Post Home section anytime soon or just appyling that part of my marketing budget to ads in more local reach papers like the Gazette. Or maybe this is just a sign I should save my ad dollars and put them towards more direct marketing and other efforts.