Customer Reviews

Better Homes and Gardens (1-year)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I have been a fan and subscriber of bhg for years, but the advertising has increased to the point of excess. I took the time to actually count the ads in the last two issues. They totaled more that 62% of the magazine, and that didn't include the postcard inserts or bhg's advertising of exclusive products. I'm tired of wading through all of the ads trying to find the magazine. I'm cancelling my subscription in favor of magazines with less advertising and better layout.

I purchased a one year subscription to BHG in December 2008, because they offered me a great deal while I was looking for a recipe online. After receiving about two months of my subscription, they started billing me for the next full year. Four months away from my renewal date, they informed me they had renewed me "for my convenience" and would be charging my debit card. I promptly canceled my subscription online in November 2009 (would run out in March 2010). From that point on, I received continual bills with threatening implications, like "account overdue" and "pay immediately." All my account information online stated my subscription was canceled and I owed nothing. The bills continued to escalate until in Feb. 2010, I searched high and low online to find a phone number to call. I was informed that the subscription department did not receive information online, and they did not know my subscription was canceled (likely story). I was informed that NOW they would cancel my subscription. OK, I'm finally done with these people. WRONG!!! Today, I get a threatening e-mail saying my account is past due, and pay my bill immediately. When I go online, my subscription is canceled, I owe nothing, I have no subscription activity. What a racket! I will NEVER, as long as I live, subscribe to this magazine again. I'm tired of the bait and switch, shady accounting, and threatening tactics toward a customer who paid their bill on time, and would have renewed if treated with some basic courtesy and respect. BHG, I am SO done with you!

Better Homes and Gardens is really about easy living. Each issue includes articles about friends and family, gardening, interior design, building, family matters, food, health, and shopping. This is the magazine I reach for between work and errands because the articles are easy to read and brief yet interesting and inspiring. A few feature examples: window box herbs, dieting myths, cooking scones, what's new in family cars, and more. Better Homes also emphasizes family by incorporating activities for children or for the whole family from season to season. Better Homes is a good magazine for holiday ideas, too, with recipes and crafts to decorate your home and enjoy with your children. Although there are more sophisticated home magazines out there, I'm glad I have Better Homes lying around when I have a minute to relax.

This magazine has a lower cover price than some of its competitors, and makes up for it with a massive amount of ads. A few ads contain coupons, for those that like to cut those little things out (unfortunately they are hardly ever for anything I want !). The paper is also a lot thinner than the higher priced home/garden publications, and the photographs do not reproduce that well on it.
On the bright side, there are many nice décor ideas, and simply terrific recipes.

Taking the October 2003 edition as an example, Fall colors and produce are the theme. It has some ideas on how to display gourds, and an article on a community pumpkin patch, from the June planting by 140 neighbors and friends in a 6000 square ft. area, to harvest time.
There are numerous articles on remodeling, "Foolproof Potted Plants", on the joys of having hardy succulents in your home, and a lovely piece with lots of photographs on actor Peter Strauss' gorgeous Ojai, California garden.
The best article of all, is "The Magic of Soup", and some of these recipes are so good they might end up in your family for generations. They are simple to prepare, with easy to find ingredients, and will make a healthy, hearty meal for those frosty days ahead. Also included with the recipes is the preparation and cooking time, and nutritional statistics.
As someone who writes a lot of notes and cards, I appreciate the final page which is about letter writing, and how this vanishing form of communicating is good for the soul.
All things considered, this magazine gives good value, and is meant for those of us who do not live in a mansion or have hours to devote to a single recipe.

I purchased a 1 yr. subscription to this magazine. After a year i decided not to renew my subscription because not usable content and over advertisements. After returning a bill marked "Do Not Renew",I am being hounded with past due notices!!! Today ,i sent a letter restating my request by certified mail.Maybe this will get someone's attention!!! I also told them i was writing this review on Amazon & sending a copy of the letter to my local BBB. AVOID BHG like a plague. t. Zacharenko

most of the beautiful gardens I see are in Washington or Oregon or back east somewhere. Having lived in Washington, I do enjoy seeing some of the plants that I am missing here in Colorado, but it would be nice to see a more varied selction of gardens becasue we all can't live in the Pacific Northwest. I have a subscription to Sunset so I guess that will have to suffice, but I do wish BH&G would take that into consideration.

Otherwise, I LOVE this magazine. I used to get several magazines, but this was always my favorite. It is chock full of ideas that we can really use. And I love the photography. What sets BH&G apart is that you can see a hint of life in these beautiful houses. Slippers on the floor, newspaper on the table and often the owners of the home are in the pictures too. They are sometimes blurred from movement which is actually nicer than a posed shot. It helps set the feeling that this home is lived in and is attainable.

I would say get this magazine right away. I would have given it 5 stars except for the whole garden thing.

It has a lot of advertisments in the magazine. But not much one could use in everyday life. The gardens are usually just on the professional scale.

I subscribed to BHG from their website and ended up subscribing to an additional year. The articles are helpful to a degree but the layout of this magazine, with its overwhelming amount of advertising, takes away from any good points. I've found the style to be choppy and very difficult to read because of the ads. It's hard to tell how long an article is or where it starts. I rarely find anything I'd want to save. Overall a disappointment.

I remember looking at this magazine when my grandmother subscribed to it many years ago. It was really interesting and high quality. Although the content is still fairly good, the magazine is now very thin, and includes much less information that is worth reading. I also noticed that over the course of my two year subscription, the physical quality was also quickly slipping. The color layers didn't match up, so that some of the pages were not readable. Some of the pages were cut improperly so that parts of articles were missing. This occured several times through the year. I still think that it is a good magazine to buy from the magazine rack if the issue looks interesting that month, but I won't spend my money on another subscription this year.

Great magazine...I enjoy reading and getting the magazine monthly...it's a bonus to be able to subscribe to the magazine via Amazon.com...subscribing was very easy via Amazon.com.

Better Homes & Gardens (1-year auto-renewal)