What The...?

wow, first, posting two days in a row for me posting? definitely some kind of record. second off, i am flabbergasted by my local newspaper. not in a good way. we were trying to figure out if there were any areas around here where we could shave some more money off...or into...our budget, however you'd like to look at that. so, we were thinking of canceling our subscription to the local paper. we only get sunday anyway, for the coupons primarily, but we thought maybe we were spending more than we saved annually. so, we let the subscription lapse, didn't pay to renew and they stopped delivering a paper. ok. that's what we were looking to do. so, yesterday i decided that we should get the paper for a year, see how much the coupons saved us over that year and then reassess next year at this time. i went online and tried to do the renew function but it wouldn't let me because it said my subscription had been canceled. so i clicked on the subscribe button. i was floored by what i saw next. the bill to renew my paper for a year was $88. if i was not renewing and starting a subscription, my bill was going to be...drum roll please...$45 and some change. this prompted me to the "what the...?" title you see above. that's pretty much double the price. why? obviously because i have been a loyal subscriber for the past oh, ten years or so. gee, thanks. i see how you reward my loyalty. i really appreciate it. i went ahead and did the subscribe thing and then i got an e-mail from someone at the newspaper today saying that i couldn't do that and they will restart my paper again but that it won't be paid for the whole year. i almost felt like telling them to refund my money, that i didn't want it at all until they stop charging me double what a new subscriber is. aargh.