Thousands of Orange County Register subscribers are demanding answers to why their papers aren’t being delivered.
It has been four days since readers say no paper has arrived at their doorstep.
Register CEO Aaron Kushner wrote a half-page apology detailing a change in delivery service.
He promised to make things right for subscribers, who’ve been forced to go to the paper's Santa Ana headquarters to get copies.
Connie DeForest made the drive to Santa Ana from Anaheim and a 50-yard walk across the parking lot of The Register to get a copy of the paper that she’s subscribed to for 35 years.
When Vance Singleton, of La Habra, called to complain, he said he was told to access the paper online.
"Well, everybody in the world doesn’t have a computer and I don’t," he said.
In many communities, you can’t buy The Register on the street, either.
Since 2009 the Los Angeles Times has delivered The Register.
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But there is a financial dispute regarding payments for delivery services. On Oct. 4, The Register severed ties with The Times.
"Given that the Los Angeles Times refused to guarantee uninterrupted delivery of our paper, we were left with no choice but to transition to a new delivery service," Kushner said in a statement.
Times spokespeople say that The Register is delinquent in payments for delivery service since April 2013 and owes more than $3.5 million in fees.
Times officials said it was The Register’s choice to hire a new delivery service.
DeForest says this is the last time she’s picking up a newspaper she’s paid to have delivered.
"If it happens again we’re just going to cancel the paper," she said.
All accounts will be credited for papers that weren’t delivered. The Register is increasing staff and pickup locations for newspapers while training a new carrier force. But the delivery interruptions could continue for a few days.
