Indianapolis Star sneaks in 30% delivery increase

The day after the Santa holiday, I received an odd phone call at home. The caller identified himself as being with the Indianapolis Star and wanted to know whether we had paid our bi-monthly subscription bill. Caught a little off guard - this was a first - I said I'd check, but we'd only recently received the bill. He was very courteous and said not to worry, he was just checking.
Thinking this all a bit strange, I went to our bill stack and opened the Star invoice. Inside, I was more than a little surprised to read this computer-generated note: "Due to rising costs associated with delivering the newspaper, The Star implemented a rate increase."
A rate increase? Try a 31% percent rate increase! This little unannounced rate increase amounts to more than $100 in annual delivery costs for a newspaper that has precipitously declined in size and coverage over the past few years. Plus, I - like a few others - have noticed that the price of gas has declined considerably over the past month or so, which one might think would lower the cost of delivery.
Also featured was a strange little extra charge of $1.42, noted as a "Thanksgiving charge." Huh?
Included in the bill were three different promotions offering me the opportunity to convert payment from a traditional check method to my credit card. Perhaps if the amount just showed up on my monthly credit card statement, I wouldn't notice the increase so much. Plus, conversion to online billing would likely mean that I would stay a Star subscriber to matter what.
To be sure, I like the Star and based on the profitability reports profiled in Indiana Legislative Review, the Star appears to be doing okay in an era where daily newspaper reporting staff is disappearing left and right. To its credit, the Star has taken its fair share of this and openly acknowledged its challenges as the Millennial generation abandons printed newsprint for free digital content.
I am paying the bill this morning ($77.08, up from $53.47) and will continue to support the Star through daily delivery. However, I would humbly suggest that Gannet take a fresh look at customer satisfaction principles (particularly during a major recession). Of course, one chief principle is not to surprise your customers in an unsavory way, lest they react adversely, including public blog entries like this one.