Jeffrey, I understand what you're saying, and I certainly don't want to "hurt" an author... I do doubt that sales are that heavily impacted by lowering of a rating by 1 star, but that's my opinion, as I don't have facts or numbers to back that up. But as you pointed out, the "committee effect" is surely in place here, and my belief (again, just mine) is that such an august body wouldn't even notice a 1-star-lower rating, and would therefore take no action... whereas seeing a noticeably lower 1-star rating against a product that is known to be a superior read would force them to take notice, and to fix the problem.
I consider a badly-proofed ebook serious enough to be worth 2-3 stars' removal... after all, the book itself is what's most valuable, but a bad presentation can be so damaging as to make the experience too frustrating to be enjoyed. Maybe we should compromise at 2 stars.
Now, all of this wouldn't be necessary if booksellers allowed readers to easily refund such shoddily-produced ebooks. That would allow the artist to be compensated, and the bookseller would have to absorb the cost of refunds (thereby throwing the bookseller's weight behind forcing publishers to clean up texts, or see themselves removed from virtual shelves). But not all booksellers allow ebook refunds, and those that do usually require you to jump through a lot more hoops than you did when buying the ebook.
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Originally Posted by starrigger
Just because the publisher didn't answer you directly doesn't mean nobody paid attention. Your complaint might well have come up at the next committee meeting. (Courtesy and attention to customer relations is another matter, of course.)
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True... but if they don't respond to me, they can hardly blame me for thinking the worst (in this particular climate) and assuming they are ignoring me. In fact, the response Jack McDevitt passed on to me did not convince me that Harper Collins is taking any action at all... only that he has made them aware of the situation, and they have responded back that "It's outsourced." No mention of talking to the outsourcers, or re-evaluating their relationship... more like, "Whatcha gonna do?" I wouldn't accept that if I was Jack, and it's no more acceptable to me.
Yes, it's bad customer relations. And because of that, I am left with few effective responses other than becoming hard-@$$ about it... and being well aware that authors will be hurt the most by my actions.
But is it really better for me to take the only other alternative--shut up and not buy--and allow others to unknowingly buy shoddy merchandise, and fume on their own? I can't, in good conscience, do that either.