Friggin' Fictionwise! - Page 2

kazbates · 12-30-2009, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhadin

I have hardcover books that I bought 10-15 years ago and read that if you looked at them and even opened them, you would swear they had never been previously opened and certainly never read. I also have some older paperbacks that look like theyu have not been read except for a narrow crease in the spine.

I think it is a matter of how you handle pbooks. My son handles books much more carefully these days than he did in his teens. In his teens, once he read a book it was ready for recycling (not book recycling, garbage recycling); today he at least is careful with my books.

I have a huge collection of paperbacks that look as if they have never been opened although all have been read by me. I am extremely particular about my books and rarely break the spine and never dog ear the pages.My mom has gotten angry with me a couple of times because I wouldn't let her borrow my books (in each case, I have bought her her own copies) because she treats books atrociously. Now that I have a document feeder scanner, I've started cutting the spines off of some of the older ones to scan in for ebook conversion. The first time I did it, I nearly cried even though the cover had already fallen off the book from old age.

delphidb96 · 12-30-2009, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Calm down, Derek, and just report it to FW. Just human error - these things happen from time to time. No point in getting upset about it.

Ummm... Actually, I did. Over a 27 hour period. But I finally got a response. They've refunded me the amount on the "Give Up the Ghost" novel because *IT AIN'T AVAILABLE IN Mobipocket FORMAT*! Would have been nice to know, especially as it was listed as available.

I've also been told by them that Mobipocket's servers are having problems with the Griffin and Holzner novels and that the problem should be cleared up soon.

Glad for the refund because I went and bought it over at eReader.com and converted it to Mobi/Azw format for my K2.

Derek

delphidb96 · 12-30-2009, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stustaff

Wouldnt happen if he went to a bookstore would it though.

Its a clear example of why ebooks are still going to be a hard sell to the public.

Bullpucky! I can't begin to count the times I've picked up paperbacks that had the proper section in the front and turned out to either have the wrong section further inside or which have had whole chapters completely missing.

Derek

delphidb96 · 12-30-2009, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhadin

I have hardcover books that I bought 10-15 years ago and read that if you looked at them and even opened them, you would swear they had never been previously opened and certainly never read. I also have some older paperbacks that look like theyu have not been read except for a narrow crease in the spine.

I think it is a matter of how you handle pbooks. My son handles books much more carefully these days than he did in his teens. In his teens, once he read a book it was ready for recycling (not book recycling, garbage recycling); today he at least is careful with my books.

And I have a paperback of James Sheehan's latest work that is printed so tightly (probably to fit under 400 pages) that I'll have to crack the spine to read the first few letters of each line. And my thumb simply cannot help but cover some lines' last characters. I measured - it's set at 1/4-inch margins, top, bottom, left and right.

Yeah. Right. That book is NOT going to last more than a few months.

Derek

Shaggy · 12-30-2009, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stustaff

Hence why I said went into a bookstore, Amazon is not a bookstore its an online retailer.

What you're complaining about is buying anything online, it's not specific to eBooks. Anytime you order something instead of walking in to a physical store, you run the risk that somewhere along the line an error will be made and you end up with the wrong product. It happens every once in awhile, and has been going on a lot longer than eBooks have been around.

Heck, I've even walked out of a physical store before and found that some pieces were missing when I opened the box at home.

Terisa de morgan · 12-30-2009, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by delphidb96

Ummm... Actually, I did. Over a 27 hour period. But I finally got a response. They've refunded me the amount on the "Give Up the Ghost" novel because *IT AIN'T AVAILABLE IN Mobipocket FORMAT*! Would have been nice to know, especially as it was listed as available.

I've also been told by them that Mobipocket's servers are having problems with the Griffin and Holzner novels and that the problem should be cleared up soon.

Not yet, I'm waiting for Holzner novel

And I haven't received any response.

zerospinboson · 12-30-2009, 05:46 PM

Actually, it's happened quite a few times now, especially with modern translations of Russian works, that the book I bought was utterly different from the book that was advertised on the page. This mostly happens when there is an ubiquitous PD translation (say, by Garnett), and a much more expensive recent translation, and the publisher is a weird one. Although reccently I found a book sold by RH, this one which is said to contain 6 stories (including the superfluous man), while the book itself contained these three stories: First Love, Spring Torrents and A Fire at Sea.
It's really sad to see how little the publishers care about what they're putting out (this title was released Sept 09). (I've had issues like this with at least 4 other Russian non-PD translations, though none as egregious as this one.)

tselling · 12-30-2009, 09:40 PM

I haven't had a problem with getting the wrong book with Fictionwise yet. I have problems where books I purchased wouldn't download. Usually they get it cleared up within 3-4 business days from when I report the problem. Not the quickest response time but they do get the problem fixed.

DawnFalcon · 12-30-2009, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I took it back to Waterstones, which is where I'd bought in from, and they replaced it without question, even though it was three months old. Good service,that!

Nope, it's just their clear duty under the law. If there's a mistake, or the product is not as-advertised or faulty, it's their duty to sort it out. This is why they have a customer service department.

If they go above and beyond, sure...as long as the problem wasn't their fault (say, DRM-related) in the first place!

jaxx6166 · 12-30-2009, 10:08 PM

When I was younger, I left a paperback in the back of my parent's car. The hot Florida sun baked the glue right off. The book fell apart in my hands. It was a tragedy to my little heart.

Ten years later, I buy an ebook and forgot my Sony in the car. I come out and check the 700. It still reads as new

jaxx6166 · 12-30-2009, 10:09 PM

And now for something more on topic...

I've noticed that since FW lost its Overdrive support things kind of went south. The B/N merger hasn't helped matters either. I'm pretty sure it's still the 3 - 5 person staff and now they're fielding thousands upon thousands of CSR requests probably.

But, in their defense - every time I've had to deal with them, they've been more than reasonable. And their rep/s have always been top notch people persons.

JSWolf · 12-30-2009, 10:19 PM

What I'd like to know is now that B&N is into the eBook game, will overdrive deal with them? Will B&N be able to get the books (in ePub) that Fictionwise cannot get?

HarryT · 12-31-2009, 04:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

Nope, it's just their clear duty under the law. If there's a mistake, or the product is not as-advertised or faulty, it's their duty to sort it out. This is why they have a customer service department.

Yes, but the point was that I didn't have a receipt; they had only my word that I'd bought it from them.

stustaff · 12-31-2009, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by delphidb96

Bullpucky! I can't begin to count the times I've picked up paperbacks that had the proper section in the front and turned out to either have the wrong section further inside or which have had whole chapters completely missing.

Derek

Well I have at last count(I scanned all the barcodes for insurance) over a 1000 paperback novels and not a single one has any errors in them except 1! which i knew when i bought it from the airport, some of the pages hadnt been cut properly so had to tear them myself.

so that for me at least is a 1 in 1000 chance that there will be an error with buying in bookshops.

Ebooks probably about 3 in 40 have had problems.

you do the math.

Donnageddon · 12-31-2009, 05:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stustaff

so that for me at least is a 1 in 1000 chance that there will be an error with buying in bookshops.

Ebooks probably about 3 in 40 have had problems.

you do the math.

"so that for me at least is"

"Ebooks probably"

"you do the math"

I am sorry, but I have never been good with fuzzy math.

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12-30-2009, 05:46 PM	#22
zerospinboson "Assume a can opener..." Posts: 755 Karma: 1942109 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Local Cluster Device: iLiad v2, DR1000	Actually, it's happened quite a few times now, especially with modern translations of Russian works, that the book I bought was utterly different from the book that was advertised on the page. This mostly happens when there is an ubiquitous PD translation (say, by Garnett), and a much more expensive recent translation, and the publisher is a weird one. Although reccently I found a book sold by RH, this one which is said to contain 6 stories (including the superfluous man), while the book itself contained these three stories: First Love, Spring Torrents and A Fire at Sea. It's really sad to see how little the publishers care about what they're putting out (this title was released Sept 09). (I've had issues like this with at least 4 other Russian non-PD translations, though none as egregious as this one.)

12-30-2009, 09:40 PM	#23
tselling Addict Posts: 366 Karma: 510 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: NookColor (MiRage/CM7.2 & Moon+ Reader Pro)	I haven't had a problem with getting the wrong book with Fictionwise yet. I have problems where books I purchased wouldn't download. Usually they get it cleared up within 3-4 business days from when I report the problem. Not the quickest response time but they do get the problem fixed.

12-30-2009, 10:08 PM	#25
jaxx6166 Wizard Posts: 1,222 Karma: 769316 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Eternal summer Device: 350, iPad, PW	When I was younger, I left a paperback in the back of my parent's car. The hot Florida sun baked the glue right off. The book fell apart in my hands. It was a tragedy to my little heart. Ten years later, I buy an ebook and forgot my Sony in the car. I come out and check the 700. It still reads as new

12-30-2009, 10:09 PM	#26
jaxx6166 Wizard Posts: 1,222 Karma: 769316 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Eternal summer Device: 350, iPad, PW	And now for something more on topic... I've noticed that since FW lost its Overdrive support things kind of went south. The B/N merger hasn't helped matters either. I'm pretty sure it's still the 3 - 5 person staff and now they're fielding thousands upon thousands of CSR requests probably. But, in their defense - every time I've had to deal with them, they've been more than reasonable. And their rep/s have always been top notch people persons.

12-30-2009, 10:19 PM	#27
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 80,782 Karma: 150249619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	What I'd like to know is now that B&N is into the eBook game, will overdrive deal with them? Will B&N be able to get the books (in ePub) that Fictionwise cannot get?