The Vent and Rant Thread

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

I just want to be a worker bee, too. Do my work, go home and don't have to think about the shipment I need to order, or finish processing the shipment that came in, or go to a trade fair or a supplier on my day off, etc.

Yesterday to men came in from the neighbourhood newspaper (one of the free ones) and basically demanded that I tell them why I chose not to take over the store, because they wanted to write an article about it. I told them that since I've been getting enough angry reactions already that I wasn't going to tell them. Just the way they approached me, demanding as if they had every right to know and write about it (not asking me if that was okay with me) just rubbed me the wrong way. If they would have asked nicely I might have, but not this way.

Y'know, seriously, as you're leaving--the store, the area, etc.--just tell them "none of your damn business." That's it.

Enough already. Nobody is "entitled" to know anybody else's personal damn business.

Hitch

[Hitch]

I'm not sure if this has not actually happened before, or not; over 14+ years, my memory dims and all that rot.

But I finally told off someone, yesterday, in an email in which I was simply irate. A prospective client, but I couldn't take it any longer. And the ironic part is, the person at whom I was furious wasn't, in fact the client, it was her book designer.

Long story short, we'd asked this designer for the InDesign package files not less than 10x. Seriously. The last time we asked, so help me God, she comes back with this nonsense--that she's "concerned" about sending us the WIP INDD files, because--wait for it--she's afraid that we'll use the WRONG files come time for production.

That did it. After all the (utterly crappy) work I've seen from this allegedly-experienced designer, I lost it. Folks, she set a trim size for the book that isn't used at Amazon/KDP or Ingram. (6" x 9.25". That's not the right size for no-bleed or WITH bleed, either way.)

Or any other POD printer, in the USA. Wait, there's more. Her page numbers, after the front matter, start with page 1 on the LEFT (along with the first chapter) and continue on. Yup, even numbers on the right and so on. Her running headers say "Chapter 1" on the verso (left) and yup, the same on the recto (right). (Someone at least spelt "foreword" correctly, there's a gift...). Didn't even put the book title as the verso running head and then the Chapter number on the recto. NOPE.

Is the text justified? Nope, it is not. Yes, I know, some of you will like that. But on top of everything else? Sweet Moses on a Pony.

Oh, yes, the Foreword starts on the left-hand page, too. As does the Preface. Interestingly, the Roman numerals ARE on the correct sides--i (one) is a right-hand page. So, they're really on the wrong pages; it's not some other weird glitch.

The "About the Author" page, which has no heading like a Chapter, let's say--does have a running head that says, yup, "about the author."

So, after seeing all this, and keeping my mouth shut (after all, we're meant to simply do the ebooks, right and all these errors won't/shouldn't affect OUR work, and it's not my place to tell authors that their print designer is a bonehead), this woman has the nerve to say we're that incompetent?

I lost it and told them that this was intolerable. I'm sorry, but 8000 eBooks into this, they really think we've never considered this? That we don't take steps to ensure we get the final, ready-for-production file? I mean...

UNFLIPPINGBELIEVABLE.

(BTW, in case anybody cares at all, we pay over $3K/annum, for a system that is a file intake portal, in which customers sign the T&C, fill out other forms for the work, like the POD specifications, and warrant and represent that they've given us the final files [explicitly naming them], OR, upload the finals or have their print designers upload the finals. But, noooooooo, we've never thought about THAT possibility, natch.)

Yup, I lost it and I told them off. Told them clearly, through sarcasm, that I was beyond offended and that they needed to find someone else to do the work. We did work (eBook work) for this client in 2014, but 9 years doesn't get you a pass in callously and stupidly offending people.

Urgh.

(’益’)

Hitch

[issybird]

Originally Posted by issybird

Four of my last five Amazon orders have gone wrong and they make it so hard these days to fix issues. I ended up eating two of the problems; one was a damaged item and the other was a wrong item, but I decided I could live with both instead of engaging in the hassle.

I never thought Amazon had such stellar service back in the days when people raved about it, but lately it's a one-two punch; they can't get it right up front and then they make it very difficult to engage in order to fix it. A lot of the "Help" links end up in dead-ends; you're got to persist. And then the script-reading CS (and I don't blame them) eats up a significant portion of your remaining lifespan.

Another order gone wrong and that's aside from two missed delivery dates. Third time lucky, apparently!

This was clearly a return and either the prior purchaser returned it because it was defective or he swapped out a more desirable element for a less desirable one from an earlier order. (It's coffee pods; supposed to be six different types but it's five different with one duplicate.) I'd have preferred it as described but I also don't care enough to go through the hassle of returning.

[ownedbycats]

I have an Amazon package being delivered on Monday by Intelcom. Which has a reputation of basically never delivering on time. Sigh.

[pdurrant]

I wanted another folding bench. I bought from Amazon rather than ebay, because I thought the descriptions, and especially the weight, would be more accurate.

I bought this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08BRC44QT

It looks remarkably similar to one we've had for years, which weighs just under 4kg. So I thought "Weight: 2.2kg" was because of advances in material and design over the part 15-20 years.

It arrived. Just under 6kg! Back it went...

[EDIT: Just noticed it also states "0.66 Kilograms" Why don't people check this kind of data!]