# Amazon Orphans unite!



## Charwoman Gene (Jun 6, 2008)

What's going on?  I pre-ordered my core set with a gift certificate, do I can't afford to cancel, but WTH?!  I ordered it for my Birthday in April!  Why isn't at least Shipping!

If the whole "Sold Through" thing means I'm BACKORDERED I'll be REALLY pissed.


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## Vyvyan Basterd (Jun 6, 2008)

Charwoman Gene said:
			
		

> What's going on?  I pre-ordered my core set with a gift certificate, do I can't afford to cancel, but WTH?!  I ordered it for my Birthday in April!  Why isn't at least Shipping!
> 
> If the whole "Sold Through" thing means I'm BACKORDERED I'll be REALLY pissed.




My patience wore thin today, so I tried to upgrade my shipping. Now Amazon says I won't get my books until July! I thinking of cancelling my order and supporting my local hobby shop.


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## Rechan (Jun 6, 2008)

Mine says "Shipping estimate: June 10, 2008". Pre-ordered it in march.


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## Crothian (Jun 6, 2008)

I'm happy I'm not in a rush to have them since they don't seem to be in a rush to give them to me.


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## Amy Kou'ai (Jun 6, 2008)

Mine claims it will be delivered June 10, but it's two-day shipping through Amazon Prime, so.


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## TerraDave (Jun 6, 2008)

I ordered the books 5 months ago. 

I have "shipping soon" in my order summary, and still have delivery estimate June 9.


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## Exquisite Dead Guy (Jun 6, 2008)

Charwoman Gene said:
			
		

> I pre-ordered my core set with a gift certificate, do I can't afford to cancel



QFT.  

I noticed that the set itself is now listed as "In stock on July 2, 2008".


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## TerraDave (Jun 6, 2008)

I went to Amazon to double check the status of my books, and got this:

Http/1.1 Service Unavailable 

Earlier, I went to a local Borders, just to get a look at the books. 

All they had was KotS. 

These are not good signs!


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## Charwoman Gene (Jun 6, 2008)

Can anyone access amazon.com?

Oh I am so glad I pirated it now.


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## Thaumaturge (Jun 6, 2008)

Wow.  Anxious gamers have DDoS'd Amazon? Crazy.   

Thaumaturge.


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## Shadowsmith (Jun 6, 2008)

Amazon.com does seem to be down. And all I wanted to do was cancel my pre-order of the gift set.


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## Yergi (Jun 6, 2008)

I pre-ordered mine in December.  I checked the status of my order yesterday morning to discover that they wouldn't ship until June 10, and not arrive until the end of the month.  So I canceled, complained that it was ridiculous they couldn't get them to me sooner when I had pre-ordered *six months ago*, and got mine from the LFGS at their special midnight opening. 

Was it more expensive? Yes. Do I care? Not a whit. I'd rather have them now so I can run some demos for people on Sunday like I promised.


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## Remathilis (Jun 6, 2008)

Ok, who was the diehard who kept refreshing amazon.com so often it crashed the server?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?


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## drothgery (Jun 6, 2008)

I never had any expectation that an Amazon pre-order would ship on time, so I'm not disappointed.


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## Exquisite Dead Guy (Jun 6, 2008)

TerraDave said:
			
		

> I went to Amazon to double check the status of my books, and got this:
> 
> Http/1.1 Service Unavailable




WOO HOO! we broke Amazon!


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## Remathilis (Jun 6, 2008)

Exquisite Dead Guy said:
			
		

> WOO HOO! we broke Amazon!




Ah, that brings back memories...


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## Charwoman Gene (Jun 6, 2008)

It's not the June 10th-16th estimate that's the issue.  It's the spectre of being pre-backordered to July 2nd .


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## malraux (Jun 6, 2008)

Remathilis said:
			
		

> Ok, who was the diehard who kept refreshing amazon.com so often it crashed the server?
> 
> Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?



Sorry, I've got some time because I'm supposed to be packing up my apartment, but I just can help but hit refresh.


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## jelmore (Jun 6, 2008)

Thaumaturge said:
			
		

> Wow.  Anxious gamers have DDoS'd Amazon? Crazy.




Stop refreshing, people! I want to see if my books shipped!


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## Charwoman Gene (Jun 6, 2008)

Aaaaaaarrgh!!!!


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## malraux (Jun 6, 2008)

Even weirder to thing that amazon might be down, but WotC is still up.


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## Nikosandros (Jun 6, 2008)

Amazon is not down for me... but I'm in the same boat with some gift set pre-ordered a long time ago and no clue on when they will actually be shipped.


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## ArcpoktheUnwise (Jun 6, 2008)

finally a support group, I felt so alone.

with so many in the uk getting them I had hoped that they would possible sending early for me to. I just want them.


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## Charwoman Gene (Jun 6, 2008)

Amazon.com

We're sorry!
An error occurred when we tried to process your request. Rest assured, we're already working on the problem and expect to resolve it shortly.

If you were trying to make a purchase, please check Your Account to confirm that the order was placed.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

on the Amazon.com home page 

http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/06/199211


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## Mercurius (Jun 6, 2008)

In terms of when people get theirs and if it has to be back-ordered, I'm guessing that it depends upon the local distribution center and how much they have in stock.

As for your gift certificate, Charwoman Gene, can't you cancel the order and use it for something else? I mean, it is applied to your account, so it should be transferrable to whatever you order.

Just think, folks: Two weeks from now, maybe even a week from now, we will all have the books, and we'll look back on today's angst with shame-faced mirth.

(But yeah, I'm anxious...mine says "Shipping estimate: June 6th"...still. If it doesn't ship I'm wondering what it will say tomorrow, June 7th?).


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## catsclaw227 (Jun 6, 2008)

Amy Kou'ai said:
			
		

> Mine claims it will be delivered June 10, but it's two-day shipping through Amazon Prime, so.



Mine says this too.


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## Charwoman Gene (Jun 6, 2008)

Mercurius said:
			
		

> As for your gift certificate, Charwoman Gene, can't you cancel the order and use it for something else? I mean, it is applied to your account, so it should be transferrable to whatever you order.




I am dirt poor right now.  I can justify the purchase as it was funded as a Birthday present.  If I cancel, 25 bucks is trapped at amazon and I have to makeup like at least 30 bucks to get the core rules.

I'll be okay once it ships today.


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## erisred (Jun 6, 2008)

I'm about as pleased as I could be without having the books on my doorstep. They shipped this morning.


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## Drkfathr1 (Jun 6, 2008)

I finally got through and managed to get an email sent off to ask what the status of my order was. Here's hoping I get a quick response. 

I have the gift set on order as well...with a gift certificate. If I have to, I'll cancel the pre-order on it, and order the 3 seperately. 

Stupid Amazon.


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## Cirex (Jun 6, 2008)

Mine still says "Shipping 6th June". If I click to look at the details of the order, I can still cancel or change it. 

I would like an update on my shipping date at least...


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## Zogmo (Jun 6, 2008)

For those of you upset at Amazon I will assume you've never ordered from them before and offer some info.

1) The date you see is a _shipping estimate_. Could be the day listed it will ship (and up to a week for delivery) or it may ship much later.

2) No need to access Amazon to see if it has shipped.  You will get an email telling you it has shipped.

3) They are not perfect. There may be complications and things won't go the way they planned. If you wish for perfection then start you own company and do better.  Good luck.


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## MythosaAkira (Jun 6, 2008)

Vyvyan Basterd said:
			
		

> My patience wore thin today, so I tried to upgrade my shipping. Now Amazon says I won't get my books until July! I thinking of cancelling my order and supporting my local hobby shop.




If you go that route, Games Plus is giving a 20% discount on the books until the 15th.


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## Cirex (Jun 6, 2008)

Zogmo said:
			
		

> For those of you upset at Amazon I will assume you've never ordered from them before and offer some info.
> 
> 1) The date you see is a _shipping estimate_. Could be the day listed it will ship (and up to a week for delivery) or it may ship much later.
> 
> ...




I'm checking amazon.com often to see if my preorder seems processed, if the shipping or the delivering date have been changed and all that kind of details.

About complications, if you got X preorders, you can go below it, even if you feel that 30% of them will cancel. We are talking a product with a life-span of 4-6 years and extra stock (called security stock) wouldn't do any harm. Stock Rupture is what Amazon is suffering right now...all the money lost for the lack of stock, money that goes to other companies.


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## Amphimir Míriel (Jun 6, 2008)

Cirex said:
			
		

> Mine still says "Shipping 6th June". If I click to look at the details of the order, I can still cancel or change it.
> 
> I would like an update on my shipping date at least...




Same here... [bites nails]

Could that be because we are both non-us customers?


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## Cirex (Jun 6, 2008)

Amphimir Míriel said:
			
		

> Same here... [bites nails]
> 
> Could that be because we are both non-us customers?




Not sure. I think there are plenty of Americans in the same situation. Ah well, patience and PDFs.


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## Eridanis (Jun 6, 2008)

I ordered the gift set on Tuesday, and Amazon tells me it still estimates shipment today, for what it's worth. I'm not holding my breath, especially since it separately shipped the other two items I simultaneously ordered (yay, Sweeney Todd DVD!), but I'm content.


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## catsclaw227 (Jun 6, 2008)

I just not got my shipment email and UPS tracking number -- the gift set has been sent via Amazon Prime and I should see it on the 10th.


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## baberg (Jun 6, 2008)

Cirex said:
			
		

> Not sure. I think there are plenty of Americans in the same situation. Ah well, patience and PDFs.



American here, preordered the gift set on March 16th and picked 2-day shipping.  It still lists the delivery date as June 10th, but it's currently 5:15 on the East coast and it hasn't moved to "shipping" so I'm not going to hold my breath.  I'm assuming it'll slip at least one day.


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## Mercurius (Jun 6, 2008)

*Just spoke to Amazon...*

OK, here's the deal. I was concerned because while My Account still says "shipping June 6th", the product page says "in stock June 16th." Being an anxious wreck like the rest of you ;-), I decided to contact Amazon.  I entered in my phone number and literally two seconds after they called me back (try it!). After explaining my concerns, the very nice customer service rep said that they have a copy reserved for me. To put it another way, if yours says "shipping June 6th" then they already have one reserved for you and you don't need to worry about the later date. 

My sense is that the discrepancy in dates probably means that they had to order more from Wizards. So if you didn't pre-order before they sold out of the original batch, your gift set will be shipping June 16th or later. My guess is that Amazon underestimated how many gift sets would sell, but ordered enough individual copies.

As for when my books will actually ship, who knows. The rep seemed pretty confident that it would ship today, but we shall see.


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## Mercurius (Jun 6, 2008)

Cirex said:
			
		

> Not sure. I think there are plenty of Americans in the same situation. Ah well, patience and PDFs.




Aside from the sneaky Buy.com customers, it seems that the first people to get the gift sets were in Britain.

But again, I think it has something to do with specific distribution centers. Some may be busier than others, and some might have more gift sets than others. But I've never ordered something from Amazon--and I've ordered plenty--that didn't come within a couple days of the shipping date, and ALWAYS before the estimated delivery date.


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## Cirex (Jun 6, 2008)

Mercurius said:
			
		

> OK, here's the deal. I was concerned because while My Account still says "shipping June 6th", the product page says "in stock June 16th." Being an anxious wreck like the rest of you ;-), I decided to contact Amazon.  I entered in my phone number and literally two seconds after they called me back (try it!). After explaining my concerns, the very nice customer service rep said that they have a copy reserved for me. To put it another way, if yours says "shipping June 6th" then they already have one reserved for you and you don't need to worry about the later date.
> 
> My sense is that the discrepancy in dates probably means that they had to order more from Wizards. So if you didn't pre-order before they sold out of the original batch, your gift set will be shipping June 16th or later. My guess is that Amazon underestimated how many gift sets would sell, but ordered enough individual copies.
> 
> As for when my books will actually ship, who knows. The rep seemed pretty confident that it would ship today, but we shall see.




Much love for you for contacting them 

About the shipping / delivery, I ordered a few minins some weeks ago and they arrived 3 weeks before the estimated. Actually, the estimate said 9th june, so go figure.


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## Amphimir Míriel (Jun 6, 2008)

Thanks a lot Mercurius!


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## TerraDave (Jun 6, 2008)

I have recieve the following email

From   "Amazon.com" <ship-confirm@amazon.com>  
Sent  Friday, June 6, 2008 4:26 pm 
To  DELETE 
Subject  Your Amazon.com order has shipped (#002-7189102-8716233) 

Greetings from Amazon.com.

We thought you'd like to know that we shipped your items, and that this 
completes your order.  

DELETE

The following items have been shipped to you by Amazon.com: 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Qty      Item                           Price  Shipped  Subtotal
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Amazon.com items (Sold by Amazon.com, LLC):
   1     4th Edition Core Rulebook ...   $57.72      1   $57.72

Shipped via FedEx (estimated arrival date: 09-June-2008).

So I guess ordering 5 months early does have its advantages.


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## Saberj (Jun 6, 2008)

Mine still hasn't shipped, nor moved to "Shipping Soon". However, it still says it will arrive on Monday (Next Day shipping via Prime). Since the nearest warehouse is literally like 10 miles from my house, I think it could technically "ship" Saturday and still get to me on Monday. It just lists an arrival date, and not a ship date. So I have no idea whether or not it will go out today or not...


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## Zogmo (Jun 6, 2008)

Cirex said:
			
		

> I'm checking amazon.com often to see if my preorder seems processed, if the shipping or the delivering date have been changed and all that kind of details.
> 
> About complications, if you got X preorders, you can go below it, even if you feel that 30% of them will cancel. We are talking a product with a life-span of 4-6 years and extra stock (called security stock) wouldn't do any harm. Stock Rupture is what Amazon is suffering right now...all the money lost for the lack of stock, money that goes to other companies.




What you have stated here is the exact reason why Amazon might not carry extra stock (security stock).  

1) There is a huge life-span to this product.  No need to have it now! Now! Now!
2)  They way their model works is by not having huge warehouses filled with stock.  They order what they think will sell and since they sold out completely even if they never sell another set it was a complete success.  They sold everything they had. 
3) They did get confirmation that a second print was being run so they can still fulfill all of the orders taken.  There is no need to have stocked up on more because the life-span expectancy is long and it's only going to be a few weeks before they get more. In the long run of the products life that's a very short time. 

AND just because some small group of gamers are really excited about this and want it NOW NOW NOW it doesn't mean they should be concerned about that. Obviously those people would have preordered *way* in advance and their books would be shipping today. If someone didn't preorder soon enough then they must not be that much of a fan compared to all the others who did. 

The majority of people are not thinking like the people on this message board, they are waiting but not panicked into thinking that Amazon sucks now and they have no idea what they are doing. There was only so much to go around to begin with and it all sold out.  From their point of view they see this as a totally reasonable situation and will sell more books as soon  as soon as they get them.

As far as having "extra" stock in their warehouses goes you need to do a little search on the economics of retailers that do business online and how the brick and mortar business model had to change because of the paradigm of doing business on the internet.


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## Nifft (Jun 6, 2008)

Shipment Date:  	June 6, 2008
Estimated Arrival: 	June 9, 2008

Mua-ha-ha!, -- N


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## JohnRTroy (Jun 6, 2008)

Actually, shocking the Internet community Amazon's entire web site was down for a while today.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9962010-7.html

I think it's all the D&D fans hitting reload!  ;-)


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## thundershot (Jun 7, 2008)

My shipping estimate says June 10th. I chose the free shipping... I got a PHB at borders this morning (I ordered the boxed set and another PHB from amazon.. at $19 bucks a book, I couldn't pass it up) using a borders 20% off coupon http://www.borders.com/online/store/BordersMediaView_visitborders . This way I have one for me, one for my wife, and an extra copy for the people who aren't regulars getting their own...

Right now, I've got plenty to sink into with just the PHB. The hardest part is reading it while trying to get out of a 3E mindset...


Chris


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## Grimstaff (Jun 7, 2008)

thundershot said:
			
		

> My shipping estimate says June 10th. I chose the free shipping... I got a PHB at borders this morning (I ordered the boxed set and another PHB from amazon.. at $19 bucks a book, I couldn't pass it up) using a borders 20% off coupon http://www.borders.com/online/store/BordersMediaView_visitborders . This way I have one for me, one for my wife, and an extra copy for the people who aren't regulars getting their own...
> 
> Right now, I've got plenty to sink into with just the PHB. The hardest part is reading it while trying to get out of a 3E mindset...
> 
> ...



Hey, i did that too, got a PHB at Borders to tide me over until my Amazon box set arrives. I figure someone will probably need it at the game table until all my players get one. I got a 30% off coupon for Borders plus $5 frequent shopper bucks, so for less than $20 the PHB was a steal!

Remember when 3.0 PHB's were $20 retail!? sigh...


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## Kzach (Jun 7, 2008)

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I pre-ordered back in March and they still haven't even debited my account


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## drothgery (Jun 7, 2008)

Kzach said:
			
		

> I'm glad I'm not the only one. I pre-ordered back in March and they still haven't even debited my account




Amazon doesn't charge you until your order ships. This is a Good Thing.


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## Drammattex (Jun 7, 2008)

Ordered Feb 21st.

Supposed to ship June 10.


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## Mercurius (Jun 7, 2008)

Bad news, maybe for many who haven't gotten theirs yet. I got an email from Amazon saying that the gift set is back-ordered and that they will ship it as soon as they get it. But they haven't changed the estimated shipping date of June 6th, so it could ship tomorrow or in a week or more. At least they gave me a $5 credit, but I'm thinking of cancelling ponying up for a 20% off PHB at my fairly LGS (they discount all D&D books).

So folks, it may be a wait. Whether an extra day or two, or a week or more remains to be seen.


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## reanjr (Jun 7, 2008)

drothgery said:
			
		

> I never had any expectation that an Amazon pre-order would ship on time, so I'm not disappointed.




I'm in the same boat.  At least for me, Amazon has a terrible record of shipping on time.  Especially on a pre-order.  Especially on something steeply discounted.


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## reanjr (Jun 7, 2008)

drothgery said:
			
		

> Amazon doesn't charge you until your order ships. This is a Good Thing.




For most major credit card companies, it's a contractual obligation to not charge until you ship for items that are not in stock.


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## mearlus (Jun 7, 2008)

Mercurius said:
			
		

> Bad news, maybe for many who haven't gotten theirs yet. I got an email from Amazon saying that the gift set is back-ordered and that they will ship it as soon as they get it. But they haven't changed the estimated shipping date of June 6th, so it could ship tomorrow or in a week or more. At least they gave me a $5 credit, but I'm thinking of cancelling ponying up for a 20% off PHB at my fairly LGS (they discount all D&D books).
> 
> So folks, it may be a wait. Whether an extra day or two, or a week or more remains to be seen.




When did you order your gift set?  This is pretty disappointing.  I really thought pre-orders would help them know how many they need to have in order to fulfill orders...


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## Mercurius (Jun 7, 2008)

mearlus said:
			
		

> When did you order your gift set?  This is pretty disappointing.  I really thought pre-orders would help them know how many they need to have in order to fulfill orders...




Not until May 28th, so there may be hope for you if you ordered much earlier . But I'm not sure if Amazon really "queues" the pre-orders by date, so who knows. I would think that if yours isn't on back order than it would have said "shipped" by now, if you had ordered standard shipping and not super saver.

The irritating thing is that the guy I spoke to on the phone said something like "oh, something popped up right now that one is on reserve for you" and that it should ship soon. Then I got the email, saying that it was back-ordered.


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## mearlus (Jun 7, 2008)

Mercurius said:
			
		

> Not until May 28th, so there may be hope for you if you ordered much earlier . But I'm not sure if Amazon really "queues" the pre-orders by date, so who knows. I would think that if yours isn't on back order than it would have said "shipped" by now, if you had ordered standard shipping and not super saver.
> 
> The irritating thing is that the guy I spoke to on the phone said something like "oh, something popped up right now that one is on reserve for you" and that it should ship soon. Then I got the email, saying that it was back-ordered.




Hmm, I ordered on April 5th and it has always said estimated ship date of the 10th.  Guess i'll find out.  54$ vs 105$ is quite a difference so I doubt i'll cancel in either case.


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## Mercurius (Jun 7, 2008)

mearlus said:
			
		

> Hmm, I ordered on April 5th and it has always said estimated ship date of the 10th.  Guess i'll find out.  54$ vs 105$ is quite a difference so I doubt i'll cancel in either case.




I'm assuming you picked Super Saver shipping? I had that originally and it said June 10th, then I changed it to Standard and it said (and says, even now) June 6th--I'm moving and need to make sure I get it before I leave, or else cancel and re-order when I'm settled.

I put a gift set in the shopping cart of an alternate Amazon ID and it said "estimated shipping date June 16th-24th"--which is because of the back-ordering. So what remains to be seen is who among those who had pre-ordered missed the cut-off point. I'm guessing that us poor chumps who haven't received a shipping notification will have to wait. Buy.com anyone? 

If I find anything else out I'll let y'all know.


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## mearlus (Jun 7, 2008)

Mercurius said:
			
		

> I'm assuming you picked Super Saver shipping? I had that originally and it said June 10th, then I changed it to Standard and it said (and says, even now) June 6th--I'm moving and need to make sure I get it before I leave, or else cancel and re-order when I'm settled.
> 
> I put a gift set in the shopping cart of an alternate Amazon ID and it said "estimated shipping date June 16th-24th"--which is because of the back-ordering. So what remains to be seen is who among those who had pre-ordered missed the cut-off point. I'm guessing that us poor chumps who haven't received a shipping notification will have to wait. Buy.com anyone?
> 
> If I find anything else out I'll let y'all know.




Yeah, I cheaped out w/ the super saver   It usually takes 1-2 days to reach me from the shipping day from Amazon.


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## Cirex (Jun 7, 2008)

Zogmo said:
			
		

> What you have stated here is the exact reason why Amazon might not carry extra stock (security stock).
> 
> 1) There is a huge life-span to this product.  No need to have it now! Now! Now!
> 2)  They way their model works is by not having huge warehouses filled with stock.  They order what they think will sell and since they sold out completely even if they never sell another set it was a complete success.  They sold everything they had.
> ...





Oh, I'm not saying amazon sucks, since as personally it goes, I have never had any troubles with them (I haven't bought many things though),  just that if you pre-order something, it's because you want it by the release date + shipping. That's kinda the point of preordering, having a reserved copy by when the product is released.

I guess security stock works different for online retailers, and in that situation you are right, I need to research more because I'm used to normal retailers, not online retailers.


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## jinnetics (Jun 7, 2008)

Rechan said:
			
		

> Mine says "Shipping estimate: June 10, 2008". Pre-ordered it in march.




DITTO


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## devoblue (Jun 7, 2008)

Mine still hasn't shipped, but still claims it will ship June 6.   I ordered May 2.


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## Kzach (Jun 7, 2008)

drothgery said:
			
		

> Amazon doesn't charge you until your order ships. This is a Good Thing.



No, it's a bad thing because it means it hasn't shipped.


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## Alnag (Jun 7, 2008)

Mine still says Shipping estimate: June 6, 2008 yet it has not shipped nor preparing to ship or whatever. Not to mentioning the fact I will wait another 14 days till it arrives. Poor me...


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## Zulithe (Jun 7, 2008)

LIke some of you, my order says 'shipping june 6th' even though it is now june 7th... for more than an hour...

So, is it shipping, or what :|


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## Ulorian - Agent of Chaos (Jun 7, 2008)

I pre-ordered from Amazon.ca with Super Saver Shipping (free). My estimated shipping date was June 10-11, but I got mine yesterday. I pre-ordered back in October, which may or may not make a difference.


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## Sammael (Jun 7, 2008)

I pre-ordered the giftset in January, and until yesterday, its shipping date was listed as June 6. After updating my shipping address and having to re-enter my credit card data, my shipping date changed to July 3. Thank goodness I'm not in a rush to get my books.


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## Cirex (Jun 7, 2008)

I updated my shipping adress and got a new shipping estimate :

Shipping estimate: June 16, 2008 - June 24, 2008
Delivery estimate: June 26, 2008 - July 17, 2008 

I can survive with those dates, if they are accurate.


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## Mythtify (Jun 7, 2008)

ordered on May 27, paid for next day delivery. Received the email saying that it has been shipped.

Still, I picked up a PHB at the local game shop.


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## sinecure (Jun 7, 2008)

So did D&D lovers anticipating 4th edition take down Amazon yesterday?  That would be awesome.

Must be true it was June 6th, right?  

It's too big a coincidence otherwise, all the world waiting for 4e.

Guess no more countdowns for D&D ever again.  Even Amazon can't hack it.


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## Family (Jun 7, 2008)

sinecure said:
			
		

> Guess no more countdowns for D&D ever again.  Even Amazon can't hack it.




I plan on getting the Girl Guides to sell future books door to door. Now there is a sales force that delivers!


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## SlyFlourish (Jun 7, 2008)

*hosed*

I called Amazon yesterday and they said mine wasn't going to ship until July even though the website said Monday. So I went and bought the books at my FLGS. I pre-ordered mid-may and should have done so a lot earlier I guess. Ah well.


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## Sammael (Jun 7, 2008)

mshea said:
			
		

> I called Amazon yesterday and they said mine wasn't going to ship until July even though the website said Monday. So I went and bought the books at my FLGS. I pre-ordered mid-may and should have done so a lot earlier I guess. Ah well.



As you can see from my example, the earlier preorder doesn't mean jack to Amazon.


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## Olgar Shiverstone (Jun 7, 2008)

Preordered in MArch; no ship yet -- still showing a ship date of 10 June.  No worries; it'll get here.  We have our usual 3.5 game tomorrow.


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## devoblue (Jun 7, 2008)

Just got an update from amazon suggesting they now expect to ship on June 8.


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## Charwoman Gene (Jun 7, 2008)

Shipping estimate: June 9, 2008 - June 12, 2008 

Okay I can live with this.  It sucks though.


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## Khuxan (Jun 7, 2008)

Charwoman Gene said:
			
		

> Shipping estimate: June 9, 2008 - June 12, 2008
> 
> Okay I can live with this.  It sucks though.




Shipping Estimate: June 16, 2008 - June 24, 2008.

Consider yourself lucky!


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## Cirex (Jun 7, 2008)

My shipping/delivery estimate varies each change I swap my shipping details.

Now it's 
Shipping estimate: June 17, 2008
Delivery estimate: June 27, 2008 - July 10, 2008


----------



## T-Bone JiuJitsu (Jun 7, 2008)

I pre-ordered mine on Monday June 3rd. Paid for next-day shipping. I shipped early Friday morning, and is currently in Memphis, TN (it started in Kentucky, and I live in California). Supposed to be here on June 9th. So I'm not sure why mine went out on time when I ordered so late in the game.


----------



## Saberj (Jun 7, 2008)

T-Bone JiuJitsu said:
			
		

> I pre-ordered mine on Monday June 3rd. Paid for next-day shipping. I shipped early Friday morning, and is currently in Memphis, TN (it started in Kentucky, and I live in California). Supposed to be here on June 9th. So I'm not sure why mine went out on time when I ordered so late in the game.




Weird, I live in Kentucky...and mine still hasn't went out. It is supposed to go out today though. It's supposed to be here Monday (Next day shipping). Still, odd.


----------



## Drkfathr1 (Jun 7, 2008)

It would seem the priority goes to those who paid for 1 or 2 day shipping. I asked for standard, I live in KY, and I pre-ordered back in February. 

My order is now backordered and wouldn't ship until late June. 

So I cancelled and ordered the books individually. Thanks Amazon.


----------



## Weregrognard (Jun 7, 2008)

*Amazon and Murphy's Law*

"We're writing about the order you placed on March 06 2008 19:15 PST
(Order# XXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXXXX). Unfortunately, we are unable to ship the item(s) as soon as we expected and need to provide you with a new estimate of when the item(s) may be delivered:

Wizards RPG Team (Author) "4th Edition Core Rulebook Collection
     (D&D Core Rulebook) [Box set]" [Hardcover]
Estimated arrival date: 06/19/2008 - 07/01/2008

We apologize for the inconvenience caused by this delay."


#$%@!!!!

Edit:  Cancelled my pre-order, went to Borders with my weekly 30% off coupon, and gots me my books.  All is right with the world now.


----------



## drothgery (Jun 7, 2008)

Pre-ordered in Feb, super saver shipping, hasn't shipped yet (or flipped to 'shipping soon'), has said "Shipping estimate: June 10, 2008" since I put in the pre-order (never changed).


----------



## emiliorf (Jun 7, 2008)

Tell me

I waited all this time, seeing everyone downloading the books, and I kept saying. I won´t download, I want to have the books for my first look. And then I woke today to find an e-mail.

Shipping estimate : June 16, 2008 - June 24, 2008

What the hell, if today at the worldwide game day I´m able to find the books, I´m buying them from the FLGS and sending Amazon to *%$#@. Never will buy with them again


----------



## Belorin (Jun 7, 2008)

emiliorf said:
			
		

> Tell me
> 
> I waited all this time, seeing everyone downloading the books, and I kept saying. I won´t download, I want to have the books for my first look. And then I woke today to find an e-mail.
> 
> ...



I received the e-mail sometime after 3am pt, that's when I finally went to bed. Got up to use the facilities and there it was. I have sent an e-mail expressing my disappointment and letting them know that this better be an isolated incident. Anymore last minute changes and I'm outta here, Amazon!

Bel


----------



## Tortoise (Jun 7, 2008)

Having recently moved I had yet to find another FLGS so I ordered through Amazon and also made the mistake of signing up for Prime. 

Just canceled my order, which was originally scheduled for One Day shipping, and requested a cancel/refund of Prime. I'm expecting a fight on the latter part.

Now that I have a new FLGS, I can avoid online ordering.


----------



## Mercurius (Jun 7, 2008)

sinecure said:
			
		

> So did D&D lovers anticipating 4th edition take down Amazon yesterday?  That would be awesome.
> 
> Must be true it was June 6th, right?
> 
> ...




If it was because of rabid D&D lovers refreshing constantly, it looks like Amazon REALLY "screwed the pooch" by under-ordering the gift sets: Not only are they losing customers, but they lose something like 1-3 million bucks per hour they are down (according to NPR last night, who said they were down for about two hours). 

To put it another way, we MIGHT have cost Amazon $2-6 million because they didn't order enough gift sets.

Even if it isn't true, I might choose to believe it is...sweet, sweet poetic justice


----------



## GoodKingJayIII (Jun 7, 2008)

Man this is bad news... I guess you get what you pay for, huh?

"You get a free book, we ship it whenever!"


----------



## Festivus (Jun 7, 2008)

Khuxan said:
			
		

> Shipping Estimate: June 16, 2008 - June 24, 2008.
> 
> Consider yourself lucky!




Same start date for me, end date is 7/1/2008.  However, I did support my FLGS with a purchase of the next to the last copy of the PHB last night, and the PHB has enough info to run games so I am good to go.


----------



## Darrin Drader (Jun 7, 2008)

They just updated me saying that I won't get it until the last half of the month. If my FLGS has it in stock, I'm canceling my Amazon order.


----------



## Fifth Element (Jun 7, 2008)

Definitely glad I decided to support my FLGS. Man these books are nice.


----------



## kristov (Jun 7, 2008)

I ordered mine in freakin MARCH and paid for "standard shipping (not free" and I just got my dear customer letter.

WTH?!


----------



## Demmero (Jun 7, 2008)

Mercurius said:
			
		

> If it was because of rabid D&D lovers refreshing constantly, it looks like Amazon REALLY "screwed the pooch" by under-ordering the gift sets: Not only are they losing customers, but they lose something like 1-3 million bucks per hour they are down (according to NPR last night, who said they were down for about two hours).
> 
> To put it another way, we MIGHT have cost Amazon $2-6 million because they didn't order enough gift sets.
> 
> Even if it isn't true, I might choose to believe it is...sweet, sweet poetic justice




I'm pretty pissed off to have gotten a delay notice from Amazon for the gift set (which I ordered 4 months ago), but I think we may be fingering the wrong culprit.  All the major online sellers seem to have the PHB in stock currently (buy.com says "ships in 1-2 days).  It looks like individual books are readily available.

I'm thinking that Amazon put in plenty orders for the gift box as time went along and customer orders piled up.  It just doesn't make much sense for them to not have the gift sets for so many customers who ordered 3-5 months in advance.

I bet its WotC's fault--I'm thinking they severely underestimated the demand for the gift box.  After all, a 4E game's supposed to be 1 DM and 5 players, right?  That means maybe one gift box and 5 individual PHBs required, since players don't required the DMG and MM.  Yet it's consistently been the gift set appearing near the top of Amazon's Hot 100 (or whatever it's called).

I've got a suspicion that the second printing of 4E that we've heard about may be printings of the gift box exclusively.

Grumble, grumble, grumble....


----------



## Agamon (Jun 7, 2008)

Fifth Element said:
			
		

> Definitely glad I decided to support my FLGS. Man these books are nice.




Damn, someone hit them with a beauty stick, eh?  Very nice, indeed.  I don't want to mar them by playing with them... 

I ordered an extra PHB and the DM screen form Amazon.ca.  They say end of August.  Not in a hurry for the book, but I'd like the screen before more than a month after it's released.  If it hasn't been shipped by the time the FLGS gets it in, screw 'em.


----------



## Natural 20 (Jun 7, 2008)

*another twist...*

Don't know what to make of this, but it is worrisome... I ordered May 29th and had an original delivery date of 6/6 - 6/10... well I also got the delay e-mail that changed my expectations to expected delivery of 6/18 - 6/28. When I went to Amazon though for order status I got this snippet: 

Order Placed: May 29, 2008  
Amazon.com order number: XXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXXXX 
Order Total: $57.72  

 Shipment #1: Shipping Soon   We are preparing these items for shipment and *this portion of your order cannot be canceled or changed.* Need information on returning an item?   

Delivery estimate:June 18, 2008 - June 26, 2008​
Since I ordered via Prime, why would they "shipping soon" where soon (to them) is June 18th (not soon to me).

_I wonder if they have frozen my order (changed the status to "shipping soon") to prevent me from cancelling the order and losing the sale?_ I do not think Amazon has handled this very well from a customer relations point of view.


----------



## The_Universe (Jun 7, 2008)

My books have still not shipped. Grrrrrrrr.


----------



## Darrin Drader (Jun 7, 2008)

Well, I did it. I canceled my Amazon order and went to my FLGS and paid full cover price for the gift box. It cost an extra $30, but I feel a lot less dirty this way, and I have my books! It's a win - win!


----------



## Shining Dragon (Jun 8, 2008)

Demmero said:
			
		

> I'm pretty pissed off to have gotten a delay notice from Amazon for the gift set (which I ordered 4 months ago), but I think we may be fingering the wrong culprit.  All the major online sellers seem to have the PHB in stock currently (buy.com says "ships in 1-2 days).  It looks like individual books are readily available.
> 
> I'm thinking that Amazon put in plenty orders for the gift box as time went along and customer orders piled up.  It just doesn't make much sense for them to not have the gift sets for so many customers who ordered 3-5 months in advance.




I was told by someone, so believe it or not, that Amazon does not send in their orders until time of shipping/release (or at least after printing has been done).

In the case of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, such a practice works - the publisher would have printed millions of copies, more than enough to fill any late orders from Amazon. But with roleplaying games, WotC doesn't want millions of copies languishing in a warehouse so they print enough to fill the initial orders (especially when you are talking about a limited product such as the gift set) and thats it.



			
				Demmero said:
			
		

> I bet its WotC's fault--I'm thinking they severely underestimated the demand for the gift box.




Like any company, they would have produced an amount based on the orders the received (plus some). If Amazon don't send in their orders before printing then WotC can only guess. I would blame Amazon for this stuff up - only Amazon knows how many they require. Like any company if they need to estimate then they need to estimate themselves, its not WotC's responsibility to do Amazon's sales estimates for them.


----------



## Teflon Billy (Jun 8, 2008)

Vyvyan Basterd said:
			
		

> My patience wore thin today, so I tried to upgrade my shipping. Now Amazon says I won't get my books until July! I thinking of cancelling my order and supporting my local hobby shop.




That's what I did.

Suddenly, for an added cost of about 20 bucks, my "shipping date went from "Mid-July" to "Today"

FLGS wins this round.


----------



## Teflon Billy (Jun 8, 2008)

Zogmo said:
			
		

> 3) They are not perfect. There may be complications and things won't go the way they planned. If you wish for perfection then start you own company and do better.  Good luck.




I think there is a bit of difference between expecting "perfection" and expecting that your order will ship somewhat closer than *2 friggin' months* from the time you were told (sorry the time that was "estimated") when you placed the order.


----------



## Remathilis (Jun 9, 2008)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> That's what I did.
> 
> Suddenly, for an added cost of about 20 bucks, my "shipping date went from "Mid-July" to "Today"
> 
> FLGS wins this round.




As it was for me. 

I'll miss the slipcase, but I have the books at least...


----------



## KB9JMQ (Jun 9, 2008)

After looking again today I still had July 21st as my ship date for the individual books. Then wham I get an email that states they shipped today. Weird but yay!


----------



## Mercurius (Jun 9, 2008)

KB9JMQ said:
			
		

> After looking again today I still had July 21st as my ship date for the individual books. Then wham I get an email that states they shipped today. Weird but yay!




Weird. I just checked My Account and while it still says "Shipping Estimate: June 23rd", it also says "Shipping Soon" and that they are preparing it to be shipped so I can't change anything.

I am led to believe that perhaps Amazon got a new batch of gift sets?


----------



## ReillyMcShane (Jun 9, 2008)

I ordered the gift box about a week ago. Selected free shipping. Checked Amazon today, and it said it was shipped and in transit.

I guess I was lucky.

I did order about $50 extra in books and so forth, and my wife and I order pretty regularly, so perhaps that counted for something.

Says it will get to me by the 14th. 

My sympathies to everyone getting jobbed on this one.


----------



## The_Fan (Jun 9, 2008)

I'm in South Korea, so I have no choice but to order online. No FLGS to support. The "best" part is that even after it ships, I still have a week or two before it shows up.


----------



## fuindordm (Jun 9, 2008)

Mine shipped today, apparently.

Good luck, all.


----------



## pukunui (Jun 9, 2008)

I cancelled KotS from my combined order with the gift set and then reordered it with a lone PHB, which amazon apparently still has in stock. So hopefully I'll get a hard copy of the PHB in about a week or so and then I'll pass that on to one of my players or keep it as the group's copy once the gift set decides to show up ...


----------



## Cirex (Jun 9, 2008)

So yes, in short, if you paid for the cheap shipping system, you get to wait even more.
Nice justice.

And their e-mail system doesn't seem to work. Again, I don't mind the delay, it's something bound to happen, but I didn't get an e-mail or anything.

EDIT : Oww...I just went to change my shipping thingy, to pay more, and I noticed I already got "Expedited International Shipping", so I am already paying more...

Ah well. I guess it's totally dependant on the distribution place.


----------



## Steely Dan (Jun 9, 2008)

At the London Dungeon last Friday, Rob Heinsoo and a UK WotC representative told everyone there when they made their speech and toast that, yes, the books will be scarce for at least a few weeks.

Rob's a really nice fella, though I didn't get to talk (grill his ass) to him as much as David Noonan (another really nice dude) at last years open game day at The London Dungeon.


----------



## NebtheNever (Jun 9, 2008)

fuindordm said:
			
		

> Mine shipped today, apparently.
> 
> Good luck, all.




So did mine, and I had one that was apparently going to be delayed until mid-June/early July. I was so about to send Amazon a nasty email, too. *sigh*


----------



## D'karr (Jun 9, 2008)

I feel sorry for those that have had their order delayed.  I got mine on Saturday, while I was away at the Worldwide Gameday.   I've been slowly devouring the PHB and DMG with only a few glimpses at the MM.


----------



## Mustrum_Ridcully (Jun 9, 2008)

Hahahahah, you still haven't got yours?
Sorry for those that didn't get it yet. I suppose it was a very good decision of me to order by Dragonworld... A friend of mine (also in Germany) did order via Amazon and didn't get it yet, too.


----------



## Steely Dan (Jun 9, 2008)

D'karr said:
			
		

> I've been slowly devouring the PHB and DMG with only a few glimpses at the MM.




I have to admit, the new MM makes my genitals grow (half chubber!).


----------



## Calico_Jack73 (Jun 9, 2008)

Mine still shows a June 10th ship date so we'll see what happens tomorrow.  It is pretty much a bunch of crap.  For the folks who pre-ordered they knew how many sets they needed to have on hand ahead of time to meet those orders.  I don't have any pity for folks who ordered after the launch but the pre-orders should have been shipped on launch day.


----------



## thundershot (Jun 9, 2008)

Calico_Jack73 said:
			
		

> Mine still shows a June 10th ship date so we'll see what happens tomorrow.  It is pretty much a bunch of crap.  For the folks who pre-ordered they knew how many sets they needed to have on hand ahead of time to meet those orders.  I don't have any pity for folks who ordered after the launch but the pre-orders should have been shipped on launch day.





Mine says the same thing. I'm not THAT concerned, since I have a PHB to keep me occupied until the set comes.



Chris


----------



## Sanzaru (Jun 9, 2008)

Wow, I didn't pre-order mine until May 10th, they said it would ship on June 10th. When I started reading this thread, I figured I'd probably get my books in July. But then I got an email from Amazon stating they shipped my books this morning.


----------



## Calico_Jack73 (Jun 9, 2008)

Sanzaru said:
			
		

> Wow, I didn't pre-order mine until May 10th, they said it would ship on June 10th. When I started reading this thread, I figured I'd probably get my books in July. But then I got an email from Amazon stating they shipped my books this morning.




I ordered mine on May 5th.  I just checked my e-mail and still no notification but hopefully I'll see something by COB.


----------



## Charwoman Gene (Jun 9, 2008)

The slime at Amazon have charged my credit card yesterday, then REBILLED THE card (now over limit) and pushed out my date.


----------



## Scribble (Jun 9, 2008)

My books were delivered today. They're sitting next to my bag in my cubicle as I type. Go me.


----------



## Mercurius (Jun 9, 2008)

Mine has said "Shipping Soon" since late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, and my credit card has a "sale pending." At what point would I expect this to actually ship? Does Amazon take awhile to update their page? (I've heard of people getting an item before they received a shipping notice).


----------



## Scribble (Jun 9, 2008)

Mercurius said:
			
		

> Mine has said "Shipping Soon" since late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, and my credit card has a "sale pending." At what point would I expect this to actually ship? Does Amazon take awhile to update their page? (I've heard of people getting an item before they received a shipping notice).




Technically any mail order company can only charge your card when they are shipping the item... so if your card has been charged, then it should be shipping out same day.


----------



## Mercurius (Jun 9, 2008)

Scribble said:
			
		

> Technically any mail order company can only charge your card when they are shipping the item... so if your card has been charged, then it should be shipping out same day.




Well, it still says "pending" which means it hasn't been charged yet. Still waiting...


----------



## Korgoth (Jun 10, 2008)

I tried calling Amazon to complain about the whole point of a pre-order being that they should have set one aside for me, and all 3 times I called I got somebody in Asia (two in the Philippines, one I think was India).  That has taken me from irritated to livid.  I didn't talk to any of these people except to politely thank them for their time (and the first 2 times I asked to speak with someone in the USA, but they didn't know how to work that I guess).

So now, apart from being irritated that I was taken in by false advertising ("pre-order"), I am now concerned that my personal information is getting passed around the Eastern Hemisphere.

I strongly suggest that no one ever do business with them again.  I no longer consider them a trustworthy company.


----------



## Belorin (Jun 10, 2008)

Politely stated, yet angry e-mails FTW!
After sending my reply to the we're back ordered e-mail from Amazon, they replied by upgrading my shipping from free to free two day shipping when the books did come in. I replied by stating that I accepted their offer, but I would be keeping an eye on future purchases(I have other pre-orders pending) and they should re-evaluate their notification protocols.
Result; shiipping date June 16 - June 27 changed to shipped June 09, arrival date June 11!
Woo Hoo!

Bel


----------



## Cirex (Jun 10, 2008)

I can't e-mail Amazon.com. It gives me error each time I try to e-mail them.

It says to try in a few minutes, but I tried yesterday and no luck neither.

EDIT: Ah yes, the problem was that I'm using Firefox. I will mention this next time. I think it's ridiculous I can't e-mail them because I was using firefox and not IE.


----------



## Kzach (Jun 10, 2008)

Whoohoo! My books finally shipped too!

Although, I'm pissed that they changed the pricing. I had pre-ordered and had a 5% pre-order discount. Then Amazon sent me an email saying that they couldn't fulfill the order until a later date. Then I get another email a few days later saying they've got the stock and are shipping it, but they took off the pre-order discount!

Htf is it MY fault that they didn't fulfill my pre-order?


----------



## Cirex (Jun 10, 2008)

Mercurius said:
			
		

> Mine has said "Shipping Soon" since late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, and my credit card has a "sale pending." At what point would I expect this to actually ship? Does Amazon take awhile to update their page? (I've heard of people getting an item before they received a shipping notice).




I actually got the same "problem". Amazon replied my mail saying that they had problems processing my card. So I asked at the bank and they said amazon has withheld an amount of money (the grand total) for two days already.

Something does not compute.


----------



## Ulorian - Agent of Chaos (Jun 10, 2008)

Korgoth said:
			
		

> I didn't talk to any of these people except to politely thank them for their time (and the first 2 times I asked to speak with someone in the USA, but they didn't know how to work that I guess).



I'm curious to know how you think it would have benefited you to speak to someone in the USA.


----------



## Charwoman Gene (Jun 10, 2008)

Cirex said:
			
		

> Something does not compute.




They did this to me.  I refuse to deal with them ever again and I cancelled my order.  $35.00 isn't worth it.

They put a authorization on  my card, then refused to ship after the purchase wouldn't go through AFTER the authorization.


----------



## Charwoman Gene (Jun 10, 2008)

Kzach said:
			
		

> Htf is it MY fault that they didn't fulfill my pre-order?




Email them  I got mine back.  Note, they raised the price and that was my first credit card issue.


----------



## Cirex (Jun 10, 2008)

Charwoman Gene said:
			
		

> They did this to me.  I refuse to deal with them ever again and I cancelled my order.  $35.00 isn't worth it.
> 
> They put a authorization on  my card, then refused to ship after the purchase wouldn't go through AFTER the authorization.




I don't understand why is that. I bought two products from amazon one month ago and now they are doing this?
I e-mailed asking what was exactly the problem.
In case I got to cancel, where should I go, Buy.com or Barnes and Nobles?

EDIT: I created an account at buy.com and I will receive an e-mail once the gift set is back on stock.


----------



## thundershot (Jun 10, 2008)

Mine still hasn't changed...

The total right now with the gift set and additional player's handbook is 75.98. 4 books for the price of 2 books and 6 dollars.... I'll keep waiting....



Chris


----------



## TerraDave (Jun 10, 2008)

The box is at home...I didn't even have a chance to open it...

...but next edition, I will probably just go to a book store, assuming any are left.


----------



## Calico_Jack73 (Jun 10, 2008)

My gift set is due to be shipped today.  Still no e-mail from Amazon but I'll give them till COB today.  Tomorrow I'll try to contact them if there is still no sign of a shipped package.


----------



## catsclaw227 (Jun 10, 2008)

It looks like my gift set will arrive, as scheduled, today.

------------
EDIT:  Yes, it arrived just after noon.  Nice, sturdy slipcase, beautiful books.  Tonight will be a "disappear into a D&D rulebook" night.
------------

I know this seems like a stocking and ordering flub by Amazon, but if WOTC sold out of their first printing so quickly, Amazon might not have been able to meet their pre-order requirements.

Mostly I have had AWESOME luck with Amazon Customer Service.  They have helped me quickly with other issues and gone the extra mile every time.  Personally, I dig amazon.  I bought a refurb plasma screen from one of their affiliates and it arrived with shipping damage - the screen had shattered -- and they replaced it with a NEW tv of a newer model since they couldn't find the model I bought.  No additional charge, no additional hassle.  It was at my door in two days, and they picked up the broken one as well.


----------



## Calico_Jack73 (Jun 10, 2008)

Hoody Hoo!!!!  I just got my shipping e-mail from Amazon.  Right on time!  They said they'd ship today and they did.  No complaints from me!


----------



## roguerouge (Jun 10, 2008)

Snarky response: Wow. It's almost as if you lose something important when you order for the cheapest possible vendor rather than your local gaming store. 

Serious response: Please learn from this experience and buy from your local gaming store, rather than from big box retailers. You get what you pay for.


----------



## thundershot (Jun 10, 2008)

roguerouge said:
			
		

> Snarky response: Wow. It's almost as if you lose something important when you order for the cheapest possible vendor rather than your local gaming store.
> 
> Serious response: Please learn from this experience and buy from your local gaming store, rather than from big box retailers. You get what you pay for.





I would never give the local gaming store a dime of my money. Any time I've ever walked in there, it's like walking into a bar and the jukebox shuts off and everyone stops what they're doing and stares at you. It's a very uncomfortable feeling...

Also, if I can buy 4 books for the price of 2 on amazon and have to wait a little longer, I'll do it. That money will go toward two other books I want down the line.

Waiting isn't an issue with me. Someone else who ordered three months AFTER me and chose the same shipping option and received their books while I haven't? That's an issue with me. But guess what? I'll happily wait.

I did buy a copy of the PHB at Borders with a 20% off coupon, so I've got that to tide me over until the amazon order arrives (I was going to have an extra copy for the group in addition to my own and my wife's anyway).



Chris


----------



## Calico_Jack73 (Jun 10, 2008)

roguerouge said:
			
		

> Snarky response: Wow. It's almost as if you lose something important when you order for the cheapest possible vendor rather than your local gaming store.
> 
> Serious response: Please learn from this experience and buy from your local gaming store, rather than from big box retailers. You get what you pay for.




While it is all well and good to preach the virtues of supporting your FLGS such an opinion isn't seated in reality IMHO.  We live in the real world... and in the real world I have expenses such as mortgage payments, childcare, increasing fuel costs for my daily commute, food expenses, etc.  If I can save $35+ by purchasing my books through Amazon then guess what, I'll do it even if it means I'll have to wait a bit longer to receive the books.  If the FLGS goes under and the owner becomes unemployed because they can't compete with Amazon then I am sorry but that is the risk of running your own business.  It is not my responsibility to ensure their business stays afloat.  My responsibility is to myself and my family.  We all make life decisions that affect our finances.  Would I rather run a game store where I can be knee deep in RPG culture all day?  You bet I would!  However, I know that I can provide a better living by doing what I do now and there is far less risk financially.

Okay... I'll get off the soapbox now.


----------



## Mercurius (Jun 10, 2008)

Last night I emailed trying to figure out why my order has said "Shipping Soon" for a couple days, yet still has an estimated shipping date of June 16th. I received an email reply this morning in which the rep said that they can verify that my books are, indeed, being prepared for shipment and should be sent by June 13th. Now the annoying thing is that if they are sent June 13th, that would be 6-7 days that they were "Shipping Soon". But I've found that Amazon tends to beat their estimates by a good deal...one can hope, at least (especially considering I am moving out of state on the 20th!). So I'm thinking/hoping there is a good chance that they ship before June 13th (I'm interpreting "by" June 13th as meaning "at the latest").

Of course I probably shouldn't have cancelled my original pre-order then re-ordered on the 7th...that might have put me back a few days. But I needed to re-order to apply the $5 promotional gift they gave me for complaining . And, as we've learned, Amazon seems to choose who to ship to pretty randomly, or probably goes by what fulfillment center has stock, no matter what shipping method you choose.

As some have said, I guess we get what we pay for, and I'm paying $52.72 for three $35 books, so what do I expect?


----------



## catsclaw227 (Jun 10, 2008)

Calico_Jack73 said:
			
		

> We live in the real world... and in the real world I have expenses such as mortgage payments, childcare, increasing fuel costs for my daily commute, food expenses, etc. If I can save $35+ by purchasing my books through Amazon then guess what, I'll do it even if it means I'll have to wait a bit longer to receive the books.






			
				Mercurius said:
			
		

> As some have said, I guess we get what we pay for, and I'm paying $52.72 for three $35 books, so what do I expect?




No doubt....  The money I saved by going Amazon gets put into the diaper budget.  If you have had kids before, you know what I mean.  Getting an extra $50 worth of diapers is a big deal.  Especially when you have a poopie machine like my lovely little Sophie.


----------



## Amphimir Míriel (Jun 10, 2008)

Kzach said:
			
		

> Whoohoo! My books finally shipped too!
> 
> Although, I'm pissed that they changed the pricing. I had pre-ordered and had a 5% pre-order discount. Then Amazon sent me an email saying that they couldn't fulfill the order until a later date. Then I get another email a few days later saying they've got the stock and are shipping it, but they took off the pre-order discount!
> 
> Htf is it MY fault that they didn't fulfill my pre-order?




I just got the confirmation that my order has shipped, but they also removed the 5% preorder discount


----------



## Mercurius (Jun 10, 2008)

catsclaw227 said:
			
		

> No doubt....  The money I saved by going Amazon gets put into the diaper budget.  If you have had kids before, you know what I mean.  Getting an extra $50 worth of diapers is a big deal.  Especially when you have a poopie machine like my lovely little Sophie.




They're all little poopie machines, at least for awhile--until they eat more--and adjust to--solid food, really. But yeah, I have a three-year old (who is, thankfully, potty-trained) and another on the way. We did cloth diapers for the first year or so, which was good in that there were no, or little, diapers to throw into the trash, and thus cheaper and more environmentally friendly--but kind of gross, too. But I think we're going to use them again with the next one--at least until the "pooping machinery" settles down in output.

(Probably not a pleasant thread-jack for some   )


----------



## Amphimir Míriel (Jun 10, 2008)

roguerouge said:
			
		

> Snarky response: Wow. It's almost as if you lose something important when you order for the cheapest possible vendor rather than your local gaming store.
> 
> Serious response: Please learn from this experience and buy from your local gaming store, rather than from big box retailers. You get what you pay for.




Some of us don't have a local gaming store.

For example, the only place where I can get roleplaying materials here is a comic book store where they have one shelf for games... At this point everything in that shelf is old 3.0 and 3.5 out of print D20 books from different publishers.

And, to add insult to injury, they charge full list price, plus 10% markup, plus currency conversion (at the worst exchange rate possible)


----------



## dinsdale (Jun 10, 2008)

I also received a message this morning that my set of books (with super saver shipping) were shipped.  Even better, the tracking information lists my local UPS depot, so it may even arrive today.

Amazon also shipped the rest of my order last month, so I received some other books I was waiting on weeks early.

Although I have felt a little like an addict missing his fix the last few days, I can't complain.


----------



## jinnetics (Jun 10, 2008)

I have a gift set and PHB, on pre-order since March, and today is my estimated shipping date. What happened today is: the PHB has shifted to "shipping soon" and the gift set is still "not yet shipped." And my pre-order discount is gone.... I promptly e-mailed them to complain about that. I am happy to wait as long as I am treated right.


----------



## Amy Kou'ai (Jun 10, 2008)

My books from Amazon just arrived, with two-day shipping.  Ordered in early May.

By contrast, my friend who _ordered my books for me and ordered his separately in early March on the same account_ has his back-ordered.


----------



## Cirex (Jun 10, 2008)

I got an extensive e-mail, with many apologies and so on.

In short, this guy (or girl, it's a very weird name) told me to e-mail them back if 18th June, my shipping estimate, I haven't received the shipping e-mail.


I also received an e-mail by buy.com saying that they got books back on stock. Problem is, I got money withheld by amazon so I can't pay the buy.com ones.

I will just be patient with amazon.


----------



## jinnetics (Jun 11, 2008)

thundershot said:
			
		

> I would never give the local gaming store a dime of my money. Any time I've ever walked in there, it's like walking into a bar and the jukebox shuts off and everyone stops what they're doing and stares at you. It's a very uncomfortable feeling...




Amen, brother! And god forbid you actually ASK them to take time out of their personal conversations to ring up your purchase.


----------



## jinnetics (Jun 11, 2008)

Cirex said:
			
		

> I got an extensive e-mail, with many apologies and so on.
> 
> In short, this guy (or girl, it's a very weird name) told me to e-mail them back if 18th June, my shipping estimate, I haven't received the shipping e-mail.




Ditto ... i also got apologies for the revoked promotional discount. They say it will be refunded after the purchase.... but I'm not letting this go, as my purchase still hasn't shipped. Oh, I'm getting my discount....


----------



## Whimsical (Jun 11, 2008)

I just wanted to say that I have had really good experience with Amazon customer service representatives from India and the Phillipines. I say, give them a try before hanging up. Some of them are really good at what they do and have been doing customer service for Amazon customers for years.


----------



## Calico_Jack73 (Jun 11, 2008)

catsclaw227 said:
			
		

> No doubt....  The money I saved by going Amazon gets put into the diaper budget.  If you have had kids before, you know what I mean.  Getting an extra $50 worth of diapers is a big deal.  Especially when you have a poopie machine like my lovely little Sophie.




Thankfully my son (who will be 3 next month) is making great progress with his potty training.  We've started him on training pants during the day and while he occasionally has an accident he is doing pretty well.


----------



## Lorthanoth (Jun 11, 2008)

Cancelled my gift set from Amazon and ordered the separate rule books from Game Lore.


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## mearlus (Jun 11, 2008)

jinnetics said:
			
		

> Ditto ... i also got apologies for the revoked promotional discount. They say it will be refunded after the purchase.... but I'm not letting this go, as my purchase still hasn't shipped. Oh, I'm getting my discount....




I got my lovely amazon letter this morning, the day after my ship date stating I wouldn't get it until July 14th-18th.  They also removed the pre-order discount.  I wrote them an extensive email, I think mentioning baiting and switching as well as questioning what a pre-order means.  We'll see if I get a response by tomorrow.  

I might just have to use the spiffy Borders %30 off coupon we got in the mail.


----------



## garyh (Jun 11, 2008)

I also got the dreaded delay e-mail today.  I went to their help section and submitted this:

***

I am very, very upset that the item I preordered three months before release date is not available and will not be shipped to me until a month after the release date.  This is simply inexcusable.  What is the point of taking my preorder three months in advance if you don't have a copy for me on release day?

To add insult to injury, you have also now revoked my 5% pre-order discount.  This is completely unfair.  I *DID* pre-order.  Three months early!  The fact that you screwed up and did not have stock on hand to ship me on release day is more that enough punishment.  Why am *I* now paying more because *you* have poor inventory management and can't ship my pre-order until a month after release?

Further, the item in question was the #5 seller in books at release.  There was NO reason for you not to be aware of demand and to not have stock on hand for the demand.

I want my item in the mail now, and I want to pay the price I was advertised.  If this does not happen, I will strongly reconsider any future purchases I am considering making on Amazon.

Sincerely,
Gary Hoggatt

***

We'll see what sort of response I get.  And yes, I know I'm waiting on a slipcase, but at this point, canceling this order and buying them individually would (assuming I do get the pre-order discount back) cost $13 more due to the lower discounts on the individual books, plus I'd be out the slipcase.

I'm mad.  And no, I've never had problems with Amazon before, so I didn't expect any this time.


----------



## Filcher (Jun 11, 2008)

I placed an order w/ Noble Knight some time around June 1 and the books came in 3 days after street date (and in good condition, too). Sorry to hear about all the Amazon orders.


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## ArcpoktheUnwise (Jun 11, 2008)

those lying jerks,,, I called amazon today and was told that none of these orders were sent because they hadn't gotten any of the books and no one 
has gotten these gift sets. ooh I'm just so angry, if they were straight forward with me from the start I would not have been so angry. but now I'm so angry RRRrr, I think the incredible hulk reference goes here....
sorry I just had to rant a little bit


----------



## Slayen (Jun 11, 2008)

I too have gotten The E-mail. 

So, deciding that I wanted a more immediate response than I would get from an e-mail (and actually wishing to speak to an actually human) I called up their customer service (actually, they called me.  nifty little service that).

After speaking with a very pleasant women I was immediately give a 10% refund on my order.  So, while I might not be getting it any sooner (although the page does say 'shipping soon' curiously enough), I was pleased enough by customer service not to cancel my order and storm off to buy it else where.

In the war between greed and impatience, greed won this round.


----------



## Cirex (Jun 11, 2008)

I got a discount of 5% at my product, for removing the preorder discount.

I'm patiently waiting for the 17th.


----------



## Breezly (Jun 11, 2008)

Not to add fuel to the fire, but...

I placed my amazon order for the gift set maybe a few weeks ago.  I initially got the delay email saying shipping for mid/end-June.  

The books arrived today.

I don't know anyone else's situation, but for me, I have been buying all of Christmas gifts through Amazon for the last three years, so they may have taken in previous purchase history to determine priority.  Not sure, but there is hope that they will be coming to you soon as well.


----------



## mearlus (Jun 11, 2008)

Cirex said:
			
		

> I got a discount of 5% at my product, for removing the preorder discount.
> 
> I'm patiently waiting for the 17th.




I just got a reply to my email.  I'm not happy with the response at all.  

"I have checked our records and see that, due to a delay on our end, the estimated shipping and delivery dates for your order were revised after you placed your order.  It is our policy to notify customers whenever such delays occur, and I sincerely apologize that you were not notified in this case."

Ok, yeah, that happens...

"We have many customer orders for this item, and we've just begun receiving copies from our suppliers.  We are filling orders as quickly as we can on a first-come, first-served basis.

In an effort to compensate you for this error, I would like to offer you a $5.00 promotional certificate for use toward your next purchase from Amazon.com."

So, you do have some?  Interesting.  Oh and you'll give me $5 on my NEXT purchase?

No mention of re-applying the 5% Pre-Order discount to my order.  And when checking my Amazon account, I do not see any $5 credit applied to it.

"This credit should be automatically applied to your next qualifying order."

Really?  I should just believe this?  Shouldn't there be something in my account to identify this credit?

"We will not charge you for it until we ship it to you. We expect to ship your order in the next few business days.  On the date of shipment, we'll send you an e-mail message confirming the date, contents, and method of your shipment."

If that's the case, why doesn't my account reflect that?  I call BS and trying to make me go away.

Man, I usually don't get heated up about stuff like this.  I believe I will be replying back that this email is not resolved.  Which I will bet, wont get me far.


----------



## GoodKingJayIII (Jun 11, 2008)

Well, the Core Gift Set page on Amazon says "In Stock July 14th"

My email says they're shipping _tomorrow_.  I'm not holding my breath though.


----------



## Darkwolf71 (Jun 11, 2008)

After reading this thread and seeing that people who ordered in the last couple of weeks have recieved their books, while I who pre-ordered in _January_ have an estimated delivery date of June 17 - June 24.

I make several large orders from Amazon a year. Have done so for serveral years. so, purchase history has little to do with who got their books and who got the shaft. Obviously neither does order date, nor shipping speed. (I chose one day.)

I'm just so... Grrrrrrr....

Suppose I'll send them a (polite) nasty-gram this evening. See if I can get any kind of satisfaction.


----------



## Thornir Alekeg (Jun 12, 2008)

Darkwolf71 said:
			
		

> After reading this thread and seeing that people who ordered in the last couple of weeks have recieved their books, while I who pre-ordered in _January_ have an estimated delivery date of June 17 - June 24.
> 
> I make several large orders from Amazon a year. Have done so for serveral years. so, purchase history has little to do with who got their books and who got the shaft. Obviously neither does order date, nor shipping speed. (I chose one day.)
> 
> ...



 Well, if it makes you feel better, I pre-ordered in May and the e-mail I received today said my expected ship date is July 14th.  

Good thing I'm not currently playing D&D or was finishing up a campaign in anticipation of starting a 4e one.  

Ah well.  I'm too durned busy to take the time to read them right now anyway.


----------



## Ottergame (Jun 12, 2008)

I made the mistake of changing my shipping method today.

*delivery estimate: July 28, 2008 - August 1, 2008*

We are not amused. :|


----------



## F5 (Jun 12, 2008)

I put my order in in March, had a delivery date of June 10th all along, until today, when I logged in and saw they had bumped me up to July 14th.  

i sent the obligatory e-mail.  My response was a lot less conciliatory than a lot of the responses you all have gotten.

In a nutshell, their response was "Too bad, sucker.  You don't like it, you can cancel your order and get stuffed".  In very polite terms.



			
				Amazon.com said:
			
		

> Thank you for writing to us at Amazon.com.
> 
> I'm sorry about the delay in getting your order to you. We recently
> learned that "Dungeons and Dragons Core Rulebook Gift Set, 4th Edition" is
> ...




Silver lining; I've got another month to find a decent offer somewhere else, so I can tell Amazon to stuff it.  Suffice it to say, I won't be ordering from Amazon again soon.


----------



## AZRogue (Jun 12, 2008)

I canceled my order for the gift set and ordered the books individually from Amazon. They shipped this afternoon. Sure it's like, what, $12 more expensive, but that's not so bad. Better than waiting until July.


----------



## Olgar Shiverstone (Jun 12, 2008)

Update:  Ordered gift set in March, shipped yesterday as originally scheduled, looks like they'll arrive early tomorrow -- not bad for $54!


----------



## Belorin (Jun 12, 2008)

Finally! I have the books in my hands. After exchanging several e-mails with Amazon I was given a ship date of the 9th of June and an arrival date of the 11th and here they are! It was kind of fun tracking the package as it traveled from Amazon to my house.
On a different note after hearing about the quality of the books I checked these out thoroughly, no creases, waves or smearing ink in any of the three.
I am a happy D&Der!


Bel


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## Mercurius (Jun 12, 2008)

Good news for myself as well (finally!). "My Account" page says the set was shipped today and should arrive by June 18th--but the thing is, it is currently in Denver and I'm about 20 miles west of Denver, so I'm expecting tomorrow or the next day.

Now the annoying thing is--not for myself, but for pre-orderers--is that I HAD pre-ordered but cancelled and re-ordered on the 7th so that I could apply a $5 off "Complaint Promotion". June 7th isn't a pre-order, and some folks that ordered months in advance have been pushed back to July.

Now I think there is an explanation, but it is purely conjecture. Amazon has about a dozen "fulfillment centers" throughout the US. My guess is that the centers serve different regions and that shipping estimates have something to do with what your "local" fulfillment center has on hand. Maybe if, for example, Kansas (the closest one to me) has extra copies and Delaware is out, if you live in Baltimore you are out of luck--at least until some excess gets transferred from Kansas. In other words, it may be that Amazon has to do "in-house" transfers before shipping an item to a customer, rather than just shipping a copy from Kansas to Baltimore.

Of course I could be way off base; I'm just trying to figure out why I'm getting a copy this week, despite (re-) ordering on June 7th while, say, F5 and numerous others have to wait. Anyone have any other guesses?


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## Andor (Jun 12, 2008)

I dunno according to my package tracking my books took 12 hours to go from Jacksonville florida to ... Jacksonville florida, and are still sitting there.

That having been said when I was in Colorado I frequently got things faster than I expected from Amazon so good luck! 



			
				Amazon said:
			
		

> Date Time Location Event Details
> June 10, 2008 11:12:00 PM JACKSONVILLE FL Arrival Scan
> June 9, 2008 12:23:00 AM JACKSONVILLE FL Shipment has left seller facility and is in transit


----------



## Mercurius (Jun 12, 2008)

Andor said:
			
		

> I dunno according to my package tracking my books took 12 hours to go from Jacksonville florida to ... Jacksonville florida, and are still sitting there.
> 
> That having been said when I was in Colorado I frequently got things faster than I expected from Amazon so good luck!




Yeah, I've found that I get things quicker than expected here. I think Denver is major hub, at least for the Coffeyville, KS, center, so things get there quick and ship from there quick. I think it less likely that I get it tomorrow than Friday or Saturday, however. as you yourself are experiencing, packages have a way of "hanging out" when you don't want them to 

Also, I noticed that my tracking info says:



> June 11, 2008  	08:21:00 PM  	DENVER CO  	Shipment has left seller facility and is in transit




I didn't get the same "arrival scan" as you did, so while I just got a shipping notice about an hour ago, my guess is that it actually shipped earlier today and arrived in Denver sometime in the morning/afternoon. 

In other words, Amazon isn't always up-to-date on their shipping departures and arrivals.


----------



## thundershot (Jun 12, 2008)

Well... I threw in the towel. I need those books before the end of July (vacation week and out of town people coming, and we want to try out 4E), and Amazon is telling me they won't SHIP til mid-July. I sent them an e-mail, and they gave me 5 dollars off. Well, if you figure that they screwed me over on my preorder discount I had of 4 dollars, I made out with ONE DOLLAR. They did acknowledge and apologize that people who ordered two months after me got theirs... too little too late.

So.... since my extra PHB already shipped, and I bought a PHB at Borders, I went to buy.com and ordered the DMG and MM with the google checkout and got them both shipped free for about 30 bucks. I don't need 3 PHBs anyway, but it's not like they'd go to waste....

I also canceled my outstanding orders with amazon (except for one that I think I did get a relly good deal on that hasn't shipped yet) and will eventually get something with the 5 dollar off coupon...



Chris


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## RigaMortus2 (Jun 12, 2008)

Rechan said:
			
		

> Mine says "Shipping estimate: June 10, 2008". Pre-ordered it in march.




This is bull crap.  I ordered mine Feb 7th 2008, and it was supposed to ship today June 10th.  I get an email saying it's not getting shipped now until July 7th!!!  Meanwhile, my friends who have placed orders through Amazon AFTER I did already have their copies.

What kind of customer service is this?


----------



## SSquirrel (Jun 12, 2008)

Vyvyan Basterd said:
			
		

> My patience wore thin today, so I tried to upgrade my shipping. Now Amazon says I won't get my books until July! I thinking of cancelling my order and supporting my local hobby shop.




I did.  Hurt the pocketbook but F Amazon if they can't supply my books on time when I pre-ordered March 1st.  3 month leadtime should be more than enough.


----------



## Greylock (Jun 12, 2008)

Damn...

I order precious little online. When I do, it's usually older books I get through Noble Knight. I don't trust E-Bay and don't use it, and I've always gotten my new books from local stores, and not just game books. But... I've got plenty of friends who think I'm insane to not use Amazon.

I can tell you this - there is ZERO chance I will EVER order from Amazon considering the things I've read here tonight. Nada, zip, zilch. Never going to happen. And I will from here on point to this debacle as the reason why.

Wait to go, Amazon.


----------



## SSquirrel (Jun 12, 2008)

I totally plan to continue ordering from amazon in the future, don't get me wrong.  I'm very mad about them botching my order.  I was fine w/not having my books till this past Monday, but waiting 2 more weeks when I can go anywhere and see them on the shelves taunting me?  No way 

Being told on the phone that my order was being packed as we speak and it would ship from Lexington and the next morning having an email saying it was getting delayed 2 weeks took the cake tho.  I just won't pre-order from Amazon when it comes to something that I really want to make sure I get as close to street date as possible.


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## RigaMortus2 (Jun 12, 2008)

Just talked to a cust serve rep...  They apologized, blah, blah, blah...  End result, they are giving me a $3 credit on my NEXT purchase because when they moved my shipment date, they renigged on pre-order discount.  Also, she upgraded me to Standard Shipping at no charge (I usually do Super Saver which is free shipping, but I think you have to wait a bit longer, not sure...).

Anyway, I'm over it.  I will wait it out, but this will probably be the last time I order from Amazon.  I don't care that my date got moved back, more than I care that I pre-ordered 4 months ago and those who ordered after me got their shippments already.  I don't know, call me crazy, but isn't the advantage of pre-ordering that you are guaranteed the item on release day (meaning, they have one set aside especially for you?)???

In the future, if they is going to be an inventory problem, Amazon should limit the amount of preorders they accept...


----------



## SSquirrel (Jun 12, 2008)

yeah but that would require amazon to ship a couple of days prior to the street date and that is somehow impossible, even tho it doesn't arrive till the street date.  who knows.


----------



## Yeoman99 (Jun 12, 2008)

Pre-ordered mine in March, and just checked out the e-mail stating shipping date 24/07 - 14/08. Not the end of the world, but would be nice to get it earlier and contribute to the opinions about it. Overall pretty disappointed.


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## Cirex (Jun 12, 2008)

If 18th the books haven't shipped, I will cancel and try to order them individually and see how fast is the shipping.

If I don't like it, I will try buy.com.


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## Cirex (Jun 12, 2008)

I'm sorry for the double post, but I'm seeking some help now. Amazon keeps e-mailing me because they say they got some problems with my VISA. This is what the e-mail says :



> We're writing to let you know that we are having difficulty processing your Visa (exp. xxxx/xx). We will try charging your credit card again shortly. It is not necessary to place a new order, but you may want to review the payment information for your order and make sure it is correct and current.




But, the weird thing is that at the bank they tell me that I just got a certain amount of money available because amazon has, in a withhold situation, 45€. Since this is just a visa to buy at Internet, I don't have much more money. So, I don't know if amazon is actually trying to charge me 45€ again, and since there's not enough money available, their charging system gives an error.

It can't be a problem of wrong states, date, codes, whatever since the money is currently withhold and I bought some minis just 5-6 weeks ago.

So, has anyone had this same problem? Last time this happened, I e-mailed them, but I did twice, and the only e-mail I got was about the backorder, not about the VISA issue. I e-mailed them again, but no asnwer yet.

The person at the bank said the money was in withhold till 16th of June.


----------



## Breschau of Livonia (Jun 12, 2008)

I ran into something similar a few years back.

I had setup a temporary credit card using MBNA's Shop Safe. I gave it a credit limit just enough to cover what I wanted to buy.

Apparently when the merchant did the initial authorization it lowered the amount of credit available.  Then when the merchant tried to actually charge the account it was treated as exceeding the credit limit since the initial transaction was still pending.

I'd suggest giving the card issuer a call and see what the deal is.


----------



## Cirex (Jun 12, 2008)

I have spent more than 45€ in a single buy, so I don't think is that. I already talked with the people at the bank, and they were not sure what was going on, just that there are 45€ currently withhold.

I just  can wait for a reply by amazon that isn't automated. I need them to tell me what is failing or I'm handtied. 
I e-mailed them twice already about this matter, no answer.


----------



## Darkwolf71 (Jun 12, 2008)

*sigh...
Well, after calling them this morning and complaining about the issue, my books will now ship one-day free. (A whopping $3.99 off there.) And they gave me a $5.00 credit for my next purchase to cover the renigged pre-order discount. I can't say I'm pleased, but at least they are semi-willing to work with you on this.

The part thing that hacked me off was being assured that:

CSR: Sir, Amazon ships on a first come, first served basis.

Wolf: Sigh. No you do not, or I would have recieved my January pre-order before others have recieved their March/April/etc pre-orders. Right?

CSR: I'm sorry sir, I do not have an explaination for that. I assure you Amazon ships on first come, first served basis.

Wolf: Grrr... Thanks a lot, gotta run now. Before I come through the phone and rip your throat out.


Yes, I know it's not his fault, but listening to him push the company line when it has been blatently proven false is... stressful.


----------



## garyh (Jun 12, 2008)

I got a $3 credit on my next order from Amazon for my complaints about the yanked pre-order discount.  Nonetheless, I cancelled my order from Amazon (that they weren't going to ship until July 7, after I'd ordered it in March), and ordered from buy.com for the same 45% off Amazon had (just had to pay tax).  I should have my books from buy.com late next week, probably.

The most frustrating thing is that had I know Amazon was going to botch this, I'd have pre-ordered from buy.com (didn't they ship earlier than street date?) and would have already had my books.


----------



## Cirex (Jun 12, 2008)

I received a very long e-mail stating that they were unable to determinate why they couldn't charge my credit card. Something about an authorization.
Sadly, buy.com doesn't ship outside the US, so I'm going to cancel my account, try to break from that money they are withholding and order the books individually.
If it doesn't work, I will have to go activate my new Mastercard and pay with it.

Big sigh.

EDIT : The e-mail said that my order would be auto-cancelled in 3 days for security reasons, so I went ahead, cancelled, ordered only the monster manual and the player handbook and I got a shipping estimated of today/tomorrow. Let's see if the payment works.


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## Asmor (Jun 12, 2008)

I just got off the phone with Amazon customer service. They gave me $10 credit. I did have to ask for it ("Could you give me a discount or something?") after stating my annoyance.

I recommend being firm, but civil, with the person on the other end of the phone. You don't have to be a jerk to get them to understand that you're angry, and if you're polite they'll do more to help you.

Here's the page where you can either call them or have them call you.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/cont...html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=508510&type=&token=#csTop

(click the phone tab)


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## Olgar Shiverstone (Jun 12, 2008)

Woot!  Mine arrived today, four days early (gift set, pre-ordered in March).  Shipped as scheduled on 10 June but arrived much earlier than the projected 16 Jun.

Off to read the PHB ...


----------



## Lord_Zephyr (Jun 12, 2008)

My order from Barnes & Noble hasn't been shipped yet, and now the expected shipping date is July 6.  The thing that sucks most about it is that I PRE-ORDERED it well in advance and used gift cards for part of the cost, so I'm not going to cancel my order and try elsewhere because I'm afraid I'll lose credit for them.

Arghhh... grumble grumble... anger rising and whatnot.


----------



## jinnetics (Jun 13, 2008)

Cirex said:
			
		

> I'm sorry for the double post, but I'm seeking some help now. Amazon keeps e-mailing me because they say they got some problems with my VISA.




I had that. Turns out I had the incorrect expiration date entered, by one digit.


----------



## RigaMortus2 (Jun 13, 2008)

Darkwolf71 said:
			
		

> CSR: Sir, Amazon ships on a first come, first served basis.
> 
> Wolf: Sigh. No you do not, or I would have recieved my January pre-order before others have recieved their March/April/etc pre-orders. Right?
> 
> CSR: I'm sorry sir, I do not have an explaination for that. I assure you Amazon ships on first come, first served basis.




The explaination I was given is that it has to do with shipping priority, and not when you placed the order.  I placed my order Feb 7th and did "free shipping".  Meanwhile, my friend ordered May 28th and did next day shipping, and got his today June 12th.  They said that they give you a discount when you do free shipping (not a discount per se, they just don't charge you) with the presumption that you are willing to wait longer to get the product.  I'm not happy about that answer, but that is what they said in their email.


----------



## Charwoman Gene (Jun 13, 2008)

I bought my PH at a local chain store.  I then cancelled my amazon core set.  I then used my gift certificate, plus a new one I got, to order the DMG and MM on amazon.  should have them by Wednesday.


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## Cirex (Jun 13, 2008)

jinnetics said:
			
		

> I had that. Turns out I had the incorrect expiration date entered, by one digit.




I checked and rechecked. Mine is correct.

I'm starting to get very, very frustrated about the whole issue. I bought something from amazon 24th of April, my brother used the VISA to buy some X360 games, zero problems. Suddenly now they can't process it.


----------



## Darkwolf71 (Jun 13, 2008)

RigaMortus2 said:
			
		

> The explaination I was given is that it has to do with shipping priority, and not when you placed the order.  I placed my order Feb 7th and did "free shipping".  Meanwhile, my friend ordered May 28th and did next day shipping, and got his today June 12th.  They said that they give you a discount when you do free shipping (not a discount per se, they just don't charge you) with the presumption that you are willing to wait longer to get the product.  I'm not happy about that answer, but that is what they said in their email.



Also not true. I ordered with one-day shipping. :-/

So, yeah. I have no idea. It seems totally random to me.


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## thundershot (Jun 13, 2008)

RigaMortus2 said:
			
		

> The explaination I was given is that it has to do with shipping priority, and not when you placed the order.  I placed my order Feb 7th and did "free shipping".  Meanwhile, my friend ordered May 28th and did next day shipping, and got his today June 12th.  They said that they give you a discount when you do free shipping (not a discount per se, they just don't charge you) with the presumption that you are willing to wait longer to get the product.  I'm not happy about that answer, but that is what they said in their email.





Unfortunately, there are people here (okay, fortunate for them) that ordered in March, April, or even May that did the FREE shipping and got their books while people who ordered in Dec, Jan, or Feb with the same shipping option got backed up to the end of July...


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## Charwoman Gene (Jun 13, 2008)

We are preparing these items for shipment and this portion of your order cannot be canceled or changed.   DMG and MM not in core set.


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## Cirex (Jun 13, 2008)

I still can change mine, even if it says that the shipping estimate is 12-13th. 

I asked for a discount for the grief I was suffering and got a $5 discount. However, I'm still wondering if they will be able to process my credit card this time...


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## catsclaw227 (Jun 13, 2008)

Darkwolf71 said:
			
		

> Also not true. I ordered with one-day shipping. :-/
> 
> So, yeah. I have no idea. It seems totally random to me.



Is the shipping problem just with the gift sets or with the individual books as well?

I ordered 4 PHBs and a gift set.  I got the 4PHBs on Friday the 6th, and the gift set on Tuesday the 10th.  Both with Prime 2-day free shipping.

I did hear that they heavily underestimated the number of gift sets they needed, but I thought there were enough individual books available.

Also, does anyone know if the individual MMs and DMGs were delayed at Amazon as well?  They seem to show immediate availability on the website.


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## Charwoman Gene (Jun 13, 2008)

catsclaw227 said:
			
		

> Also, does anyone know if the individual MMs and DMGs were delayed at Amazon as well?  They seem to show immediate availability on the website.




I ordered a DMG and an MM last night to use up the Amazon Gift Cards I had.  Shipped in less than 12 hours.


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## Rykion (Jun 13, 2008)

Cirex said:
			
		

> I still can change mine, even if it says that the shipping estimate is 12-13th.
> 
> I asked for a discount for the grief I was suffering and got a $5 discount. However, I'm still wondering if they will be able to process my credit card this time...



Do you know if the original 45 euro hold has been removed yet?  It's posssible, as you've mentioned, that with the hold in place there isn't enough money on the card for the purchase to clear.


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## Cirex (Jun 13, 2008)

Rykion said:
			
		

> Do you know if the original 45 euro hold has been removed yet?  It's posssible, as you've mentioned, that with the hold in place there isn't enough money on the card for the purchase to clear.




I just got a payment error, so that's a possibility. It's highly unethical to have money on hold and not free it after the order is cancelled. What if I just want to buy something else? I can't.
I will wait till 17th, when the hold is already over, to revise my payment method.


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## Rykion (Jun 13, 2008)

Cirex said:
			
		

> I just got a payment error, so that's a possibility. It's highly unethical to have money on hold and not free it after the order is cancelled. What if I just want to buy something else? I can't.
> I will wait till 17th, when the hold is already over, to revise my payment method.



Unfortunately, in the US at least, this is becoming a common problem.  Businesses like hotels and the pumps at gas stations put large holds on a credit or debit card when used.  It can take a few days for the hold to be released and the charges to go through.  This means that someone who should have plenty of available credit or money in their debit account can find themselves unable to use it.


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## F5 (Jun 13, 2008)

As an interesting side-note...I had resolved to cancel my Amazon order and get it from Buy.com, as some other people here had done.  They offer it for the same discounted price.

BUT

Buy.com is sold out of the gift set, as of about an hour ago.  

 

I guess it's fair to say that sales of the new books have been, um...good?

Getting them individually from Amazon comes to 62.91...about $5 more than you'd get for the boxed set.  And they're available to ship immediately.  Buy.com seems to only have the PHB individually, not the MM and DMG.  The boxed set is the #1 seller in books, today...

Barnes and Noble.com has it for $75-ish, discounted to 66.11 for "members".  The individual books are available for 22.01, but the Gift Set and the PHB are listed as "usually ships in 1 or 2 days", so beware of back-orders there, too.

Borders Online has the individual books for the same amount as Amazon, but no gift set, and the MM is back-ordered.  

Even getting them individually, Amazon is still the best deal out there, among the major retailers.  If only I wasn't miffed at their blow-off response to my e-mail, and too stubborn to bite the bullet and send them any money...

Anyone else know of any good deals to be had?


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## Cirex (Jun 13, 2008)

Rykion said:
			
		

> Unfortunately, in the US at least, this is becoming a common problem.  Businesses like hotels and the pumps at gas stations put large holds on a credit or debit card when used.  It can take a few days for the hold to be released and the charges to go through.  This means that someone who should have plenty of available credit or money in their debit account can find themselves unable to use it.




That's just untolerable. If the shipment errors were due this I will be very angry. They are holding the money, but they can't charge the same money? And I can't use it somewhere else? 

I'll be a bit more patient and see what happens Tuesday, but I am not very happy about this situation.


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## Argyuile (Jun 13, 2008)

Cirex said:
			
		

> That's just untolerable. If the shipment errors were due this I will be very angry. They are holding the money, but they can't charge the same money? And I can't use it somewhere else?
> 
> I'll be a bit more patient and see what happens Tuesday, but I am not very happy about this situation.




In the US there is some pending legislation about putting holds on credit cards.  I wish I could give you the exact number of the bill but its a pain in the ass to find what your looking for on the congress site if you don't know the exact ref number of the bill you need.


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## Family (Jun 13, 2008)

*Reach out and touch them.*

Amazon Support: 866-216-1072
Amazon International Support: 206-266-2992


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## Cirex (Jun 13, 2008)

A conversation with them by phone may not help anything. I don't trust enough my "heard" English to speak with someone who may not be a native English speaker.

It could be just too confusing.


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## jinnetics (Jun 14, 2008)

I just gave up on my boxed set. I had Amazon call me and I explained how I wanted them to send me the 3 individual books, for the same price... the guy (who sounds like he is here in the U.S.!) canceled the boxed set, and gave me a $25.00 "promotional discount" that applied automatically to my next order.... so I actually came out way ahead, getting all 3 for $44!

I used it to upgrade my shipping a bit!


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## thundershot (Jun 14, 2008)

i specifically asked them to do the same thing and they told me no......... Good for you, at least!


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## jinnetics (Jun 14, 2008)

thundershot said:
			
		

> i specifically asked them to do the same thing and they told me no......... Good for you, at least!




I only did it after I read someone suggest it (this thread? or another?....)

What I'm getting out of all this is that I think it depends on who you talk to. Try again!


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## thundershot (Jun 14, 2008)

I already canceled my order for the gift set (the extra PHB already shipped). I got pissed and went to buy.com and ordered the other two books (I ended up buying another PHB at borders with a coupon the day it came out anyway).



Chris


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## Cirex (Jun 14, 2008)

Yet another delay.

Ah well.


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## Zulithe (Jun 14, 2008)

Has anyone had their gift set ship in the last few days? I mean, are they completey 100% out of them, or are they just saying it is 'sold out' because they are still filling orders with what stock they have remaining?

My gift set says it should ship by the 18th of THIS month. Given all that I'm hearing, I have my doubts that amazon will fulfill this. 

I'll be honest, I was looking over the books at Borders on Friday. They look wonderful however I really think $35 per book is reeaaally stretching it (especially regarding the DMG). No way in hell am I going to pay retail.


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## mearlus (Jun 14, 2008)

Zulithe said:
			
		

> Has anyone had their gift set ship in the last few days? I mean, are they completey 100% out of them, or are they just saying it is 'sold out' because they are still filling orders with what stock they have remaining?
> 
> My gift set says it should ship by the 18th of THIS month. Given all that I'm hearing, I have my doubts that amazon will fulfill this.
> 
> I'll be honest, I was looking over the books at Borders on Friday. They look wonderful however I really think $35 per book is reeaaally stretching it (especially regarding the DMG). No way in hell am I going to pay retail.




My wife signed up to be a Borders member and the regularly send emails with coupons for 30% off a book of 10$ or more.  I bought the PHB a few weeks ago and this weekend we have another coupon for 30% so I'll be buying another this weekend. 

I figure once my Amazon order ships our 4E game might start and I'll have more books for others in the group.


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## Zulithe (Jun 14, 2008)

Hey! I get those 30% off coupons all the time. Sadly Borders doesn't have the gift set or I'd have settled on their 30% off just to get it earlier.

I see what you mean. They send out those coupons so frequently, you'd be able to buy them individually at 30%, say, once per week, and still get all 3 before amazon ships


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## Cirex (Jun 15, 2008)

So, I need help again. Which other online stores ship to Europe and have decent prices? Buy.com doesn't ship outside the US and Barnes is a bit expensive. Any other store?

Because amazon is managing to stress me. They sent yet another e-mail saying that my order will be auto-cancelled in 3 days for payment issues, yet they *never* answer me why is my money on hold.

I e-mailed saying that if money is not free by tomorrow, I will cancel my orders and talk to my bank about which actions we can take. It's ridiculous that they can hold my money for two weeks and then say that my VISA is not working.

EDIT : Amazon now blames my bank. Sigh...


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## Man in the Funny Hat (Jun 15, 2008)

Cirex said:
			
		

> Amazon now blames my bank. Sigh...



Blame Canada.


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## Filcher (Jun 15, 2008)

Noble Knight still has them in stock, and got them to me pronto. I don't know if they ship overseas or not. 

http://www.nobleknight.com


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## drothgery (Jun 15, 2008)

I just cancelled my preorder and ordered the books seperately; it looks like the DMG and MM have been dropped back to $20.97 like the PHB, so it's only costing me $6 or so (and that's only because I wrangled to get my pre-order discount back).


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## Cirex (Jun 16, 2008)

Filcher said:
			
		

> Noble Knight still has them in stock, and got them to me pronto. I don't know if they ship overseas or not.
> 
> http://www.nobleknight.com




They do, but it's way too expensive.


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## BooleanFlag (Jun 17, 2008)

I just cancelled mine and ordered individually from amazon.  There was a 13 dollar difference now that they are 20 a piece.  This really blows, but I've got a game coming up and didn't want to wait.  Still cheaper than anywhere else.  Curse you amazon and your ridiculously low prices.


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## Mercurius (Jun 17, 2008)

Zulithe said:
			
		

> Has anyone had their gift set ship in the last few days? I mean, are they completey 100% out of them, or are they just saying it is 'sold out' because they are still filling orders with what stock they have remaining?
> 
> My gift set says it should ship by the 18th of THIS month. Given all that I'm hearing, I have my doubts that amazon will fulfill this.
> 
> I'll be honest, I was looking over the books at Borders on Friday. They look wonderful however I really think $35 per book is reeaaally stretching it (especially regarding the DMG). No way in hell am I going to pay retail.




I just got mine today. It shipped on June 11th via Super Saver shipping and was NOT a pre-order (It said that it would ship by June 23rd). Actually, I had pre-ordered on May 28th then cancelled when they pushed the date back, then re-ordered on June 7th. So for some reason I got my non-preorder on June 16th when tons of pre-orderers haven't gotten theirs yet. Dumb luck? Maybe. It could be that so many folks cancelled that they actually had a few to ship out and I got one of those. Regardless, I'm pleased.


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## BooleanFlag (Jun 17, 2008)

Mercurius said:
			
		

> I just got mine today. It shipped on June 11th via Super Saver shipping and was NOT a pre-order (It said that it would ship by June 23rd). Actually, I had pre-ordered on May 28th then cancelled when they pushed the date back, then re-ordered on June 7th. So for some reason I got my non-preorder on June 16th when tons of pre-orderers haven't gotten theirs yet. Dumb luck? Maybe. It could be that so many folks cancelled that they actually had a few to ship out and I got one of those. Regardless, I'm pleased.




This makes me angry.  How does Amazon define "preorder" I wonder?


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## fuindordm (Jun 17, 2008)

I live in France, and got my gift set today. It was pre-ordered May 23.

Interestingly, even though I paid in USD and ordered from amazon.com (_not _.uk or .fr) it was shipped from a warehouse in Germany.

Ben


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## Zulithe (Jun 17, 2008)

Mercurius: thanks. it does upset me though, because i preordered more than 3 months in advance. anyway, mine is scheduled to ship today or tomorrow at the latest. if they bump the date again, i'll just order them individually. I probably would have already canceled and done it that way sooner, but I guess I'm stubborn.


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## Charwoman Gene (Jun 17, 2008)

I am the OP.  I got my DMG and MM from amazon yesterday.  I'm done.


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## Deuce Traveler (Jun 17, 2008)

In the defense of the company I work for, we were sending the 4th edition books and sets out just about as fast as we were able to receive them.  I don't think Amazon received all of the orders it was expecting from WOTC since WOTC sold out so fast.


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## Cirex (Jun 17, 2008)

Charwoman Gene said:
			
		

> I am the OP.  I got my DMG and MM from amazon yesterday.  I'm done.




I am still an orphan. After a dozen e-mails, payment problems, shipping delays, my shipping says "06/16" and I'm still waiting for a new e-mail, be it payment problem or shipping or whatever.
Plus, I still haven't received the answer to my question of why have they been holding money for 8 days without my permission.

EDIT : Why, oh why, does amazon.com hates firefox.


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## Asmor (Jun 17, 2008)

Never had a problem with Firefox and Amazon.

I broke a few days ago and cancelled my gift set order to buy the books individually instead. Should be here Thursday.


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## Anthelios (Jun 17, 2008)

I had the same problem with my gift set. Scheduled to ship on the 11th of June but when the 11th came, it was still un-shipped. I called them and discovered they had outsold their number of copies in pre-orders. A couple of hoops later I had them sending me the books two day shipping free, as separate books instead of the gift set, at the pre-order price of the gift set. Being in middle of California, they arrived here the next day.

So If you're still having problems getting your gift set, I advise asking them to get the three books instead, if you don't mind not getting a slipcase.


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## Mercurius (Jun 17, 2008)

The slipcase is over-rated


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## Cirex (Jun 17, 2008)

Asmor said:
			
		

> Never had a problem with Firefox and Amazon.
> 
> I broke a few days ago and cancelled my gift set order to buy the books individually instead. Should be here Thursday.




I can't e-mail them with firefox, it gives me error. I use IE and it works fine.
My order was delayed and was waiting some kind of "acceptation" by my side. I checked with firefox around 20 times the last three days, nothing. I log with IE and surprise, I got a new whole page asking my acceptation about the delayed products.


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## Asmor (Jun 17, 2008)

I just emailed them Saturday or Sunday on Firefox. What version are you using? I'm using 2.0.0.14

A long time ago, at some point I was no longer able to use my bank's website with Firefox and had to start using IE for it. I assumed they did something stupid and made the site so it only worked in IE. Then I got a new computer a few months back and tried it and it worked fine in Firefox. So I don't know if I downloaded a bad addon or what.

But anyways, what I'm trying to say is that it's probably a problem with Firefox, not with Amazon. Try reinstalling or disabling plugins.


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## Cirex (Jun 17, 2008)

Same version. I got no-script, but I have allowed anything coming from amazon.
My brother has firefox too, no no-script, e-mail system failed at his computer too.

Anyways, my package now has "shipping soon", so, as I have been suspecting lately, they messed up with my credit card, hold money without my permission and kept failing to charge money because I didn't have enough (because most of the card was being hold), and now that the hold is over (since 16th, as I was told by the bank), everything is going smooth except the shipping delay, because I had to accept that delay thingy (with IE).

Shocking surprise that it wasn't my fault.


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## Alnag (Jun 17, 2008)

They should ship today and still nothing... great really...


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## garyh (Jun 17, 2008)

As I mentioned before, I cancelled my Amazon order on 6/11 and ordered from buy.com.  Even with free shipping, I got my boxed set from buy.com yesterday (6/16).  Finally!  Thank goodness for buy.com.


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## mearlus (Jun 17, 2008)

Anthelios said:
			
		

> I had the same problem with my gift set. Scheduled to ship on the 11th of June but when the 11th came, it was still un-shipped. I called them and discovered they had outsold their number of copies in pre-orders. A couple of hoops later I had them sending me the books two day shipping free, as separate books instead of the gift set, at the pre-order price of the gift set. Being in middle of California, they arrived here the next day.
> 
> So If you're still having problems getting your gift set, I advise asking them to get the three books instead, if you don't mind not getting a slipcase.




I'm attempting this and seeing what their response is.  I'm sure they will deny being able to do such a thing.


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## jinnetics (Jun 17, 2008)

mearlus said:
			
		

> I'm attempting this and seeing what their response is.  I'm sure they will deny being able to do such a thing.




I just got my 3 individual books today, after canceling my gift set order last week.

I called and asked them to do that.... the guy hemmed and hawed a bit, then "asked someone", then came back and said he'd cancel the order and give me a $20 promotional discount on my next order. That, plus the $5 promotional discount they gave me when I first complained about the gift set delay, put my final cost with Standard Shipping at just under $44.

I am happy.


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## argash (Jun 17, 2008)

As of today (June 17th) it says "In stock on July 27, 2008" guess it's selling well.  The one thing I can't figure out is how Amazon couldn't keep WotC updated with their pre-order numbers.


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## mearlus (Jun 17, 2008)

jinnetics said:
			
		

> I just got my 3 individual books today, after canceling my gift set order last week.
> 
> I called and asked them to do that.... the guy hemmed and hawed a bit, then "asked someone", then came back and said he'd cancel the order and give me a $20 promotional discount on my next order. That, plus the $5 promotional discount they gave me when I first complained about the gift set delay, put my final cost with Standard Shipping at just under $44.
> 
> I am happy.




Yep, got blown off again:

"We make a significant effort to keep abreast of prices and availabilities, but our reliance on our suppliers for information about the items they offer means that, occasionally, our database will not reflect all changes.   

And, please note that at this item is bundled by the supplier, hence we are unable to pull each book or volume for delivery.

Again, we are very sorry for any disappointment this has caused.  Please know that we value your business and hope to see you again soon at Amazon.com."

Even after explaining the difference.


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## jinnetics (Jun 17, 2008)

mearlus said:
			
		

> Yep, got blown off again:
> 
> "We make a significant effort to keep abreast of prices and availabilities, but our reliance on our suppliers for information about the items they offer means that, occasionally, our database will not reflect all changes.
> 
> ...




Mearlus, was that an e-mail or phone call? I found the phone customer service rep to be very understanding.


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## mearlus (Jun 17, 2008)

jinnetics said:
			
		

> Mearlus, was that an e-mail or phone call? I found the phone customer service rep to be very understanding.




It was an email.  I have to wait a couple more hours before I can try calling/receiving a call.  

I'll be trying the call then, worst thing they'll say is No.


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## Asmor (Jun 17, 2008)

jinnetics said:
			
		

> Mearlus, was that an e-mail or phone call? I found the phone customer service rep to be very understanding.




I found the phone customer service rep to be very much not understanding.

And what I mean by that is that the CSR didn't understand what I was saying and I had to explain it multiple times. He kept saying that they had never had 4th edition in stock, and nobody had received it. It was also annoying because he read back exactly what I told him, verbatim. i.e.

"I'm a bit annoyed because I preordered something in February, it came out on the seventh, and I just got an email telling me my order's been delayed for a month."

"Ok, I understand that you're a bit annoyed because you preordered something in February and you just got an email saying it was delayed a month."

I kind of wish I'd written the exchange down... That's not exactly it, but it captures the essence of it perfectly. There's no hyperbole at all there. I know they've got a script they're supposed to follow, but holy crap.

Glad to know that there's some good phone CSRs for Amazon, that guy was enough to ensure that I used email when I found out the price was reduced and I wasn't automatically refunded.

There is some good news, though. My order of the books seperately was supposed to arrive Thursday, but they just showed up today!


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## mearlus (Jun 17, 2008)

Those who have canceled and ordered the individual books, did you or have you used an amazon gift card?  I'm curious how they refund it, if they just re-add the amount to your gift card "account balance".  I'm pretty sure they wont screw me out of the $50 gift card if I cancel and order individually, but I'm just a little paranoid about them now


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## Gunton The Terrible (Jun 18, 2008)

Well I ordered on March 24th and as of today my shipping date was changed to Aug 1st.

After reading through this thread and seeing that people that ordered after me have received their books I am officially done with Amazon.

I canceled and ordered from Overstock.  It will cost me an extra $10, but the books were actually in stock (allegedly).

Amazon is dead to me.


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## drothgery (Jun 18, 2008)

FWIW...

My pre-order discount disappeared when I got the infamous 'delayed until July' email. Some complaining got it back.

When I canceled the order and got the books individually and told them why, they gave me $10 of credit. Which was more than the delta between the gift set and the individual books (now that the DMG and MM are back to $20.97), even including the pre-order bonus. And it's now 'shipping soon', which means that it'll go out late tonight or tomorrow in all probability.

This was all over email/web forms, and I didn't need to write more than one complaint.


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## Asmor (Jun 18, 2008)

mearlus said:
			
		

> Those who have canceled and ordered the individual books, did you or have you used an amazon gift card?  I'm curious how they refund it, if they just re-add the amount to your gift card "account balance".  I'm pretty sure they wont screw me out of the $50 gift card if I cancel and order individually, but I'm just a little paranoid about them now




I used gift card credit. It just goes back into your account.


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## mearlus (Jun 18, 2008)

Asmor said:
			
		

> I used gift card credit. It just goes back into your account.




Done, canceled and I explained why.  I'm going to hold on ordering the individual books for a day to see if I hear anything back.

Maybe their customer service that deals with cancellations is better than what I've experienced so far.


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## Asmor (Jun 18, 2008)

I don't know if there is customer service which deals with returns... I'm pretty sure it's automated.

If you want any recompense, you're gonna have to make some noise.


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## mearlus (Jun 18, 2008)

Asmor said:
			
		

> I don't know if there is customer service which deals with returns... I'm pretty sure it's automated.
> 
> If you want any recompense, you're gonna have to make some noise.




I feel that I spent enough time making noises so I went a head and ordered the individual books.  I had the $5 promotional discount for the original inconvenience of Amazon not notifying me of being out of stock.  I decided to test the Amazon Prime trial to get free 2 day shipping.  The email states I should have my books Friday at a cost of $57.91.  

I'll be really surprised if it does ship that fast.  I will have to remember to 'cancel' the prime account once I get my books.


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## Master of the Game (Jun 18, 2008)

I got the notice that my order was pushed back a couple weeks ago, but on the tenth I got an email telling me that the order had shipped with a delivery date of the 19th,  I ended up actually getting them on the 16th.


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## Cirex (Jun 18, 2008)

> We thought you'd like to know that we shipped your items, and that this completes your order.




At last.

So yes, it was their fault 100%. Blaming my credit card for something they were doing wrong...

Ah well, their shipping prices (and product prices) are quite low compared to other online stores, so if I want to buy something, it will have to be amazon. I hope there aren't so many troubles with the DM Screen.


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## pukunui (Jun 18, 2008)

Dammit! Amazon has just delayed my order AGAIN! Now they're saying it won't ship til the end of the month and I won't get the order till August! WTF?! I'm thinking of cancelling and just paying double the price to get the books at the LGS.


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## catsclaw227 (Jun 18, 2008)

pukunui said:
			
		

> Dammit! Amazon has just delayed my order AGAIN! Now they're saying it won't ship til the end of the month and I won't get the order till August! WTF?! I'm thinking of cancelling and just paying double the price to get the books at the LGS.



Was this a gift set purchase?  If so, you could have canceled it and gotten each book individually, as each is still in stock.


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## mearlus (Jun 18, 2008)

pukunui said:
			
		

> Dammit! Amazon has just delayed my order AGAIN! Now they're saying it won't ship til the end of the month and I won't get the order till August! WTF?! I'm thinking of cancelling and just paying double the price to get the books at the LGS.




That's what I was sensing with mine.  I canceled mine last night, had the $5 'promo discount' available yet so I added the 3 individual books to my cart.  After adding it all together it was ~$57 and free 2 day shipping by using the Amazon Prime free Trial.  

I got my shipping notice today and apparently I'm suppose to get it tomorrow.  That added basically $3 to my original price for the Box Set.

Amazon's whole process is stupid for their pre-orders.  Never doing that again.


----------



## pukunui (Jun 18, 2008)

catsclaw227 said:
			
		

> Was this a gift set purchase?  If so, you could have canceled it and gotten each book individually, as each is still in stock.



 I don't know why, but I really am attached to the idea of getting the three books with the slipcase to keep them in. When my order was delayed the first time, I ordered a copy of the PHB, which I just got yesterday.

What's this "promo discount" thing people keep talking about?

Also, keep in mind that I am in New Zealand, so I can't get free shipping or anything like that. However, even paying for expedited international shipping costs me less than going down to the LGS and buying the books there ... although I'm seriously considering doing just that at this point. 

I'm going to complain to Amazon first though.


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## mearlus (Jun 19, 2008)

pukunui said:
			
		

> I don't know why, but I really am attached to the idea of getting the three books with the slipcase to keep them in. When my order was delayed the first time, I ordered a copy of the PHB, which I just got yesterday.
> 
> What's this "promo discount" thing people keep talking about?
> 
> ...




Promo discount was given when we complained to Amazon about the lack of communication and delays with our order.


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## pukunui (Jun 19, 2008)

mearlus said:
			
		

> Promo discount was given when we complained to Amazon about the lack of communication and delays with our order.



 And it's only $5? I'm thinking they should give me free shipping to New Zealand or something for not only delaying my order TWICE but for also sending a friend of mine here in Auckland his books even though he preordered AFTER me! WTF?!


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## DemonKing (Jun 19, 2008)

Gee - I feel pretty bad for some of you guys as I only ordered from them last month and my boxed set of books arrived here in Australia yesterday at a fraction over half the price it would cost me to buy from my FLGS and that was standard (not expediated) international shipping!

 

Maybe it helped that my last name begins with an "A"?


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## mearlus (Jun 19, 2008)

DemonKing said:
			
		

> Gee - I feel pretty bad for some of you guys as I only ordered from them last month and my boxed set of books arrived here in Australia yesterday at a fraction over half the price it would cost me to buy from my FLGS and that was standard (not expediated) international shipping!
> 
> 
> 
> Maybe it helped that my last name begins with an "A"?




Interesting theory as my last name starts w/ a "V"...  

Considering shipping methods seem to not make a difference that's the only other thing I can think of.


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## pukunui (Jun 19, 2008)

Here is Amazon's response:

- Free upgrade of shipping from standard to expedited
- $10 promotional certificate on next purchase (I'll be putting it towards H2, H3 and the DM screen).

That makes me feel a lot better about things.


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## mearlus (Jun 20, 2008)

pukunui said:
			
		

> Here is Amazon's response:
> 
> - Free upgrade of shipping from standard to expedited
> - $10 promotional certificate on next purchase (I'll be putting it towards H2, H3 and the DM screen).
> ...




Congrats.  It disappoints me that they don't credit the same across the board when issues occur.  It seems like a gamble depending on who you are in contact with.

That being said, I got my 3 book order delivered today and I am proceeding to cancel the Prime account


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## malraux (Jun 20, 2008)

pukunui said:
			
		

> Here is Amazon's response:
> 
> - Free upgrade of shipping from standard to expedited
> - $10 promotional certificate on next purchase (I'll be putting it towards H2, H3 and the DM screen).
> ...



Well, my box set finally shipped.  No upgrade to faster shipping, and only a $5 credit.  Consistency would be nice.  And my last name begins with a W, so perhaps that was their ranking method.


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## pukunui (Jun 20, 2008)

malraux said:
			
		

> Well, my box set finally shipped.  No upgrade to faster shipping, and only a $5 credit.  Consistency would be nice.  And my last name begins with a W, so perhaps that was their ranking method.



 Nope. My last name starts with L.

And I agree. Consistency would be good. But maybe they gave me more because mine had been delayed twice ... and because I mentioned that a friend of mine had ordered after me but had received it before me (which ruled out delays because of being overseas). I gave them his order number so they could see their error for themselves. Maybe that's what did it.


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## Mikeythorn (Jun 20, 2008)

pukunui said:
			
		

> Here is Amazon's response:
> 
> - Free upgrade of shipping from standard to expedited
> - $10 promotional certificate on next purchase (I'll be putting it towards H2, H3 and the DM screen).
> ...




Hi Pukunui,
I think you might be able to do better than that if you call Amazon directly.

I am in Wellington and was in the same boat as you.  I had already emailed Amazon before I got the second "shipping delayed" notice yesterday, so decided to stop sodding about and rang them.  After a very polite discussion (which included how crap our cricket team is at the moment) the guy at the other end gave me a profuse apology and - at my suggestion - canceled the order and made a new order for the 3 core books as seperate items.  I was told that I would get a total refund for all shipping costs (saving me $27 or so - I only went with "standard") once the order was processed and the price of the books was discounted so that I was paying the same as if I had ordered the gift set (with a pre-order discount).  

The books shipped this morning, and the refund for the shipping costs has already turned up in my bank account.

I will still get the books about two weeks later than I hoped, but I only paid NZ$79 for them so am pretty content.


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## pukunui (Jun 21, 2008)

Mikeythorn said:
			
		

> Hi Pukunui,
> I think you might be able to do better than that if you call Amazon directly.
> 
> I am in Wellington and was in the same boat as you.  I had already emailed Amazon before I got the second "shipping delayed" notice yesterday, so decided to stop sodding about and rang them.  After a very polite discussion (which included how crap our cricket team is at the moment) the guy at the other end gave me a profuse apology and - at my suggestion - canceled the order and made a new order for the 3 core books as seperate items.  I was told that I would get a total refund for all shipping costs (saving me $27 or so - I only went with "standard") once the order was processed and the price of the books was discounted so that I was paying the same as if I had ordered the gift set (with a pre-order discount).
> ...



 Good to know. I'm not all that fussed now, though. I've got a PHB and my friend went and bought the three books from the store in Auckland, so he's lent me the DMG and the MM until I get my own. One of my other players has all three books as well because he's going to be DMing for his kids.


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## jfjohnny5 (Jun 21, 2008)

Wow. Their customer service really is all over the board. They should get some consistency. I started my phone calls and complaints on day one. Horrible communication on their end. I ended up getting a $15 promo credit. It actually ended up being cheaper (and faster as they all arrived last Saturday) for me to buy the three individually than to wait on the gift set.


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## pukunui (Jun 21, 2008)

jfjohnny5 said:
			
		

> Wow. Their customer service really is all over the board. They should get some consistency. I started my phone calls and complaints on day one. Horrible communication on their end. I ended up getting a $15 promo credit. It actually ended up being cheaper (and faster as they all arrived last Saturday) for me to buy the three individually than to wait on the gift set.



 Yeah, that's what people keep saying. I did order a PHB by itself and have got that already. If I REALLY wanted the other two, I could order them as well but I'm willing to wait and save some money. I don't know why but I'm really stuck on getting the giftset.


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## pukunui (Jun 29, 2008)

So the latest shipping estimate for my gift set has come and gone with no word from amazon, so I wrote to them again and they responded with a lengthy explanation about stock and suppliers and such and gave me another promo certificate, this one only $5.

I'm only hanging on because I'm not going to get the books for as good a price as my amazon preorder. If I go to the LGS, I'll pay double what amazon's charging. Even if I order the books separately from amazon, I'll still pay more because the shipping will be more and so on. So I'm willing to wait so I can get them for cheap.


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