And is there a shopping spot on the D&D website were you can place an order?
Or i might steal it :evillaugh
I dont think there is a place to directly order the new editon from WoTC, but both Barnes and Noble and Amazon have the boxed set of the 3 core rule books deeply discounted and available for preorder. I ordered mine from B&N and paid less than $70 for it.
Lots of information is available at the regular wizards websight, and in these forums. Just look a bit. Especially check out the online version of Dragon magaizne.
I dont think there is a place to directly order the new editon from WoTC, but both Barnes and Noble and Amazon have the boxed set of the 3 core rule books deeply discounted and available for preorder. I ordered mine from B&N and paid less than $70 for it.
While it may cost a little more, don't be afraid to support your local game store either. Especially if they provide you with a place and opportunity to play on a regular basis.
While it may cost a little more, don't be afraid to support your local game store either. Especially if they provide you with a place and opportunity to play on a regular basis.
Well said. Unfortunatly, I dont have a local game store anywhere near
. But if you do, yes, please give them the business.While it may cost a little more, don't be afraid to support your local game store either. Especially if they provide you with a place and opportunity to play on a regular basis.
Price will always get my support. Nothing compares to Amazon.com, I purchased mine and paid less than $60 total for the set of 3. Now if the local game store could do that then they would get more of my business.
Price will always get my support. Nothing compares to Amazon.com, I purchased mine and paid less than $60 total for the set of 3. Now if the local game store could do that then they would get more of my business.
I agree. I always order now-my hobby shop charges 30 bucks for one D&D book. Im not talking core books, I mean little supplements.
My FLGS runs RPGA games, and gives myself and my local players a venue to play just about anything - usually for no cost.
That's worth paying a little extra for books and the like. He supports my hobbies, I support him.
If I don't shop from him, and buy everything from amazon, should he close I'd only have myself to blame for the loss of my favorite gaming venue.
If you don't spend much time at your FLGS, then no, there's not a lot of incentive to spend the extra $.
For example one is donating 3 copies of the 4E PHB for me to use as door prizes at our library game days over the summer. I place a donated by plate in the front of the books with all of his contact information.
I always allow both FLGS's to contribute and I get support from both. It has become a very symbiotic relationship.
Price will always get my support. Nothing compares to Amazon.com, I purchased mine and paid less than $60 total for the set of 3. Now if the local game store could do that then they would get more of my business.
That's great and all...but maybe you should support your local more...I mean $60 bucks for all three is great...but did you try talking to the manager about a preorder discount?
That's great and all...but maybe you should support your local more...I mean $60 bucks for all three is great...but did you try talking to the manager about a preorder discount?
I stopped supporting the local game store probably 5 years ago and haven't been in there since (no reason to go out to beaverton). the people weren't real friendly and were mostly condescending so it hasn't bothered me one bit. if i spend 60 bucks to preorder the books, it means this guy didn't get my sale and i saved some cash in the process.
I stopped supporting the local game store probably 5 years ago and haven't been in there since (no reason to go out to beaverton). the people weren't real friendly and were mostly condescending so it hasn't bothered me one bit. if i spend 60 bucks to preorder the books, it means this guy didn't get my sale and i saved some cash in the process.
The problem with the friendly local game store is that, much like comic shops, they are often run by someone who is a gamer first, and an good business person second. Erratic hours, poor customer service, and bad managment tend to be commonplace. If you do have a good one near you, then please do support it 100%. Its good for the hobby as a whole, plus it keeps a local busniess going. But unforturnatly, many game store owners have not figured out that running a game shop is not like running a game.
I stopped supporting the local game store probably 5 years ago and haven't been in there since (no reason to go out to beaverton). the people weren't real friendly and were mostly condescending so it hasn't bothered me one bit. if i spend 60 bucks to preorder the books, it means this guy didn't get my sale and i saved some cash in the process.
Unfortunately, this is the boat I was in. I still recall the screaming of "ARE YOU GOING TO BUY THAT OR JUST WASTE MY TIME" floating across the aisles of my FLGS. (Which, even though it was around well before the Simpsons had that Sci-fi word / Fantasy word - ala the Android Dungeon - naming construction.)
When the interweb came about, I just moved to amazon. Now the old gaming shop is gone, but there are new one. I talk to them at conventions, and they seem much more customer oriented, but I have never switched back.
Unfortunately, this is the boat I was in. I still recall the screaming of "ARE YOU GOING TO BUY THAT OR JUST WASTE MY TIME" floating across the aisles of my FLGS. (Which, even though it was around well before the Simpsons had that Sci-fi word / Fantasy word - ala the Android Dungeon - naming construction.)
When the interweb came about, I just moved to amazon. Now the old gaming shop is gone, but there are new one. I talk to them at conventions, and they seem much more customer oriented, but I have never switched back.
Yeah. Blindly supporting a store JUST because it's a local hobby store isn't a very good idea. In fact, there's at least one local shop I *wish* would close.
But then, that's where the "F" in "FLGS" comes from. Depending on who you ask it's either "Friendly" or "Favorite".
If you have a FLGS in your area, supporting them can be wonderful for you as well as that store (usually you'll get re-supported by having a place to game, supporting your hobby far more than Amazon will).
If you just have a "plain old" LGS - the kind that's only in it to get themselves a discount on games, and to heck with customers. . . well, if you're really altruistic, trying convincing them to change. Since most people are resistant to that kinda thing, however - it's a shame, but it's best to simply pass them by.
I love my store, and I mostly love my customers, but I admit I sometimes have off days, try not to take it too personally if the guy behind the counter is occasionally grumpy, we're only human too!:D
But then, that's where the "F" in "FLGS" comes from. Depending on who you ask it's either "Friendly" or "Favorite".
Ahhh, thats whats the F stads for. I always thought it stood for Fantasy.
I love my store, and I mostly love my customers, but I admit I sometimes have off days, try not to take it too personally if the guy behind the counter is occasionally grumpy, we're only human too!:D
No I understand, but this was a chronic (and ultimately terminal) thing - and I was not the only person who thought so (gamers tend to be a close knit community.) Funnily enough, I am sure it was a cash flow thing. Standard practice was to bag all the gaming books, cover the price, and mark them up above the MSRP. And woe betide you if you tried to debag it! No browsing! Come to think of it it was really Seinfeldian.
See, the owner was NOT a gamer, but an old school sci-fi geek who really wanted to have a store selling Kirk statuettes. Obviously tho that wouldn't quite cut it. So, I think the gaming stuff was there just to keep the store going.
When CCG got hot, they would get REAL nasty with the CCG crowd. That crowd skewed young, (and lets face it sometimes annoying like any budding 10yo geek), and they would just abuse those youngins who didn't know how to stand up for themselves. It was cringe inducing. Parents started going in with their kids to protect them from the verbal abuse.
When they had no competition, they did well in spite of themselves. But once the interweb came around, it was a done deal for them. Ironically, the happiest I ever saw them was when I wondered in the month before they closed. They seemed very relieved to be done with the store. So very much the wrong business for them.
When CCG got hot, they would get REAL nasty with the CCG crowd. That crowd skewed young, (and lets face it sometimes annoying like any budding 10yo geek), and they he would just abuse those youngins who didn't know how to stand up for themselves. It was cringe inducing. Parents started going in with their kids to protect them from the verbal abuse.
The happiest I ever saw them was when I wondered in the month before they closed. So very much the wrong business for them.
Definitely the wrong business. Heck, Pokemon kept our doors open during the first couple of years we were open [back during the first PokeCraze]. We needle the yu-gi-kids these days, but they get a better turn out than any of our other games right now. You can't alienate your customers and stay in business. It doesn't work. People tend to forget that sales is Service Industry, if I don't provide service, my business fails.....
As far as marking up gaming product goes, that smacks as downright dishonest. Realistically I can charge any price I want for product in my store, but if no one buys it then its worth nothing to me [heck, anything that doesn't sell costs me money....].
the other thing is the feats. there are very few elf race feats, alot of dragonborn like ones that increase the strenght of the breath weapon(also a daily action.) also another feat called eladrin(another racial feat) grants a +2 damage bonus with longswords and spears.
I hope this was a little useful. (can't let out too much on the forums, their ears are everywhere)
maybe if they did something for the gaming comunity or, even looked after their store a little, i would be willing to spend double what amazon.com charges for the three pack (being in canada paying canada price would pump it up even more).
Oh well!
well what would you like to know? There is nothing i don't know about it, and dont ask why, (most of you know, what i'm talking about) there are 8 classes, each as follows, cleric, fighter, paladin, ranger, rogue, warlock, warlord, and wizard. you have 2 at will powers that you can use for all eternity, then there are encounter powers where you can use them once an encounter, finally there are daily where they can be used once a day. I'm not sure on how much the wizard guys released as excerpts so if this common knowledge i apologize.
the other thing is the feats. there are very few elf race feats, alot of dragonborn like ones that increase the strenght of the breath weapon(also a daily action.) also another feat called eladrin(another racial feat) grants a +2 damage bonus with longswords and spears.
I hope this was a little useful. (can't let out too much on the forums, their ears are everywhere)
I saw this last night near 7:30 and wanted to reply so badly but the forums were locked to me. This makes me laugh. I assume Karasu was just trying to be funny, but talk about welcome to last week.
I have been a big fan of D&D and know that 4th edition comes out soon but i know nothing about it can someone please give me some info on it.
And is there a shopping spot on the D&D website were you can place an order?
Or i might steal it :evillaugh
Something else to remember unlike previous editions if your just playing you don't need the Dungeon Masters Guide or Monster Manual. Those two books have become very optional to the player. They are of course important for the DM but that is it.
I pre-ordered, havent recieved it as yet, and the entry for the Set on their website is still flagging it as "Not Yet Released".
In fact so is the MM1, although the PHB and DMG are flagged as "in stock". Out of curiosity I phone Amazon and spoke to a very nice woman, somewhere in India, that couldnt really tell me more except that the warehouse didnt have any.
So....have they sold out? Not recieved the Gift Set and the MM1?
All info appreciated folks!
Cali
Cheers, LT.
Has anyone gotten a preorder of the gift set to ship from Amazon yet? Not individual books, but the actual gift set.
It is the gift set, BTW.
I pre-ordered in April - still not dispatched.
And just to give you guys an idea of HOW out of stock - they are filling on a first-come, first-served basis. I placed my preorder on March 8th and based on that they "hope" to ship mine "sometime next week"Isn't the point of PRE-ordering 3 months early to ensure the printer prints enough copies to make certain the retailers can fill their orders?
People are going to hate me. I preorded like, two weeks ago or so, and I just checked my email and Amazon says that its in the mail and should show up on the 10th.
My friend got his books from chapters before release date....
Yeah, I ordered April 2, and mine says shipping on the 10th, with the cheapskate free shipping. And as for ordering from the FLGS...normally I would. But between the Amazon discounts, no sales tax, etc. I'm saving over $50 from what it would cost me at the FLGS...so sorry, but I can wait a couple extra days.
Exactly, when I'm saving $50.00 it's no longer an option for me when that's nearly half the price of the product. If I had the extra money to help others out I would, but I simply can't afford that.
Exactly, when I'm saving $50.00 it's no longer an option for me when that's nearly half the price of the product. If I had the extra money to help others out I would, but I simply can't afford that.
When changing my quantities this week, I went from ship friday, to ship in july...
Course, netted about the same price difference because while they weren't going to shift my position my queue, they were willing to give me a full refund on Prime [after being used for almost a year too, which was surprising, but oh well].
****
Unfortunately my local bookstores are out already so I can't get them there either. I am not canceling my pre-order now on general principle just so I can keep the 50% off price. They can eat my protest of this in the pocketbook at least a little bit.
Theres a cure for this. Its called "Next time don't be so cheap, order from your FLGS instead of a faceless corporate entity.". You might even make a couple of new friends that shares the same hobby. Support your local economy and maybe it will support you back.
Or maybe you can support your FLGS since you were a 12-year old kid (and now you're nearly 30) and yet in the end it doesn't make a difference as store after store keeps closing until there's not a single FLGS nearby anymore. That's what happened to me. And that's just the way of the world. Sadly, the FLGS is a dieing breed.
At any rate, the updated shipping estimate on my order is now June 16th-June 24th. And again, I ordered on March 8th...
Strange.. I waited till mid may to preorder and my gift set is in transit.. it might be based off local storage facilities and how fast you want shipping. Granted I live in Tennessee, and my books are coming from Kentucky.. so there might not be as high of a demand in this area.. thus why I got my books.
Mine haven't shipped and I'm in KENTUCKY getting my books from KENTUCKY WTF!!
:hoppingma :hoppingma :hoppingma :hoppingma :hoppingma :hoppingma
ball on this one. I'm so at them. I preordered 2 months ago and my friend who preorder 10 days ago got his yesterday. I won't see mine 'til it ships on the 16th. I've seen that some people got there's as early as the 2nd and that's . And don't change your shipping to over night or anything like that. Someone posted yesterday that it cancels your order and makes a new one, automaticly putting you on back order.Now, I'm told my books won't arrive until the 23rd...
Deal Breaking
I've got borders reward bucks and 10$ off coupons. See ya Amazon!
Nice move, suckahs!
....
...
I pre-ordered in May. I got it a day early.
I doubt this is Amazons fault, they probably screamed at WOTC they had way too many backorders - by holding back on the copies, WOTC gets many people to decide they cannot wait, so they trot to the local game store and buy a local copy of at least the PHB, spending even more money on two sets of books and increasing the number of sales WOTC can claim.
Nice move, suckahs!
Yes, let's all put on our tinfoil hats shall we?
This is Amazon's fault. They knew how many pre-orders they had and should have a) shipped them first-come first-serve, which they clearly did not do and b) notified the overflow of the delay.
This isn't rocket science and could all be automated.
I canceled my Amazon order, printed out a 30% off coupon for Borders and went and got my books this morning.
I would suggest that anyone that does cancel their pre-order as a result of this let Amazon know (politely) via their customer service that their handling of the pre-orders was the cause.
Friday june 6th I got notifications for the first two orders, with a notification for the last one coming this morning. Shipped to arrive monday and tuesday, respectively.
Oh, the boxed set arrived, very nice - with
A PHB
A Monster Manual
...
And another Monster Manual!
All neatly tucked in together, in the pretty slipcase.
Obvously, not B&N's fault. They've ordered a replacement copy.
I knew it was too good to be true. At least I got a PHB so's I can make characters. And my GM got the full set, so no lasting harm done (as long as B&N follows thru).
Fantastic! I don't pre-order things at all, but I was under the impression that one did so to make sure that they get the item that they pre-ordered. I pre-ordered from Amazon (I refuse to support the FLGS in my area because they have never been anything but rude and generally unpleasant, apparently I am not an "elite enough gamer" to understand their position). Did this happen becuase Amazon did not order enough of the gift set? Do other online options have it?
That is the expectation. It's also normal for pre-orders to be filled in the order in which they arrived and for customers pre-ordering after the initial allotment is spoken for to be informed of that fact... neither of which is happening in this case.
Amazon's CS was fairly good once I contacted them, but they're not getting my pre-order business again until they fix their system.
Later today I'll hand the players handbooks over to my wife and my daughter, while me and my son-in-law wait for the gift sets. Guess that puts the men at the women's mercy
Although, the Borders discount coupon would have been nice, had I known they had the core gift thingy. :D
and i orderd about 2 months ago.
We're writing about the order you placed on May 30 2008 10:30 PDT
(??????????????). 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) "Dungeons and Dragons Core Rulebook Gift
Set, 4th Edition [Box set]" [Hardcover]
Estimated arrival date: 06/10/2008 - 06/13/2008
We apologize for the inconvenience caused by this delay.
------
WTF AMAZON? It was suppose to be in today!
"delivery estimate: June 19, 2008 - July 1, 2008"
JULY 1st? I preordered March 5th, earlier than most of everyone else mentioning in this thread. Ahem. It's rather hard to contain negative emotion when you've just been more than everyone else. Sorry.I'm not happy. In fact, this makes me very unhappy. Especially because I was planning on starting my 4e campaign on friday as the latest my estimate on when I'd receive my books was to be on friday, and if it were friday, that we'd just roll up characters then and read books.
Worst part of the matter? I don't even have the option to cancel the order if I wanted to. I have to deal with amazon and/or wotc's mess-up, as they already have the order in "processing" (don't know if it was amazon not telling wotc they needed more, or whether it was wotc who didn't respond to amazon saying they wanted more).
Edit: that felt good. Now I hope that the delivery is actually on June 19th, not July 1st.
Received them 4 June.
Cali
What I want to know is why the D&D INsider ain't got ANYTHING working. It's not like they haven't had 3 freakin' years to develop the software...
TF
However, I really think that there are a lot of people in this situation and you just have to accept that "O NOES I NAO GOTTA WAIT OMG :O"
I got mine from bn.com on Friday, no hassle at all.
I overheard someone at the Seattle Gameday (dunno who, sorry) say the demand for the box sets was higher than expected. Oops.
I got mine from bn.com on Friday, no hassle at all.
If only there were some sort of way they could get a hint ahead of time, a sort of ahead of order type tallly, that would let them know how many people were interested in such a thing ahead of time so that they could fit the print run to that size. Maybe in the future when computers are powerful enough to keep track of information such as what people would like to buy, how many people ordered a particular item, when they ordered those items, etc; like a conglomeration of data; maybe when Vista 2040 comes out we can get that.
If only there were some sort of way they could get a hint ahead of time, a sort of ahead of order type tallly, that would let them know how many people were interested in such a thing ahead of time so that they could fit the print run to that size. Maybe in the future when computers are powerful enough to keep track of information such as what people would like to buy, how many people ordered a particular item, when they ordered those items, etc; like a conglomeration of data; maybe when Vista 2040 comes out we can get that.
:P
In general I agree with your sentiment. Printing takes a while, though. I suspect that by the time the publisher, distributor, and vendors decided that they were going to need more books, it was already too late to get them printed by release day.
Since I personally know people that ordered in the last few weeks that have already gotten their set from Amazon, I am not happy.
Seeing all the others here that ordered far more recently that I did, and have already received theirs really gets me angry.
My next email to amazon will contain a link to this thread.
Good luck to you all.
I can't help but notice and comment that the set won't be released until 6-17-08.
I got it on pre-order so its like 56 bucks. However why is this boxed set coming out later than the seperate books?
I just find this messed up, and thought I'd see if anyone else caught this.
Tuesday seems like an eternity now after hitting up World wide D&D day today at my local hobby store and every one else had already purchased theirs...I got to peer over a few shoulders but that was about it ;)
I can fruitlessly speculate why Amazon didn't order enough sets to cover their pre-orders, or I can go buy a set of core books at retail, use them til my order arrives, then return them. I don't see any other way to prepare for the game I'm supposed to start running on June 27th. It's very annoying.
Did anyone else run into this problem? My misery demands company!
Yeah, so instead you'll fool the brick and mortar store by "pretending" to buy their books, use them, and then take them back. That's just not right.
By all means, buy them from Amazon. That's what I did and mine are delayed too. But I'm not going to go dupe the brick and mortar store in the meantime so that I can get their books, only to return them and get the Amazon price. I guess part of the "cost" of getting the Amazon discount is that I'm just going to have to wait.
Amazon seems to have rolled a natural 1 on its saving throw vs. incompetence. (I can't even use 4th ed terms to attack Amazon, since apparently I have to wait until July 4th).
Of course NY has decided that Amazon has to start charging tax starting 06/01 and so I got hit with that.... Greedy state stay outta my pocket! Still $59 dollars is not a bad deal.- Manii Names
Cheap or fast, but not both. ;)
WTF.
So I went and bought them from my flgs, which I remarked in another post I should have done from the start. Then I cancelled my amazon order.
Sar
Sar
Theres a cure for this. Its called "Next time don't be so cheap, order from your FLGS instead of a faceless corporate entity.". You might even make a couple of new friends that shares the same hobby. Support your local economy and maybe it will support you back.
$190 for 1 gift set at local shop, $212 for 2 gift sets + 1 PHB + 1 Keep on shadowfell from Amazon, including express freight. My FLGS is really an ULGS.
Oh well.....
If I can source the books from somewhere else and then cancel the Amazon order I will. Patience may be a virtue, but not one that Im big on :D
Cali
Sweet. sweet boxset
I think the difference is that I waited till then to finally sign up for the Amazon Prime free trial, and took the free 2 day shipping. That I'm a new Prime account (that they'd like to see become permanent) might have given my order preference.
Or I just got lucky with a distribution center that had enough to meet its order demands.
I went to my local book store and picked up a copy of the 4e PHB for general use of my game group. As for consulting the 4e DMG or MM, I will resort to... other means at my disposal.
But if you look into other sources on there, Comics Now had sets available immediatly for shipping.
You'ld think amazon would have their stuff together and be able to have coppies available to ship immediatly at release for anyone who did preorder. And I preordered back in early May.
So for those who got theirs, what all can we expect in this box set? Aside from the 3 core rule books. Do we get anything else, or is that it?
http://www.hallofheroesllc.com/index.htm
He's not open Mondays however.
OK, by one Amazon in particular: Amazon.com. I just got an email apologizing for the fact that my core book set, which I pre-ordered March 2, has not shipped and has a new estimated delivery date of June 18th-24th.
I can fruitlessly speculate why Amazon didn't order enough sets to cover their pre-orders, or I can go buy a set of core books at retail, use them til my order arrives, then return them. I don't see any other way to prepare for the game I'm supposed to start running on June 27th. It's very annoying.
Did anyone else run into this problem? My misery demands company!
As someone who owns a brick and mortar store that has lost significant business to amazon.com due to pricing over the years, I can say that if you did that at my store and I found out about it I would no longer allow you in my store. If you refused to leave when I demanded you do so, I would have the police tresspass you. It's one thing to decide that $47.23 is worth not supporting my store, that's your right as a consumer. But to use my product as a library makes you nothing but scum in my eyes, and at that point I no longer want you for a customer.
So make sure you NEVER want to go back to the store before you pull a stunt like that.
Alcar
The only problem with that is Amazon is offering the core set at a ridiculously low price: effectively $23 per book (including 2-day shipping). That's too good to pass up! While I like supporting brick and mortar stores for gaming, they cannot compete with that kind of pricing.
Why do you think they are so cheap? Because they don't have to pay the wages for nice and competent employees in FLGS. Because they don't give anything about a bunch of books that will sell well once every five years and then rank #9075 on their top seller list.
If everybody does this, Your FLGS will vanish one day. Then there would be no alternative to big Amazon, who cares for customers in general, but doesn't care for gamers (as we have seen).
So, I would recommend to buy at least one book at FLGS, without returning it (e.g. PHB). And I think its far better to pull this off vs Barns & Nobles instead of a small retailer.
Edit: My set shipped on the 3rd and didn't quite make it on the delivery truck Friday. Should be in Monday.
So for those who got theirs, what all can we expect in this box set? Aside from the 3 core rule books. Do we get anything else, or is that it?
Expect a box to put the books in. Thats it really.
Well, from the looks of it I'm glad to be canadian and have been dealing with amazon.ca and thus cut down the wait.
If I had a FLGS nearby I might consider buying the books there. But after supporting the two local stores for years, they still both closed. So at this point, the money I save with Amazon is still well worth the wait. Such is the way of the free market, and it's fine by me.
Just want to see how much money Amazon is losing from one small sector of its customer base.
same price on Waterstones as Amazon, plus i get Airmiles, which works out as a 3.5% discount
Here's one.
Just want to see how much money Amazon is losing from one small sector of its customer base.
Heh, I must have lucked out or something. I got an email from Amazon saying my 4e 3-corebook-pack order shipped on Wednesday the 4th and I received it early on Thursday the 5th.
Thumbs up Amazon!
Sheeh.
EK
Meh. My order shipped on release day. then again, i pre-ordered way early, so I was probably higher on the priority list of orders to get out with their initial allotment of books. ;)
grrrr
I pre ordered in April, but i must wait beacause the deal is too good. Atleasst the SRD comes out next week.
I found out later that Amazon was out of stock on many pre-orders, so maybe I lucked out after all-- got my books promptly on the 6th, no waiting ;).
In addition to this Waldenbooks (which I've frequented for decades), there's a game store in town now (under new management). Unlike the previous staff, these guys and gals seem professional, putting the "friendly" back in FLGS. They'll recieve some of my business, I'm sure.
Between Waldenbooks and the "new" store then, I'm not going to have much left for Amazon ;). I've never ordered much online in any case. The only reason I set up the pre-order was because it was too good a deal to pass up (or so I thought).
My boxed set for my DMG, MM and second PHb are delayed as well. ;_;
I always keep multiple PHbs, at least one for my car (for pickup games at my college) and one for my gaming room.
They're working on it. Be patient a bit longer and you'll get your stuff. I was shocked to see that it had shipped two days prior to the day it listed, but very pleasantly surprised. I've been using friends' copies to plan for the abnormally large group (14) I will be DMing for this coming weekend, and maybe...just maybe I'll get my own stuff in time.
). Now I am seriously considering going to my local gaming store and picking up a copy of the PHB. just so I can have one on hand. Now all I need is some more monies...
ofcourse with one person having Amazon Prime, and 5 Core Boxes ordered, I am pretty sure Amazon was not going to **** us off. Although the box has slight damage, we will hopefully get a replacement.
makes me wonder why someone who ordered last gets them first
OK, by one Amazon in particular: Amazon.com. I just got an email apologizing for the fact that my core book set, which I pre-ordered March 2, has not shipped and has a new estimated delivery date of June 18th-24th.
I don't mind supporting my FLGS for this exact reason. Yes the books were cheap, but do you have them? I do.
none of this makes any sense.... i ordered thu amazon on june 2nd and get my books tomorrow (already been shipped)....
makes me wonder why someone who ordered last gets them first
I suspect that you ordered them with Priority or next day shipping or were an Amazon.com Prime member.
For those who ordered via Super Saver shipping...there's a distinct reason it's super saver.
If you ordered next day, and have the delay, don't know about that, but I suspect for the most part, those who are paying for the shipping, are moved up in priority accordingly to how much they pay for it, that's the only way I can see the descrepancies of those who ordered long ago vs. those who ordered it recently.
You get what you pay for...or at Amazon...you get the shipping you pay for...
Or at least moved up in priority.
Wait a minute...
Core Set - $57.72
Cost of all 3 Books individually - $67.11
$67.11 minus $15.00 is $5.61 LESS than the Gift Set!! And the INDIVIDUAL books are all in stock!
My books shall be here on Tuesday :D
I suspect that you ordered them with Priority or next day shipping or were an Amazon.com Prime member.
For those who ordered via Super Saver shipping...there's a distinct reason it's super saver.
If you ordered next day, and have the delay, don't know about that, but I suspect for the most part, those who are paying for the shipping, are moved up in priority accordingly to how much they pay for it, that's the only way I can see the descrepancies of those who ordered long ago vs. those who ordered it recently.
You get what you pay for...or at Amazon...you get the shipping you pay for...
Or at least moved up in priority.
No. I'm Amazon Prime and mine were delayed.
This does not bode well.
Not me. It's called PATIENCE, which a alot of people in this forum don't have.
Sheeh.
EK
I understand your skepticism, but I have a game scheduled for this Friday, and my group doesn't have that many games left. I'm a junior in high school right now, and senior year will likely be too busy to get in a lot of games, so this summer is about all we have before we all go our separate ways to different colleges and all that.
Please excuse me if I want to get in as many sessions as possible.
However, if they don't make me happy with all of this...which I'm pretty sure they will in fact totally drop the ball, this will be the final time I will order from them..sad, I've put a lot of money into that company. Now I'll go elsewhere for books and minis...any suggestions?
I was ready to cancel yesterday *having placed a second order through another vendor (amazon partner called comics now)* but after I placed the other order my cancel option went away and they started processing my first order. Oh well, I guess I'll have a copy to share so we're all not hogging the same books.
In other words, they lost my order.
In any case, I don't see this as a huge problem. Sure, it's annoying... but everyone except the late-reserving customer got what they wanted: Amazon got early reservations, Wizards knew how many books to print in the first printing, and the game stores are getting traffic because Amazon wasn't alloted an unlimited numberof books before the release date. I think this is good for the game stores, who simply cannot compete with Amazon and walmart's almost 50% off. Me,I split the difference... I bought a gift set online and books at my local store as I knew I would need another set for players' reference anyway.
I am really on the fence about cancelling my order and going to my FLGS. This is the first time I've experienced this with a pre-order so maybe I'll let it slide. I've written Amazon and I'll wait to see how they respond, but I am not holding my breath.
Not me. It's called PATIENCE, which a alot of people in this forum don't have.
Sheeh.
EK
I cancelled, because I've played this game with Amazon before. You think it's just delayed once.. think again. You might get pushed back two or three more times. They MIGHT , if you preordered FR as well, combine the orders because you have that option checked.
No way. It's not called patience. It's called playing this game before.
It's a $40 difference, but I'm glad that money went to my FLGS. I should have learned the last few times this has happened with Amazon, but I never seem to.
grrrr
I pre ordered in April, but i must wait beacause the deal is too good. Atleasst the SRD comes out next week.
The SRD is just going to be an index of pages in the books. It's not going to let you play the game like you could last time.
I wish I could support my FLGS, but it's a two-way street that I'm sick of being the only one walking on. I have deliberately taken the hit on price for several of my books to support my local merchant, but the only thing he can offer me is hand-delivery . . . a month to five weeks after the release date. Amazon and other internet dealers do it faster and cheaper. I wish I could resist, but I have been led into temptation.
So I'm pretty sure that means I've been bumped off. I'm a little miffed, but ok. Now, here's my question.
Should I just go ahead and order the three books again? I heard a rumor that the second printing will contain extra errata to make up for the delay, but I never saw anything about that again, so I'm assuming it's just hype.
So is there anything to gain by waiting? Or am I just running off bad information?
Any help is appreciated.
It is going to be a long week.
My pre-order books were still a few days from shipping, and I had free shipping so it was going to take even longer to get them. I figured I might as well change the shipping so once they sent them I'd get them in a decent amount of time, so I logged on and changed to 2-day shipping. Within a couple of hours I got an email from Amazon saying the order had shipped.
Might not mean anything. Could be a coincidence. But I thought I'd pass it along for anyone else whose shipment has been held up and who picked free shipping.
Check your previous orders going back 6 months, and it should show if it was shipped or cancelled. In my case it was shipped, and I got them today.
Isn't the point of PRE-ordering 3 months early to ensure the printer prints enough copies to make certain the retailers can fill their orders?
It is certainly the job of Amazon to know what they will have in stock and what they will be ABLE to ship AT THE TIME a customer places an order. I'm not sure how long ago it was that I pre-ordered. Weeks. A few months. I understand WotC running out of stock to send to the distributors, but I don't understand how it should take Amazon weeks, months - right up to a few days before release - before they figure out that they won't have stock to fill the pre-orders they've continued to accept.
Now I did PRE-order, but I did so somewhat "late" - that is to say fairly close to the release date. When I got the email that my shipment was going to be delayed possibly as much as 3 weeks I took that to mean that they didn't have a freakin' clue when they'd be able to fill all the PREORDERS they'd taken and that it would indeed be "first come, first served" and it would be far more likely to be later than sooner. I cancelled my order with Amazon and bought elsewhere.
Yeah, it was basically cover price so that's a chunk of cash that I'd have been able to spend elsewhere, but I sure as heck wasn't going to tolerate WALKING PAST THE BOOKS ON THE SHELVES OF STORES while waiting for my Amazon so-called "PRE-ORDER" to arrive. I think they've also driven me to ordering from Barnes & Noble for the forseeable future in protest.
It's not like you all are trying to get a Kindle when they first came out... that was a nightmare.
Given Amazon's poor track record, I'll probably take my preorders elsewhere for future products.
Anyone know if Waterstones are selling the 4th ed books or special edition box set ?
My one isn't. My local Borders still has 3E books, but no 4E. Your best bet is amazon or a gaming store if there is one nearby.
I figured it would be good reading until my books arrived, and I have a few friends who are destitute for money ATM. Id rather buyt hem a abook then have them resort to pirated PDFs.
love,
malkav
Will think twice about using Amazon to pre-order again.
Heh. I'd rather have a prayer at running a game by this weekend than wait until my "estimated ship date" and get a push back again. Last time I tried something with Amazon was Harry Potter, and that was fine, but the time before that, I got TWO push backs, to over a month and a half later.
I ran to b&n and scooped 'em up, even though I shouldn't have because I was tight on money. Luckily I got a small bonus on my check that week(for working under a nasty house, so I earned it:P).
Here's one.
Just want to see how much money Amazon is losing from one small sector of its customer base.
I pre-ordered on March 10, delayed now until maybe July 1. Yes, I cancelled.
Sar
Wouldn't mind but was only going to cancel the order and get em at my local gaming store, as they said they could match the price of the books with the shipping cost.:D
Heh, I must have lucked out or something. I got an email from Amazon saying my 4e 3-corebook-pack order shipped on Wednesday the 4th and I received it early on Thursday the 5th.
Thumbs up Amazon!
My books also arrived on the 5th, but seeing as how I was out, they were sent to a local warehouse where I had to collect them 24 hours later
.Barnes and Noble's customer service is pretty much useless. What pisses me off the most is that I honestly could care less about a holder for all three books. If I had known that ordering the gift set would be this much of a hassle I would have just ordered all three books individually and have already received them.
I ordered from slipcase from Amazon on the 6th so no hope of getting 'em quickly - DOH knew i should have bought in from the start :-(
I can't believe after ordering 4 months in advance and I still have to wait.
£16 per book in-store
£13.50 online
not doing the boxed-set online, but doing it instore (£60)
I preordered in april a friend of mine did it two weeks ago and got his books on the 7th. I still do not have mine needless to say.
I am a little miffed.
Needless to say, my wife and I cancelled both orders we had with them. Such blatant incompetance, lack of foresight, and general attitude of "Tough" from Amazon is in no way, good customer service.
We were able to go to my local Gaming store, and find about 200 - 300 copies of each individual book, as well as a few Boxed Sets available. Yes, we paid full price, but that is nothing compared to the satisfaction I felt after sending off an email to Amazon regarding their business practices and failure to provide adequate support for paying customers.
Good luck to anyone who has yet to receive their pre-order, as it appears it may be awhile.
Call 1 - Barnes and Noble: BN was very friendly with trying to figure out what was going on. When I explained the situation, they checked and said that they never received the book in their warehouses from the publisher. That was the most information I could get.
Call 2 - Wizards of The Coast: I called Wizards of the Coast and spoke to someone there, who didn't sound like he knew what was going on, but confirmed that he had received several calls about the same thing earlier. He suggested, out of the blue, that "Amazon might be waiting until June 16th to ship them". Which was odd, because I didn't buy the book through Amazon. He tried to change the subject after he said that when I asked him point blank why he said they would wait until the 16th, and he at first didn't want to answer, then said it was because people who already called in said the books had an expected shipping date of the 16th. I asked him if he knew about whether the books were shipped or not, because that's what BN told me, and he said he didn't know anything, but again suggested it was BN not choosing the ship the books.
Call 3 - Barnes and Noble: After no change in the order status, I was told that the shipping date on the books had changed. I checked it out, and now the books are scheduled to ship on July 6th. So I called BN again and asked them why they were delaying the shipping. They again told me that they had not received their stock, and had reordered it, and that it would take as long as July 6th for them to get it. That was all they could tell me (I was on the phone with them for awhile getting nowhere).
Now, that leaves a lot of ticked off gamers who preordered a product they can pick up and read at a bookstore...because Wizards of the Coast never shipped the books. I desperately want the books, I've read them in the bookstore, and I'm eager to try the game out...but I am just about to cancel my order and go back to 3.5. First DDI flops without informing people in advance (No, we don't all read Ampersand religiously), then Wizards drops the ball on shipping. This is leaving a really bad taste in my mouth, and I'm sure other gamers. I want to believe this is not a company so out of touch with its own community and even its own business that it can't even ship books. I really want to...mostly I just really want my books. If anyone at Wizards reads this and is in any way connected with distribution, get on the ball, get those books out. You are on the verge of losing longtime customers with this.
-Dralenan
Mmm' mm'! I want so bad! I got so many characters to design, products to write (hopefully...), monsters to stat...
I've been waiting for this a long while. Now if only Hastings would take the 4th edition preview book for credit...
Moral of the Story: If a deal sounds to good to be true it probably is.
I think I shall turn over a new leaf and forgo the ordering of gaming books on line in favor of just picking them up at a game or book store.
Sorry the price differential is just too great, and I have no choice with a wife keeping an eye on what I'm spending on the hobby.
I almost always buy a coffee while I'm browsing their books for free. Sorry, economics is killing the brick and mortar bookstore.
As for FLGS I almost never frequent them anymore. 40-50% more expensive than online, and I just feel bad browsing there stuff also and not buying anything, therefore I just avoid them now.
I pre-ordered the box set on March 15th, a long with a book box set for my son, the Dark is Rising series. I selected the free Super Saver shipping, understanding it would be a longer delivery process but was quote a June 6th ship by date. In order to receive the Super Saver shipping, I also had to wait until now to get my son's books, in time for summer, go us.
I was never told or read anywhere that my shipping preference would determine my priority on the list.
After getting the e-mail about another delay until July 7, 2008, I became curious because my friends were getting theirs. I read this thread, got even more made.
I called Amazon and the guy there told me that WotC delayed the release date, lie. I called again and got a lady who said she would push my priority thru to make up for this as I had pre-ordered so far in advance. I got placed on hold and after 20 minutes the phone disconnected. I called again and this time asked for a Supervisor, who told me there was nothing I can do. I told him to cancel the order and if I could cancel the Dark is Rising set too, to do so. He said I could cancel both. Then when I said go ahead and do so, he then tries to offer me free overnight shipping, guaranteeing me I was going to get it shipped on July 7th, 2008. I said no, why do that when I can go to a local Borders and get it today (my FLGS closed a few years back, before it did I bought EVERYTHING Magic and DnD related there). He continued to try to get me to keep the order, I said cancel it NOW.
At this point he tells me he can cancel the DnD set order, but not my Dark is Rising as it went into shipping yesterday. Argh, this guy is full of crap and not even American, annoying.
Anyway so he went to cancel it and I called my local Walden Books (owned by Borders) and they had the individual books in stock only. They would be 34.95 a piece but she told me if I was a Borders Rewards member (which has an annual fee) I could get a 30% discount, meh.
After finding out the gift set was nothing but the three books in a box, I checked on Amazon.com to see if they had the individual books in stock. They did and ad 20.XX for the PHB and 23.XX for the other 2, alright! I ordered all 3 and had to pay a whopping 10 dollars more.
Wait a minute now Amazon.com is telling me that even tho they are in stock, they couldn't get it out until Monday. I bet this is why most of us didn't get the first batch. Proof they were not going on first come first serve, but rather shipping based.
Determined to get Amazon.com in the pockets, I remembered someone saying they offer a free trial on the Prime Membership, 2 business day shipping is free to Prime members :D. I signed up for my one month trial, changed the shipping to 2 day shipping and voila! They went to shipping today, I will have them on Friday and at only 67 buckaroos, still highly cheaper then the 105.00 plus tax I would have paid at one of those large book stores.
Give it a try, get your books faster, you CAN cancel the gift set with enough polite complaining.
Edit: Oh yeah, I will be cancelling my Prime membership the second I open the books and make sure they are in mint condition.
Hello from Amazon.com.
We're writing about the order you placed on March 15 2008 17:30 PDT (Order# XXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXXXX).
Some of the items in your order have experienced delays.
You should receive a shipping notification shortly, within the next business day,
for the following item(s):
Susan Cooper (Author) "The Dark Is Rising (Boxed Set): The Dark Is
Rising, Greenwitch, Over Sea, Under Stone, Silver on the Tree, The
Grey King"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1416949968
The shipping notification will include an updated estimated delivery date and tracking information
if it's available.
In addition, we are unable to ship the following item(s) as soon as we expected and
we need to provide you with a new estimate of when the item(s) may be delivered:
Wizards RPG Team (Author) "Dungeons and Dragons Core Rulebook Gift
Set, 4th Edition [Box set]" [Hardcover]
Estimated arrival date: 07/14/2008 - 07/18/2008
We apologize for the inconvenience caused by this delay.
We're writing about the order you placed on February 08 2008 09:10 PST. 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 Gift Set (D&D
Core Rulebook) [Box set]" [Hardcover]
Estimated arrival date: 07/14/2008 - 07/18/2008
We apologize for the inconvenience caused by this delay.
As of yesterday it said it was going to ship on 6/10/08. Oh, and they removed my pre-order discount too (extra 5% off). That whole first-come-first-served line is a bunch of BS...
Anyhow... I contacted them by email and got my pre-order discount back... the 2 day shipping really doesn't work for me (I tried it before) because they typically go out through UPS, and well... UPS service where I live is the worst I've ever experienced... It typically takes me an extra 3-4 days just to get the package from them. The Post Office, however, usually delivers 2-3 days earlier than the estimated delivery date. Go figure.
Thanks for the advice though.
Oh, and I ordered 2 sets, so it would actually cost me about $20.00 more... and well... I want the box lol...
Shipment Date: June 11, 2008
Destination:
Estimated Arrival: June 12, 2008
By doing the steps above.
edit. Checking an hour later, it appears they are shipping today, and giving me free one day shipping. They did not alter what I am paying.
I guess writing politely to C/S does work .... we'll have to see if my books arrive tomorrow.
PS. The BN books shipped today. I general find that it is cheaper to shop BN.com between the members discount and the online discount, plus about once a month to two months they email me a 15% off coupon.
Ive cancelled and ordered the 3 books minus the slipcase and now have guaranteed delivery for tomorrow
:D I got a mail yesterday from Amazon Uk telling me my slipcase order wouldnt be sent until early August !!!
Ive cancelled and ordered the 3 books minus the slipcase and now have guaranteed delivery for tomorrow
If they had tried this crap on me (AUGUST, really?) I would have gone hulk. Seriously, it would be in the news and everything;
Young male demolishes Amazon offices in a bizzarre act of abstracted nerdly rage.
Damn skippy.
I can wait the extra time -- still in the middle of the Shadowdale adventure and want to finish Anauroch (sp?) before starting a 4th ed campaign (since we probably won't go back to 3.5) -- I'm just annoyed about how they ended up processing the orders and seem to have overlooked some of the older pre-orders in preference of recent orders... not a really good business call, that...
Anyhow... I contacted them by email and got my pre-order discount back... the 2 day shipping really doesn't work for me (I tried it before) because they typically go out through UPS, and well... UPS service where I live is the worst I've ever experienced... It typically takes me an extra 3-4 days just to get the package from them. The Post Office, however, usually delivers 2-3 days earlier than the estimated delivery date. Go figure.
Thanks for the advice though.
Oh, and I ordered 2 sets, so it would actually cost me about $20.00 more... and well... I want the box lol...
I'm in the same boat except that Amazon has yet to respond to the trouble with the pre-order discount vanishing (emailed them yesterday, still no response today) and there's a whole bunch of threads on the Amazon boards with customers complaining about this issue:
http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Core-Rulebook-Gift/forum/FxGLH2ZSZ58R57/-/1/ref=cm_cd_naredir?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=0786950633
The good news is that they appear to be dealing with issues, slowly, eventually. The bad news is that this has exposed some truly inane programming errors in their ordering system.
Thank you for contacting Amazon.com regarding this matter.
First, please allow me to express my sincere apologies for any frustration that has been caused. It is certainly not our intention for our customers to have anything but a pleasant experience at our store.
I've researched your account; it appears that one of my colleagues has already addressed this issue. I do apologize for the delay in responding to your e-mail inquiry.
Further, I have checked your order and found that one of my colleagues have waived off the shipping charge for the order and also issued a promotional certificate in the amount of $10.00 in your account, as preorder discount was removed from the order.
This is already redeemed in your account and your current promotional balance is $10.00.
Please note that at this time we do not have the facility for customers to view their promotional gift certificate balance - it is only visible at the time you place your order.
When you place a qualifying order, you should see the promotional funds listed in the order cost summary that appears just before you submit your order. As long as the order qualifies, you will not need to do anything to receive the promotional discount.
The shipping charges have now disappeared in the order form, but the mysterious discount isn't showing up, as mentioned, and the pre-order discount isn't showing up either. I'll have to see what's eventually charged to the credit card, but this isn't how I remember promotional codes and gift certificates working before.
I think Amazon's programming is seriously borked, but at least it's keeping customer service in India busy.
He got his books on June 8.
I was told ship by June 10.
On June 11 I get an update saying ship July 10.
I cancelled the order and went through another Amazon distributor and for the same reduced price the books will be here by Saturday.
Is it me or was the whole thing handled poorly.
In comparison though it seems odd that I had no issues at all. I placed my order on May 30 at amazon.ca, used supersaver shipping and received my books on June 6.
No one else I know had any issues with amazon either. The set even hit #1 on the bestsellers list for .ca.
I have no qualms about the service I recieved and will happily use them again for any future purchases.
Strange that their would be such a discrepency between the two sides of the same company. Poor management in the US division?
So I cancelled and sourced the books elsewhere, cost me a couple of pounds more but not much and I had the books in time to start running Shadowfell last Monday.
If they had tried this crap on me (AUGUST, really?)
Yeah Amazon.co.uk were saying August on my order for the slipcase gift set (but now the website says 1 to 3 weeks if you consider believing them), and they have sold out of the monster manuals as well (saying 5 to 8 weeks before a restock)!
I cancelled my slip case order and reorder the PHB and DMG, I sourced the MM from another shop at a higher price, but it should arrive sooner.
- I ordered the box set from Amazon in early March with Super-Saver shipping.
- On Sunday evening I checked their site and they were still forecasting a June 10th delivery, as they had been for several weeks.
- On Monday, I received an e-mail saying that my order was delayed through July 17th or so. I read this forum to get the gist of what was going on, and decided to wait and see for a few days before cancelling.
- Today, I received an e-mail saying that my order had shipped! and would be arriving June 16. When I clicked through to the order it didn't display, but by displaying all 2008 orders I got the order to show up and checked its status. My shipment arrived in Seattle eight minutes before they sent the e-mail, at 4:30ish Seattle time. I'm being charged the original quoted price of $57.
- I'm hoping that since I live in a suburb ten miles north of Seattle that I'll actually receive my books by Saturday. We'll see.
Called Amazon. Went over the details, expressed my concern over pre-ordering, then not getting them (while others who ordered later did) and offered a solution. I politely asked them since the books were not out of stock singly to have the order changed to the 3 individual books. I lose out on the slip case but at least I'll get them. And to credit me the difference in the price.
They argued and gave in.
I also got a promotional credit for my next order...the value is dubious. That's like getting e coli from a fast food place and they say, sorry, would like a free hamburger to go along with your food poisoning? :p
Still I now have a ship date of 16 June. So that means 3 weeks late, which beats month and a half late.
I think the real reason is Amazon did not realize the volume of pre-orders and that extra 5% cut into their profit margin. By forcing everyone to either cancel or re-order they gain the money back.
Granted I then cancelled about $500 worth of other orders I have with Amazon, but every company uses this (save a little now, pay a lot later) philosophy. Because for every customer that cancels in disgust, there's 10 in line to take his place.
:p
Greetings from Amazon.com.
We thought you'd like to know that we shipped this portion of
your
order separately to give you quicker service. You won't be charged
any extra shipping fees, and the remainder of your order will follow
as soon as those items become available.
You can track the status of this order, and all your orders,
online by
visiting Your Account at http://www.amazon.com/gp/css/history/view.html
There you can:
* Track your shipment
* View the status of unshipped items
* Cancel unshipped items
* Return items
* And do much more
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 Dungeons and Dragons Core ... $57.72 1 $57.72
Shipped via UPS (estimated arrival date: 18-June-2008).
Tracking number:
Of course it's Friday so it won't be delivered this weekend, so instead next week.
I'm not certain if it went faster because I complained, but a few extra bucks off is nice.
You preordered from Amazon and now they're saying it's not in stock, despite the site saying it is? If so, I'd give them a ring and give them a run around. But maybe you shoudl check and see if you ordered the Gift Set by mistake, because that is out of stock at the moment.
The other thing to keep in mind is that Amazon doesn't have its own warehouses or distribution facilities, they buy the items from wholesalers near the customer on a "per order" basis. So if you're getting a "sold out" message, it's probably because they don't have any copies available in your country (you're in Germany, correct?). This means, unfortunately, that you'll have to wait for your copy to arrive, while someone in, say, California, could purchase it today and receive it by Monday or Tuesday.
I suspect somebody messed up at Amazon Germany (or even Amazon Switzerland, which is a separate entity even if they use the same website), rather than that there is a discrimination against German or Swiss customers.
And its just very hard to believe they dont manage to get the ordered product from another amazon subsidiary "unit", though to speak.
It's not a matter of managing or not managing. They're really different companies, even if they're both branches of Amazon. If someone in Germany (or Switzerland) messed up with their orders for 4E, other branches are not just going to give up their stock to set that right. They have their own customers to worry about. I know it feels like you're being singled out, but you have to consider this presumably applies to a whole bunch of Swiss (and German) customers. This is not a matter of getting just one copy of the PHB to Switzerland.
Zürich (gnome central!) is in Switzerland, not Germany.
I suspect somebody messed up at Amazon Germany (or even Amazon Switzerland, which is a separate entity even if they use the same website), rather than that there is a discrimination against German or Swiss customers.
It's not a matter of managing or not managing. They're really different companies, even if they're both branches of Amazon. If someone in Germany (or Switzerland) messed up with their orders for 4E, other branches are not just going to give up their stock to set that right. They have their own customers to worry about. I know it feels like you're being singled out, but you have to consider this presumably applies to a whole bunch of Swiss (and German) customers. This is not a matter of getting just one copy of the PHB to Switzerland.
EXACTLY, you pronounced it, that was it I was talking about. Everyone in my region gets discriminated by these circumstances, may it be accidently or may that be deliberately, on purpose the fact remains the same. Thats what angers me, my disadvantage for living where I live. That feeling must be a concern for amazon, if it isnt I better have been their customer.
EXACTLY, you pronounced it, that was it I was talking about. Everyone in my region gets discriminated by these circumstances, may it be accidently or may that be deliberately, on purpose the fact remains the same. Thats what angers me, my disadvantage for living where I live. That feeling must be a concern for amazon, if it isnt I better have been their customer.
The US Amazon is completely out of Gift Sets and doesn't know when every order will be filled.
They just vastly underanticipated the demand.
Discriminitation is a big word to use for something likely caused by a mistake being made. You're not not getting your PHB on purpose. No-one at Wizards or Amazon decided the Swiss are not getting their 4E books on time. It happened, it sucks, it's probably someone's fault, but it's not willful mistreatment of the Swiss (and probably German) demographic. I'm sure Amazon would very much prefer to sell you the books in timely fashion, since they know all too well that unhappy customers are often not returning customers.
I mentioned it before, Its not my issue why I dont get the book. I just look upon the facts and summarize them and the facts say Amazon as a whole has the item in stock, but I dont get it. The rest isnt up to me and does not draw my attention. I want that product and if I dont get it from this company I have to look elsewhere, period.
The US Amazon is completely out of Gift Sets and doesn't know when every order will be filled.
They just vastly underanticipated the demand.
Everyone's out of gift sets. I ordered mine at my FLGS, in the end I just took the three separate books rather than have to wait for who knows how long. I have no idea how they could underanticipate the demand for the gift sets so much, after pricing it exactly the same as buying the three books separately (and what's the extra cost anyway, I can't believe it would have cut the profits that much to make an high estimate rather than a low one).
Everyone's out of gift sets. I ordered mine at my FLGS, in the end I just took the three separate books rather than have to wait for who knows how long. I have no idea how they could underanticipate the demand for the gift sets so much, after pricing it exactly the same as buying the three books separately (and what's the extra cost anyway, I can't believe it would have cut the profits that much to make an high estimate rather than a low one).
They were probably anticipating the same purchasing patterns from 3e; most people will only pick up the Player's Hand Book. The gift sets were probably pre-release "bonuses".
I don't think that WotC fully anticipated the size of the fan base.
They were probably anticipating the same purchasing patterns from 3e; most people will only pick up the Player's Hand Book. The gift sets were probably pre-release "bonuses".
I don't think that WotC fully anticipated the size of the fan base.
The people at my LFGS told me the number of separate DMGs and MMs their supplier could get his hands on was several times the number of gift sets he could get. I can understand providing a much larger number of PHBs, but how many people who buy the DMG don't get the entire set? I didn't expect there to be a gift set box for every DMG, but even 1 in 2 should likely be an underestimate IMO (but what do I know?).
See, I finally got around to ordering my gift set from Amazon.ca somewhere around the very end of May. With no special "rush order" shipping or nothing, my books arrived via Canada Post first thing on the morning of June 6th.
Amazons is another corporation; you should bring the problems to their customers service...
I didnt blame anyone at WotC, I only intended to share my feelings, so to speak and as It seems Im not alone there.
Since they're doing the mid-July promise to Switzerland as well, I assume it's the same thing. If boxes show up in Germany before then, they'll be shipped out as well, and they might do some shuffling if they find extra boxes in Italy.
Basically, if the publisher doesn't print enough copies, you get to see all holes and gaps in the distribution network.
I think one mistake WotC made was with the gift sets was misunderstanding publishing custom with regards to slipcases. There are two times slipcases are used: prestige editions and gift sets. Prestige editions cost more, and have been done before in the gaming industry (I've got a couple copies of the MAGE 3rd ed. prestige edition on my brag shelf, since I wrote part of it), but this is the first time I've seen the regular edition packaged with a slipcase, which I think is a cool idea. But that makes it a gift set, and gift sets are generally priced lower than the individual books. I'm not certain if the cover price is the same or higher than the books individually, but Amazon certainly followed gift set tradition and priced them lower. And all the gamers, myself included, who wanted to have the full set went immediately for the lower price and the bonus of a slipcase, which makes the set into a useful bookend and many other things besides. Which caused higher orders of one sort of books than another.
One of my friends ordered two gift sets and a spare PHB: one gift set for himself, one for a club, and the PHB for a friend just getting into the game. He's got the PHB, but the gift sets are in the mail.
I pre-ordered at the start of March for the Collection. I just got it today..11 days after release. There are 2 DMG's in it and 1 PHB. I go to return it, and the delivery date for the replacement is July 31st in the email, July 28th on the website.
Edit: Scratch my devious plan to trade a DMG off at a bookstore for a MM...the binding for the PHB is messed up.
BAIT AND SWITCH, anyone?
BAIT AND SWITCH, anyone?
You clearly don't know what that phrase means.
When Amazon informed me that my gift-set order would be delayed until mid-July, I cancelled my original order. I then ordered all three books separately, using Super-Saver shipping. They arrived a few days later.
Ditto.
After a fruitless email with a standard cut and paste reply about unexpected demmand and stock on hand issues.. I called customer service. I pointed out to the gal on the line that all three books were available at that time if I purchased them individually. I told her I would cancel my gift set order and purchase them individually if she could adjust the price to match the gift set price.. which was about 18 dollars lower. Not only did she discount my new order, she gave me free 2 day shipping and I had my books on monday the 16th when I walked into work.
So think outside the box, be nice and see if you can get them to work with you. It worked for me.
I complained to them about the delay and they upgraded my shipping for free. Was nice.
I told her I would cancel my gift set order and purchase them individually if she could adjust the price to match the gift set price.. which was about 18 dollars lower.
That's odd. Right now, they're showing the PHB, DMG, and MM at $20.97 apiece, for a total of $62.91. Did the individual books go down, or did the gift set go up?
I actually came here because of the fact you did sound angry. But you were not. A funny contradiction, but does have good advice in the end.
:P
That's odd. Right now, they're showing the PHB, DMG, and MM at $20.97 apiece, for a total of $62.91. Did the individual books go down, or did the gift set go up?
My orginal order was 61.71.($57 before shipping) When I placed an order individually, the PHB was 20.97, and the DMG and MM were 23.97 each. I think i overestimated the price because I was going for standard shipping not the super saver shipping. My Mistake. But it still came to 61.70 after they credited me with 21.95 micelaneous credit, and a 5.00 credit for the original shipment delay. I have the receipt at home.. but with shipping I think the new bill would have been around $77 had they not giving me a discount.
In Australia.
Using regular post.
So I'm pretty happy, given that they retail here for $120 online and a lot more in stores.
Amazon took 7 days to get the books to me.
In Australia.
Using regular post.
So I'm pretty happy, given that they retail here for $120 online and a lot more in stores.
I just wish shipping from austrlia wasnt so expensive, found a company based thier that has dungeon tiles #1 set for 15 bucks a pop, went to order 3 and found out shipping was going to be 140 bucks.
You clearly don't know what that phrase means.
Actually I know exactly what it means...promise one thing deliver another (usually more expensive). I was promised shipping on the 18th. They delivered nothing but an extended date. Pretty clean cut. And thanks for the snide comment.
I just wish shipping from austrlia wasnt so expensive, found a company based thier that has dungeon tiles #1 set for 15 bucks a pop, went to order 3 and found out shipping was going to be 140 bucks.
Which company is that? For $15 I might grab some.
Amazon took 7 days to get the books to me.
In Australia.
Using regular post.
So I'm pretty happy, given that they retail here for $120 online and a lot more in stores.
Did they also estimate you'd get yours in 16th of July? My giftset took 9 days to arrive (although my KotS took 19 days :confused
.Actually I know exactly what it means...promise one thing deliver another (usually more expensive). I was promised shipping on the 18th. They delivered nothing but an extended date. Pretty clean cut.
Only if it was deliberate.
But, loe and behold, thank god for AAFES overseas getting EVERYTHING way later than they're supposed to, the next week there they were, late as always, but perfectly on time for me:D. I bought them, went directly home and canceled my order and wrote Amazon a 'nya, nya' message, and thats the last time I'll EVER order from them...ever.
It was amazing how little customer service I got, even though the first time I wrote them a message I was very nice. Oh well.
The morale of the story. AAFES being ridiculous and never having things on time SOMETIMES pays off...thank you AAFES!
*done with rant, sorry if it was too long*
So I order'ed it July 6th, the Gift set with all 3 books. They says wait tills the 18th...well i logged on yesterday...no ship till 18th as mentioned...today its now delayed until July 28th or aug 4th.... GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!
BAIT AND SWITCH, anyone?
I hope you mean JUNE 6th, as it's not July yet.
Ordered mine halfway through May and got them on June 9th from Amazon.
HOWEVER, my DMG has already got an ink smear (at "10. Additional Details" - kinda hard to see in the picture, but easy to see in person), I found two pages where red ink has run down the page and the now the binding's separating from the book cover (really hard to see in the picture, but obvious with a close inspection).
As I've seen several others complaining of similar problems - mostly the ink smudges, and I'm very much thinking that the books are junk (not the content, but the physical binding/paper/etc.).
Order Canceled.
Actually I know exactly what it means...promise one thing deliver another (usually more expensive). I was promised shipping on the 18th. They delivered nothing but an extended date. Pretty clean cut. And thanks for the snide comment.
You were not promised ANYTHING.
You were given an estimated shipping date. That date did not go through.
Ordered mine beginning of May. It didn't show when it was supposed to and got delayed until the 18th. 18th shows up still nothing. Today I got the email telling me It will be the End of July before I get them.
Order Canceled.
Yeah, this is what happened to me. I ordered in March, but effectively that's the same experience I got. And they told me they were going to give me a $10 coupon, which never showed up on my account.
What's worst of all is, they KNEW they were out of stock, and they still avoided telling us till the last possible minute. Takes a character of very low quality to be able to do that to one's customers, especially since they could have said, "Hey, we still have individual books in stock, would you like to change your order?"
Order cancelled, plus Warhammer Online CE cancelled, plus all future orders with Amazon = cancelled.
Still, it's not a major hassle for me, as I had already decided to wait for a higher quality reprint before buying 4e.
Monkey Steals the Peach!
Now I don't mind that my order got kicked back (I did preorder mine really late).
But they aren't even filling the orders by the dates people preordered. I've heard some people claim it is because of distances from distributing centers, but so far two of my friends preordered in March and June ON THE SAME STREET. The one who ordered in March still hasn't gotten his books, while the one who ordered in June does.
I mean, its really confusing, I have NO IDEA how they are filling the orders. That said, I'm not upset about mine (I mean I was a bit peeved when I found out it got pushed back) but I did preorder mine June 5th, so if someones going to have to get pushed back its me.
Also... they... got me... my books... for extremely ... ... ... cheap. For... this reason... I ... like... Amazon.... ... ............................................. even more...
No... they don't... your abuse of... ellipses... is ... groin-punchingly... bad.
Also... they... got me... my books... for extremely ... ... ... cheap. For... this reason... I ... like... Amazon.... ... ............................................. even more...
Sorry.I.will.switch.to.using.a.lot.of.periods.
Yah know, I know exactly how you feel. I did the whole 'order from amazon ridiculously early. Did my order in April. They pulled the 'will be shipped on release day....PSYCH!'. At first I was upset, because by the time I figured out what they had done, everyone else had sold out...I screamed, I loathed, I screamed again. And Amazon laughed, comfortable in the fact that I'd just have to wait for my books.
But, loe and behold, thank god for AAFES overseas getting EVERYTHING way later than they're supposed to, the next week there they were, late as always, but perfectly on time for me:D. I bought them, went directly home and canceled my order and wrote Amazon a 'nya, nya' message, and thats the last time I'll EVER order from them...ever.
It was amazing how little customer service I got, even though the first time I wrote them a message I was very nice. Oh well.
The morale of the story. AAFES being ridiculous and never having things on time SOMETIMES pays off...thank you AAFES!
*done with rant, sorry if it was too long*
Oh how I despise that place. Another Association ****ing Enlisted Soldiers. Did they at least give a discount or did you have to pay full price? I've never gotten a good deal on any D&D books from AAFES. Anyway, Amazon worked out all right for me. I was a little frustrated when the books didn't ship right away, but it was only delayed about a week (during which I was TDY anyway), and they gave me an extra discount for the delay, so I was all right with that.
Displeased with that. Need to send Amazon another letter. They also forgot the pre-order discount, but said they were giving me some gift certificate applied to a future order.
Aside from Amazon/UPS shipping/handling snafu, the condition of the books is relatively good. I've noticed no ink smudges, and only marginal paper wrinkles inside, though in two different books, there's a sort of pre-made tear at the top of a couple pages, flaws from the binding process. My guess is that they were rushing production and the paper didn't have time to cure properly after printing. But I've seen binding errors from before WotC existed, so these are minimal.
Reading through for content now.
ordered through amazon 23 April
estimated delivery changed three times, most recently from 18 June to 30 July.
something seems wrong about this... almost two whole months after release? is anybody else having this problem? it seems like i'm gonna hafta bite the bullet here and cough up the buckaroos to get them elsewhere :P
has there been any official word on the big delays? are they simply selling that fast? i really didn't know where to put this, but it'd be great to get some feedback
thanks!----------------
Now playing: Sonata Arctica - Respect The Wilderness
via FoxyTunes
As the other guys said, they don't have enough gift sets but have plenty of the individual books. I sent Amazon an email about it, and they agreed to let me order the 3 books individually and lower the price to that of the gift set. It was all pretty painless, so unless you really want the box, that's my suggestion.
Well, the box IS pretty nice. it's a lot easier to transport my 3 books in a slipcase than not. Also it served as my pseudo-DM screen for one session too.
But yes, it's worth it to get them on time.
*should* have talked to amazon about a price reduction, but it was less than ten bucks difference, and at that point (have since received my shipment of crack co...core books lol) was information starved :P so it didn't much matter.
thanks for the feedback!!