Pathfinder 1E Paizo Adventure Path Subscription Stinker

[zoroaster100]

I agree with the OP. I generally have a pretty high opinion of Paizo, but like the OP, was thinking possibly of cancelling my subscription after I received the final adventure in the Crimson Throne path, since I now play exclusively Fourth Edition. I was still thinking about it, since I like the Paizo adventures so much I thought maybe it would still be worth it to get them just for ideas. But I was surprised and annoyed to get an email that I was being shipped the first adventure from the next path and charged for it, without warning. I think it would have been better practice to at least give a warning, so subscribers could have the option of telling Paizo they wanted to cancel before getting charged for two adventures if you only wanted to finish out the current adventure path.

 

[James Jacobs]

With the launch of 4e I'd been thinking that I might pause my subscription. I haven't made it through the first adventure path yet, let alone the second. So when I looked at the automatic shipment notice from Paizo that I thought would be the end of the second adventure path, I was *surprised* to see that the shipment included the first adventure in Second Darkness in addition to the final Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure. WHOA. That's stinky, in my opinion. Paizo apparently wanted to make sure that they got at least some revenue bump from their third adventure path, anticipating that folks like me might be ready to jump ship. So they charged me for and shipped to me an adventure that I didn't plan on buying.

First of all, I'm sorry that this worked out this way, but it's not a "stunt" by us to get you to continue subscribing to Pathfinder. It's us finally correcting a really bad situation that's been dodging the Pathfinder line since the start. We've tried to keep our customers alerted and aware of the fact that this was going to be a big month with a double shipment... but I can certainly understand how email alerts can get lost in junk or spam filters.

No one's at the office over the weekend, but if you call up our Customer Service and explain what happened, I'm 100% sure they'll make things right for you. If they don't, shoot me an email at james.jacobs@paizo.com and I'll see if I can't explain to them what the situation is.

That out of the way... read on to see what happened with the double shipment of #12 and #13.

When we began Pathfinder, we were still doing the magazines AND getting ready for Gen Con. As a result, although Pathfinder #1 was on time, Pathfinder #2 was about 5 weeks late. We can't just "adjust" the schedule of the monthly product (we rely on the money coming in every month for Pathfinder, for one thing, and if we readjusted the schedule to account for that lost time, that meant that next Gen Con we wouldn't have a new adventure path to kick off, which would have been disastrous).

As a result, we had to get Pathfinder caught up and back on schedule. That basically meant doing two of them in one month, which is close to impossible. Over the next year, we've been scraping and scratching to get the thing back on schedule. We had another two-volume month in there too, but that one happened during the holidays and Chinese new year (where our products are printed) and we lost a lot of ground immediately after. In short, it took us a whole year to get back on schedule, and as a result, we had #12 and #13 come in on the same week. As a result of THAT... we had to ship the two in a VERY close window.

The whole process of shipping out Pathfinders is done by hand, but there's thousands and thousands of them that go out in the space of a few days. It's a pretty frenzied time, and as a result, it's easy for a cancellation notice to come in while that process is going on and a volume could ship out at the same time we're processing the cancellation. That problem was compounded in your case because we had to send out two volumes in such close proximity. (Rest assured, that hopefully won't be happening again in the future, since if Pathfinder gets that far off schedule again, that's probably the sign that I get laid off and start looking for a new job!)

Anyway, that's the sordid story. Again, sorry it put you in a tough spot with your subscription, but tomorrow when our office is open shoot customer service a call (or email them at customer.service@paizo.com) and we'll get it sorted out for ya.

 

[Dire Bare]

First of all, I'm sorry that this worked out this way, but it's not a "stunt" by us to get you to continue subscribing to Pathfinder. It's us finally correcting a really bad situation that's been dodging the Pathfinder line since the start. We've tried to keep our customers alerted and aware of the fact that this was going to be a big month with a double shipment... but I can certainly understand how email alerts can get lost in junk or spam filters.

No one's at the office over the weekend, but if you call up our Customer Service and explain what happened, I'm 100% sure they'll make things right for you. If they don't, shoot me an email at james.jacobs@paizo.com and I'll see if I can't explain to them what the situation is.

That out of the way... read on to see what happened with the double shipment of #12 and #13.

When we began Pathfinder, we were still doing the magazines AND getting ready for Gen Con. As a result, although Pathfinder #1 was on time, Pathfinder #2 was about 5 weeks late. We can't just "adjust" the schedule of the monthly product (we rely on the money coming in every month for Pathfinder, for one thing, and if we readjusted the schedule to account for that lost time, that meant that next Gen Con we wouldn't have a new adventure path to kick off, which would have been disastrous).

As a result, we had to get Pathfinder caught up and back on schedule. That basically meant doing two of them in one month, which is close to impossible. Over the next year, we've been scraping and scratching to get the thing back on schedule. We had another two-volume month in there too, but that one happened during the holidays and Chinese new year (where our products are printed) and we lost a lot of ground immediately after. In short, it took us a whole year to get back on schedule, and as a result, we had #12 and #13 come in on the same week. As a result of THAT... we had to ship the two in a VERY close window.

The whole process of shipping out Pathfinders is done by hand, but there's thousands and thousands of them that go out in the space of a few days. It's a pretty frenzied time, and as a result, it's easy for a cancellation notice to come in while that process is going on and a volume could ship out at the same time we're processing the cancellation. That problem was compounded in your case because we had to send out two volumes in such close proximity. (Rest assured, that hopefully won't be happening again in the future, since if Pathfinder gets that far off schedule again, that's probably the sign that I get laid off and start looking for a new job!)

Anyway, that's the sordid story. Again, sorry it put you in a tough spot with your subscription, but tomorrow when our office is open shoot customer service a call (or email them at customer.service@paizo.com) and we'll get it sorted out for ya.

An excellent example of why Paizo offers the absolute BEST in customer service in this industry. They are one of the few companies that have earned my absolute trust.

 

[amethal]

For some reason, I've been notified that 13 has shipped but 12 hasn't yet.
I'm sure there's a logical explanation for it!

Back on topic, hopefully this thread has demonstrated that Paizo's commitment to customer service is second to none.

 

[dragonlordofpoondari]

Anyway, that's the sordid story. Again, sorry it put you in a tough spot with your subscription, but tomorrow when our office is open shoot customer service a call (or email them at customer.service@paizo.com) and we'll get it sorted out for ya.

Paizo's customer service is amazing. I've had a handful of problems over the last few years, and each time their CS went above and beyond the call to correct the situation.

There is no need for panic. Paizo will make things right for you, I'm sure.

 

[Sunderstone]

Initially, I too was annoyed because I have switched to 4E and planned to cancel my subscription after the 2nd AP finished. So I posted on the messageboards and then sent an email to Paizo's customer service asking them to accommodate my request to continue to receive issue 12 but not include and charge me for issue 13.

Guess what? That's exactly what they did. I received an email a day or two later granting the cancellation of my subscription, then received a link with the free subscription download for issue 12. No charge for issue 13, and issue 12 is on its way.

Seems like pretty good customer service to me, without any attempt to manipulate me into buying unwanted product!

This seems about the norm for Cosmo and Paizo customer support. If you post there its usually handled very fast . Definately faster than any company Ive ever had dealings with.

I actually read the customer support forums at paizo every now and then when I see people cancelling, just out of curiousity to find out their reasons. Cosmo and the rest are very quick to respond and address the issues.

Imho, while I can understand the motive behind the OP, it does look like the OP is trying to blow things out of proportion. Sorry for the speculation in advance but if you are going out of your way to smear something, than it might be warranted.
You could have easily posted on the Customer Support forum at Paizo and given them a chance to respond first before airing this.

 

[Wisdom Penalty]

Like many, I canceled my PF subscription when 4e moved onto the block. Not only did they (Paizo) handle the request quickly, I also got PDFs (for free!) of issues I otherwise would not have received.

I used maps from those issues in a 4e "test run" adventure, and had a blast doing so.

Paizo's a solid company. I hope they come to 4e at some point. The world would be better for it. IMO.

WP

 

[Darrin Drader]

Paizo's a solid company. I hope they come to 4e at some point. The world would be better for it. IMO.

I seriously doubt that will happen any time in the foreseeable future. After attending a Con yesterday, I'm more convinced than ever that the number of people who prefer 3.5 or a 3.5 derivative is more than just a vocal minority. Most of the people I talked to didn't know what Pathfinder was, but roughly half said that they weren't interested in switching to 4E. Most of them had played the game, many owned the books, and all but one or two could discuss the new game intelligently.

 

[Sammael]

I had a really bad experience with Paizo's customer service over the Sorcerer on Black Dragon exclusive repaint miniature a few years ago (which is why I'll never buy anything from their online store again... I may buy Paizo products, but from other stores). I'm glad they are improving, but there seem to be some hickups along the way.

Still, their dedication to working together with the fans to work out issues is commendable. And their communication with the fan base is second to none. Plus, James is an all-around great guy.

 

[carmachu]

Paizo always sends out an email notice informing their subscribers that they will be sending out new stuff about a week in advance of the charge going on their card. This gives people a week to make changes if they need to. Cedin, you're familiar with the way their Pathfinder subscription service works, so if they were about to send you something you didn't want, the responsibility is on you to contact them and let them know.

Oh thats right, I forgot they do that.

Cedin, yeah, you really have no leg to stand on and complain. They WARNED you it was coming before sending it.