D&D 5E Amazon, Minor Fail

[rastus_burne]

I've consistently had this problem with Amazon. Nearly 75% of the hardcover books I order arrive with at least some damage to the cover. The worst was a Star Wars EotE book which had enough damage to the bottom of the spine that the cover actually tore (it was a gift so I didn't bother trying to have them return it). My 5e book thankfully had no major damage to it, the only thing is that the corners were very slightly smashed and the pages wavy (which I blame on the printing process). I've had the deflated plastic packaging cushion as well, which means that the thing popped by the time it arrived thus offering no protection at all.

Amazon's packaging for books used to be a lot better in my experience. I remember often they would place books on top of a cardboard sheet and then shrink-wrap the book(s) in heavy plastic. The book(s) would not move at all in the box and I would get them in perfect shape. I don't know if my recent experiences have to do with ordering them with 2 day shipping. Maybe they just don't take the time to package them properly when they have to rush to get it shipped. I should order some hard cover books with the 7 day shipping and see how they arrive.

I always do the free shipping and it comes exactly as you've described.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

My Amazon order of 3 PHB's and 1 Horde of the Dragon Queen arrived yesterday. 1 week shipping from the US to Australia is pretty decent.

My experience seems almost identical to the OP. There was no padding in my box. There was a plastic bag of some sorts around the 4 books, which held them together, but still didn't stop them from moving around in the box.

The books themselves all have minor corner damage on the bottom right hand corner, which probably occurred due to the box getting chucked around in the transit process. The damage is minor enough that I'm not going to bother getting them replaced, especially as my PHB will get damaged through regular use anyway, but it is still annoying.

My pages are also slightly wavy at the top, but that's even less of an issue than the corner damage.

 

[Desalus]

Well, I just had my worst experience to date. Last week I order 'Hoard of the Dragon Queen'. Today it arrived enclosed in bubble wrap packaging (which is horrible packaging for hardcovers). Nearly every single corner of the book was smashed in, one corner was so smashed that it created a small tear in the cover, and there is a significant dent in one of the sides. Also, a few of the pages in the corner were bent. I'm so sick of the damaged books that I emailed customer service this time.

 

[Warunsun]

Nearly every single corner of the book was smashed in, one corner was so smashed that it created a small tear in the cover, and there is a significant dent in one of the sides.

Wow. That sucks. I have never had this kind of book damage from Amazon. I still suspect problems at the book manufacturer because the retail copies through the distributor I seen were also dented up pretty badly. Amazon will replace it for you. Good luck on your replacements!

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I haven’t ordered much from Amazon in the past due to being in Australia. Amazon shipping is $10 per shipment + $5 per item, so most of the time I’m better off getting items through Paizo or Noble Knight Games.

However, I think this is the first time I’ve had a damaged item (and minor damage at that). Normally they’ve packed the books with air bags or bubble wrap to protect them and stop things moving around. This is the first time that there was no extra protection. I wonder if, like others have said, they were in a rush to get the books out the door on the release date, so decided to skip that step.

Despite my damage, I think I’ll still order from Amazon again for the MM and DMG. If they end up too damaged I’ll contact Amazon about it as, based on other posters’ experiences, they seem to be pretty good and replacing any damaged items. Australia Post also tends to be pretty good with not trashing parcels, which definitely helps.

 

[Desalus]

Wow. That sucks. I have never had this kind of book damage from Amazon. I still suspect problems at the book manufacturer because the retail copies through the distributor I seen were also dented up pretty badly. Amazon will replace it for you. Good luck on your replacements!

Yeah that's true. In this case though I suspect it was Amazon because:
1. I have never seen an undamaged hardcover book packaged in a bubble envelope (you're just asking for smashed in corners with this type of packaging)
2. I have had similar experiences ordering from Amazon with other publisher's books (Paizo, Fantasy Flight Games, Dark Horse) and they have all had similar types of damage.

I did contact Amazon about this last book and they said they would be sending a replacement with one day shipping. I asked them to ship it in something more protective, but I doubt the customer representatives have any control over that.

 

[Hussar]

Just a note about the wavy pages thing. That is simply due to humidity changes. The Amazon storehouse is insanely dry and as soon as you open the sealed plastic at home, your pages will curl. It's unavoidable. Leave the book out (like on a table, flat) and the pages will relax soon.

4e had the exact same issue. The books will relax given a bit of time.

 

[wedgeski]

I suspect that Amazon got so many orders for the PHB that they were rushing and cutting corners a bit to get them to people on the 19th (which was a guarantee of theirs).

I seriously doubt that. Sometimes people just make mistakes, or for some reason don't do their job properly. Still, sucks, and it's good you made your feelings known.