Mark Plemmons said:
We also have a print on demand storefront at LULU with
these products.
If I was confident in their ability to get me my products, I'd have ordered something from you by now. But this is the story of why I'm wary:
I put together issue 2 of my (non-gaming) zine through Lulu and ordered 10 contributors' copies to distribute to my authors. I thought there might be a bit of a delay, as I live in Canada, but a couple of months later I checked with Lulu and they said that they'd shipped my package, but it had been returned undeliverable. Strange... They graciously sent me a replacement order. And I waited.
And waited.
UPS tried to deliver my package, but had somehow lost my ring number. So I called them that evening, gave them my ring number, and stayed home the next day to make sure I could be there to pick it up. And I waited... and I waited... that evening, I called them again and they said there'd been no response -- which could only be true if they'd been calling the wrong number, because I didn't leave my apartment at all. (Note that UPS was unable to locate my package using their own tracking number, and had to do a search for me by name and address
every time I called.)
The next day, I called and was told that I had to go and pick it up myself. Now, I don't own a car, so I rely on public transportation. There is no public transportation to the UPS warehouse where I had to pick up the package (rather than one of the many UPS stores that dot the city and downtown core.) I bussed as far as I could, then took a cab the rest of the way there (and back home), which added about 15-20 dollars to the cost.
It's certainly not Lulu's fault -- indeed, they were highly professional and very accomodating, and I quite appreciated the fact that they sent me a replacement shipment free of charge. But it is something to bear in mind for those of us who shop outside of the US.