D&D 5E Players Handbook problems

[ccs]

I bought 2 copies upon release.

My 1st copy has a chunk of pages that pulled out. Happened a couple of months after purchasing it.
The shop owner where I bought it & where I most use it noticed & offered a replacement. I declined.
See, I use it for a general table resource when I'm running the game down at the local shop. I also use it as my traveling copy for attending Cons. Wear & tear is expected. No sense in using a good condition copy for such functions.... Further damage or even loss? No big deal.
(I own extra beat to Hell copies of the 1e PHB, 2e PHB, & PF core book as well for just these purposes)

My 2nd copy - that I use as the DM & whenever I'm a player - is fine.

 

[ShadowsKat]

This happened to my PHB recently. It split down the middle, then two chunks came off the binding. I'd bought it nearly a year ago so I didn't have my receipt, but my group said to contact WotC anyway. I was pretty surprised to get a super quick response back saying that they'd ship me a replacement if I sent my damaged copy back. They even sent a shipping tag for it and everything.
I figured it'd be a month at least before I could get the new copy, but all total, it was only a few weeks (one for shipping it there, a day to be processed, then another week to ship me a new copy). So I'd definitely say send them an email about it at the least. I don't know how their phone service is since I prefer email, but I'm sure they'll be able to help either way.

Edit - The replacement copy I got was a second edition, which I haven't heard of having any issues. So hopefully it'll hold up better.

 

[Al2O3]

I also sent my 1st print PHB in for replacement recently after contacting WotC. Haven't heard anything since I sent it, but I expect it to still be on a boat crossing the Atlantic to the US right now.

 

[Fralex]

My book fell apart pretty early on. I sent it back and was given a new one along with a discount for DriveThruRPG, which I used to buy this really interesting (if incompatable with every edition of D&D I own) 2e Ravenloft supplement called Carnival, about a traveling freak show that counts as its own mobile domain and provides refuge to those who need it and homes for societal outcasts. I'm actually really excited to hear we're getting a Ravenloft adventure for 5e, maybe I can finally convert it once we have rules for the 5e Domains of Dread.

Before sending my book back, however, I noticed that one of the chunks of pages neatly covered the Spell Descriptions section (with the Conditions section on the end). So when I sent my book back, I just sorta... held on to those pages. In what would prove to be a tremendous boon to all future games, eventually I took the pages to Staples and bound them into their own little mini-book, a decision which I have never once regretted. Now spellcasters can check their spells without taking the PHB away from the other players who need to look up a class feature.

My new PHB held together fairly well, but then it, too started to fall apart. Maybe I was just too rough with it this time, though; sometimes I'd read it in bed and wake up to find I had fallen asleep on top of the open handbook. Rather than send it back, I just looked up some book repair tips online and fixed the loose leaves myself with a fine-tipped paintbrush, a bowl of water, and an ordinary bottle of Elmer's Glue. It's stayed together so far.

 

[Lanliss]

All right. Got an email back from customer support, in response to a question I asked about the receipt. For whom it may concern, the lack of a receipt is not a deal breaker in getting a replacement book. They had an option in the email for International service as well, so I assume you can get a replacement even if you are outside America. Decent response time, considering it is technically the same day I sent the ticket in. I will be getting a replacement, as well as a small "something extra" to cover my expenses of mailing it to them, so that is pretty awesome of them. I love it when a company stands by its product, and is willing to fix a mistake instead of hiding it.