Waiting another month for 4E

[Drammattex]

I'm sort of stuck, because it's not my preorder, it was preordered for me as a gift. I'm not about to be so rude as to buy another set of books or ask her to cancel her preorder.

I didn't know Amazon was so notorious with preorder sales, honestly. I've preordered from them before and didn't have a problem. Won't be preordering from them again, that's for sure.

That sucks.

In the case I was just referring to, the order I just canceled and reordered individually was a gift.

What's strange is that I ordered mine Feb 21st and I ordered his Feb 22nd. Mine shipped yesterday, and his gets caught.

GoodKingJayIII, here's what I would do in your position (because I couldn't possibly wait that long): order the books individually on Amazon or Buy.com, or buy them at Borders with this week's 30% off coupon -- be sure to print 3 coupons and visit the store(s) at different times to make sure you get your 30% off on each book.

When your Amazon gift comes, you can usually call them and let them know that you already own the item; in most cases this will give you a credit. Worst case scenario, the giver will get a credit, which he/she may reallocate. But I believe if you contact Amazon and you send the books back, you can get the credit; Amazon's pretty good with stuff like that.

May seem like a lot of trouble, but I probably couldn't wait another month for the books at this point. I want to read the rules and get started on campaigns NOW. In my case, time is absolutely everything.

 

[Aluvial]

I just got the email too.

I ordered on Feb 10th... and no books. Stupid slip-case, which I've seen, and is very nice... good quality.

Crap, after this, and seeing all of the errata that's piling up, and the fact that I'm NOT EVEN playing 4e, AND that I've already stolen the books online....

CRAP!

When are the special editions coming out? I may just order those instead.

Aluvial

EDIT: I found out... Oct 21st.... here...

 

[Asmor]

I'm annoyed. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I'm filled with impotent nerd rage.

What can you do? Besides the hefty discount, I ordered my books with gift certificates, so it's not even an option for me to cancel my order and get them somewhere else.

 

[Mercurius]

Mine has said "Shipping Soon" since Sunday morning and I haven't (yet!) received the Dreaded Email. I've emailed or called them a few times and received rather different responses. The latest is that it should ship "by June 13th", which is borderline for me as I move on the 20th or 21st. What I don't get why it has said "Shipping Soon" for three+ days. I mean, how long does it take to process, package, and send? If it doesn't ship by Friday I will have to call and cancel. But it will be interesting to see if I get or don't get the email while the item saying "Shipping Soon." I mean, does that really mean anything? Anyone know?

 

[Mercurius]

It's the gift set with the slip case you're waiting on. Ordering individually will cost you maybe $5 more (like $62), but that's what you were paying when you ordered it the first time.

Actually, it is more like $67 on Amazon as the DMG and MM are "only" 34% off. But that's dollars and cents

 

[Drammattex]

Actually, it is more like $67 on Amazon as the DMG and MM are "only" 34% off. But that's dollars and cents

Looks like Buy.com currently has the better deal for all three individually. From this morning's order:

SubTotal: $62.28
Shipping & Handling: $0
Tax: $0
TOTAL: $62.28

 

[slorak]

Yeah I had the same situation. I pre-ordered the gift set on Feb 7th. Until yesterday I had a message saying that it was scheduled to ship on the 10th.

Today I received the e-mail that it was delayed until mid july now. I also noticed the pre-order 5% discount was removed.

I had spoken to a customer service rep earlier in the week and they had "assured" me that one was set aside (I did the cheap free shipping).

I am pissed about all the stories of people pre-ordering in June or much later than I did and receiving their items... They are very inconsistent in their methods at Amazon for sure. Their Customer service also really doesn't know what is going on...

So when I found that it was delayed - I called their customer service and asked to speak to a supervisor, whom I asked to speak with his supervisor and we were able to work out an agreement.

I decided to cancel the order and he gave me a $15 credit to apply to purchasing the books individually. This time I chose regular 3-5 day shipping (though I would have loved to do the 2 day shipping)... so ultimately I think it was maybe a $1.50 more than the pre-order free shipping of the gift set. I also don't really care about the slipcase...

Hopefully I will see my items this weekend or early next week now! So moral of the story - complain and get what you want.

Cheers,

-Mike

 

[Drammattex]

The deal is, if you sign up for free shipping, you go last in the queue, no matter what. If you ordered in February like I did, and someone else orders June 1 with paid shipping, their order comes before the one with free shipping.

It's an awful way to do things, but this is what they explained (and e-mailed) to me this morning.

So if you're going to order something popular from now on, and you want it quickly, consider that.

 

[el-remmen]

So I got $10 credit as an "apology" - so I immediately canceled my gift-set order and ordered the books separately and with the $10 off came to the same price ($61 and change) and will be arriving next week.

No slipcase, but whatever. No big whoop.

 

[Mercurius]

The deal is, if you sign up for free shipping, you go last in the queue, no matter what. If you ordered in February like I did, and someone else orders June 1 with paid shipping, their order comes before the one with free shipping.

It's an awful way to do things, but this is what they explained (and e-mailed) to me this morning.

So if you're going to order something popular from now on, and you want it quickly, consider that.

I'm not sure if that is entirely true, or at least not the only factor as to when a product will ship. I had pre-ordered with Standard shipping on May 28th, then by the 7th of June told that my order was delayed and would ship around June 16th. I cancelled and then re-ordered with Super Saver (so that I could apply a $5 credit they gave me), then they said the order would ship June 23rd; however, I just got a shipping notice yesterday, so it shipped on the 11th--just a day after the "normal" (non-backordered) Super Savers were supposed to go out.

The point being, the method of shipping and the date of order aren't the only factors in when a book will actually ship. It might also have to do with what is available at a given fulfillment center, perhaps even due to another shopper cancelling, as well as just plain dumb luck.

After ordering Amazon hundreds of times, my conclusion is that the difference between Standard and Super Saver is simply and only that Super Saver takes a bit longer to ship out (e.g. my order was "shipping soon" for four days); once it ships, it takes the same amount of time. So yeah, it probably goes to the back of the queue behind Standard and faster methods, but the fact is that I'm getting my order sooner than some folks who pre-ordered with Standard--after re-ordering AFTER June 6th, and with Super Saver shipping.