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PSandusky

Amazon Dropped the Ball with Serenity TPB?
Saturday, January 28, 2006

I wrote to Amazon the other night (more like the wee hours of the morning, 01272006) asking just why the TPB for Serenity, release date 01252006, was still listed as unreleased on Amazon's website. I'd been keeping an eye on this one for a while, given that Amazon's delivery estimate for this thing was wonky from the get-go(1).

I just got a response.

Apparently, Amazon has since checked into the release date for the TPB, and the customer service rep claims the following:

Quote:
However, our latest information indicates that "Serenity" has not
yet been released and the expected release date is not known. As
soon as a release date has been determined for this item, we will
add that information to our web site.


Now, it's like this. The thing's been on shelves all over the place since the day of release, so clearly it's available somewhere on this planet. How a comic book shop can carry the publication and Amazon says it's off the release date radar is beyond me, especially considering that it was in the top 500 books sold at Amazon on its release date(2). Clearly, there's some revenue involved somewhere along this line.

Rest assured, however --

Quote:
I've contacted the concerned person in our company to look into this
matter.

Please understand that we make a significant effort to keep abreast
of prices and availabilities, but our reliance on our suppliers for
information about the items they offer means that, occasionally, our
database will not reflect all changes.

While we are confident that copies will be made available, we cannot
provide more precise information about the fulfillment of the order.


Lemme get this straight.

The suppliers are getting the books moving to local businesses all over the place, but somehow, the suppliers aren't bothering to tell the massive retail elephant when the book's going to land ? I just don't get it.

I dimly remember something being said about bookstore chains getting their copies later than the comic book shops, but I can't see that as being a hazy thing. There has to be a date documented somewhere .

Besides that, I'm loving the form letter bit here. If there is a "concerned person," I'm wondering how many cards they have up on their latest solitaire conquest. This e-mail just seems so... so... stupid.

They decided to be nice, however, and upgrade my shipping for the book... once it finally comes out. I also got a $5 discount on the next order I place at Amazon... whenever that may be. I'm thinking they'd better get their accounts in order (like, say, this order stuck in the aether) before I go perusing the site again.

(1) I'd preordered the TPB in the beginning of November. The shipping/delivery estimate on the order said the thing would be landing, at the latest, by 01202006. Someone's botched their coding somewhere, because that shouldn't be reported for an item due to release 01252006, should it? Dammit, I want a job in database coding now.

(2) I think it was somewhere in the 300's. I remember checking to see whether the release information had been updated. Heh. Yeah, right. Sure it was.

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