I've seen other folks on the 'Net complain about Lulu before, but I've never really had an issue with them...until now.
Oh sure, turnaround time on orders is ridiculous. Take my latest order, Issue 4 of Fight On!. Ordered it March 18th, just received it in the mail today. But I understand that we're dealing with print-on-demand technology here. The shipping costs are another big complaint. I can certainly sympathize. Even living in the U.S., the shipping added half again as much cost to the mag. But it's worth all the hassle to get a quality publication, right?
It sure would be--if Lulu had managed to send me the right book! Instead, I got a copy of The Ultimate Tattoo Guide: You Can Learn to Tattoo!. What made it worse was that the book was bound in the cover of Fight On! #4. Talk about bait and switch.
So now I have to get in touch with Lulu and wait a god-only-knows-how-long amount of time to get a properly bound copy of issue 4. In the meantime I guess I can teach myself how to tattoo...hmmmm...
Ouch! That sucks!
ReplyDeleteYes, they offer a great service, but (a) the shipping costs are way too high (given that sometimes they ship from the UK - where I live) and (b) I ordered about six or seven books from them recently (including issues 1-4 of Fight On!) and they left out my copy of Fight On! issue one!!!
ReplyDeleteA copy is supposedly in the post to me (they did respond to my complaint very quickly, it must be said),
Bloody hell.
ReplyDeleteThat's certainly adding to my reluctance to order from them, I have to say ...
its teh reason I decided to offer Open Game Table on both Amazon.com (free shipping) and on Lulu (project support). It gives people a choice. Now, if only amazon would stop listing my book as out of stock...
ReplyDelete@Jonathan: You mean it's in stock?! I wasn't gonna order it until it was in! Sheesh. I'll order now.
ReplyDelete@Acrobatic Flea: That's quite a twist they threw at you! I ordered the 1-4 Fight On! hardcover and the shipping costs to Canada were a real punch in the wallet!
Barrowclaw
I was up in the air about ordering the PDF or the print version of Fight On #4 - but I went with the PDF and I'm just starting to read it now.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous - Yeah, the book went out of stock in about 5 minutes after it was available for sale on Amazon. Kinda annoying, they only stocked 10 copies. So, its still listed as out of stock, but I've placed an order to have another 25 copies shipped to their warehouse; they should have them by the end of the week. If you place an order with Amazon, it will not be processed until they get the books in stock.
ReplyDeleteYou have a list?
ReplyDeleteJoseph: Yeah, but right now it only says "Lulu" on it...
ReplyDeleteThat bites! Sorry to hear about that.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the screw-up but I got a good laugh out of it - maybe you could could start tattooing gamers... I'm usre there is a market out there.
ReplyDeleteLulu is a very mixed bag in terms of price and binding quality: I've gotten high quality service from them with reasonable shipping (when ordering several soft covers at one time) but at other times have gotten books with a single page loose or it having taken 2 weeks longer than they said it would.
Just placed an order for the two "special offer" books on the Fight On! section (the art book and the campaign book) and the postage was £10 for two books!!! Outrageous!
ReplyDeleteCheapest shipping up to the Great White North looks to be over $19 at Lulu - which I would grin-and-bear if it weren't that it's half as much from, say, Noble Knight, so it seems Lulu has option of sane shipping, no? And have just chosen the path of madness?
ReplyDeleteSince I can't deal with doubling the price of S&W:WB and Spellcraft & Swordplay I guess I'll wait for copies to emerge via other channels.
Authors should offer "Free Shipping if your order direct" through lulu. For example, I have a stack of Open Game Table books on my diner table, for example, that I could ship out to people for $2.58 domestic US (media mail). It may not be as nicely packaged as Lulu's shipment, but it gets the job done. Hmmm...
ReplyDelete