Packaging, Shipping, Refunds and Replacements - Share your Experiences!

[Mr`Orange]

they used to use MyHermes. the safe way with Yodel is requesting a signature, Wordery did that, so they couldn't leave the packages under my doormat like they did with the Paperbackshop and speedyhen deliveries.

How do I go about requesting a signature? Is it within the Speedyhen options?

[Balakin]

How do I go about requesting a signature? Is it within the Speedyhen options?

No I think it's just what Wordery does but speedyhen doesn't. I think it's cheaper for them if they don't request a signature but maybe you can write them an email before you place an order and ask them if they could request the signature to avoid further problems.

[Mr`Orange]

No I think it's just what Wordery does but speedyhen doesn't. I think it's cheaper for them if they don't request a signature but maybe you can write them an email before you place an order and ask them if they could request the signature to avoid further problems.

Ah okay, thanks Balakan I'll give that go.

[simme01]

Hi guys! Long time reader, first time poster. What is your experience with barnes and noble international shipping? I have been reading that they don't give a tracking number with the orders and I'm a little scared that the package get lost in the way. I'm from Peru by the way and I always order from IST because of their excellent service and also because they provide an international tracking number.

[zaboraviti]

Hi guys! Long time reader, first time poster. What is your experience with barnes and noble international shipping? I have been reading that they don't give a tracking number with the orders and I'm a little scared that the package get lost in the way. I'm from Peru by the way and I always order from IST because of their excellent service and also because they provide an international tracking number.

their packaging is poor and they don't give a tracking number with the standard int'l airmail delivery (although they randomly sent me a number of orders by UPS Express at no extra fee, i still don't know why and in what case this happens). however, none of my orders was ever lost in the way - they almost never arrive later than the declared 21 business days, sometimes it just takes another week. and even if you don't receive your package eventually, they will refund you in full after the established waiting period. the problem of poor packaging remains, though, especially for big orders with heavy books. it might be a bit better for domestic deliveries than for international ones, simply because of the shorter routes, but not many people are that willing to risk it, i think.

[simme01]

their packaging is poor and they don't give a tracking number with the standard int'l airmail delivery (although they randomly sent me a number of orders by UPS Express at no extra fee, i still don't know why and in what case this happens). however, none of my orders was ever lost in the way - they almost never arrive later than the declared 21 business days, sometimes it just takes another week. and even if you don't receive your package eventually, they will refund you in full after the established waiting period. the problem of poor packaging remains, though, especially for big orders with heavy books. it might be a bit better for domestic deliveries than for international ones, simply because of the shorter routes, but not many people are that willing to risk it, i think.

How bad is their packaging? Did you received any books badly damaged because of it? I wanted to buy from them because of the buy 2 get the third free promo, and also because IST doesn't have the absolutes for all star superman and the long Halloween in stock

[zaboraviti]

How bad is their packaging? Did you received any books badly damaged because of it? I wanted to buy from them because of the buy 2 get the third free promo, and also because IST doesn't have the absolutes for all star superman and the long Halloween in stock

as bad as Amazon's.
nothing i couldn't live with. i don't consider myself a collector though, so if a book retains a decent look, a couple of scratches, dented corners or even a small tear in the dust jacket wouldn't bother me. as long as the binding and pages are intact and as long as i get reimbursed for the damage. the worst damaged book was Colossal Conan (i posted the pics here somewhere), because of its sheer enormous weight and no extra protection. smaller books are mostly okay.
absolutes usually come in a publisher's white box, which protects them further. or they used to, i'm not sure, the only absolute i own is Absolute Top 10, also ordered from BN and delivered without a scratch. so, you really should decide for yourself. i definitely continue with them - placed another order yesterday. so, this is my experience, while people here posted some nightmarish stories.

[Hellboydce]

now i know you shouldn't get charged import duty on books coming into the UK but can anyone who has ordered books from the US via Amazon confirm this?

[Balakin]

now i know you shouldn't get charged import duty on books coming into the UK but can anyone who has ordered books from the US via Amazon confirm this?

ordered books from amazon US, plumcircle and tfaw recently. The tfaw and plumcircle packagaes were bigger ones, especially the tfaw one (Alias omnibus and Hellboy LE v5, packaged in a box with foam worms). No problem whatsoever (well, the plumcircle package arrived after a months but donno why).

Other topic: starting to get fed up with pbshop/Paperbackshop UK. It took them 2 weeks to deliver 2 Tintin hardcovers, and according to rakuten they had 10 copies/book in stock. After a week I emailed them if they ever gonna despatch my books or what and only then I got a despatch email. Then it took almost a week to arrive and both books have some dents on the corners.
Same delay happened with my Big Damns Sin city but that came via currier so it arrived unscratched.

At least speedyhen is fast so I can live with a few scratches and bumps but when I wait 2 weeks for domestic delivery I expect mint condition at least.
And the last week I got no books without some kind of damage and even if they are some minor ones that I can probably straighten up, after a while it start to get irritating (that's why I like to order multiple books at once from wordery, they just send the whole order in one box wrapped in plastic. Quite secure).

[Balakin]

Weird that Amazon US packaged very securely my Spider-verse ohc (only book I bought from them). It was in a box but secured with thick plastick wrap.
Amazon It. just put two books in the standard cardboard box-envelope thingy, both of them have a ding at the bottom of the spine, somebody probably dropped them, otherwise probably they would be fine.
Now amazon UK put the Tardi WWI slipcase set into a box that is larger than the books, but no otherprotection so the set could roam free in the box, wall to wall. Lovely. Fortunately just some very minor scratches.

[Iron Fist]

now i know you shouldn't get charged import duty on books coming into the UK but can anyone who has ordered books from the US via Amazon confirm this?

I order from books_any and plumcircle books on amazon all the time, and i've never had to pay anything on delivery.

[TheSoap]

Hey guys,
I'm thinking about placing a large order (about 34 books dark horse manga size, 22lbs), and I've been looking into buying from TFAW or IST from good reviews in this thread.
The order would be 26 dollars more expensive (including shipping) on TFAW but their shipping speed is faster.

So, the question is which site is better for packaging large orders consisting of a lot of books so they receive no damage during transit?

Thanks.

[Hellboydce]

I order from books_any and plumcircle books on amazon all the time, and i've never had to pay anything on delivery.

Just what I wanted to hear, books any have some absolutes I'm interested in, seems strange that they make any money only charging £2.80 postage though

[Balakin]

Just what I wanted to hear, books any have some absolutes I'm interested in, seems strange that they make any money only charging £2.80 postage though

I think that's the standard amazon shipping fee, can't go any lower or higher. Also they probably ship in bulks, a lot of the times it takes them ages to delivery big books.

[Balakin]

Hey guys,
I'm thinking about placing a large order (about 34 books dark horse manga size, 22lbs), and I've been looking into buying from TFAW or IST from good reviews in this thread.
The order would be 26 dollars more expensive (including shipping) on TFAW but their shipping speed is faster.

So, the question is which site is better for packaging large orders consisting of a lot of books so they receive no damage during transit?

Thanks.

Tfaw's packaging is superb and IST has a very good trackrecord as well, so they are basically the same I think. Are you in the US, UK or somewhere else?