My last order took a week to process and for the first time I got a tracking no. for the cheapest option to Europe.
My last order took a week to process and for the first time I got a tracking no. for the cheapest option to Europe.
Well, it took THREE weeks to get my order... and the bottom right corner of one of the books was smashed to hell.
Couldn't have happened in shipping to me, as it was packaged really well and there was no damage to the box.
Which means they sent me a damage book without noticing or realizing it was damaged, which is even worse.
As long as I'm complaining about IST, how is their exchange policy?
Will they do a straight exchange for a smashed corner? Will they believe me that it arrived like that? Or am I stuck with a damaged cover on a new $90 book?
Last edited by slop101; 12-08-2018 at 05:08 PM.
They're great about returns. Just shoot them an email and a pic of damage and they usally reply within a few days with an apology and a link for a return shipping label. Not sure if this applies internationally or not. The only issue i have, and this is consistent..., is that once the receive the return it can take awhile to ship the exchange out. I've emailed them about this in the past and they said they were working on alternatives to speed up the process, but i haven't noticed a change. I usually wait a week after tracking says they've received the return and email them about it, and they will ship out within a day or two lol.
IST has been amazing with me on return, they did an exchange for me on my Batman Incorporated Absolute that had all the signatures detach and I had bought the Absolute about 5 months prior to asking for the refund (I had only read the book now). It does take awhile to get it to ship, but in terms of doing replacements they've been pretty good as long as it's not normal wear and tear and you have pics of the damage.
Last edited by awayne83; 12-08-2018 at 07:55 PM.
I've mentioned how it has been more stressful ordering books this year than in the past, and since I'm bored I decided to compare some numbers from the last couple years, based strictly off IST orders.
2018 - 31 orders, 6 returns (2 more I normally would've returned, but have gotten so frustrated with the process didn't bother)
2017 - 25 orders, 3 returns (2 of these were towards the end of the year, so 8 in less than 15 months)
2016 - 31 orders, 1 return
2015 - 28 orders, 3 returns
So has there been a recent uptick in issue the last couple years? It feels like it. Of course some of these returns are due to P.O. handling or publisher/printer QC issues, so it's certainly not all on IST. Doesn't make it any less frustrating. I also want to point out I don't consider myself overly picky about my books, especially when compared to some of the comments I come across online. In the end, idk if these numbers tell anything or not other than the last year plus has been more of a pain for me personally
Last edited by awayne83; 12-08-2018 at 08:06 PM.
This is the damage I was talking about - is it bad enough to be worth the hassle of an exchange?
^imo yes. That's some Amazon-level damage lol. Just sent back an Injection deluxe that took a similar hit. It's hard to believe IST sent the book like that though. Most likely happened in transit
Maybe in transit to them (or during the pulling/packaging process), but not in transit to me. Seriously, it was in the middle of a stack of 4 other books, wrapped together, with around two inches foam all around, and no dents in the box - and even if there were dents, there's no way for a dent to reach that one part of the book without hitting the other books. The black jacket and the shrink wrap do hide the damage pretty well - I didn't notice it until I took off the shrink wrap.
I'd definitely send them that photo and ask for a replacement, I'm sure they'd agree and oblige you. That's too nasty to keep for the price.
I received my order from IST that had appeared lost. It took a few extra weeks but not a big deal to me. Packaging was great as usual with no issue with books.
As per the Final Crisis dinged book, I would likely return it if I could. I have only ever received one bit of physical damage on any book from IST in the 20 or so orders i've put in. Those orders have all been 3-6 books so that's a great track record. It was Daredevil omnibus Vol 1. It was a dent in the board near the spine which was completely covered by the pristine book cover/shrink wrap so it happens.
Last edited by RamblingMan; 12-10-2018 at 10:38 AM.
I don't think I'll be going through with exchanging that damaged book above. It doesn't bother me enough to go through the whole rigmarole of the exchange process. Maybe if the damage was on the top or the spine, but on the bottom, just the cover, not cool, but also not too big a deal.
But my consternation over this just goes to show how IST isn't up to snuff when compared with amazon and their return policies.
For example, if amazon sent me the book like this, I would've received a replacement in just a day or two, and they would've given me a month to return the damaged book, also making the return as easy as possible. IST just can't do that.
Does IST even send a "Your package has shipped" email anymore?
They've really fallen off hard in terms of shipping times, jesus...