Goodman Games

MrHemlocks wrote:

I ordered both the collectors and standard edition books and they arrived today. Boy was I happy! Only to find after opening the box ALL the corners were bent and some slightly torn via shipping/packaging. What gives? Why could you not pack them the way AMAZON.COM does? They place the books on sturdy cardboard, that is little larger than the books, and wrap the cardboard and books together. Then place the wrapped books into a larger box so as the coners are protected.

So upset I can not even type now...

That sucks - I hope it gets sorted for you pretty soon.

Still, look on the bright side, it in no way affects your ability to play the game

Thane wrote:

Vanguard wrote:Right, but it's not like Goodman Games intentionally sent him a dinged up copy.

I'm sure they didn't.

Vanguard wrote:I can understand venting when anticipation levels are this high, but starting a topic for it is a little excessive when we already have a thread of people showcasing their books.

But that's how he chose to vent.

Vanguard wrote:None of the venting is going to solve the problem.

It might.

No, it won't. Complaining alone never solves the problem. Contacting the company, explaining what happened, and how you want that fixed will. Any complaints you have should go there.

Vanguard wrote:

Thane wrote:

Vanguard wrote:Right, but it's not like Goodman Games intentionally sent him a dinged up copy.

I'm sure they didn't.

Vanguard wrote:I can understand venting when anticipation levels are this high, but starting a topic for it is a little excessive when we already have a thread of people showcasing their books.

But that's how he chose to vent.

Vanguard wrote:None of the venting is going to solve the problem.

It might.

No, it won't. Complaining alone never solves the problem. Contacting the company, explaining what happened, and how you want that fixed will. Any complaints you have should go there.

Ok

Vanguard wrote:

Thane wrote:

fjw70 wrote:Hmm . . What is the mature way to handle this?

A) Call/email CS and calmly tell them the problem and give them a chance to correct it, or

B) get pissed and rant on the message boards?

Some folk parted with a lot of money so they could own a nice 'limited edition'. The standard copy, is probably the one that's going to get bashed around a bit. Intentional of course, because the limited edition is the one he would like to keep for a very long time. It's special by default. Not too much to ask that it looks tidy on the shelf.

You berating him for venting is uncalled for in my book.

Personally I think he had every right to vent - pointless as it was.

Right, but it's not like Goodman Games intentionally sent him a dinged up copy. I can understand venting when anticipation levels are this high, but starting a topic for it is a little excessive when we already have a thread of people showcasing their books.

None of the venting is going to solve the problem.

Whose fault is it? The books were shipped as cheap as possible with no packaging to help stop the books from getting dent and a box that was to tight around the books.

Goodman Games is not the Post Office. They shipped it Media Mail, which has pretty tight restrictions about what can go through.

Comparing them to Amazon and asking why they couldn't just ship like they do is pretty silly. Amazon is a multi-million dollar company. Goodman Games is a niche publisher with a pretty thin profit margin I'm guessing.

I'm not trying to piss you off. I understand why you're upset, but Goodman Games is not at fault here. They are, however, the ones who can help you. And they will.

I got my books a couple of days ago (both standard and limited edition) and had significant damage. Most of it I will not care about (dented corners and such), but the limited edition was smashed and dented into the binding as well as having scuff marks. It was placed on the bottom of the package and there was no damage to the outside bottom of the box. The top of the box was dented, but that is where the packaging material was, so that makes sense.

I sent an email on Monday and have not heard back yet.

Edit: Just after posting this, got a email from Joseph. Thank you.

My book arrived yesterday with some minor scratches on the back cover, like from a razor knife or something. They were packed well though.

Mine are banged up a bit too, but not so much that I'm going to get bent out of shape about it....

My regular copy had a slight dent, which makes it a limited one-of-a-kind copy now.

Wow. My book arrived in good shape but looking at this thread
I think it's reasonable to say that 'media mail' shipping plus the way
these books were boxed pretty well sucked.

Lots of books were banged up. I think we'd all have paid a couple
dollars more for shipping in a box that actually protected the books.

Mine arrived fine ... but the post man knows I have two big dogs, so maybe that had something to do with it

The real problem was that the book was so awesome, I had a mild coronary from overexcitement. But I took my pill and everything is fine now.

Btw, I'm not in any way trying to make light of the all too justified frustration with the supposed professionalism of our esteemed federal pony express bureaucracy. I mean the US postal service or Goodman Games--who's to blame, that's a no brainer. In fact we'd be a lot better off if Goodman Games ran this country. Then we'd see who'd survive the funnel

Sizzaxe wrote: Btw, I'm not in any way trying to make light of the all too justified frustration with the supposed professionalism of our esteemed federal pony express bureaucracy. I mean the US postal service or Goodman Games--who's to blame, that's a no brainer. In fact we'd be a lot better off if Goodman Games ran this country. Then we'd see who'd survive the funnel

Goodman Games is to blame.

1. The packaging was too flimsy. There are some small rpg companies who package their products securely, so company size is not an excuse. And anyone who's been in business as long as Mr. Goodman has, should know what he can and can't expect from the USPS. I know what I have to do when I'm shipping books via the USPS and package accordingly.

2. The Cover Boards on the book (at least for the non-limited edition) are rather thin. Not something I have an issue with, except that when combined with the thin cardboard of the box wrapper that was used, it's no surprise at all, that there have been several complaints of damaged books.

My copy has nasty spine corner bumps at the bottom and top, a couple of board edge dings, corner bends and very noticeable bowing on the bottom board.

If I had been shopping for this in a game store and the only copy they had was like the one I received in the mail, I would have left it unpurchased and went to another store to look for a copy.

Just a few quick facts for those following this thread...

Some customers did receive damaged orders, which is a shame. We're working with them to get things taken care of. Just to put it in perspective...the number of "damage reports" is running at well under 1% of the pre-orders shipped. There are a lot of DCC RPG hardbacks moving through the postal service right now.

Many of you have ordered lots of products via mail order. Some of you have even shipped lots of products via mail order. Over the course of running Goodman Games, I have shipped hundreds of thousands of books. The packaging used to ship DCC RPG is sufficient for the vast majority of postal situations. You're hearing complaints not because there are "a lot of damages" but because there are "a lot of books shipped," and the small percentage of those that got damaged is a high enough number to generate some posts.

No matter what I do, the post office will damage some copies. I have experimented in the past with several mailing options (bubble wrap, foam peanuts, double-layered cardboard, etc.). Even in those situations, books sometimes get damaged. With the modern trend toward "collectible copies," the bar is raised continually higher, and collectors in particular tend to identify defects that are more and more subtle in nature. Many of the collectors are looking for that "perfect 10" copy, which is hard to guarantee under any circumstances. I'm sure you've all seen the guy at cons who looks through 30 copies to buy the most perfect one...some of you may even be that guy.

If there's anyone out there with a dinged-up book who hasn't already contacted me, feel free to do so and we'll sort it out. As noted on my web store, I can't guarantee "collectible perfection" but if the copy is materially damaged in some manner I'll replace it.

Last month the post office actually lost a box of books that I mailed to a customer.

My copy had some dings and a few big scratches- but not worth replacing. In a few weeks it would have got that way anyway. Though honestly , it could have been packed better.

Joseph's response to all of this discussion is honest and to-the-point. We all know that
shipping damage happens. I thought that the packaging could have been better and
that Media Mail left the boxes in the loving care of the postal service for too many days
which means more days for fragile books to get banged around.

I think the unusually high anticipation for this book got everyone extra wound up to
get a nice clean copy.

Thane wrote:

fjw70 wrote:Hmm . . What is the mature way to handle this?

A) Call/email CS and calmly tell them the problem and give them a chance to correct it, or

B) get pissed and rant on the message boards?

Some folk parted with a lot of money so they could own a nice 'limited edition'. The standard copy, is probably the one that's going to get bashed around a bit. Intentional of course, because the limited edition is the one he would like to keep for a very long time. It's special by default. Not too much to ask that it looks tidy on the shelf.

You berating him for venting is uncalled for in my book.

Personally I think he had every right to vent - pointless as it was.

Immature behavior is a pet peeve of mine.

Out of curiosity, how many books have been ordered this far? How big is the print run of each version?

fjw70 wrote:

Thane wrote:

fjw70 wrote:Hmm . . What is the mature way to handle this?

A) Call/email CS and calmly tell them the problem and give them a chance to correct it, or

B) get pissed and rant on the message boards?

Some folk parted with a lot of money so they could own a nice 'limited edition'. The standard copy, is probably the one that's going to get bashed around a bit. Intentional of course, because the limited edition is the one he would like to keep for a very long time. It's special by default. Not too much to ask that it looks tidy on the shelf.

You berating him for venting is uncalled for in my book.

Personally I think he had every right to vent - pointless as it was.

Immature behavior is a pet peeve of mine.

Come on mate, he was very upset because his limited edition book was banged up.

I can understand him wanting to let his feelings known.

Thane wrote: Come on mate, he was very upset because his limited edition book was banged up.

Totally understandable. People are only anxious/irate because of their passion and excitement for the product. Hopefully we can make good on the few post office casualties, so that all can be satisfied Goodman Games customers.

More than anything else we want to get clean copies in the hands of gamers so we can finally start gaming! DCC on!

//H

Harley Stroh wrote:Hopefully we can make good on the few post office casualties, so that all can be satisfied Goodman Games customers.

If that means that less-than-perfect copies of the limited edition will be available at some point 'while they last', that'd be cool. Maybe Impressions booth at DunDraCon?

Harley amd Joseph...great attitude guys. Nice one

As I feared, my copy arrived in France with damaged corners. One was even ripped slightly. The lower spine was dented and torn too. But, being a publisher myself, I know it's nearly impossible to send pristine copies. I would only mention that I think a thicker cardboard for the cover would have been worth it since the book is so big.
Anyway, Joseph and Harley wer kind enough to let me have 4$ shipping and the free module even if I ordered slightly after the deadline. So, I'll use my book as is: it will look like it has already been to outer planes…
Bravo to everyone involved.

Geoffrey wrote:Last month the post office actually lost a box of books that I mailed to a customer.

Oh, I have shipped to that location too, Geoffrey.

OK - I was joking before. My copy arrived without any crimps or damage at all. And now I feel left out. Everyone else has received a personalized Limited Edition Crimpled Corner Prestige Printing, and mine is just plain vanilla. Boy, am I steamed!