Ordering Issues from APE Games
The Voice of Mod: This thread is for discussion and resolution of issues relating to ordering books from APE Games. Post your comments/problems here, and Kevin from APE will hopefully be able to address them. This message is being edited in so it appears at the top of the thread.
We now return you to your regularly-scheduled posting...
Two issues with the order form:
1. A cosmetic one: the character "?" renders as ń -- the page is restricted to Windows1252 characters and fails to deal with anything else. Sure, I can write "n" and have it delivered ok, but imagine a poor schmuck from Russia who tries to write his address...
2. The form requires a State/Province for non-US addresses. I'm not sure how that address verification thingy will work if I put some made-up trash in that field. I didn't check it yet as my card good for international use is at home, but I somehow don't see that going fine.
Ordering issues at APE Games
This thread is for discussion and resolution of issues relating to ordering books from APE Games. Post your comments/problems here, and Kevin from APE will hopefully be able to address them.
(Due to a glitch with the "Move Post" function, the boards order moved posts chronologically, meaning that my "introduction post" is now here in the middle of the thread. Oh well.)
Re: Ordering Issues from APE Games
Mr APE man... ;)
Longer term, it would be nice to have other options for getting the book shipped. I decided to order a second copy for a friend (boy will *he* be surprised) to get the per-book cost of shipping down to merely outrageous. (Of course, that said, I'd probably insist on having it shipped as quickly as possible, and to heck with the high cost, so....)
Also, it would be really great (I don't know if it's feasible) to get an estimated shipping cost prior to putting in all the information. I started ordering one book, put in my information, found out how much it would cost to ship, and decided to go back and change my order to two books. Then, I had to re-enter my information, and re-check what the shipping cost would be. This wasn't a show-stopper by any means, but an easier method would have been nicer.
Other than that, just... please please please get the books on time. I'm already getting impatient. ;)
Re: Ordering Issues from APE Games
Not so much an issue as a comfort thing - I can't seem to find a way to view any sort of order status page or anything, and the lack of email message confirming my pre-order make me a little queasy that I just handed you my CC number...
Not to be mean, but if you weren't the Giant's chosen distributor, I would never buy anything from an online store setup the way yours seems to be - its purely a matter of comfort. As a consumer, I want to see that I didn't just provide my information to a black hole, I want to be able to go back in a week and see my order still happily sitting there waiting for the big big day...
Re: Ordering Issues from APE Games
oooo, disregard on part of the last one. I DID get an email, gmail just happily filed it as junk-mail. First time it has done that to me...
Re: Ordering Issues from APE Games
Is there any chance of an option to ship books via Media Mail instead of the more expensive standard shipping? If you're shipping from Texas (which is your location on the boards), it's less than $2 to ship a 1 lb. book to pretty much anywhere in the continental US, from what I can figure out by the USPS site.
Edit: I take it back. It appears that a 1 lb. book can be shipped ANYWHERE in the US (Alaska and Hawaii included) for a rate of $1.59.
Re: Ordering Issues from APE Games
If someone from Poland that will be visiting the US after the book is released is reading this, please contact me. Paying double the cost of the books on shipping is unfeasible for me.
I hope that what I had written isn't against the rules.
Re: Ordering Issues from APE Games
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CardinalFang
Is there any chance of an option to ship books via Media Mail instead of the more expensive standard shipping? If you're shipping from Texas (which is your location on the boards), it's less than $2 to ship a 1 lb. book to pretty much anywhere in the continental US, from what I can figure out by the USPS site.
Edit: I take it back. It appears that a 1 lb. book can be shipped ANYWHERE in the US (Alaska and Hawaii included) for a rate of $1.59.
Media Mail is only an option if you don't care what condition the books arrive in, which, we find, is not a sentiment most customers share. We tried Media Mail for the first Dungeon Crawlin' Fools release back in 2005 (before APE was involved) and had hundreds of books returned to us, with hundreds more reported damaged in the mail (and who knows how many not reported). Media Mail is for catalogs, phone books, etc., not books printed on high-quality paper that are meant to sit on your shelf forever.
While I don't have any personal control over APE's shipping choices, I would have strongly urged them not to even consider Media Mail as a viable option should they have included it.
Re: Ordering Issues from APE Games
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Giant
Media Mail is only an option if you don't care what condition the books arrive in, which, we find, is not a sentiment most customers share. We tried Media Mail for the first Dungeon Crawlin' Fools release back in 2005 (before APE was involved) and had hundreds of books returned to us, with hundreds more reported damaged in the mail (and who knows how many not reported). Media Mail is for catalogs, phone books, etc., not books printed on high-quality paper that are meant to sit on your shelf forever.
While I don't have any personal control over APE's shipping choices, I would have strongly urged them not to even consider Media Mail as a viable option should they have included it.
Huh. I've never had a problem shipping books around with Media Mail, but I have the feeling you've shipped a LOT more books than I have, so I'd definitely rather pay more and have the pages still attached to the spine when I get the book. :D
Re: Ordering Issues from APE Games
Hah! It worked now. Cool!
So whatever was changed, the address verification now works for Poland as well (Visa card issued by Millenium).
For the other Polacks: while I live in Starogard Gdański, the savings by ordering two books together are just $3 per book, probably not worth the hassle.
Re: Ordering Issues from APE Games
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pantler
If someone from Poland that will be visiting the US after the book is released is reading this, please contact me. Paying double the cost of the books on shipping is unfeasible for me.
As a hint, Airmail Letter postage is available for our international customers if your order is under 4 lbs. This is usually MUCH cheaper than Global Priority, though is also much slower to arrive.
Re: Ordering Issues from APE Games
Actually, the only options I can see are Airmal Letter and Airmail Parcel. Oh well, I guess I'll have to settle with that. I gave up smoking recently, so I should be able to raise the needed sum somehow :smallsmile:
Re: Ordering Issues from APE Games
I noticed when I pre-ordered mine yesterday that it mentioned not billing until the item was shipped, but my paypal account was billed anyways. I also ordered The Origin of PC's as well, could that have affected my pre-order billing status?
Re: Ordering Issues from APE Games
Oops, it says that you will be charged when the order is placed, not when it ships.
I should add that this is not because we're greedy, money-hungry, capitalistic pigs, but rather that this is how our store works.
Re: Ordering Issues from APE Games
Quote:
Originally Posted by
apegamer
Oops, it says that you will be charged when the order is placed, not when it ships.
I should add that this is not because we're greedy, money-hungry, capitalistic pigs, but rather that this is how our store works.
Huh, well, it is possible that I may have misread it in my excitement to get ahold of a copy.
I offer my most sincere apologies :smallfrown:
Re: Ordering Issues from APE Games
I'm a little confused. This shop doesn't seem to work for me. I can put products in this basket-thingy. I can click on that basket button to see all products I want to order. But I can't order anything at all (only thing I can do is to remove things from the basket and change the quantity of things in the basket ...). Furthermore there is no overview of shipping costs anywhere on the APE-website.