Bound and Determined

So what are the long term repercussions of the binding issue?

EDIT: Thank you for the auto-reply showing you got my email. I was paranoid the attachments might keep it from getting through and that would have been nagging at the back of my head for days if I had to wait for a human reply. (Also thank you for letting us do much of this in the forums when things like attachments are not necessary)

I love the title and all, I'm just a little worried that people will know it's about Starfinder.

A sticky thread in customer service might also be helpful. :-)

I love the book!

Ack, second printing not out until November? It's going to be a long wait for me as it seems all sold out here

A real class act! Another reason to love Paizo.

I just want to say this: spineliningis.

-Skeld

So what do I do with a book that I got from amazon.com? I am likely going to incur return shipping costs. My book is absolutely defective.
(edit) I am just now finding out that my return window closed 9/16/17. So I can't return it now.

I just want to say this: spineliningis.

-Skeld

I am assuming this is not a typo but foreshadowing some new beast or technology from Eox.

So what do I do with a book that I got from amazon.com? I am likely going to incur return shipping costs. My book is absolutely defective.

Just go through the Amazon Return procedure. Very easy and should be no cost to you.

senshi_shinri_teki wrote:

So what do I do with a book that I got from amazon.com? I am likely going to incur return shipping costs. My book is absolutely defective.

Just go through the Amazon Return procedure. Very easy and should be no cost to you.

Most people who pre-ordered this through amazon.com are now 2 days out of the window for returns.

Email sent.

So what do I do with a book that I got from amazon.com? I am likely going to incur return shipping costs. My book is absolutely defective.

(edit) I am just now finding out that my return window closed 9/16/17. So I can't return it now.

I'd send an email to customer.service@paizo.com with photos and an explanation of where you got the book and what their returns policy is.

It's possible the discussion Paizo are having through distribution channels will prompt Amazon to reopen this. If not, Paizo will take care of it, I'm sure.

Way to get ahead of the issues gang...sorry you all have to deal with it, I appreciated your efforts!

Could the PDF be affected?

What if we want to get our copy replaced with a copy from the second printing? A lot of us have gone through multiple replacements, with none of the first run being any better than the others. If I want to replace my book, and get a copy from the second printing, is there any way to do that? If the second print run isn't until November, but I have to replace my book by the end of October, it sounds like I'll just be getting another book with a binding issue.

As one of those with an affected book pre-ordered through Amazon, should I first attempt to contact Amazon even though the return date has past or go ahead an email Paizo?

To the store I go!

Thanks for the update, I am one of the ones with the defect on a limited edition copy, so it looks like I will be waiting for a while. I sent an email a few days back and just waiting for customer service to get to my email.

As one of those with an affected book pre-ordered through Amazon, should I first attempt to contact Amazon even though the return date has past or go ahead an email Paizo?

Since it's a manufacturing error, still give it a go to get a refund or an exchange via Amazon even if it's outside of the return window. If they give you a hassle about it, please let customer service know.

Thanks for addressing this issue. I sent an email a while back and never received a reply back, though. I'll take mine to the store that I got it and check if I can get a replacement.

Thanks for addressing this issue. I sent an email a while back and never received a reply back, though. I'll take mine to the store that I got it and check if I can get a replacement.

We're still in a pretty rough backlog of emails. Hoping some overtime this week/weekend will help with reducing the size of our inbox.

As one of those with an affected book pre-ordered through Amazon, should I first attempt to contact Amazon even though the return date has past or go ahead an email Paizo?

The first thing we are going to ask if you didn't purchase through paizo.com or from Paizo's booth at Gen Con is always going to be to please check with your original retailer, even if you're outside their return window, even if you don't have a receipt (although if you purchased with a credit or debit card you might be able to show them a statement with their store on it), even if they have a "no returns" policy. Check with them first. It could be that they waive some of their return requirements when the product is defective.

I had seen all the 'binding' posts and assumed that everyone with the binding problem literally had pages falling out of the book - since mine wasn't doing that I figured my copy had managed to avoid the binding problem. Upon reading this blog post and checking my copy (which I haven't had a chance to do much more than leaf through as yet) I realise that I actually do have the binding problem as well.

So THANKYOU to Paizo for addressing this issue ... and sorry, but you will be getting another email to add to the list ... sorry ...

What if you purchased your copy while on vacation in another state 700 miles away? It's going to be inconvenient to replace it with them.

Several people have a similar problem as you Delthos.
As far as I am aware, Paizo will replace your defective copy, if you have such a situation. Send them an email with some pictures and a note explaining why you can't easily go to the vendor selling you the book.

You most likely will be taken care of.

Is there a window on the replacement? I bought the limited edition (pre-ordered I believe) off paizo.com. I haven't used the book much at all yet, since I won't be starting a Starfinder game for a few more months at least. If, for example, in December or a month or two later I find it's defective, would I still be eligible for a replacement?

What gets me is it says to email them if this or that...well I have recently switched from D&D to Pathfinder and Starfinder. I have had two issues, one with the binding of the book the other with characters on their site, and did email them...have ever since been waiting on a reply. At least I have this blog now so I know what to do, days after my email that customer service ignored. Look, I like Pathfinder and Starfinder...but ignoring emails of a customer who has recently spent a lot of money on their site and at stores is not a class act as some are saying.

If you read through any of the customer service threads you'll find that they definitely aren't ignoring any emails, they'e just swarmed with them. And it takes time to respond to all of them.

They answered my email, it took them a bit longer, but they did.

If you have a problem with it, write an email.

Now write several hundred of them.

Templates help, but they don't solve everything, a human being still has to personalize it and hit send.

And if all that doesn't help with your patience, what about the superiority of handling with more class then the next person.

Nobody wanted this to happen, ESPECIALLY Paizo, but it did, and at least they're being super awesome about it and making things right.

What if you purchased your copy while on vacation in another state 700 miles away? It's going to be inconvenient to replace it with them.

They won't make you drive 700 hundred (or any hundred) miles to return it. :-)

They answered my email, it took them a bit longer, but they did.

If you have a problem with it, write an email.

Now write several hundred of them.

Templates help, but they don't solve everything, a human being still has to personalize it and hit send.

And if all that doesn't help with your patience, what about the superiority of handling with more class then the next person.

Nobody wanted this to happen, ESPECIALLY Paizo, but it did, and at least they're being super awesome about it and making things right.

What he said^

What gets me is it says to email them if this or that...well I have recently switched from D&D to Pathfinder and Starfinder. I have had two issues, one with the binding of the book the other with characters on their site, and did email them...have ever since been waiting on a reply. At least I have this blog now so I know what to do, days after my email that customer service ignored. Look, I like Pathfinder and Starfinder...but ignoring emails of a customer who has recently spent a lot of money on their site and at stores is not a class act as some are saying.

I can help with the character images part!

I assume you're disappointed in the lack of Starfinder images.

They have their top Tooth Fairy working on it, in the meantime, if you sort by date added, if you go back I wanna say page 5-8 there should be a few images from Iron Gods, and then a bunch more around page 12 or so.

While not exactly Starfinder images, they'll work for now.

Hope that helps! Welcome to the community!!

Amazon is only offering a refund, not a replacement. I don't want a refund, I just want the book. I'm already working on a campaign and I need the book. What should I do?

It's a tough spot for them to be in. I have been a long time fan but just recently made the jump to regular customer with Starfinder. I always heard of their great customer service and long admired the quality of their books so with Starfinder's recent release it was the perfect time to jump in as It is great to be in on the ground floor of a new release. My core book developed the spine issue within the first couple days of opening it and I contacted customer service immediately. It was a pleasure to be surprised and see them live up to everything I have heard. Their customer service is excellent and its nice to know and see personally just how they stand behind their products and treat their customers with respect. It's not something you run into often enough these days. looking forward to being a long term customer and hope to see Starfinder grow and mature with time. It's nice to actually buy something and feel like your money is going to a company that actually cares and does its best to produce something worth the hard earned cash.

Amazon is only offering a refund, not a replacement. I don't want a refund, I just want the book. I'm already working on a campaign and I need the book. What should I do?

Contact Paizo. :-)

Xyden, my suggestion would be to take the refund from Amazon and either use it to buy the book at a local store, or else use it to buy the pdf here to use temporarily, and then buy a hard copy later when you have the chance. It appears Amazon is no longer selling the CRB, perhaps because of this problem.

Since I subscribed, I got the PDF before my physical copy, so I started reading it before I had that. The side effect of that, plus the fact that I have yet to actually play the game (sad!), is that I haven't used my main book much yet. However, once I had it, that's how I finished my reading, and it always made scary crackling noises every time I opened and closed it. Once I knew what to look for, I saw that my pages were separating from that white/yellow strip as well.

It's too bad that the printer had this problem on this batch. This huge new release is really not the best time for Paizo to have to suffer through this....

Is there a window on the replacement? I bought the limited edition (pre-ordered I believe) off paizo.com. I haven't used the book much at all yet, since I won't be starting a Starfinder game for a few more months at least. If, for example, in December or a month or two later I find it's defective, would I still be eligible for a replacement?

Probably but being the limited edition, you run the risk they'll run out of stock. I'd suggest opening and closing it a few times - lying it open flat on a table as the blog picture illustrates. My book had the binding problem and it manifested very early and very obviously (with minimal use).

It's worth remembering that the problem is not ubiquitous. Paizo sold thousands and thousands of them and we obviously only see reports of the ones with problems. Additionally, a group of friends are likely to have bought from the same batch (and one suspects some stores are replacing defective copies with second defective copies) Those kinds of reports can give the impression that every copy is going to fall apart.

In another thread, they commented that the error rate was higher than usual but not universal.

Paizo has new Limited Edition books from the printer that should arrive in November, so I imagine there is no hard time limit on the first edition printing. :-)

Unfortunately my copies from gencon are signed :-(

Amazon is doing the refund not replacement bit for me too.

If I just order a new book from Paizo now, should I have confidence that I'd get a good one? (I have three copies of the PF CRB, so its not like I mind buying a second copy of the SF one and relegating the bad binding one to the "emergency use" book :) )

It has been stated that the warehouse team is checking the binding of books cursory, so any obvious defective books should not leave the warehouse.

For a more thorough check the warehouse team doesn't have the time, and it would render the book "non-mint".

Wasn't this an issue with the Inner Sea World Guide? I love that book, but the worst binding of any Pathfinder hardbounds. Still have to be really careful when I flip through that one. :(

My Inner Sea World Guide held up pretty good until I messed it up myself.

It was an issue with Gods And Magic (both my copies) and Sword Of Valor (my first copy fell apart almost immediately, second copy is holding up fantastically well).

Another tip for prolonging the life of the softcover books is to fold the crease along the spine (I like to use a hardcover to help with that) before you open it, it'll add ten years onto the book.

Amazon was willing to make an "exception" for me and allowed me to return the book outside the return window without paying shipping costs and giving me a full refund without any issues. Now I have to decide if I should re-order one through amazon, which has a discount price ($47.51) and free shipping (for Amazon Prime) but I could get another defective book or if I pay full price at a local retailer where I can inspect the book first and pay full price or buy it from Paizo.com where the book should not defective but I will pay full price and also be charged $7.81 for shipping (to Portland, OR).

Since Amazon has no copies available for exchange, what does Paizo recommend? The only copies available are via 3rd party sellers who are scalping for upwards of $110.

Besides, ordering a replacement from Amazon is very likely to result in getting yet another book with the binding issue.

Very disappointing.

Miniature Mart is sold out. I guess I'm waiting until November.

Amazon in Canada is sending me an exchange copy. Here's hoping its in better condition than my first...

Or just talk to Paizo directly, it wasn't every book in the first printing, just way more than usual.

Unfortunately my copies from gencon are signed :-(

Keep it as a collector's item, and use your replacement copy. I don't think they're making you ship the defective ones back.

If you feel like you have a special circumstance please email. We will look at the options for your specific circumstances and determine how to help you best.