I'm not absolutely certain, but I believe it has to do with combined shipping and the Card Game subscription more than anything else. That shipment seems to be getting out a couple weeks later than the books so when everything is combined into one August shipment the subscribers without the Card Game are getting their shipments before those with the Card Game. Otherwise, with combined monthly shipments, the Adventure Card Game would be held until the shipment next month which may be even less desirable.
And if it makes you feel better, I do not have my Advanced Class Guide PDF either.
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
|
Yeah I'm also waiting for mine because of the Card Game subscription... it sucks but it's something that I'm not going to fault Paizo for too much... they work hard to try to get us everything as fast as they can, and they had some printing problems and things like that which complicated things even more right around Gencon this past weekend. Try to be patient. As far as I know, they're still planning to get everything shipped by Friday (the 22nd) at the latest.
Paizo Customer Service Algorithm
|
I have been a loyal subscriber for 5 years now. When the core rule book first came out I loved it, and wanted to support the company, since I was worried that 3.5 was going away. Now perhaps Paizo is big enough that they dont need me as a subscriber, and I can just buy my product elsewhere, and give that portion of the profit margin to Amazon or my FLGS.
John
Greetings John,
It's less too big to care and more we're not much bigger than we were a few years ago. Paizo, as a company, is still less than 50 people, including customer service and our warehouse staff. While we're normally able to fulfill subscriptions in a timely fashion, both August and December have a habit of stretching our capacities to the limit.
During August we have members of the shipping team at the convention keeping the booth flowing smoothly, in addition to it being one of the biggest release months of the year, meaning we have more products to ship than usual. We generally bring in extra people to help with the subscriptions, but it still takes us time.
We try to offer the best service we can with our subscriptions, but we realize we can't always be the best option for everyone, some months will push us to our limits, and while we do our best to hit them we can miss street dates for subscribers. If you feel that you'd be happier purchasing your books at your FLGS we totally understand and respect that decision. Even if you aren't purchasing the books directly from us you're still helping support the game, and we appreciate that. :)
- Erik Keith
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
From what I understand, it's mostly a contractual or legal billing issue. They can't charge us for the order until it's about to ship due to either the agreement with the card companies or trading laws. Making the PDF available early would then leave Paizo's system open to abuse by people cancelling orders before shipment but after the PDF is sent.
I guess they *could* charge the PDF list price on the day the PDF is sent, then charge the balance of the order price (minus the bit already paid) on shipment, but that would likely require fairly major changes to the subscription run code, as well as ending up with Paizo getting double-charged on card processing fees.
It's been brought up enough times in the past that I'm pretty certain if there was a smooth and painless way to make the PDF available on day one, they'd have done it. Of course, they might be working on something for the future but not wanting to get our hopes up by mentioning it until it's been done.
I have been a loyal subscriber for 5 years now. When the core rule book first came out I loved it, and wanted to support the company, since I was worried that 3.5 was going away. Now perhaps Paizo is big enough that they dont need me as a subscriber, and I can just buy my product elsewhere, and give that portion of the profit margin to Amazon or my FLGS.
John
Greetings John,
It's less too big to care and more we're not much bigger than we were a few years ago. Paizo, as a company, is still less than 50 people, including customer service and our warehouse staff. While we're normally able to fulfill subscriptions in a timely fashion, both August and December have a habit of stretching our capacities to the limit.
During August we have members of the shipping team at the convention keeping the booth flowing smoothly, in addition to it being one of the biggest release months of the year, meaning we have more products to ship than usual. We generally bring in extra people to help with the subscriptions, but it still takes us time.
We try to offer the best service we can with our subscriptions, but we realize we can't always be the best option for everyone, some months will push us to our limits, and while we do our best to hit them we can miss street dates for subscribers. If you feel that you'd be happier purchasing your books at your FLGS we totally understand and respect that decision. Even if you aren't purchasing the books directly from us you're still helping support the game, and we appreciate that. :)
- Erik Keith
Not a frequent poster, until this week. At least you can tell we're passionate about wanting your product. As I've implied in other threads, your team may want to consider changing your subscriber process to always allow PDF release on the ship street date. This would seem to be a software trick, as opposed to a physical labor issue. I'm not worried at all about getting the physical items, but sure would like to read the new rules.
I don't know how you code that process, and am not implying that it would be an easy change, but it would have avoided most of your subscriber distress this month.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I am in the same boat as the OP. Out of the many years of subscriptions, this month has been a bit troublesome.
I am not too upset about the delay, but I am upset that there was not any clear reason communicated directly to me (or others in the same situation) of the reason for the unusual delay. The last few GenCons did not slow down production this much.
Some research here and asking my FLGS managers offered some additional insight. But I would have rather gotten some official word from Paizo itself. Just seeing "Some products are on Backorder" on my order listing did not help. Even an email to CS did not result in any response.
In short, I can deal with the unusual delay, but not with the lack of communication regarding the circumstances around the delay.
|
Quality Assurance Axiomite
|
Hey everyone,
I've just posted the updated status of pending subscription shipments in the August Subscription thread. I apologize for the radio silence you've been getting from us over the past week. Customer Service has been stretched pretty thin this month, and it's been hard to keep up with everyone up to speed on the topic.
Some research here and asking my FLGS managers offered some additional insight. But I would have rather gotten some official word from Paizo itself. Just seeing "Some products are on Backorder" on my order listing did not help. Even an email to CS did not result in any response.
I completely agree that you should be able to get this sort of information from us directly. Customer Service is currently working as hard as possible to get to everyone, but it is taking us time to get back to folks. I can assure we're answering everyone's inquiries, but it can take us a bit to get to them.
It's less too big to care and more we're not much bigger than we were a few years ago. Paizo, as a company, is still less than 50 people, including customer service and our warehouse staff. While we're normally able to fulfill subscriptions in a timely fashion, both August and December have a habit of stretching our capacities to the limit.
During August we have members of the shipping team at the convention keeping the booth flowing smoothly, in addition to it being one of the biggest release months of the year, meaning we have more products to ship than usual. We generally bring in extra people to help with the subscriptions, but it still takes us time.
We try to offer the best service we can with our subscriptions, but we realize we can't always be the best option for everyone, some months will push us to our limits, and while we do our best to hit them we can miss street dates for subscribers. If you feel that you'd be happier purchasing your books at your FLGS we totally understand and respect that decision. Even if you aren't purchasing the books directly from us you're still helping support the game, and we appreciate that. :)
- Erik Keith
Here's a novel concept, HIRE SEASONAL CONTRACT WORKERS!!! Amazingly simple isnt it.