Okay... now I'm complaining about Paizo (and angry)

[Captain Marsh]

Dear Paizo,

You guys are my favorite hobby company in the world, which is saying a lot for a lifelong nerd like myself. Love your games, love your community, love your writers and artists.

But unless you give me a better explanation for why your customer service is so terrible, I will never, ever order directly from your store again.

I ordered a $150 book 3 weeks ago. Shipping was supposed to happen within two weeks, which is already a ridiculously sloppy amount of time for any company in the age of Amazon.

Then, today, I get an email which says that my order has finally been "processed and finalized for shipment." Great. Really slow, but great.

But then I read that the package is "expected to ship from the Paizo warehouse by Friday, November 21 via Standard Postal Delivery, estimated 4 to 8 business days in transit."

November 21st? WTF? If the thing is process and finalized, put it in the $%*$# mail! At this rate, I will have been waiting for my purchase for as much as six weeks.

And that "expected to ship" part REALLY ticks me off. Expected? What...is your warehouse in Sandpoint or something?

The kicker to the email is that there is no explanation for the delay, no apology -- only a note that my order can "no longer be altered."

On this message board I see a lot of other complaints about slow and sloppy shipping practices.

Maybe it's time for a quick public note about what's going on? The holidays are coming up. If you want people shopping from Paizo, you need to fix this and do some communication.

--Angry Marsh

[Hawkmoon269]

This post on the customer service forum explains what is going on.

Also note, the email you received is an automated email, generated when they print your shipping label. The November 21st date is their end of the entire shipping cycle, but usually your order is out their door with in 24-48 hours of you getting that email. In fact, the date might just be because that is the date for November subscription fulfillment shipping window to end and it is "hard coded" for the emails for November.

I'm not saying you don't have a right to be upset, I'm not even commenting on that. I'm just passing along some information that seems relevant to your situation.

I hope you get your stuff soon and get to enjoy it.

[Sara Marie]

The November 21st date is completely erroneous for your order. We recently rolled new code that had an unintended consequence. That "expected to ship from the Paizo warehouse by Friday, November 21" is only supposed to be for orders that will be batch shipped for subscriptions next week. Your order has been processed for shipping and, depending on the time our carriers come to pick up the mail, should go out in today's mail or possibly tomorrow's. I apologize for the confusion and frustration this has caused.

[Captain Marsh]

Sara Marie - I am so pleased. Thank you. I love your company and look forward to shopping with you guys again.

Marsh

[Captain Marsh]

And thanks also to Hawkmoon...appreciate the info.