V2 Hardback. Poor quality, poorer customers service

[stenic]

My v2 rules arrived on on 31st December.

I've read it, flicked through it a couple of times and used it at PAW 2013 where this happened:

http://web.onetel.com/~stenic/Wargmes/P1010041.JPG

My V1 book is still fine. I do not expect a book to last less than two months. I'd not posted the pic here previous as I'd contacted Slitherine directly about it and they've now replied..

Apparently a mere 2 months, or rather 1 read, a few flicks and 6 games (2 practice and 4 tournament) is enough time such that it's my fault for wear and tear according to Christian Bassani
Slitherine Ltd / Matrix Games:

Hi Steve

I do apologise for the issues you are experiencing. I'm afraid I'm unable to send out another book as the damage is due to user wear and tear and therefore we can not be held accountable for user wear and tear.

Kind Regards,

Christian Bassani
Slitherine Ltd / Matrix Games

support@slitherine.com

As they are averse to admitting it's a poorly put together book I'm left with only warning you all.

Not only is the book of poorer quality but Slitherine reject responsibility and feel 2 months is a reasonable time of usage before their product is damaged.

Steve Price

[philqw78]

Er, what happened? The corner of the page folded.

Sorry Steve but a better picture and explanation might help your case

[stenic]

No, the folding isn't the issue, the back cover has torn away from the bound pages, unfortunately the pic in the post misses a bit but the direct link shows it better.

I've edited the original post to have the link as a better picture.

I noticed it loose on the Sunday morning then by the last game in the afternoon it hard torn.

[Vespasian28]

A friend of mine(who I think doesn't take enough care of books) has a very battered, thoroughly well used edition of V1 but even that still has the spine intact. I have been around enough books in my career and dealt with very well used copies in libraries to believe that a book should last a lot, lot longer and take some real abuse before it detaches from the spine.

I have just looked at FOG 1 and FOGR and both have stitching in the binding whereas FOG2 is simply glued to the endpapers.

[Scruff]

I noticed with mine when i was reading through it the 1st time that the "stretch" across the spine was pretty tight and showing signs of coming away from the bottom on the back page. I have seen this before in a different set of rules from another company and what i did was run a strip of wide sellotape down the inside of the covers and never had a problem again so have done same to my v2 rules. Hopefully it will be fine now

cheers

[philqw78]

Yeah, thats shit and should be replaced.

Products sold in this country should be fit for task. Your book wasn't.

[stenic]

I'm pleased to report that JDM had kindly contacted me and we have resolved the matter restoring my faith in Slitherine.

[philqw78]

Excellent result.

[rich]

stenic

It's good you have had a replacement, shows they are looking after you.

My copy of v2 book has felt strange from the start,the pages don't really want to stay open.
If I force it then I guess I will have the chance of breaking the binding at sometime.

Anyway for feedback to Slithereine the binding in V2 doesn't seem as good as V1.
Or is in just the batch of books my v2 came from?

Rich

[Scrumpy]

Wah, wah, wah.. Seriously, if that is all you have to whine about you're a lucky sod. There are people in this world with problems a lot worse than a book falling apart..

FFS grow up.

[philqw78]

Wah, wah, wah.. Seriously, if that is all you have to whine about you're a lucky sod. There are people in this world with problems a lot worse than a book falling apart..

FFS grow up.

Yes you could be a sociopath.

[timmy1]

'could be'...?

[ravenflight]

Wah, wah, wah.. Seriously, if that is all you have to whine about you're a lucky sod. There are people in this world with problems a lot worse than a book falling apart..

FFS grow up.

So the ONLY time you're allowed to complain about something is if you're the WORLDS most unfortunate problem - grow up.

If you go and buy a new car and the wheels fall off after 100m don't be a cry baby... there are starving kids in Africa.

If your child is run over by a drunk driver and has permanent brain damage... there are people living in sexual slavery - grow up.

[Scrumpy]

I would think next to starving kids in Africa, a book not lasting 2 months is slightly trivial.

[ravenflight]

I would think next to starving kids in Africa, a book not lasting 2 months is slightly trivial.

Most definitely it's trivial (in comparison), but it DOESN'T mean a person isn't allowed to voice displeasure at a product that is failing to meet their expectations. There will ALWAYS be people who have things a lot worse than what someone on a group like this is complaining about.

Of course, the alternative view is for me to sell you an army and never deliver it. You wouldn't want to complain because 'there are starving kids in Africa'

[Scruff]

I assume Scrumpy, that you dont need insurance, never had a faulty product, never returned to a store when something was suspect because you know there's always someone else worse off, what a load of codswallop ....

The guy had an issue, asked the question and got a result.

If you truly hold that opinion, i expect you to be the first to cut your phone, sell you car, downsize your house to a shack and send all the money to africa that you save each week "shrug"

cheers

[pyruse]

Well, I received my v2 book, and the quality is fine.
But there is one persistent misprint which is a bit annoying.
A double minus POA in the text v1 looks like two dashes: --
In v2 it looks like one long line - there is no gap between the two. Same throughout the book; I also found one place where it talks about a picture above the text where it is actually below.

[pyruse]

The binding is definitely less good than that on the v1 book, which is a shame as it costs more.
v1 has pages sewn together in bundles, and then the bundles sewn into the binding; proper hardback binding.
v2 has the pages glued together in a block, then a hard cover has been glued to the outside - so it is perfect bound with a hard cover. Hopefully it will last OK, but the quality is certainly not as good.
The paper doesn't feel as nice, and the colours are changed, although hard to say whether the changed colours are better or worse.

[zoltan]

Well, I received my v2 book, and the quality is fine.
But there is one persistent misprint which is a bit annoying.
A double minus POA in the text v1 looks like two dashes: --
In v2 it looks like one long line - there is no gap between the two. Same throughout the book; I also found one place where it talks about a picture above the text where it is actually below.

Well the creation of a printed book (even though its POD) creates version control challenges. It's easy for Slitherine to fix those typos for my iPad version and they can fix it in new POD books from date X. But then you will be left with an 'old Skool' POD book with the typos/mistakes still in it.

How will different POD book versions be distinguished and synchronised with digital versions?

[jdm]

RE the print on demand books; we have decided to phase these out. Future stock will come from our original printers and they have worked hard with us to get minimum quantity orders through their system, it's not quite print on demand and we will need to swallow the expense and risk of carrying some stock, but apart from what we finally hope is the very best solution available to us the price will be held. This whole process has been a real challenge and significant expense to arrive at almost full circle:-). I still think tablet platforms are the way to go for tabletop rule systems and we may revisit this again when the release schedule on our "real" business eases up.
JDM