Slitherine

goofaholix wrote:I think we just need to relax a bit. How many years have we been waiting for a good set of Ancient rules with a high standard of presentation? A couple more weeks should make no difference.

I agree but having had a press review copy in my hand a few times recently I just want to get down to a serious reread of the rules.

The three increases in print run and still sold out is amazing. I do wonder just how many copies have been done.

The good news is that the more copies that sell the more likely that all the army lists will be picked up by Osprey. The bad news is that means more work for those sorting the lists out.

I rather hoped I'd be taking my new FOG to Spain with me next week to sit on the beach -I'm going to have to take HOTT instead- I've had that years and i still enjoy nosing through it. Hey maybe I'll be able to pick up a copy at the airport- wouldn't that be a hoot!

All

For those who have not yet received please try and be just a little patient, the warehouse is working flat out to handle the orders world wide.

Even after we transport the bigger retailers still have a checking in and order fulfilment process to go through so its not instant.

The whole situation has been thrown in the air by the number of last minute reorders we have had on top of original orders. All we can say at the moment is thank you all very much for your interest and the amazing words and comments that are flooding in.

The reorders are what has caught us here, as we thought that we had planned to satisfy the initial demand with a reasonable cushion. We should not really complain but our customers are very important to us, and thanks to you the estimates have been blown out of the water.

As you are all aware we are much more used to the supply chain in computer games, but Osprey who are our publishers and pretty experienced in the book market have never seen anything quite like it.

We are working very hard to get the pallets out the door!!

I will post an update just as soon as we can collate the position

THANK YOU

JDM

JD,

I think you have bragging rights, go on tell us sales so far!

Spike

although the amazon usa site is showing a shipping date of february 19th, my order status is now showing february 25th as the shipping date. also, the medieval army list book scheduled for the 19th is showing two months later on my order status. amazon usa is usually very reliable. i had ordered a copy of phil sabin's "lost battles" from them and a second copy from overstock at a slightly cheaper price for a friend. amazon shipped immediately upon receiving the book and i actually received it early. overstock took almost two additional weeks to ship and the book still has not arrived, though the tracking service shows that it should arrive tomorrow.

Hi All

Amazon UK now reporting

We are sorry to report that the following items have been delayed:

Richard Bodley Scott (Author), et al "Field of Glory Rulebook:
Ancient and Medieval Wargaming Rules (Field of Glory): Ancient and
Medieval Wargaming Rules (Field of Glory)" [Hardcover]
Estimated arrival date: 04/03/08 - 20/03/08

A long wait!!

Kelvin

Hi Just had the same E-mail from Amazon Uk as Kelvin did! Nightmare ...I can't wait anymore!

Cozy Powell

kabrank wrote:Hi All

Amazon UK now reporting

We are sorry to report that the following items have been delayed:

Richard Bodley Scott (Author), et al "Field of Glory Rulebook:
Ancient and Medieval Wargaming Rules (Field of Glory): Ancient and
Medieval Wargaming Rules (Field of Glory)" [Hardcover]
Estimated arrival date: 04/03/08 - 20/03/08

A long wait!!

Kelvin

Yep, that's the mail I got this morning too

How did a previous poster get a £4.00 voucher??

JD, In respect of email below could you clarify if you are sending any of the 1st print run to Amazon UK so that they can fulfill their pre-orders. I am sure many like me ordered well in advance of publication (eager to get our hands on the finished article) and we are now being told by Amazon that the delay in delivery could be a month +. If Amazon are not to receive any of the first print run (or not enough to fulfill pre-orders) then would Slitherine still be able to accept orders and despatch immediately?
Many thanks in advance.

***************************************************

All

For those who have not yet received please try and be just a little patient, the warehouse is working flat out to handle the orders world wide.

Even after we transport the bigger retailers still have a checking in and order fulfilment process to go through so its not instant.

The whole situation has been thrown in the air by the number of last minute reorders we have had on top of original orders. All we can say at the moment is thank you all very much for your interest and the amazing words and comments that are flooding in.

The reorders are what has caught us here, as we thought that we had planned to satisfy the initial demand with a reasonable cushion. We should not really complain but our customers are very important to us, and thanks to you the estimates have been blown out of the water.

As you are all aware we are much more used to the supply chain in computer games, but Osprey who are our publishers and pretty experienced in the book market have never seen anything quite like it.

We are working very hard to get the pallets out the door!!

I will post an update just as soon as we can collate the position

THANK YOU

JDM

I have sent a grumpy E-Mail to Amazon as my pre-order was sent in early January and I have received the 'sory we can't send you the books' mail. It would seem to me that Amazon have been taking orders a plenty but have not bothered to tell Osprey and as sales look to be much higher than expected when Amazon comes back to Osprey just before release and signifiantly increases it's order we end up in a mess.

What I can't quite understand is how Amazon who I am sure are getting some copies of the rules are allocating them. If it is first ordered first fulfilled and I am not getting one from the first wave then this means that Amazon have known for over a month that they have not ordered enough copies from Osprey. It rather makes a mockery of the just in time concept.

Hi Hammy i ordered my Fog set from Amazon October last year from Madaxemens web site,just tracked my package and is telling me 18th-19th of this Month!
Got all my fingers cross.

Andy.

andy63 wrote:Hi Hammy i ordered my Fog set from Amazon October last year from Madaxemens web site,just tracked my package and is telling me 18th-19th of this Month!
Got all my fingers cross.

Andy.

Which tends to make me think that Amazon had already 'sold' its entire allocation of copies by the start of this year If that was the case then you would have thought that they might have told Osprey?

It would be nice if everyone could get the rules on time. However, we have waited a long time already, a little longer won't hurt much. I am delighted that there is such demand. It would be far worse if suppliers were sat on surplus stock that no-one wanted.

davem wrote:

kabrank wrote:Hi All

Amazon UK now reporting

We are sorry to report that the following items have been delayed:

Richard Bodley Scott (Author), et al "Field of Glory Rulebook:
Ancient and Medieval Wargaming Rules (Field of Glory): Ancient and
Medieval Wargaming Rules (Field of Glory)" [Hardcover]
Estimated arrival date: 04/03/08 - 20/03/08
How did a previous poster get a £4.00 voucher??

A long wait!!
Yep, that's the mail I got this morning too

Kelvin

I complained in the strongest terms, that I made my order in good faith on 2/1/08, with a promised delivery date of 14/2/08 - 20/2/08. I explained that they had plenty of time (6 weeks) to process my order and ensure that they had stock to fulfill the order. Therefore any delay was entirely down to their staff not ordering adequete stock, for delivery by the specified time.
I received a reply which indicated they would try to fulfill by 20/2/08, and to compensate for their delay that I would receive a £4 gift certificate.

I too received a revised delivey estimate (this morning) of 3-21 March and the "Gift Certificates" have still not shown up on my account, so have extended my complaint this morning. They have a lot of experiance ordering books, and I have always been satisfied in the past, which is why I quite anoyed with the lame excuses they keep replying with.


Spike

davem wrote:
Yep, that's the mail I got this morning too

How did a previous poster get a £4.00 voucher??

I sent in a complaint email but got the standard 'Very sorry but not our fault' reply. No mention of a £4.00 compensation voucher.

They've probably done some maths and worked out £4 per broken deal works ou a bit much, although I might just ask them why some people are being compensated.

What still isn't clear is if I order from Slitherine now will I get it in the next couple of days or do they not have stock either ?

Steve P

I contacted Amazon again! who seemed mostly interested in answering questions I did not ask. The long and the short is that its tough and they can't complete orders because they don't have stock.
So its a bit odd, that their website still say its available for delivery in 1-4 weeks, when they can't fulfill existing orders.

I expect if you haven't pre-ordered from somewhere else, then you will also be out of luck by now so Ill just leave my order with them.

Spike

Guys,

Please feel free to correct me if I am missing something, but I simply don't see how Amazon is in any way at fault here. May I remind you of what JD said in his earlier post:

"For those who have not yet received please try and be just a little patient, the warehouse is working flat out to handle the orders world wide.

Even after we transport the bigger retailers still have a checking in and order fulfilment process to go through so its not instant."

This clearly means that Slitherine and Osprey have not in fact been able to fulfill their preorders to larger retailers, including Amazon. So sending angry emails to Amazon is simply not going to accomplish anything. They could have ordered any number of copies from Slitherine and/or Osprey, but they apparently (according to JD) have not been sent ANY copies yet.

Look, I ordered from Amazon too... back in October, as a matter of fact. And like you, I find the potential delay frustrating, particularly since some bookstores in Australia actually appear to have received copies in advance of the official release date, and well ahead of all of us who preordered.

However, none of this is actually the retailer's fault, as evidenced in JD's message. And whether I happen to approve of Slitherine/Osprey's distribution priorities or not, I realize that I am simply going to have to exercise some patience here. At least FoG fans in the UK can take solace in the fact that you appear to be at the head of the que.

Cheers,
Scott

It depends on which part of JD's post you take as more significant, he also said

The whole situation has been thrown in the air by the number of last minute reorders we have had on top of original orders. All we can say at the moment is thank you all very much for your interest and the amazing words and comments that are flooding in.

The reorders are what has caught us here, as we thought that we had planned to satisfy the initial demand with a reasonable cushion. We should not really complain but our customers are very important to us, and thanks to you the estimates have been blown out of the water.

Now that could also mean Amazon et al were happily taking pre orders but not passing on much or any information to Osprey so as a result when Amazon come knocking just before release and ask for an extra however many copies Osprey don't have the stock as they have produced as many copies as they expected to sell (based on the pre order info they had) plus some spares.

I agree it is frustrating not to have the rules. They do exist and there must be some with Amazon, its just a question of how many people are in the same boat as those with a significantly delayed order.

ars_belli wrote:Guys,

Please feel free to correct me if I am missing something, but I simply don't see how Amazon is in any way at fault here. May I remind you of what JD said in his earlier post:


Cheers,
Scott

Hmm sorry no- Amazon's ording is entirely to blame, If they have large numbers of advance orders, they should pass this though and ensure they can fulfill orders taken well in advance of a publication date.
JD is dealing with orders for Slitherine- not Amazon, who should source their order via Osprey directly, they sell enough of their books.

If you go to the Amazon website (as of 12:00 GMT today 13/2/08 ) it does not show Field of Glory as being out of stock, but that they will fulfill orders within 1-4 weeks, which given there are back orders going out to the 21th March it seems is not entirely truthful.

You all have the right to complain about this, and I would strongly do so. I'm sure in hindsight more people would have ordered with other retailers had they knew Amazon were going to handle this so badly. I just hope there is no one going to "Burton" this weekend, who was relying on Amazon to get their rules in time!


Spike

hammy wrote:Now that could also mean Amazon et al were happily taking pre orders but not passing on much or any information to Osprey so as a result when Amazon come knocking just before release and ask for an extra however many copies Osprey don't have the stock as they have produced as many copies as they expected to sell (based on the pre order info they had) plus some spares.

I agree it is frustrating not to have the rules. They do exist and there must be some with Amazon, its just a question of how many people are in the same boat as those with a significantly delayed order.

Hammy,

I understand your desire to defend Slitherine and Osprey, but do you have any actual evidence (other than supposition) that Amazon "must" already have some copies, or that they (for some unknown reason) decided to hurt their own sales by not reporting preorders? I would also point out that the Osprey web site is currently fulfilling orders for customers with UK addresses, but not for those with addresses in the USA... Amazon has nothing to do with that. By the way, none of the other US retailers I have checked are shipping yet, either.

I am sorry, but the evidence thus far indicates to me that the distribution "hiccup" seems to be with Slitherine and Osprey. As I said before, this is a very nice "problem" for them to have, but blaming Amazon and other retailers doesn't seem to be based on anything other than supposition. Have ANY Amazon customers (even those of us who ordered back in October 2007 or earlier) received copies? Can JD confirm that ANY copies have been already shipped to Amazon (or any other US retailer, for that matter)? That would help clear things up immensely.

Cheers,
Scott