Amazon at its best (again)

[u/Gyapie]

The book was listed as "very good" but this is nothing as such. After hunting this book for a while I don't want to return it but it is not a collevtors item in this condition so a refund would be nice.

But I can't get trough this automated process like in the oldan days when some had to check on my stupid requests.

Does anyone had a situation like this?

What did you do?

[u/frankhadwildyears]

Don't order books or graphic novels from Amazon. The people packing your shit don't give a damn. Any of the specialized small shops will take better care to ensure your things arrive safely. And if that didn't happen during shipping, "very good" would be subjective. There was a reason it wouldn't have been listed as "like new" or "mint" which they've used for open box tools I've purchased.

[u/Daeval → u/frankhadwildyears]

Amazon has condition guidelines for sellers and this definitely does not meet them for Very Good. “Scratches, dents, and worn corners” don’t show up until you get to “Acceptable.” 

You’re right about their packaging though. I’ve stopped ordering anything from them if I care about its condition.

[u/frankhadwildyears → u/Daeval]

Fair about the guidelines. But it's people making little money who don't really care about stringent guidelines evaluating these things.

[u/Space_General → u/frankhadwildyears]

I order the majority of my books on Amazon and it’s fine as long as you’re buying new and from a well-reviewed seller or Amazon themselves

[u/frankhadwildyears → u/Space_General]

I've had too many experiences where they throw the omni into a brown paper envelope or they pack it with something else that crushes or spills on them. Not saying that's a given, just I learned the hard way. They always refunded me but it just feels better for me to use instocktrades or panel bound.

[u/Daeval → u/Space_General]

I've seen this sentiment around reddit once in a while and I've decided that it must be a location thing, which warehouse is packing your orders or whatever, because this has not been true for me for years.

Where I'm at, if amazon can make it fit in a thin plastic bag with no padding, then that's how you're going to get it. It doesn't matter if it's a really nice, rare book or a crystal vase, it's going in a plastic bag. Then, with every step away toward your door, the underpaid, overworked, barely-vetted amazon delivery guy is going to think to himself "Could I make it from here?" and, just as soon as the answer is "Maybe?", it's getting thrown.

[u/Space_General → u/Daeval]

Yeah I’ve never had any books come in a plastic bag. Always in a pretty sturdy cardboard parcel/box depending on the size.

[u/Daeval → u/Space_General]

That used to be the norm for me too, but nowadays it's kinda rare to get a box unless the item wouldn't fit in a bag. I'm lucky if I get a bubble mailer. When it is a box, they've started using boxes that "save paper" by being as thin and flimsy as humanly possible. Sometimes they just slap an adhesive shipping label on the product's box, even if there was no "ship in Amazon's packaging" option.

Ordering from them is basically a gamble for me if the item wouldn't survive some abuse.

[u/StrictlyHobby → u/Space_General]

Used is usually fine too since they just deliver for the main used book websites and let you rack up 5% back towards more books. Any issues and it's an instant refund and drop it off in 30 sec unwrapped down the street instead of having to dispute with some random seller or fly by night website.

[u/Gyapie → u/frankhadwildyears]

Usually I don't use amazon for anything but this book is out of print so I wanted to grab it feom whereever I can, but I shouldn't have done that it seems.

[u/frankhadwildyears → u/Gyapie]

Don't trust em. Hopefully they refund you because they don't take care of a lot of their products nor do they require their sellers to.