A little DCBS rant

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Sometimes, I let my principles get the best of me. For instance, I just cut ties with DCBS over 1 book.

So, like many of you, I've gone to mail-order for the majority of my books. Probably been ordering from them for 4 or 5 years now. I've mostly been satisfied with them. Only 1 damaged book in the past few years that was replaced, but otherwise, until now, they've always been pretty good. Until today.

I got this month's order the other day and Civil War II #2 was damaged. 2 pretty ghastly creases on that card stock cover was way too noticeable. NCB stuff on other books happens from time to time. But this bugged me. So of course, I sent an email to customer service explaining very politely that it was damaged & inquiring about a replacement. No big thing. They replied back & asked for photos. Sure, no problem. Trying to get pictures of color breaking stuff on a glossy card stock was a nightmare of course, but you can mostly see them in the photos. Maybe not as well as in-hand, but still. Cool. Photos sent & I figured "they'll take care of it in some way"...

Today I got this reply:

Hi Joe,

The remaining copies we have in stock are in the same condition, which tells me that this is how we received all of these books. We apologize, but we will not be able to offer a replacement or credit.

Thank you for your business!

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

XXXXXX

This didn't exactly sit well with me. Ok, fine. You can't replace it. No big deal. You ran out of stock that doesn't have that same problem. Whatever. But not even crediting it? I'm sorry... what? Exactly how is that my problem? You shipped a damaged book. You admitted you shipped a damaged book. And you won't even credit it? Unacceptable.

So maybe my principles got the best of me, but while I decided to give them the opportunity to clarify, I also made it clear in the most polite manner possible that this is unacceptable. And made it perfectly clear that if they're unwilling to even credit for a damaged product & expect me to understand that, then they'll have to understand that I'm taking my business elsewhere. I know they probably don't care. I'm only about a $120/month customer for them (unless there's a pricey variant that I really want). One of thousands. But if this is how they handle 1 damaged $5 product, I won't stick around to find out how they handle a damaged order or a damaged high-dollar variant or on the occasion that I order something more expensive & it arrives damaged.

TL;DR

I think I just threw the most polite temper tantrum of my life over a $5 book because apparently it's my problem if I'm shipped a damaged item. So screw them. I'll take my business elsewhere.

almost every copy of civil war 2 was damaged. not just DCBS. Everywhere

That's fine, but I don't care. I'm not selling the product. I'm buying it, and if I walked into a shop where every copy was busted, I wouldn't buy any of them and I'd walk out. And if I don't get one that's not got a handful of giant glaring creases, so be it. But I won't pay for it.

Cause when you ship a busted product, I don't care if the carrier, the distributor or their own employees damaged it, it's not the customer's problem. They're the seller. It's their job to take it up with the distributor. or the carrier. Or their employees. Whatever. Whole lot of "not my problem". Credit it or accept returns from anyone that complains & take it up with the distributor. But you don't leave the customer holding the bag. Simple as that.

Really your kidding right? You didn't just throw a huge fit over this did you?

You cant have just gone nuclear over this. Its a production issue. All the books have it.

DCBS has been nothing but perfect for me for years.

I didn't go nuclear nor did I throw a fit. I was exceptionally polite. Except that I simply won't buy from a company that, when a complaint gets lodged, even if it's a production issue, won't do anything about it & just simply expects me to pay for a book that I wouldn't have bought under any circumstances had it been off the shelf. Because that's their problem to deal with Diamond about. And Diamond's problem to deal with the publisher/printer about. Not the customer's problem to just "deal with it".

If they can't replace it, I totally understand. But expecting me to still pay for it & just live with it is unacceptable. I'll send the damn thing back. I simply don't want it. And I don't care if it's production damage, shipping damage, handling damage or an errant employee. Not My Problem.

So where you going next TFAW, Midtown, Mile High, MCS?

Order the same book from all 4 and see if they take your return?

That way you can find the online shop you like.

I think its well within your rights to expect a credit.

DCBS should be doing the exact thing with Marvel, expecting them to be returnable .

I'm simply moving my business to another mail order company. And as long as they have reasonable prices, pack & ship well & do right on the rare occasion where I've got a complaint (which, based on my track record, will be maybe 1-2 times every 4-5 years), they'll keep my business until they expect me to say thanks when they ship a damaged product & refuse to do anything about it.

I think you are missing the boat. If you order that exact book from all 4 of the above you should have your ideal online shop.

Just see which one takes the book back.

I think you are missing the boat. If you order that exact book from all 4 of the above you should have your ideal online shop.

 

Just see which one takes the book back.

I fail to see see what the point would be. I'm not interested in having more copies of a damaged book & wasting a bunch of money just to find out which store is less of a richard about accepting returns or making a customer whole when there's a problem. I'm simply interested in severing my ties with any company that leaves the customer holding the bag on anything that they order that arrives damaged by refusing to do anything about it.

Here's how it works in my book: If I'm happy with the services provided, they keep my business. I'm unhappy, I'll politely complain. If my complaint is treated seriously & something is done to rectify the situation, they'll keep my business. If it isn't, they lose my business & I'm on to the next company.

almost every copy of civil war 2 was damaged. not just DCBS. Everywhere

How does that happen?

I have been using them for 10 years and love them. If I get an occasional damaged book I just roll with it because of the convenience and price point. Most of the time the books they send me are in better shape then the ones at the stores. I get some from them and also hit the stores in my area for some monthly books.

almost every copy of civil war 2 was damaged. not just DCBS. Everywhere

 

How does that happen?

Either Diamond borks them up in handling, or the printer borks them (how this is a production flaw with color breaking creases along the middle of the spine, I'll never know) and both are too cheap to eat the cost of the screw up and ships them anyways, hoping nobody complains.

Except I don't buy that this flaw was production. Not one bit.

almost every copy of civil war 2 was damaged. not just DCBS. Everywhere

 

How does that happen?

It doesn't. i got 75 copies for my store and none of them were damaged.

It's not clear to me that you ever asked for a credit, you said you asked for a replacement.

Apparently this is something they are unable to do. And I don't see anywhere in their reply where they said "it's not our problem".

It's not clear to me that you ever asked for a credit, you said you asked for a replacement.

 

Apparently this is something they are unable to do. And I don't see anywhere in their reply where they said "it's not our problem".

Let me re-post their response, since you missed that part the first time:

Hi Joe,

The remaining copies we have in stock are in the same condition, which tells me that this is how we received all of these books. We apologize, but we will not be able to offer a replacement or credit.

Thank you for your business!

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

XXXXXX

They won't replace it & they won't credit it. That's kind of the definition of "not our problem".

You're correct that I didn't ask for a credit. I did only ask for a replacement, however their 2nd response about not offering replacement OR credit kind of directly implies "too bad, not our problem". Sure, I could still offer to ship the original back, but seeing as how I was told "no credit", why would I waste my money shipping it back just to not get credit for it anyway? That's just throwing good money after bad, as far as I'm concerned.

It's not clear to me that you ever asked for a credit, you said you asked for a replacement.

 

Apparently this is something they are unable to do. And I don't see anywhere in their reply where they said "it's not our problem".

 

Let me re-post their response, since you missed that part the first time:

 

Hi Joe,

 

The remaining copies we have in stock are in the same condition, which tells me that this is how we received all of these books. We apologize, but we will not be able to offer a replacement or credit.

 

Thank you for your business!

 

Please let us know if you have any questions.

 

Thanks,

XXXXXX

 

They won't replace it & they won't credit it. That's kind of the definition of "not our problem".

 

You're correct that I didn't ask for a credit. I did only ask for a replacement, however their 2nd response about not offering replacement OR credit kind of directly implies "too bad, not our problem". Sure, I could still offer to ship the original back, but seeing as how I was told "no credit", why would I waste my money shipping it back just to not get credit for it anyway? That's just throwing good money after bad, as far as I'm concerned.

Joe,

I know the feeling. I'm currently going through a similar situation, however I have not been updated on the status of the remaining books in their inventory. I received 2 copies of items I was planning on getting signed tomorrow and slabbed soon as there will be a witness at the event. Now, I'm screwed out of that and the books sit in limbo as well. They were unwilling to respond to emails in a timely manner last week to offer any resolution and don't have any phone number contact to complete business in a speedy fashion. The artist event also has a discounted rate for signatures than his normal convention rate.

So where you going next TFAW, Midtown, Mile High, MCS?

 

Order the same book from all 4 and see if they take your return?

 

That way you can find the online shop you like.

Midtown will absolutely refund your money on a bad book. Its happened to me twice and they didn't even ask me to return the books (not that they, or anybody else, would want them).

 

Either Diamond borks them up in handling...

Kind of crazy how badly Diamond ships books; they basically overstuff boxes with nothing else to protect from shipping damage.

Mint freaks... You ought a try collecting GA

All kidding aside, I have to agree with you that a refund should be in order. As was said, the whole run is damaged. Looks like a like you will have a hole in your collection unless you are willing to settle for a lessor copy.

Don't cut your nose off to spite your face.