It: The 25th Anniversary Special Limited Edition - Collecting Discussion Thread

[George at C-Springs]

#186 anyone?

If you're waiting for it, I know where it is ... safely with Erin Wells, waiting for a remarque. Now whether it's supposed to be there is another question. She received the package with my tracking number, but the book inside was 186 instead of my 414. I just wrote Brian and Mindy to figure out what happened (wrong book or wrong tracking number), but also wanted to make sure #186 owner is aware. Also, if it is the wrong book, that means my #414 is floating around out there ...

#414, anyone?

[wizardsrainbow]

Both copies sold almost instantly...guess I priced WAY too low

[bdwyer19]

Any chance you're getting more David? And maybe selling at the same price???

[George at C-Springs]

David, you priced fairly ... much more important!

[LostAlivE]

Eek! One of those copies is #71, which is "my" number...I emailed him...

Were you able to get it the #71?

[Rahfa]

Eek! One of those copies is #71, which is "my" number...I emailed him...

Were you able to get it the #71?

Nope...so sad! Haha...no big deal. The recent surge in S/Ls that I don't really want had already ended my streak, so I haven't been looking...I was going to make an exception in this case because the price was right, and IT is a much more legit book than Blockade Billy, for example.

[tippy4]

S/L IT with a $649 BIN.

Cheapest BIN on ebay!

I might just buy it to resell seeing that have been selling as high as $799.

[mistercrowley]

Bought a copy of the IT portfolio to go along with my gift edition. Now I just need a copy of the signed limited at a good price.

[Randall Flagg]

S/L IT with a $649 BIN.

Cheapest BIN on ebay!

I might just buy it to resell seeing that have been selling as high as $799.

You should have bought the two from Betts that sold for $525!

[bdwyer19]

Just got my email from CD, that those of us on the waiting list of a limited edition IT are out of luck. Not really surprised, but still bummed!

[Lou Creed]

Make sure everyone flips though and looks over the pages of their S/L. Some of mine were messed up in printing.

Just wanted to say the Cemetery Dance took care of this issue immediately and my replacement copy is perfect. Can't stop looking at it.

[mistercrowley]

Lou what exactly was wrong with the pages? Were they damaged?

[Lou Creed]

A few pages had some creases like paper will in a printer jam. These pages had double printing slightly offset so it about hurt your eyes to look at. You couldn't tell there was damage unless you flipped though the pages and it would of been easy for me to skip over those pages and I might have never known there was anything wrong. Just luck I got it when I did.

[tippy4]

S/L IT with a $649 BIN.

Cheapest BIN on ebay!

I might just buy it to resell seeing that have been selling as high as $799.

You should have bought the two from Betts that sold for $525!

I saw those...but then saw that Rahfa wanted his #.

Getting soft in my old age.

[Brian James Freeman]

A few pages had some creases like paper will in a printer jam. These pages had double printing slightly offset so it about hurt your eyes to look at. You couldn't tell there was damage unless you flipped though the pages and it would of been easy for me to skip over those pages and I might have never known there was anything wrong. Just luck I got it when I did.

Sounds like a special 3-D text version to me! Glad the replacement copy arrived okay, thanks for letting us know about the problem!

Brian

[Rahfa]

S/L IT with a $649 BIN.

Cheapest BIN on ebay!

I might just buy it to resell seeing that have been selling as high as $799.

You should have bought the two from Betts that sold for $525!

I saw those...but then saw that Rahfa wanted his #.

Getting soft in my old age.

Haha...thanks for the pity - but David had already sold them, and felt no pity as he shipped it to somebody else! Haha,...j/k...he said he sold them within minutes of the posting.

Frankly, I've gotten away from trying to match up the number anyway (though I would have bought this copy)...there's so many new s/ls that I have no interest in, that it's made it difficult to care that much. Obviously, I'll get a matching DT II if it ever shows up, but I wasn't heartbroken to miss out on IT.

[Merlin1958]

Sorry, I know this is self-serving, but I can't resist. I am just so jazzed to have received this, words fail me. So, if you can indulge:

[mistercrowley]

I'm jealous

[shaq]

Mine is sitting happily on my bookcase, thanks to speedy cd delivery guys, with a gift edition slowly coming to me from amazon for a very reasonable $78!

[biomieg]

I'm jealous

I'm not! But I'm happy for you, Bill. Great addition to your collection!

[George at C-Springs]

Just found/figured out my #186 vs #414 issue, and it's good info to know for everyone. In working the problem last week, I spoke with both Dan & Mindy at CD. The first thing I found out from Dan was that CD prints shipping docs for UPS orders first; if you choose USPS, your stuff goes out later. I had paid USPS as when I ordered last year I was still at my APO in Germany (no UPS). He also mentioned that my account showed a shipping hold; I had put one on during the move to C-Springs, but asked Mindy to remove it back at the end of November when I updated my address. Additionally, Dan said he thought that my #414 had been requested earlier by someone else ... though a possibility I thought it was doubtful, as I'd requested it first day. And besides, wouldn't I have been told it wasn't available before now? Especially when I ordered the matching portfolio?

Here was a surprise answer ... CD doesn't track S/L number/letter requests. They're not looked at until shipping time. I was amazed at this, as (to me) it seems a simple matter of creating a doc or spreadsheet and filling in the requested numbers as they're received. This way if you request a number already taken, you'd find out quickly and be able to request another, if you liked. Mindy said, however, that's not possible due to the volume of orders and manpower available. Still, hard to believe its not done.

As it turns out, this stuff combined together caused my problem. First, Mindy never removed my shipping hold. Because of that, when it came time to ship, my request for #414, despite being placed on Day 1, wasn't looked at at all and thus sent to someone else. Because the requested numbers aren't tracked, I didn't find out I wasn't getting it until I got the e-mail from Erin Wells saying she'd received the wrong book.

Now it's not the end of the world, it's only a number and something I would have liked to do. Hell, maybe I'll start looking for more 186s (and will probably have better luck than with 414s). What bothered me most, I think, was finding out from someone other than CD that my requested number wasn't coming, then finding out that requests aren't even looked at until shipping time. And, of course, even with everything combined, I still would have got the number if the shipping hold had just been removed as requested.

Mindy did send out an e-mail on my behalf trying to find where 414 went, offering a lower number plus some extra goodies for it's return, but to no avail. Of course it will probably show up about three minutes after the remarque in 186 is completed.

I'm not mad, just a little surprised. You just assume that when you request something specific that if it's not available you'll find out; the surprise is to find out the request isn't tracked or even looked at until the item is getting ready to roll out the door. That leaves no time at all for addressing any issues ... even something simple like, "I told you I moved a month ago; again, please uncheck the box that says "Hold" and send me my books!"

[Randall Flagg]

A very verbose description of what seems like a very unique problem. Sorry to hear of the trouble. I know I received an email from CD asking about the "missing" number, and I was quite surprised and impressed at the length they would go to in trying to find a specific number to please/appease a customer.

[Brian James Freeman]

Hi George,

Obviously Mindy didn't mean to leave your order on hold. She's very sorry and feels very bad about it.

As she mentioned, with 115,000 orders shipped and 60 books published in the last 2 years, it's not possible for us to make multiple databases to track requested numbers. She can barely keep up with all of the orders -- each one needs to be approved by an actual person -- and the 100+ customer emails she receives each and every day. If we only published 1 or 2 or 3 books a year, it would be much easier to track every number request in spreadsheets and databases and cross-check them as orders were placed, etc.

So the reason we put the numbers on the actual order is so the requests are right there in front of the warehouse staff. The orders are sorted and numbered accordingly when the book is published. This way there's no chance a page from spreadsheet will be overlooked or a chart might get lost, etc. The number is right there as someone assembles your order. (It's actually pretty rare that we get multiple requests for the same number, and these are dealt with easily when the orders are printed.)

This system has worked as designed for more than 200,000 orders since we switched to the new order management system and yours is the first time I've heard of where someone didn't get the number they wanted because of a situation like this. We are all very sorry that you didn't get your requested number. Sorry again.

Brian

[George at C-Springs]

No worries Brian, like I said it's not the end of the world, just a number written on a page. Dan and Mindy were both helpful in trying to get the problem solved, it just didn't work out. I'd been asked about the search, so just wanted to let folks know ... and like RF said, I tend to be verbose :-)

[Brian James Freeman]

No worries Brian, like I said it's not the end of the world, just a number written on a page. Dan and Mindy were both helpful in trying to get the problem solved, it just didn't work out. I'd been asked about the search, so just wanted to let folks know ... and like RF said, I tend to be verbose :-)

Yeah, I just wish it hadn't happened. I still have hope we might hear back from someone who didn't open their book yet and we'll get 414 back!

Brian