Dear Harper Collins,

I just purchased two copies of David McCandless' stunning Visual Miscellaneum and, unfortunately, they seem to be misprinted. For example, pages 60-62 have little to no explanations of what the graphics represent. I've seen in online comments that other people have similar misprinted editions and that you've generously replaced them. Would you be willing to do so for me as well?

I'm planning on giving both copies as Christmas gifts, and I would really love to give my peeps the correct version if possible. Or, if the time crunch makes a Christmas delivery impossible, I'd like them to eventually be able to exchange the misprint version. Thanks so much for your help- even the flawed book is spectacular!

Best,

M

*****

Good morning,

If you return the items to the store in which they were purchased, the store should be able to offer you an exchange or refund. If you purchased these books directly from HarperCollins, please call customer service at 1-800-331-3761.

Thank you,

Laura Miceli

HarperCollinsPublishers

customer service representative

Dear Borders,

I meant to write earlier, and thank you for replacing my order (#18526271) so quickly when the USPS failed to deliver it. Your customer service is excellent.

However, I do have a complaint about the merchandise: your website lists The Sibley Guide to Birds and its companion The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior as hardcover editions for $39.95 each. I chose to order from you because hardcover editions were important to me. These particular hardcovers are really beautiful volumes and I was giving them to a person who treasures beautiful books. They're also a little tricky to find together at one retailer, and since Borders had both in stock, that's where I placed my order. The books I received were actually the paperback editions, which was very disappointing. Even more so: the MSRP of the paperback Sibley Guide to Birds I received is only $35.00, not the $39.95 I was charged.

If I had known I was going to get paperbacks, I would have placed my order with Amazon, where the total for Sibley's Bird Life and Behavior ($26.37), Guide to Birds ($26.37) and Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (13.57) would have been $66.31. For the same order at Borders, I paid $106.10.

I ended up keeping the undesired paperbacks instead of returning them because I needed them for the gift, and also because I really appreciated the quick replacement order and recognized that you lost money in our transaction. But it still seems a little like a bait-and-switch, and I regret that shopping at Amazon would have saved me $39.81. While I would greatly appreciate anything you could do to make this up to me, I must insist that you not advertise the paperbacks as hardcovers on your website. Deliberate or not, it is misleading, and you took advantage of me to the tune of nearly $40.

Sincerely,

M

***

Dear M,

Thank you for contacting Borders.com regarding merchandise included in your shipment that you did not order.

I am sorry for any inconvenience you have experienced as a result of receiving paperbacks instead of hardcovers. In partnership with our vendors, we are careful to ensure that all shipments contain exactly what is ordered. I apologize that this was not the case with your order. We have issued a refund of $24.00 to your credit card which is a 30% discount for both titles. This is the replacement order #18741668.

We want to thank you for taking the time to give us feedback regarding our website. We value and rely on feedback so that we can evaluate our programs and services and make changes to best meet our customers' needs. I apologize that our site did not meet your expectations.

Thank you for shopping at Borders.com. We will forward your feedback to the our e-commerce and marketing team members. Please feel free to contact us with any other questions or comments.

Sincerely,

Kathy
Borders.com Customer Care

Dear Xxxxxx,

I ordered xxxxxxxxxx as a birthday gift for my boyfriend (order #18526271) on October 15. FedEx estimated delivery for Oct. 23, but today I tracked the package and found that USPS claimed to have delivered it yesterday (Oct. 21). I did not receive the package. USPS claims to have delivered it at 9:00am; nobody had to sign for it. My boyfriend was home at the time, and USPS never buzzed our apartment. I've already called FedEx and USPS about this, the latter of whom gave me a case number (CA100287705). I'm really distressed- it's J's xxth birthday on xxx and I've been thinking for months about what to get him. I don't usually order from Xxxxxxx, but I was so happy to find all [the stuff I was looking for] at your online store, at low prices to boot! Is there anything you can do to help me get the xxxxx in hand before the big day? Help me take on USPS? Send a replacement order?

*****

Dear M,

Thank you for contacting XXXX about your order.

I am sorry to hear that the items were not actually received. If you give us a call at 800.770.7811, a representative will be able to assist you with the lost in transit process. We will be able to reorder the items with free 2-3 day shipping for you.

We look forward to hearing from you. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Jessica
XXXXX Customer Care

*****

[a follow-up phone call resulted in a replacement order with free 1-2 day shipping! Thanks, XXXXX, for the excellent customer service! Look for all the x's to be replaced after Nov. 6.]