Where is my book?

[ladyofastolat]

Where. Is. My. Book?

I ordered book 2 and book 4 of the Lymond Chronicles 9 days ago, from a UK bookseller. (The library has the other four titles in the series.) They acknowledged receipt of my order, though annoyingly, they said that I should allow 5 - 7 days for delivery. 7 days later, I got book 4, but still no book 2. I eked out book one as long as I possibly could, but stopping in the last 150 pages is humanly impossible, so I finished it yesterday. Today I have a day off, and hours in which I could be reading... so where is my book?

What's this "allow 7 days for delivery" affair, anyway? Is sounds like an excuse for sitting on my order for a few days, not bothering to do anything about it. The book I received on Wednesday was posted five days after they received my order. And can't they guess that someone ordering book two of a series is probably half way through book one at the time of ordering, and desperate for it? Are they trying to torture me deliberately, or something?

Or maybe this is my punishment for saying I'd rather give up books than the internet.

I am posting this because experience has shown that the best way to cause a late person to arrive is to say, "that's it. We'll send out a search party." This post is my search party. So, book, you jolly well better turn up within the next half hour, or I will... I will... *snarls in a threatening and incoherent fashion.*

Comments

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

What's this "allow 7 days for delivery" affair, anyway? Is sounds like an excuse for sitting on my order for a few days, not bothering to do anything about it.

With Amazon, I strongly suspect it's to give people a reason to use "priority shipping", which they charge an arm and a leg for. The one time I used it, I did get the books very quickly; but I'd rather they made "normal shipping" a bit quicker.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

This was an Amazon marketplace seller. I normally get stuff incredibly quickly through them, since - like ebay sellers - they are eager to get good feedback.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Oh dear....

Can't help feeling that this is indeed some sort of retribution!

Why does the library have all the books apart from 2 and 4? This strikes me as almost equally irritating...?

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

It is very irritating - and not at all uncommon. I rant very frequently about it to the people in charge of adult stock. I argue strongly that we may as well chuck out the entire series, if we're lacking just one volume (assuming it's the sort of series when you need to read the books in order, not like the Famous Five, or something.) In the children's library service, we have better standards. *smug*

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I must confess that is one of the main reasons that I kind of stopped going to libraries. I reckoned if I was going to have to buy some of the series anyway (or pay the ordering-in fee and wait for it for ages) I'd rather buy the whole lot, then I'd have it all in one place if I wanted to re-read it... :-(

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I doubt I'd use a library much if I didn't work on one. I don't even use it much now that I do work in one. (Though, to be fair to the library, many of the books I want to read aren't in print in Britian.) I use the library in order to sample an author or series, and if I like what I see, I then buy the rest. I am impatient, and hate waiting even an hour to get my hands on the book I've suddenly decided I want to read.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

I sympathise! When I read the series for the first time, it was still available in pb in bookstores but I remember walking from one end of town to the other searching for particular volumes. I seem to remember having to find the early ones in second hand stores, and in fact my volume 1 is from a different cover set than all the rest, which is also tiresome. This, of course, was in the days pre Amazon or ABE or other useful enterprises. Amazon.ca is, fortunately for me, one of the most efficient and wonderful institutions. I've ordered a book from them on a Saturday which arrived on Monday - and that was in the regular post category, not even priority! I'll keep my fingers crossed that your volume 2 arrives speedily!! (If I were not 7000 some-odd miles away, I'd lend you mine)

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I well remember the bad old days before Amazon et al were there to plug the gap. I remember trawling endlessly through all the second-hand bookshops of Cheltenham and Oxford when I was 11, trying to assemble a complete set of Three Musketeers books. I was more patient in those days - I had to be. It could take me several years to track down a series, and didn't have much pocket money when I was a child, so it took a long time to assemble the money to buy books, even when I'd found them. Now I always want them NOW!

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I am posting this because experience has shown that the best way to cause a late person to arrive is to say, "that's it. We'll send out a search party." This post is my search party. So, book, you jolly well better turn up within the next half hour, or I will... I will... *snarls in a threatening and incoherent fashion.*

Did it work?

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

No. :-(