Comments on: Showcase Superman Family Error: The Biggest Problem With Ordering Online

By: Johanna

Johanna — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:03:39 +0000

Thanks very much for getting the real info and sharing it with us. I can’t even guess at how many copies Amazon sold and how many corrected editions will be showing up at their door.

By: Captain Spaulding

Captain Spaulding — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:32:19 +0000

I explicitly asked Amazon this (helped by the fact that I ordered it) and provided a link about the recall (not this site since I didn’t want to be confrontational). They thanked me for letting them know, say they haven’t heard from the publisher about a recall and I can return the item within 30 days for a full refund.

So the answer right now is you can definitely get a refund but there may be problems trying to do an exchange.

By: Mark Cook

Mark Cook — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:46:05 +0000

The other option would be to order it online from a company that operates brick & mortar stores as well, as generally you can do returns in-store. Chapters does it here in Canada (returned some stuff there myself yesterday), it looks like Barnes & Noble does it in the US. It seems that whether or not their prices are competitive depends on the item, though.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 11:48:41 +0000

I’ve had mixed results returning things to Amazon — lately, they’ve been having trouble shipping with adequate protection, and when I’ve complained about receiving damaged goods, they’ve shipped replacements with the same lack of protection, so I get another damaged item. But I’ve never had to complain about a misprint, so I don’t know if it would be easy to get a corrected replacement from them. You’re right, I should give them the benefit of the doubt.

By: Steve Flanagan

Steve Flanagan — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:30:19 +0000

It’s not just books bought online that are a problem. I bought one of the O’Neil/Adams GL/GA volumes from a local comic shop, and found it had pages bound out of order. I took it back, but the shop had to backorder a replacement from Diamond … who sent another defective copy.

By: Michael May

Michael May — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 04:59:00 +0000

I’ll echo Chris and Darren. I’ve had good experiences returning things to Amazon and they’ve always picked up the shipping.

By: Darren Witt

Darren Witt — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:49:53 +0000

Hmm… my experience with massive online book retailers has been almost uniformly positive. Extrapolating from that, i don’t doubt that both chapters.indigo.ca and amazon.ca would accept the book back, and pay for shipping, no questions asked.

Maybe you are talking/dealing with other/smaller retailers who would be (understandably) reluctant to foot the bill?

Its one of the great benefits of the big retailers (plus up north here in Smithers, the nearest shop is 2 hours plus away, and not a great selection).

By: Chris G.

Chris G. — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:34:37 +0000

First, it’s good that DC’s reprinting the book with the error corrected — this weekend I read the Walt Simonson Thor collection with its out-of-order pages, and it was more than a little confusing.

Second, I’ve had good experiences getting replacements from Amazon for this sort of thing, so all is not lost for anyone who bought this online. This might be a case where the giant online retailer is a better option than a smaller outfit…

By: Anthony

Anthony — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:03:03 +0000

Hmph… I *did* order this book from Amazon.com, and my copy just arrived in the mail today. Given the somewhat-bent shape it arrived in (folded in half to fit in my apartment-lobby mailbox), plus the points raised in the post above, I’m not sure it’ll be worth trying to send it back to Amazon for a corrected copy.

After flipping through my copy, it’s two swapped pages in this book—the first page of two stories in “LOIS LANE” #2 are swapped with each other, but the rest of the stories seem to be in normal order.

By: James Schee

James Schee — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:31:22 +0000

Dang that does indeed suck, if I’d ordered it I’d be in the same boat.

I lucked out on this a number of years back, when I’d bought a LSH archive online that was recalled because of coloring errors. Someone at DC saw my post about it and e-mailed me about it and sent me out a replacement copy. (twice, as some asst. sent me another flawed copy the first time)

If I ever get to a con again, I’ve promised that person from DC a free bottle water.