Blurb Forums

Another A+++ mark from another happy customer here...

I’m not super sure if it’s okay to post this, as there’s already quite a few topics, but over the last few days I’ve read a whole lot of negativity on these forums from people getting really frustrated with shipping over the Holiday season.  I wanted to share my story, as an aid to those thinking of ordering or waiting on books. I was really discouraged by all the negative comments (from angry, angry people), and wasn’t hoping for a huge success. I just found out about Blurb, from a friend who hasn’t yet ordered a book, on December 6. Thinking that a book filled with photos of a trip to New York I took with my mum this year would be a perfect Christmas gift for her, I decided to go for it. I didn’t have the time to get it finished for the cut-off for regular shipping, so had to shoot for the December 12 deadline for express shipping. I spent about 4 hours with Booksmart, with only a few frustrations (mainly to do with it being not quite customizable enough – it’s a great beginners tool, but I was looking for a bit more. Regardless, I came out with a design I was happy with ), and uploaded and ordered my book at 9am on December 12. My book cost was $28, and my shipping cost was $34. sure, kind of crappy, but it was my own damned fault that I waited so long   i was anxious, as my "shipping date" of December 20th came and my status page just kept saying "processing". Lord only knows what that means! Well, December 20 at 6pm I logged on to the website to find that it had been shipped. I clicked on the little UPS tracking number and immediately became obsessed with watching my book as it traveled on its big trip across the US and in to Canada (4 states and a country switch!) Fun :) The morning of the 21st I woke up, and logged on to UPS again to find that it was in my town and soon to be out for delivery! I had paid for 3 day delivery, so this was very exciting. i’d worried I wouldn’t get it because we were out for the day, and I had work in the evening. At 6pm I got a text message from my boyfriend that simply said, "UPS!!!"  He and the friend who showed me Blurb in the first place brought the book down to work a few agonizing hours later.  They were petrified it would be wrong, as the shipping address on the waybill was to somebody in Toronto (I’ll e-mail Blurb about this later with his name just to make sure he did get his order…), but when I opened the box….well, it couldn’t have been more perfect  I had already warned my mum that her Christmas present might be late (not a huge deal, she’s an adult, she can handle that!), but it’s here, and it’s absolutely perfect. Blurb, you did a GREAT job, and I’m totally happy. Worth every penny, and I’ll definitely be ordering again. And my friend who turned me on to the website will be ordering wedding books for his brother’s wedding (he’s taking the photos of it this weekend in Mexico!).

Now for pictures, because everybody likes pictures ^_:

Even the text printed on dark photos turned out perfectly.

So, sorry this was so long, but let this be an encouragement to all of those worried by the negative comments that seem to be abounding: I had a GREAT experience with Blurb, and will definitely be using them again. I hope that everybody’s printing/delivering issues are resolved!

Great looking book, happy for you and appreciate the comforting words as I will soon be ordering my first book too ;)