Blurb Forums

A completely unacceptable response from Blurb for a failure of the chosen system of distribution.

When complaining about the non- delivery of a book I have paid for, the customer service department acknowledge the inconvenience to me but claim that there is nothing that Blurb can do. The shucking off of the responsibility by Blurb is completely unacceptable. The contract for delivery was negotiated between Blurb and its shipping agents and the legal obligation is for the shipping agent to live up to its contractual obligations to Blurb.

At no point was I a party to that shipping arrangement agreement between Blurb and its chosen shipping agent and I have no power to vary the terms of that agreement. Only Blurb have the information that generated the requisition to their shipping agents, so that my order could be collected from the print works and delivered to me. The delivery has not been made and it is not acceptable for Blurb to claim they can do nothing.

The Blurb customer service response:

Thanks for taking the time to contact us. I’m so sorry that your order hasn’t arrived yet! Unfortunately, there is no way for us to track a Swiss Post package. We offer Swiss Post as an economical, yet dependable, alternative to our trackable UPS shipping option. If you would like to track your packages, we suggest choosing UPS as the shipping method. I am so sorry to say that there is there is no way to reimburse you for your order at this time. This is because there is no way for us to further our investigation into what happened to the package. This is a new shipping option for us so we are happy with any feedback you can offer us as well. I truly apologize for the inconvenience this may cause you, and please let me know if you have any other questions.

My response:
1. Blurb originate a shipping order… on foot of a book order from me and the requisite upfront payment from me.
2. The order was placed by me on 9th October 2007
3. Blurb acknowledge my order in an e-mail message dated 10th October 2007 and append the order number 79714
4. The book has not arrived, despite the order on my Blurb account stating that it has been ‘completed’.
5. I write to notify Blurb of the non-delivery of my pre-paid order on the 30th October 2007
6. Mr Mertan writes back to me, on behalf of Blurb, saying nothing of any relevance to help resolve this matter
7. I conclude that Blurb don’t care about this non-delivery of my order.

My feedback on this ‘service’ follows:

Mr X’s response is as disappointing as it is insulting.
Blurb originated the order to ship via their own shipping agents.
Blurb should notify their shipping agent that-non delivery is now apparent.
Blurb should check to see that my order was actually printed.
Blurb should check to see that my order was actually despatched.
Blurb should adjust the order status on my account to reflect the fact that it is incomplete.
Blurb should investigate the non-delivery and determine whatever holes exist in the service so that they can be plugged.
Blurb should provide clients with a reasonable time-frame and set procedure for dispute resolution, rather than providing clients with the nonsense sent to me by Mr X.
Blurb should have all complaints about its services supervised by senior managers so as to keep them abreast of incompetently dealt with issues.
Blurb should train all of its customer service staff so as to avoid the gratuitously insulting replies like that which I have just received from Mr X.
Blurb should refund my money immediately, and in full, because I have no wish to rely on Blurb, especially without any obvious mechanism to correct the failures of Blurb.
Finally, Blurb should recognise that some businesses (such as my photographic business) are likely to be using its POD publishing services and that damage to a third party’s client relationships (my clients) is likely to result from Blurb’s low standards, with the concomitant loss of current and future business. I acknowledge that it was my own free choice to use Blurb (based upon the claims made by Blurb’s own advertising of its services) but I was in error and I am unwilling to commit any other work to the Blurb organisation.

Net result:
No response from Blurb’s Mr X nor does a resolution seem likely as Blurb have effectively washed their hands of the issue for an indeterminate period.

This is completely unacceptable and because of the nature of the the internet and business conducted over it, it is unlikely that I will be able to recover my losses. In my country, this is something that could be prosecuted in a civil court of law and it is known as trading fraudulently.

Thanks for your comments, Lee.

Customer services were still working when I had replied by return of e-mail and I have had no other response. Sadly, I have now also seen similar responses from Blurb; to this particular issue. This head-in-the-sand approach to the failure to get books that were ordered and paid for by customers, to them in a timely way, is the responsibility of Blurb… not the customer who was foolish enough to use the service.

As to OTT… making my complaint public may warn other potential users of the Blurb delivery system that was orgabnised with Swiss Post, that there is a very real problem. It may also serve to show the Blurb directorate that refusing to accept responsibility for their actions is utter nonsense.

I have never accepted the risk of using a ‘non-guaranteed’ postal service. I only accepted a lower cost delivery service, that was non-trackable, otherwise there would be no point in paying for the service; would there? There is no procedure in place for determining when a book can be considered to have been non-delivered.

In the face of the widespread use of proof of delivery slips and client signatures, which are commonly used by all courier and postal services, it is ridiculously easy to check if client is being untruthful, where they may have already taken delivery of a book and are then trying to pretend that it was never delivered.

There were more than enough complaints about the UPS delivery service to suggest that delivery is still an issue and obviously something that Blurb ought to be adressing. As for paying $183 to send a book from Holland to the UK, when the book is only valued at £16, I would have to be clinically insane before I would agree to paying such an extortionate levy. The fee was later modified to £9.24 and that is still 3 times the price of the Swiss Post service.

Blurb negotiated the delivery arrangements and it is disingenuous for Blurb to claim that it is my fault and then tacitly implying that is because for I chose to use the wrong service. I paid for my order to be delivered and nowhere does Blurb state that non-delivery is the likely consequence of choosing to use the Swiss Post service. The self-satisfied smug customer service approach claiming that it is in the fault of Swiss Post is egregious business practice at best and lazy disinterest at worst.

It is my contention that Blurb should be trying to find out why delivery is problematic (rather than blaming the victims of a service that has yet to be provided despite being paid for) putting a procedure in place for when things go wrong and clearly stating when I may consider the book to have been undelivered. This is not rocket science and I absolutely refuse to accept that the customer is at fault for using the services provided by the vendor.

The filing of a complaint with the CC company works if you pay by credit card. I paid by debit card and that is not subject to the same rules but even if it was the case, withBlurb apparently unable to state when non delivery is agreed upon, what chance does one have of succeeding in a claim. for all I know, the postman has been instructed and is presently walking all the way from Zurich to my address so I have to accept that he may yet arrive in time for New Year celebrations in 2008.

Cheers!
Jeff

Hello lcarreira;

Just so there’s no confusion for new viewers here… The shipping charges issue was a system glitch that Blurb put right… As far as I know – no-one was out-of-pocket as a result of that…

But, to the main issue, as much as I sympathise with Jeff’s position, you are bang-on-the-button about non-trackable mail; and that’s the downside of opting for Blurb’s European EMS service… It’s not a risk I would take; but I understand why Blurb wanted to offer it – user demand!

Still hope that Jeff manages to resolve his issue with Blurb…

Cheers;

Lee

So Jay, did you bother to read this bit (below) right on the shipping information page. Seems pretty straight forward and up front to me.

Cut and pasted from the Pricing and shipping page …

Please note: If you select a nontrackable shipping method, Blurb will be unable to assist in the recovery of any package that is lost or missing in transit. (Seriously. No exceptions.)

Also, how do you know it isn’t just late? Mail services occasionally deliver late and some times not at all.  Responsibility can hardly be laid on the sender for the posts failure to deliver.  That’s why tracking is offered, and why it costs more.

Jeremy:
Thank you for your sympathetic e-mail and the resolution you have offered. An e-mail response awaits you. :)

yonosey:
Responsibility for non-delivery can hardly be blamed on the purchaser… can it?

bluemax2:
Business is, essentially, a simple matter of mutually agreed transactions. ‘A’ offers goods and services. ‘B’ pays – transaction complete. Of course, that statement is a huge oversimplification of business 101 but it does illustrate the relationship which is formed between the client and the vendor.

I had used an offered service without fully understanding the implications of it failing. That was my mistake and I have already said as much but you should be clear that it does not excuse the chosen service for failing to deliver… the crucial issue being that I had paid for something that has not arrived.

The problem arises with a system that is not ready for prime-time. This is where I see Blurb having all of the responsibility to install a robust method of delivery. Where are the relevant checks and balances to ensure that the agreed performance is being delivered and what of the regular scrutiny to ensure that everything is working as intended? Any prudent business would consider these measures as an essential part of the provision of goods and services.

Clients of Blurb have no means of letting the Swiss Post service know that they are failing to deliver the goods. Blurb has no way of knowing if the goods are being delivered other than by the complaints of clients. Blurb has no dispute resolution methodology in operation (that is clear to clients) other than by dint of a laborious case by case basis utilising customer support and this only takes place once matters have already gone wrong. There is no established endpoint where-non-delivery is deemed by Blurb, to have occurred. This is a fire-fighting approach to the management of the issue, which seeks to put out fires as they arise.

Better management could have predicted these issues would arise and then it would have sought to put standardised procedures in place to deal with this specific issue as and when it arises. The obvious corollary is that data on the Swiss Post non-delivery frequency, issue resolution options offered, and accepted, and client satisfaction… will have be gathered and a coherent strategy for dealing with future issues is then derived from a wealth of past experience.

In my experience, your “suck it up” and “grow up” comments are precisely the sort of remarks made by people who own firmly closed minds. I would never want to be in the position of having nothing left to learn.

Wow Bluemax,

As much as I agree that so many times we hear nowadays of people suing each other, and blaming the businesses for their idiotic mistakes, your post does not make sense at all.

We are given 4 shipping options. As a customer, we expect that these methods will all result in the books we ordered being shipped! And we have actually paid for this service. We have not paid for tracking, but we have definitely paid for shipping. 

How you can say  "it’s completely and totally 100% your fault if you receive it late or don’t receive it at all." is beyond me. Do you never stand up for yourself against a business, or just let them pull you for every penny youve got. 

It is completely and totally 100% NOT your fault if you receive it late or don’t receive it at all. This is not to say it is Blurb’s fault, nor for that matter, Swiss Post’s fault. Sometimes things happen accidentally. However, most accidents can be prevented. 

As jayemcee said, there are a number of things Blurb can and should be doing to investigate into such late shipping methods, try to fix the problem, ensure the highest customer service possible – especially when dealing with those who have not received their books on time.

I, too, am in a very similar position. I ordered 2 books together on Oct. 11th, through Swiss Post. Still, they have not arrived.  After contacing customer support, i received a very laid-back, uninterested, unhelpful response, that basically came across as the staff couldn’t care less. It would have taken just a couple more minutes to give some kind of explanation, and even pretend to give a damn. A little politeness goes A LONG WAY, as companys like Blurb strive on recommendations from happy customers, so they need to KEEP THEM HAPPY. 

However, I am not suggesting they offer a full refund, (although when my Apple Photobook did not arrive after a similar delay, i was given a full refund, and i was able to reorder for free – but Apple is obviously a much bigger company, that can afford such acts of customer service), because the books are non-trackable, so anyone could claim they have not arrived. I find it very odd that Blurb does not ask for a signature to confirm delivery – this would then allow them to quickly see if the person has not received their book yet, which lets them provide better customer service, as well as showing them clearly where there are shipping problems that need to be resolved. 

And to quote bluemax again… "You get what you pay for!". Well ive paid for two books and shipping, but i havent got anything yet.

Gentlemen;

Can I suggest that this issue has become beyond the scope or intent of the forum!

Jeff; with respect, as I suggested beforehand, I think your best course of action is to engage with Blurb on reaching a resolution. You won’t do so on here!

There does not seem to be much point in simply having a "slanging match" here – which is what this thread is becomming… It’s clear that there are two views which are incompatible…

I suggest it’s time to close the door on this thread while we’re all still talking!

Cheers;

Lee

I live in Italy, and I recently shopped on Amazon US.

I used a non trackable shipping method but I never received the books: Amazon immediately offered me to re-send me the books, upgrading the shipping method, and without any further expense for me.

 I realize that Amazon is Goliath and Blurb maybe is even smaller than David now, but it think that THAT isthe direction to be followed.

 By the  way, minutes ago I ordered my first book with Blurb, Swiss Priority, non trackable…

Keep hoping..

I used Swiss Post too. Absolutely hopeless. Shipping page says aomething about 5-7 working days. In reality nearly 11. Very poor alternative to UPS for the UK. I am lost as to why the regular postal service of the nation in which the book is printed cannot be used – doesn’t seem like rocket science but maybe I am missing something.

I have to agree with Kuzey, my book arrived in the UK after almost 16 days from when it stated it shipped. Basically I wouldn’t use Swiss Post ever again!