A strange thing has happened to me. This weekend I decided to buy Christopher Bram's recent collection of nonfiction, Mapping the Territory.
I started ordering it on Amazon and went through the usual procedure.
On the last page, just before confirming the order, I realized that, in
addition to the price of the book, I was charged $15.08 for Shipping
and Handling, which almost doubled the total price. Because I have a
prime membership, I never pay any charge on Shipping and Handling. I
went back to the Mapping the Territory page at Amazon, and read that:
My first reaction was to think it was an error. I contacted Amazon's Customer Service and, very quickly, received the following explanation:
How strange! Mapping the Territory an oversized or multi-volume book? I contacted Amazon by phone, but, although I was taken care of very kindly, I was not able to get an explanation...
Then I tried a few other books from the same publisher (Alyson): same thing. All were subject to a surcharge and none was available for free shipping.
Had it something to do with the publisher then? I sent a mail to Alyson and got back a very clear answer: no.
One thing is very clear: it has nothing to do with the fact that Alyson is a publisher of gay books. The proof: I just ordered the first volume of Melville's works in the Library of America series. I did not pay a dime for shipping or handling.
"This item is not eligible for FREE
Super Saver Shipping. This product will incur a shipping surcharge of
$3.10 in addition to the standard shipping fees."
My first reaction was to think it was an error. I contacted Amazon's Customer Service and, very quickly, received the following explanation:
Our shipping charges reflect the
handling costs for assembling and packaging each order, as well as the
cost of shipping. Because exceptionally large or heavy items, such as
oversized books or multi-volume book sets, cost more to ship, we do
sometimes need to pass these costs along to our customers. This is what
happened in this case.
How strange! Mapping the Territory an oversized or multi-volume book? I contacted Amazon by phone, but, although I was taken care of very kindly, I was not able to get an explanation...
Then I tried a few other books from the same publisher (Alyson): same thing. All were subject to a surcharge and none was available for free shipping.
Had it something to do with the publisher then? I sent a mail to Alyson and got back a very clear answer: no.
One thing is very clear: it has nothing to do with the fact that Alyson is a publisher of gay books. The proof: I just ordered the first volume of Melville's works in the Library of America series. I did not pay a dime for shipping or handling.
Hello!
I represent Alyson to Amazon and can tell you what happened...
Our data feed to Amazon was overhauled and a slight snafu had all the book weights in pounds instead of ounces! Thankfully 'Mapping the Territory,' other Alyson books and other publishers' books from that data feed are back down to their 'desired' weight and have the correct shipping status.
I'm sorry for the inconvenience! Granted, I love Christopher Bram's writing so I wish the book really was 15 lbs.
Posted by: Jaime Starling | Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at 18:53