[Tkeela]

Seen about 12 purchased SR5 books, 3 had pages problem, ick, that's a bad pool to judge from:(

[witchdoctor]

To give people an update... so far catalyst has done nothing to fix my issue. I've been two months without a usable book and the only response from catalyst is that I should go through channels despite me repeatedly explaining to them that the store I bought it from has no usable copies to give them. I have since gone back an additional time and got another copy, using the technique described earlier to limber up the spine only to have it immediately fall apart. When I informed the store owner about this he pulled all the books he had and will not sell them until he can replace them with copies he is confident they will not have this problem, He is currently pursuing thing on his end to get replacements from his supplier that might not have this issue. Any suggestions at this point are welcome as I have sent my sixth email to catalyst about this and have seen no attempts or willingness for them to fix their mistake.

[Michael Chandra]

The problem likely is that Catalyst cannot help you, since you're not the one who bought from them. Since you bought from a store, unfortunately this has to go up and down the chain.

[witchdoctor]

But the store literally cannot help me. It's a catalyst product and they should at least support their product, I bought this product because I trusted that I would at least have a usable product, I do not and it's due to a manufacturing defect that is ultimately the result of a Catalyst decision.

[Michael Chandra]

They support the product, as is shown by the people who received replacement copies when their directly-bought product failed. However, the ones they're supporting likely have to be the people who bought the product, which here would be the Distributor from whom the shop got its supplies.

[Crunch]

But the store literally cannot help me.

Why can the store not help you? The typical process here (as an old retail hand) would be to return the item to the store and either get a replacement copy or your money back.

[witchdoctor]

One the store can't get new copies and they have replaced my book twice so far and the same thing has happened with all three copies I have gotten there and two they have no idea if they're going to be reimbursed by the vendor. They are a small store so they can't just eat the cost of all the defective books they sold, ie all of them, and still be able to stay afloat.

They support the product, as is shown by the people who received replacement copies when their directly-bought product failed. However, the ones they're supporting likely have to be the people who bought the product, which here would be the Distributor from whom the shop got its supplies.

I've sent them pictures of the defective book as requested and have not heard anything from them at all. Even a "I'm sorry we can't replace this book as you didn't buy it from our store." would be preferable to the silence I've gotten from them so far.

[VonEros]

Witchdoctor,

I am in exactly the same boat. I started this thread and I have heard a lot of great advice here about how to get this addressed. I have tried all of it. I have heard not a single word from Catalyst. I did not have the advantage of buying from a "brick & mortar" store that I can go back to. I bought my copy of SR5 at a Con booth this past Dragon-Con. Apparently, that means that I get to eat that $60. Really nice. I am not going to say anything hollow, like "I will never buy form this company again". However, I will say that this has been a really bad customer experience.

[Tuoweit]

I haven't had pages fall out of my collector's edition (or whatever they're calling it) yet, but it's only a matter of time - the paper backing has mostly ripped free of the bulk of the pages, and they're only held together by glue and scraps at this point.

I don't expect Catalyst to be able to do anything about my book, nor am I faulting them for the binding failing, but I would like to say I'd be happy to spend a few bucks extra to get future books bound like my old 1st Edition AD&D books whose bindings are still flawless - the pages appear to be stitched directly together and the whole glued to the cover, I think it's what's known as an oversewn binding - despite the abuse heaped on the books themselves.  That kind of binding doesn't lay as flat as the so-called "perfect" binding, but it sure lasts.  Maybe I can find a local bookbinder to do that for me with this one....

[Reaver]

I honestly think its the size of the book...

My pathfinder book bit the dust after a few months of heavy use and it was 400+ pages as well.

[Tuoweit]

I honestly think its the size of the book...

My pathfinder book bit the dust after a few months of heavy use and it was 400+ pages as well.

Yes, I'm inclined to agree, page count plus the particularly heavy full colour pages.  I had a similar binding failure to what I described above occur with my HERO 6E1 book (though in that case it was the paper glued to the cover that ripped rather than the back itself).  I've started putting my books spine-down in my backpack instead of upright to take the weight of the pages off the binding.

[koolmath5]

Here is the deal. A book that large should have been stitched as well as glued. That was a decision that would have been made CGL prior to printing they own this mistake.  Instead of hiding they should offer everyone who has had the same problem a new book. This is just another "what else do you expect from CGL" moment. Their runners tool kit has been delayed along with their beginners boxed set. What turned out to be the "Year of Shadowrun" has turned out to be another  year of hollow promises and release dates.  I have shelved my 5th edition and moved on just because I, as many others, am tired of waiting for them to get their house in order. 

[Namikaze]

Here is the deal. A book that large should have been stitched as well as glued. That was a decision that would have been made CGL prior to printing they own this mistake.  Instead of hiding they should offer everyone who has had the same problem a new book. This is just another "what else do you expect from CGL" moment. Their runners tool kit has been delayed along with their beginners boxed set. What turned out to be the "Year of Shadowrun" has turned out to be another  year of hollow promises and release dates.  I have shelved my 5th edition and moved on just because I, as many others, am tired of waiting for them to get their house in order.

Based on the input that I've seen here, I'd say that less than 5% of the books that CGL printed are affected by this problem.  Clearly that means heads must roll, right?  Oh lordy, the Year of Shadowrun has ruined my life!

Realistically, this kind of thing happens all the time with all books.  The rate of failure in printing isn't always as high as 5%, but it does happen often enough that the retail industry has rules that generally follow for it.  Rule one, return your product to your retailer.  Rule two, retailer replaces your product.  It's not that complicated, and I don't know why everyone is blaming CGL for everything.  Should it have been stitched as well as glued?  Perhaps - but when 95% of the product is perfectly fine...  it's hard to say that it should have been stitched as well.

[Michael Chandra]

Instead of hiding they should offer everyone who has had the same problem a new book.

As far as I'm aware, they have provided new books to everyone who bought directly from them. Unfortunately when you buy through a retailer, the retailer is the one responsible for sending it up the chain. Combined with that is that stocks are emptying out and they had to do a second printing, which takes time to get into place.

[VonEros]

I am one of the unfortunates who obtained SR5 through a retailer and not direct. I will not make the same mistake when I order the next copy. I have said for the start that this was not a "I will never buy your products again" kind of post. I love Shadowrun and CGL has done a great job with the property. It just sucks that I have a $60 book with a $5 binding job. Should they have been stitched? I don't have P&L sheet in front of me to make that call. The same goes for the "give everyone affected a new copy" suggestion. All I can say for sure is that I was hoping for better, and I did not get it. I will buy more copies. I will wait how ever long for releases, assuming that they come out with the same level of editing quality that one would expect. I am a runner, and that is not likely to change, chummer.