[emilio]

i preordered one of the multi-book bundles back in July, plunking down a decent wager that Shadowrun 5 would pay off.  apparently i've lost that wager.

on September 19th i sent an email to Catalyst since i hadn't received any shipment notification while lots of people were reporting they'd received their books:

howdy,

i've been waiting a month for word on shipment of my two Shadowrun 5 books (order #117510).  are these forthcoming, or perhaps are they (hopefully) being updated?

thank you,
- emilio

i received a prompt response from Dawn:

Emilio,
Iapologize for the delay. I have requested your order to ship early next week. I will notify your account with the tracking number when I receive it.
Regards
Dawn

at the same time i got a notice that my order was moved to "Processing".  OK, cool, they've been super busy with the release and cons and such, it's understandable.

two and a half months later i still hadn't received any sort of shipment notice.  now i'm getting annoyed - my friends really want to play and my GM really needs to study the new system, and none of us like reading the PDF for long periods on a computer screen.

hello,

i'm still waiting on my books.  it's now December and i'm not even sure if my friends are still interested in playing SR5.  can i get an actual explanation of why it's taken so long?  i put good money up front to support your business and all i've gotten in return is an error-filled PDF.

my only hope is that you've been busy re-printing a new edition that incorporates the inevitable (and probably very large) errata document.

- emilio

now it's February and i've still never received a response to that email.  but, you know what?  maybe it's better to pass on the whole thing and just go back to SR3.  from my perspective, this whole release has been pretty fragged up:  aside from not getting any books, the PDF really was riddled with enough problems (especially when building a Technomancer) that i didn't want to continue without an official errata or even a second printing.  add to that some baffling book organization (how much do i have to jump around to get all the rules on a single subject?), gaps in rules that you have to do a lot of inference to figure out (e.g. PANs & WANs), and the reports of binding issues, and i'm not really enthusiastic about playing anymore.  it's really obnoxious to have to check the forum for clarification on half the rules, rules that should have been well-written in the first place.  does anyone remember that diagram of Matrix combat that i made?  that educates more about a subject more clearly than anything in that book outside of the character creation chapter.

so, if someone from Catalyst manages to see this:  please give me my money back.  if i ever want to play SR5 i'll just pick it up from a local shop or on Amazon (where it's marked in stock), that would be a lot faster than dealing with whatever is going on over there.

- emilio

[Namikaze]

I'm confused.  So you pre-ordered a book in September but haven't received it yet?  Join the rest of us.  Many of us pre-ordered certain books and haven't received them because they haven't printed.  Which books are you talking about, precisely?  If it's just the core rulebook you'd be okay.  But if you're waiting to get the core book and Run & Gun or some other supplement, you'd naturally have to wait for the supplement to become available.

[emilio]

no, i pre-ordered two books in July.  just the core rule books, nothing else.  i wish i were enough in to SR5 by now to be interested in additional books.

Date Ordered: Friday 19 July, 2013
...
1 x Bundle F: Shadowrun: Fifth Edition + LE + PDF (C-CAT27000F) = $149.99
   Format Downloadable PDF
------------------------------------------------------
Sub-Total: $149.99
United Parcel Service (1 x 10.45lbs) (Ground): $25.94
Total: $175.93

maybe the Limited Edition had something to do with it early on, but after this long i doubt it.  there are pictures of it out there...  it sure looks pretty.

- emilio

[redwolf]

well my brother ordered the le too but still didnat get it (not from Dt or Bc) and they say they still wait for all the orders to be in stock befor shipping. so what the hek go's on?

[Namikaze]

If you guys do a quick search you'll find that the leather-bound books aren't available right now.  As to what is going on behind the scenes to prevent the books from shipping - no idea.  But it's entirely possible that since the item is Limited that it may not ever be available.  Hopefully someone at CGL will determine whether or not that's the case and let you know.  Have you attempted to contact CGL to get either more information or a refund?

[emilio]

i ordered a regular Limited Edition bundle with the coated and embossed hardcover book along with a standard paperback and the PDF.  this is not the "Mayan Limited Edition" leather-bound version that comes in the slipcase.

this guy has both editions and shows the differences between them.  apparently he also purchased his LE in a store some time prior to his blog posting on Sept. 28th, so clearly there's not some serious supply issue with that version.

really, i'm not trying to discuss publisher supply and demand.  they've screwed up both fulfilling my order and responding to a polite but frustrated customer.  i'm also not sure if the quality of the product is worth my money or time at this point.  i have sent them another email, but i posted here as a hedge since they didn't respond to my last one and i wanted to see if anyone else has been left empty-handed.  redwolf, did your brother order the "Limited Edition" or the "Mayan Limited Edition"?  when did he order it?

- emilio

[Michael Chandra]

Not sure if it'd help, but have you tried contacting BattleShop, rather than CGL? I know they're sort-of the same thing, but I assume there's different people handling them.

[Namikaze]

really, i'm not trying to discuss publisher supply and demand.

I get that you're a polite, but frustrated customer.  But this isn't exactly what one would call a "customer support" forum.  This is a fan forum for discussion of the books and products.  If I put myself in your shoes, I'd be trying to get CGLs attention any way I can get it.  But last I checked, no one working directly for CGL even looks at these forums.  Most of us are just avid fans, and a few freelancers that float around.

[redwolf]

the limited edition but yesterday he ordered it at another e shop and they said it on it's way so we havt to see what will hapen

[emilio]

well, she responded to this last email but ignored my clear request:

hello,

i still haven't received a response to my last email, two months ago, about order #117510.  i've been waiting six months for a couple rather pricey rule books that i'm now not sure are even worth using (especially as a Technomancer).  at this point i don't care about the limited edition printing; please just give me my $175.93 back.  if i want to play i'll just purchase from a retailer that has it in stock.

- emilio

Emilio
I requested an immediate shipping of your SR5. I fear the other was lost.I will notify your account with tracking infromation
Regards
Dawn

that's pretty frustrating.  i guess i'll browse through and read the flavor sections, but they'll mostly sit on a shelf since i seriously don't want to play until an official bugfix/errata/patch is released.  i consider SR5 to be somewhat of a defective product until we get those.

Michael, i've been using the BattleShop email contact, customerservice.catalyst@gmail.com (Gmail?  really?).  i should have looked for a CGL email, as there is a separate one listed on their site.

- emilio

[Namikaze]

So... there is an official errata document.  It's incomplete, and due for some updating in the future, but it's there.  If I was in your position, I'd cancel the order if you don't get a shipping confirmation and tracking number within 24 hours.

[emilio]

aha, it just came out two days ago - thank the dragons!  it's just a start, i suppose (no Submersion cost fix, one of the worst errors in the whole book?), but at first glance it definitely clarifies some things we were confused about.  the Power Point fix sorta validates my concern about getting too far in to our campaign with incorrect character builds (a buddy created an adept and we were thinking he got a lot at the start).

since there's been official movement on errata i'm not so concerned with receiving the books now.  obviously i would have liked all of this to have gone a lot more smoothly, but my concerns about using a defective product have been softened.  really, though...  BattleShop has gotta get its drek together.  dropping the ball on a $175 order is not the way to engage customers.

thanks for all your suggestions and information.
- emilio

[Namikaze]

BattleShop has gotta get its drek together.  dropping the ball on a $175 order is not the way to engage customers.

This whole time the issue has been with BattleShop, then?  IIRC, BattleShop is separate from Catalyst.  If they didn't get their inventory in order, that's hardly Catalyst's fault.  In any event, I'm glad things are starting to work out for you.

[AJCarrington]

This whole time the issue has been with BattleShop, then?  IIRC, BattleShop is separate from Catalyst.  If they didn't get their inventory in order, that's hardly Catalyst's fault.  In any event, I'm glad things are starting to work out for you.

Pretty sure that BattleCorps/BattleShop is the direct sales outlet for CGL...at least that has always been my understanding.

[emilio]

i'm a bit confused by the whole thing, too.  but most people refer to them as the same thing, the email is "customerservice.catalyst", and the responses i've received have been from "Catalyst Game Labs Customer Service".

for the record, i haven't received shipping information yet.  i did just send a testier message pointing out that she seemed to ignore my request to refund my money, but that i'll take shipment since an Errata has been released (though i'm hoping for a lot more).

- emilio