I’m a big fan of your books, so I wanted to let you know about a problem I experienced when I tried to pre-order a Kindle edition of “A Hired Kill” on Amazon. I placed my pre-order on 14 May & expected the book to be delivered to my Kindle this morning, 27 May. By mid-morning however, I still had not received a downloaded copy.
The Amazon page for “A Hired Kill” did indeed show it to be available for immediate purchase/download but my Amazon digital order summary page showed “Status: Pending” and the book did not appear in my Amazon Digital Content listing.
I would have just canceled the order and repurchased the book, but the return window was inexplicably based on the date of my pre-order rather than the date I would receive the book and so had closed on 21 May. I understand Amazon return periods are normally based on the purchase date, but for this policy to be applied to pre-orders makes no sense to me as the return window is closed before the product is ever received. Not that I would have returned the book, but if the option had been available in this case it would have provided a quick and simple solution to whatever was delaying my download of your book.
Instead, my only recourse was to attempt to contact Amazon customer service for a resolution. I experienced multiple circular references while attempting to do this, but eventually wound up on the right page. After a rather lengthy chat, I was told I could either wait until sometime later in the day to receive my downloaded Kindle edition or I could cancel the pre-order and then purchase the book immediately.
I chose to cancel my order as I didn’t want to have to repeat this process again this afternoon if the book still didn’t appear. I asked repeatedly why a pre-order, supposedly intended to insure earliest possible access to the book, was instead penalized by having delivery delayed, but I never received an answer.
To be fair, once Amazon was made aware of the problem they promptly offered multiple options to make things right. However, I doubt if I will ever pre-order anything from Amazon again.
So, I’m still not sure what the problem was, but I wanted you to be aware of it in case I was not the only one who experienced this glitch. Keep up the great writing and I’ll keep adding your books to my library, just not by pre-ordering.
That's good feedback. Not sure what happened. They operate on Pacific Time, so the book should be delivered 3AM on the launch date. Not sure if they adjust for time zones, but that's been my experience. I used to wait up to see how many preorders have been processed. They don't provide that data in the sales dashboard...comes in as one giant dump of sales.
I don't blame you for not wanting to preorder again. If it's a hassle...it's not worth the time to fix the situation. I always send a link out on release day...and if you're a Kindle/E-reader...you'll get the book in seconds.
Thanks again for sharing your experience. I'll send this up to my publisher.
Steve, thanks for the quick reply. I'm glad you found it useful. If it matters, I'm in the Eastern time zone. Currently SC, though I used to live in your area when I flew out of Grissom AFB as a KC-135 Boom Operator back in the 80's. Have a good day.
I love your stories: Decker, Mann, et al, so I pre-ordered A Hired Kill. A year's bated breath takes its toll, but it comes in a paltry 2nd to waiting 7 years for book 3 of Fractured State. I hope the Garrett Mann trilogy is wrapped sans a multi-year lacuna. Thanks for your work
Steve,
I’m a big fan of your books, so I wanted to let you know about a problem I experienced when I tried to pre-order a Kindle edition of “A Hired Kill” on Amazon. I placed my pre-order on 14 May & expected the book to be delivered to my Kindle this morning, 27 May. By mid-morning however, I still had not received a downloaded copy.
The Amazon page for “A Hired Kill” did indeed show it to be available for immediate purchase/download but my Amazon digital order summary page showed “Status: Pending” and the book did not appear in my Amazon Digital Content listing.
I would have just canceled the order and repurchased the book, but the return window was inexplicably based on the date of my pre-order rather than the date I would receive the book and so had closed on 21 May. I understand Amazon return periods are normally based on the purchase date, but for this policy to be applied to pre-orders makes no sense to me as the return window is closed before the product is ever received. Not that I would have returned the book, but if the option had been available in this case it would have provided a quick and simple solution to whatever was delaying my download of your book.
Instead, my only recourse was to attempt to contact Amazon customer service for a resolution. I experienced multiple circular references while attempting to do this, but eventually wound up on the right page. After a rather lengthy chat, I was told I could either wait until sometime later in the day to receive my downloaded Kindle edition or I could cancel the pre-order and then purchase the book immediately.
I chose to cancel my order as I didn’t want to have to repeat this process again this afternoon if the book still didn’t appear. I asked repeatedly why a pre-order, supposedly intended to insure earliest possible access to the book, was instead penalized by having delivery delayed, but I never received an answer.
To be fair, once Amazon was made aware of the problem they promptly offered multiple options to make things right. However, I doubt if I will ever pre-order anything from Amazon again.
So, I’m still not sure what the problem was, but I wanted you to be aware of it in case I was not the only one who experienced this glitch. Keep up the great writing and I’ll keep adding your books to my library, just not by pre-ordering.
That's good feedback. Not sure what happened. They operate on Pacific Time, so the book should be delivered 3AM on the launch date. Not sure if they adjust for time zones, but that's been my experience. I used to wait up to see how many preorders have been processed. They don't provide that data in the sales dashboard...comes in as one giant dump of sales.
I don't blame you for not wanting to preorder again. If it's a hassle...it's not worth the time to fix the situation. I always send a link out on release day...and if you're a Kindle/E-reader...you'll get the book in seconds.
Thanks again for sharing your experience. I'll send this up to my publisher.
More importantly! I hope you enjoy the book!
Best,
Steve
Steve, thanks for the quick reply. I'm glad you found it useful. If it matters, I'm in the Eastern time zone. Currently SC, though I used to live in your area when I flew out of Grissom AFB as a KC-135 Boom Operator back in the 80's. Have a good day.
Steven, congratulations on your new book coming out. The Kirkus review is great and it sounds like another exciting read.
Good luck with your gardening project. Hopefully the evil hungry rabbits will stay far away.
I love your stories: Decker, Mann, et al, so I pre-ordered A Hired Kill. A year's bated breath takes its toll, but it comes in a paltry 2nd to waiting 7 years for book 3 of Fractured State. I hope the Garrett Mann trilogy is wrapped sans a multi-year lacuna. Thanks for your work
Congratulations. I have been impatiently waiting. I think I read the first one too soon....or liked it more than I expected!
Regardless looking forward.
How long for the last one????