Well, I managed to return my copy of Blake Bailey's Philip Roth biography for a copy that included the 32 pages that were missing from the first copy that Amazon sent me. So there's that.
But this time around, the shipping experts at Amazon packed the book into a box that was too large for the book unless the box was also stuffed with protective padding or paper. So guess what they didn't do?You got it...only the book was inside the box, meaning that there was nothing to keep the book from rattling around inside the box while UPS did it's best to destroy its contents without actually losing it. The box (I wish I had thought to take a picture of it) had been slammed around by the UPS people so much by the time it arrived that one corner was so crushed that you could see into the box through a good-sized space that had popped open. All of that resulted in a book with a book jacket that showed the wear and tear of a much-handled book. The book itself is in pretty good shape, but its sheer weight made sure that it took a beating, too.
But I give up. I'm going to settle for this copy because it's just not worth the hassle anymore. I've put a protective cover on the book that pretty much disguises the damage to the jacket, and that will have to do. At least now I can read past page 114 without wondering what I missed between there and page 147.
So frustrating! UPS is so sloppy and careless and both UPS and FED-X purposefully abuse heavy boxes from CHEWY or don't ring the doorbell in bad weather so the boxes get saturated until they are discovered.
ReplyDeleteThey are only as good as the guys who load the trucks and make the local deliveries. Too many of them seem to have some kind of grudge against the customer and the company.
DeleteYes, I sent a book to a friend in Florida last year, via Amazon. She was out so UPS left it outside her door... in a puddle. Not very impressed.
ReplyDeleteThe local delivery guys can destroy the good efforts of everyone from the shipper to the guys who sort the packages for UPS. These days so many people have cameras that you would think they would make a better effort at the delivery points, but not all of them do.
Deleteuh oh. I don't blame you for giving up and taking the book just to read what was missing so you could finish!
ReplyDeleteJen, with my luck, the next thing that would happen would be that the book would not be delivered at all. And at some point, they are going to run out of copies of this one for good.
DeleteHi Sam, Sorry about the damaged copy of the book that arrived and at least the pages are all there. I have this book too and got up to about page 600 pages. There is controversy around the biographer but Blake Bailey did a very impressive job. The amount of work it must have taken is staggering. I still have to read at some point the last 200 pages but in my opinion Philip Roth comes off flawed in some parts but also very generous and kind to his family and friends in others parts. I have a better sense of who he was after reading the biography. He could be aggravating but there is also alot to admire.
ReplyDeleteNow I have to get back into the book. I've kind of lost the momentum I had, and I'm buried in another handful of books...a couple of them turning out to be more challenging than I expected they would be. That's kind of frustrating, but I'll get back into it in a few days.
DeleteI kind of knew what to expect about Roth, the man, because of the way he used his personal life as the basis for so many of his novels, so I won't be totally surprised. He's one of those writers you have to take with a grain of salt, that's for sure.
How frustrating. I have to say though in all the years I've been getting deliveries from UPS and FedEx, I can only recall having contents damaged twice so that I had to request a replacement. Both were from UPS. And during the past year UPS and FedEx and all the other delivery people we have utilized have been real life savers. We do depend on them for quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteDorothy, you're right about the delivery guys and services being lifesavers during the pandemic. Don't know how we would have had any sense of normalcy at all without them. And this kind of thing happens very seldom to me, too. That's probably because the shipper does such a good job of protecting the contents of the box; this time around Amazon failed miserably to protect the book, and UPS practically destroyed the little box it came in. I've received quite a few battered boxes from UPS over the years, but only one other time was a product damaged...and that turned out to be mostly the shipper's fault.
DeleteI'm glad you were able to get a copy of this book with ALL the pages this time around. But the way it was shipped to you is frustrating.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt about it. It's nice to have Chapters 9, 10, and all of 11 now. :-)
DeleteHow frustrating! We've had similar USPS misadventures, but amazon really blew the packing. Lately I've gotten a few books in padded mailers and the post office does its best to destroy those, too. On the plus side, there's page 115-147. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteJoAnn, you're definitely right about the padded mailers delivered by the Post Office. I would estimate that at least 20% of the books I get that way show at least a little bit of damage sustained on the trip to me. All this for the missing 32 pages...
DeleteI have always admired the way Powell's ships their books- shrink-wrapped to a cardboard panel on the bottom of the box. Nothing slides around. I don't know why other shippers don't do this. Regardless, not even putting any padding in the box is inexcusable. I've seen other kinds of items arrive from Amazn to me that way- just thrown in the box and taped shut, no packaging whatsoever. It annoys me to no end.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's good you got a readable book finally though!
ReplyDeleteJeane, I really think that the pandemic has stressed out the delivery guys and the packers at the warehouses. I understand how they must feel. But I get the impression from what I've read and watched on the internet that too many of them are starting to do this kind of thing on purpose now as a way of making a statement to their employers. They probably feel under-appreciated and under-paid these days...but the customer is paying the price.
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