YBW books, Hallo? is there anyone?

[Roberto]

Courageous and brave, irrespective of 12000 or 12bits security standards, on dec 12th I ordered a book at ybw books store.
Expected delivery time 7 days.

About two weeks later, near the end of the year, not having received anything I try to contact them through mail a couple of times in two days, just to know if there are any problems.

No answers.

Ok it is maybe year end, holidays, people on leave, days off blablabla. I wait a few more days then I feel sorry bothering Kim whose time is much better spent taking care of the best/funniest yachting forum in europe than tracing customers orders. I am not in a hurry, just want to know if everything is ok.
Kim s instant reply: I ll check with the people at ybw books.

Two more weeks, I send another message at ybw books and still no real book in the real mailbox nor any emails in the virtual mailbox.

Today a very real credit card report stating that my account has been debited on dec 12th of the cost of the book.

Well there are a few internet companies which are so cash strapped that charge you (for goods/services you never get)and then refund one month later with full apologies, that gives them some liquidity to survive one month after the other without paying interest on bank loans.
I know ybw is not one of those, and I know as well that I am not hawkishly checking if delivery happens 15 minutes (or days) later than agreed just for the pleasure of complaining.

Just wanted to ask: Hallo? Is there anyone on the other end of the nice ybw books site?

By the way, now (1+ month later) I want my book. No refunds, I want my book.

 

[kimhollamby]

Sorry, my fault for not following up but I thought this had been dealt with. Please stand by...multiple Exocets being launched even as I write.

Associate Publisher ybw.com websites kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com

 

[davel]

What book was it?
I had a similar problem with another company. The book was Ellen McC's autobiography which has had the publication date pushed back by about 9 months - now due late this year I believe.

Dave L.

 

[bedouin]

Re: That\'s VERY bad

Debitting your credit card before the goods are dispatched is definitely a major No No.

A complaint to their merchant acquirer might produce interesting results!

 

[pvb]

You\'d think so, but...

You'll find that ybw.com's book store has some strange terms and conditions which aren't, shall we say, exactly in the customer's interests. For example, they "must receive payment by credit card of the whole of the price for the goods [plus the amount of the delivery charges and any relevant taxes or duties ...] that you order before your order can be accepted." What this means is that they won't even accept the order until they've got full payment. And only then will they say whether they have the stock to fulfill the order!

Perhaps, like the ybw.com Marine Store, it's ybw.com's contribution to Rip-Off Britain.

 

[bedouin]

Re: You\'d think so, but...

But "scheme rules" for both major credit card schemes expressly forbid taking money before the goods are dispatched, and it is also against the code of conduct for mail-order in the UK.

If their merchant acquirer found out that they were doing it on a regular basis then they would probably find themselves no longer able to accept credit cards - which might have a detrimental affect on their business.

 

[kimhollamby]

Re: You\'d think so, but...

As I promised earlier in the evening I'll ensure someone looks at the specific case highlighted and we'll also get an answer on the point raised.

Associate Publisher ybw.com websites kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com

 

[JMM]

I had a similar experience last winter. I placed an order by e-mail with Kelvin Hughes for books to use on the Day Skipper theory course. Most did not arrive until the course was over. I also note that Kelvin Hughes are now running the YBW bookselling web site . . .

JMM

Jon M.

 

[JerryHawkins]

Use Amazon instead!

I always use Amazon for books. Have ordered quite a few over the last year or so and all have arrived quickly, even when they said there would be a couple of weeks delay, they usually arrived within a week. The other good thing is that they keep you fully informed by email, with a final email letting you know that your order has been dispatched. Another thing; I placed an order mid December last year for several books as Christmas presents, after a few days I got an email saying that one of the books may not arrive in time and giving me the option to get this particular book elsewhere if I wished! This is the sort of brilliant service that all the others should be striving to achieve.

Jerry

 

[Roberto]

Re: Use Amazon instead!

I used amazon as well and usually found it (more than) ok as well.

But amazon selection in sailing books is not that great, if you go beyond the most recent titles.

I must say ybw-books site instead is definitely full of little surprises, you know those weird books you've always looked for and never found... and for pricing too, most of the (uk, us, australian etc) books are sold much cheaper (shipping included) than outside the uk where I live.

 

[kimhollamby]

Extract from an e-mail sent direct to you today from Matt Harvey, who looks after ybw-books at our end:

I have asked Kelvin Hughes to contact you immediately via email in
order to explain the hold up with your order and inform you of a
delivery time. I must apologise for the failure in communication, a
situation which is totally unacceptable.

As a consequence of your complaint I have asked that Kelvin Hughes
contact all customers where there is a delivery problem (in this case
supply) and explain fully the situation and give a realistic
estimation of delivery. We are working with them to ensure that this
is done immediately and that all distance selling regulations are
complied with to the letter of the law. (yours is a very rare problem
given the vast stock they carry)

It is a sign of a modern technology that in order to increase the
guarantee of security of online transactions the credit card payments
taken by ybw books through Kelvin Hughes are actually dealt with by
an external partner, who specialise in maximising security of
transaction. This means that Kelvin Hughes only receive details of
order,name, address and email.

In a rare but worrying situations such as yours where a book is out of
stock in theory the payment should not be taken until the book is
dispatched, however as the payment is through the secure third party
this is proving more difficult to manage. We are working with Kelvin
Hughes to combine high security with timely dispatch and hope to have
an acceptable answer soon.

I thank you for your patience and trust that our intervention with
Kelvin Hughes has meant they have contacted you.

Associate Publisher ybw.com websites kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com

 

[Roberto]

Thank you Kim, I have also been contacted by KelvinH and hopefully everything will be ok soon.