New Book on AW Durnford

Thanks for that Julian - I will get back to Amazon then and at least hopefully get my tin back on the-m - they have 2 days in which to reply and the mail was sent yesterday so will copy in whatever they come back with as you say it has rathered soured the anticipated publication - maybe they need to withdraw all the copies still available on amazon / fleabay etc

Unfortunatly from Cape Town its 53 pounds to return them Add that to the 53 it cost to get them here and the actual book cost makes it financially impractical for me.

ita fiat, quia anima est

Does amazon not do free returns from SA?

Direct order from xlibris via DHL so no DHL refund or free return

The books are just being finalised, and I have been assured anyone who has been affected will be receiving them. They were on preorder. I will personally reimburse anyone if there is a concern. There were 350 photos of unsorted pages of the Evidence file, of both typewritten and hand written notes, some files contained both, some files included the source documents, other files were missng the source documents used. So many different people contributed during the years they were created, and it seemed logical to sort the evidence into a chronological order and link it to the contributor. It would also appear that whoever had the documents for typing, just typed individual pages, then those loose pages became dislodged. I have sorted it in the best practical way, as papers have been put into folders, with a number on the front, and in many cases what is contained in the packet is nothing at all like the contents. It is not a military history, but contains military history, it is a non-fiction family history story, of the mysteries associated with the death of a person, set in a time period that few people know about, pertaining to an event few people know about relative to a person and his family, that few people know about. Trying to recreate the person involved, the setting and background was rather difficult. While it would be nice to include those photos, it is not possible, due to the quality. A couple though have been included. It was commented to me, way back, when I didn't know which path to follow, that the findings were very historical, and should be told. If I knew how difficult that would transpire to be, my decision may have been totally different.

Well said Kriss. There is a danger of throwing out the baby with the bathwater here. yes of course it is annoying when the publication does’t go smoothly but that will sort itself out. It is obvious, even from the pre publication draft that we have a new set of material from which to work and that is a rare occurance these days. I am sure that others in the community will put their minds to that task as well.

Steve

Amazon have put the ball firmly back in the Book Depository's court as they were the seller that actually received payment for the two volumes - I have had two e mails from them trying to identify the books I have from the ISBN numbers given in them from Xlibris - but not offers of any refunds or replacements made from anyone to date.

Hi All

Just to clear things up, are we saying both books have issues or just one?

1) Isandlwana to Chatham or 2) Chatham to Isandlwana or both.

Hi timothylrose
Could you please keep us updated as I have also purchased both books from the Book Depository.

Andy

Both volumes have been issued and amazon have offered me a refund.
Steve

I'll try Amazon direct then - they put me onto the Book Depository - here is their response as of this morning:

I’m afraid as we do not hold stock on site, we are unable to physically check this for you and unfortunately we have not been able to find out any additional information online or from the publisher. I’m sorry we couldn’t be of more help.

W hen I attempt to talk direct to Amazon the automated response sends my correspondence direct to the seller - the Book Depository

You are not eligible to request a refund

Sorry, this order is not eligible for a refund under the A-to-z Guarantee because you have not yet submitted a return request to the seller. Please request a return via the Online Returns Centre and allow the seller two days to get back to you.

Seem to be caught in a loop sadly

I also heard this morning from Amazon that my refund has gone through.

Done a further request to Amazon via their online returns centre - this is the reply:

The seller will review your return request within 48 hours.

This item was sold and shipped by an Amazon seller, Book Depository. If your return is approved, the seller will email you instructions for how to ship your return.

Just an update on this one - after a fair bit of discussion I have had the cost price of 61.99 GBP refunded to my bank direct from Amazon - I was lucky that I bought via amazon.co.uk and spent several long conversations with their Customer Services centre explaining the Sales of Goods Act, fit for purpose etc to them - they made a special exception for my case as I wasn't covered by their A - Z Guarantee as they didn't sell direct to me but through a 3rd party. I also found that writing customer reviews pointing out how they (Amazon) weren't willing to help - although not published were being added to my file and gave some weight to my argument. Where does it leave things - well Amazon have about 20+ copies of each volume still available for sale as we speak - and Xlibris are also offering the incorrect books for sale currently. I am not sure at what point we will have the current crop of books withdrawn or taken out of circulation and I have little confidence that Xlibris will actually honour anything they say about publishing correct volumes in October (just google them to see what I mean) Maybe Kris can offer some thoughts on the way ahead - seems a real shame after all that effort things aren't running smoothly.

Thanks Tim, the books are now ready to be printed. I won't bore anyone as to the problems since 2015. Also, I don't know why, but I cannot respond here other than on my desktop, and not on my tablet, as I was able to do previously.

Like Julian, I sent my books back to Amazon and got a refund. There seemed to be and indication that they would be re-published on the 12th October - but that date has now come and gone ! Has anyone got any idea as to when the amended versions will be out ?

Bill......its you...how you going on mate?

Cheers

Simon

Yes, good to hear from you Bill!
My credit card statement shows I was reimbursed in full from Amazon.
The date I had for pre-publication was 17th Oct. - also come and gone!

There was something on social media the other day about a relaunch in Australia.

JY, or for Bill’s benefit “Dave”

Thanks Dave !!!

Nothing at all about replacements. Xlibris wont even reply to e mails.

Ah well, will stop the front door from banging !

Like you I got short shrift from Xlibris - eventually got some money back from Amazon but only after a couple of hours on their customer care lines and writing about 30 reviews on the books which they had to read which kept saying how bad they were at customer service - it's a real shame that all that effort has come to nothing - mine are going to be firestarters for the 5th November - have asked elsewhere if anyone has actually had the new editions yet and how best to source them but havent had a single reply - other than a suggestion to order direct from Kris in Australia!

Had my refund from Amazon (less postage) but no idea if they have been reprinted and by whom?

It doesn't look like these two volumes are going to be re-published, with the multitude of errors corrected. What a shame after all the work put in.

Bill

Hi Bill
A friend has just received the revised volumes.He says its much better.

Frank do you know where he got them from - I did ask the question before as to where to source but never got a reply

Xlibris i believe Tim.

Hopefully this issue gets corrected soon. From what I've read and discussed with Ms. Herron, the books are going to have some absolutely fascinating material published for the first time.

Xlibris page is showing them but with a publication date of mid August indicating that's still the faulty ones?

Anyone got an update on possible re-publishing ?

Bill

Bill,

As far as I am aware the rerelease took place last month in Australia.

Dave

Hopefully Kris will read and post and honour her commitment to replace the defective volumes personally.

A lot of us who kept the faith and bought when they were first released have been waiting for someone to identify how we can get "proper" copies of the two volumes - I must admit I do not want to commit 50 to 60 GBP on a pair to find myself stuck with a rerun of old stock - Xlibris refuse to commit to whether they will print new editions or not (they just don't answer e mails) and Amazon and other book sellers just list and pass the responsibility over to the individual - its a sad state of affairs - the only advice via facebook I have had is to order direct from Kris in Australia and that should ensure a decent copy - then we have to add in the postage charges - I am happy to do that so maybe Kris can give us all some direction please

Thanks for the updates. Like Tim, I would be prepared to order direct from Kris. However, I would like some assurance that what I'm ordering are the revised copies and not old stock from Xlibris/Amazon !!

I think we need to wait to hear from Kris.

Bill