Not having ranted in quite a while, I may be rusty, so please bear with
me (as my old friend Smoky used to say)...
...so I get a flier, dated August 2003, from BNA Books for a new, Second
Edition of Privacy in Employment Law. We've got the first ediiton, so I
call Customer Service to make sure that they don't already have us down
for a standing order. Customer Service finds no listing for the title on
our account, so I order the new edition. (I realize that, my luck being
what it is with publishers, this probably means I'm going to receive two
copies, the one I just ordered and the one that's on standing order that
she couldn't find, but I'll deal with that some other day.) As we're
discussing shipping, billing, etc, she (Customer Service) mentions in
passing that there will be an annual supplement to the new Second
Edition (which came out in August) and the first one will be coming out
in December. (No mention of this in the flier.) I ask (in my
PollyAnna-ish way) "Of course, there will be no charge for the
supplement, since it's coming out a mere 4 months after the new
ediiton."
Surprisingly enough, there WILL be a charge. After going back and forth
a bit about this (in fairly civil tones - the doctor says yelling at the
Customer Service people only serves to stoke my paranoia. But what does
he know? He's just out to get me anyway...) she gives me a number at
BNABooks to speak to someone higher up the chain, yclept Paul. I call,
leave a message, he returns my call quite promptly. I explain things, he
tells me, yes, there is a supplement currently scheduled to come out in
December. I ask if the 3 month rule applies - if I wait a month to buy
the book, will I get the supp for free? He says no (it took me quite
awhile to follow this), if I bought a book with a supplement and a new
supplement came out withing three months it would be free, but since the
book I'm buying doesn't have a supplement the fact that I order it
within three months of a supplement coming out is meaningless...unless I
order the book and supplement in a "pre-pack"(?), in which case I'll get
a discount on the price.
I point out that there is no mention of this "pre-pack" provision in the
flier. He says that's because they don't yet know when the supplement
will come out. I point out that both Customer Service and he have told
me there will be a supplement in December. He says that, yes, there is
one scheduled for December, but that doesn't actually mean it will come
out in December, so it isn't mentioned in the flier. I point out (I do a
lot of pointing out) that this means the only way I can get a "pre-pack"
discount would be by being psychically aware of the existence of a) the
policy and b) the scheduled but not sure when supplement, since none of
that information is included in the flier for the book that should have
been on standing order in our account anyway (and which, as I said,
probably is & I'll wind up with two...)...
...I'm going back to hiding under my desk and quietly moaning now. If
anyone else is dealing with this title and has better results, please
let me know.
Bob Ryan
Librarian
Hill, Farrer & Burrill LLP
Los Angeles
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