Quality control is a must!

[Aramanthus]

Hi Matt, I'm not sure if you really gave all of the books there a good quality control check before they left your facility. But I've got a copy which may have been over looked in that regard. Upon finally getting a chance to sit down and examine my book last night, I discovered that page 127 could come right out and it did. After that I was a little worried that more pages were going to fall out of the book. Has anyone else found this problem with their "Hawkmoon".

 

[B_Steele]

Drop Matt an email and work out how to get a new copy...he has stated such errors will be recompensated with new copies.

-Bry

 

[MongooseMatt]

Hi guys,

Indeed, as Bryan said, we will make good on any books you feel are not up to standard. The binding of the cores in our books is extremely solid, and yours is the first we have heard of where individual pages have come adrift - we would be more than happy to replace your book. Drop me a line at msprange@mongoosepublishing.com, and we'll fix that for you.

 

[Aramanthus]

Thank you for the quick response Matt and Bryan!

 

[Marquis-de-Carabas]

While we are at Quality Control: what's up the covers on the recent books?
The all seem to split into a V shape from the back of the book.

My FLGS shop keeper told that this is an issue with how the covers are inserted into the binding machine.

Will this ever be fixed?

Some examples:
- Runequest Core Rules: excellent binding, covers are straight
- Hawkmoon: back cover bends a little outward
- Clanking City: front and back cover bent far outward (actually, it is so bad that wouldn't consider buying the book)

So currently, I am refraining from mail ordering any MRQ books, because I want to check the covers first before buying.

 

[soltakss]

Personally, I've not bought any books that were falling apart, bent, warped or otherwise had problems.

Players Guide, Uz, Clanking City and Newhon looked fine to me. When Waylands Forge gets Jrustela, Hawkmoon and Elric in next week, I'll get them and I expect they'll be fine, too.

Maybe there are a few problems, but I shouldn't think it should affect sales as they are limited in number.

But, enough lap-doggy yapping from me.

 

[stutwothousand]

I don't think it'll affect sales overall. Every now and then, print runs run rough. First runs of Gurps 4 featured enormous chunks falling out, but it was made right and people are still buying Gurps books. If the switchover to the house press resulted in some hiccups, I'm confident that it'll be balanced out by the benefits of printing in-house.

The last couple books I've picked up--Hawkmoon and The Clanking City--showed some rough stitching and some minor cover warping. The stitching was a small problem, apparently not shown in every book in the run. The cover problem may be because I live in a dry climate. I get a lot of books with warped covers. I put a slightly damp paper towel next to the covers and some wax paper next to the pages and let the book sit under something heavy overnight. The cover straightens out fine. A couple flawed books aren't a reason to panic yet.

 

[Utgardloki]

I have noticed that for some of the Mongoose books, the covers are so bad, that I don't want to pay full price for them. As a result, I don't, and so the guy owning the shop does not sell them, and then he thinks Mongoose books won't sell, so he does not order new Mongoose books, so I don't even see the new books on the shelves.

I don't know if book store owners have the option of sending books back if they come to the bookstore in a defective condition. I've seen the same problems with the same books in every store I go to, and a thing like this can just kill a book's sales.

 

[stutwothousand]

Well. You definately don't want to develop a reputation for substandard product. That's hard to overcome. Thankfully, they haven't been so bad out here.

 

[Marquis-de-Carabas]

I don't know if book store owners have the option of sending books back if they come to the bookstore in a defective condition. I've seen the same problems with the same books in every store I go to, and a thing like this can just kill a book's sales.

My FLGS usually carries multiple copies of RuneQuest books. And all of the Clanking City books had the same issue with the covers. The same goes for a Hawkmoon book that came in after I bought mine.

 

[duncan_disorderly]

I don't know if book store owners have the option of sending books back if they come to the bookstore in a defective condition. I've seen the same problems with the same books in every store I go to, and a thing like this can just kill a book's sales.

All the recent Mongoose books show a slight cover warp. In the shrink wrap they look fine (=) but when youundo the shrink wrap the covers bend out from the spine (<) - It is noticable but not (IMO) a show-stopper. The first "in house" book had fairly sloppy bindings - if it had looked any worse I'd have passed on it - but subsequent ones have been OK except for the cover warp (our current theory is that it is the glue used to stick the colour cover on warping the cardboard as it dries).

Mind you, I do know that my FLGS refuses to accept sub-standard books that they consider unsellable, so maybe other people are seeing worse results than me!

 

[Deleriad]

Personally, I've not bought any books that were falling apart, bent, warped or otherwise had problems.

Players Guide, Uz, Clanking City and Newhon looked fine to me. When Waylands Forge gets Jrustela, Hawkmoon and Elric in next week, I'll get them and I expect they'll be fine, too.

Maybe there are a few problems, but I shouldn't think it should affect sales as they are limited in number.

But, enough lap-doggy yapping from me.

I was going to buy the Players Guide, went to my FLGS in Nottingham and every single copy they had (5-6) had warped covers and badly stuck on paper. I didn't buy one. Got a PDF instead - cheap dollar is good for some things. To be honest, I doubt I would have bought the printed version anyway because it's just not good value for money but I had intended to as a form of support and to look nice on the shelf. The binding was the clincher.

 

[Stormwalker]

I was going to buy the Players Guide, went to my FLGS in Nottingham and every single copy they had (5-6) had warped covers and badly stuck on paper.

Yup - I went there yesterday too and saw exactly the same thing. VERY bad cover warping. Still the copies of UZ that they had looked fine.

 

[duncan_disorderly]

I was going to buy the Players Guide, went to my FLGS in Nottingham and every single copy they had (5-6) had warped covers and badly stuck on paper.

Yup - I went there yesterday too and saw exactly the same thing. VERY bad cover warping. Still the copies of UZ that they had looked fine.

Players guide was the first MRQ (and one of the first of any line) book produced "in house" so production problems are understandable (although chrging full price for them may not be acceptable... back in the Pre 2nd edition AD&D days, TSR UK used to sell misprinted books cheap to the Players Association - I got my Oriental Adventurers 1/2 price because the cover is upside down...). It would be suprising and dissapointing if subsequent books did not improve on the physical quality of Players Guide...

 

[MongooseMatt]

Hi guys,

You can help us out here - we have a standard agreement that we will replace any book that is regarded as substandard, no matter whether it is from a customer, retailer or distributor. However, our message is not seeming to get everywhere it needs to be!

If you see such books in a store, please drop me a line (or get the store to do so) at msprange@mongoosepublishing.com, with appropriate contact details for the store, and we will exchange the books quicker than you can shake a dead Broo!

 

[gamesmeister]

Just so you know, I hold the world record for freestyle speed broo-shaking, and I'm damn quick!! :wink:

 

[toothill man]

is that not illegal in utah :shock: :wink: :lol:

 

[Rurik]

Bah. Anyone can just thrash around and doo freestyle. Get back to me when you can Shake a Broo in one of the Classical Styles.

 

[MongooseMatt]

You are all very strange people. . .

 

[lastbesthope]

You are all very strange people. . .

Matt, I've got a call for you, it's from a Mr Kettle, he says you're black too.

:lol:

LBH
(Resident freakboy)