Grrr

[hrj]

So you receive an e-mail that starts, "Further to my previous message ..." only you haven't received any previous message. Back half a year ago, I ordered this gorgeous (expensive) book on the history of furniture in Wales and paid for it by credit card. The book wasn't published yet -- this was a special advance price, so I wasn't expecting to hear anything about it for a while. So other than the charge going through on my card (six months ago), the first I hear anything is an e-mail today saying, "Further to my previous message, please note that customs are still holding your parcel, and if they do not receive a contact number for you by tomorrow, they will destroy the parcel. It might be possible for us to arrange to have the parcel sent back to us here, but as far as I know this will be at cost to yourself. I hope that you can let me know a contact number as soon as possible." It's signed by some representative of the publisher (in Wales).

Not happy. Not happy at all. I dropped them a return e-mail pointing out the lack of any "previous message", providing my work and cell numbers (plus a reminder which time zone I'm in), and noting that they had failed to provide me with any contact information for the customs office ... or even to mention whether the problem was with UK or US customs. And I certainly don't see why I should pay for any extra shipping just because the publisher is evidently not entirely competent at shipping international orders. No, not happy.

On the brighter side (literally), the paint job is coming along very nicely. Lots of purple trim. Mmm, purple. The painter thinks they may be finished this weekend, but I'm not holding my breath. Icky air today -- lots of smoke from some distant fire making my lungs and sinuses unhappy.

Comments

[madfilkentist]

Are you sure this is in connection with the book you ordered? Everything about it -- the lack of any previous message, the demand for money, the claim that great haste is needed, the lack of specific information -- sounds like spam to me.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

My spam-trigger was activated as well, but the e-mail had very specific details about the publisher and the book (like the publisher's mailing address), and given that it's a really really REALLY obscure publisher, it would have been an extraordinary coincidence if someone had randomly picked it for their spam-costume. (And the order had been placed by mail, not e-mail, so there wasn't any prior electronic connection floating around in the ether.)