Trotter wrote:

gobbledygook wrote:

Stu wrote:

I think there is a point where reasonable complaint can tip over into "entitled whinging" and just looking for things to be indignant about (which is a modern social phenomenon).

Get over yourself.

Please do not make personal attacks on this board.

Calling someone's opinion "entitled whinging" is personal enough to warrant an answer of the same kind.

Caudimordax wrote:

Urulókë wrote:

• I re-read the "bespoke POD" description from https://www.tolkien.co.uk/print-demand-bespoke-new-edition/ due to this conversation, and I have to say with all of those "hand cut, hand inserted, hand glued" steps they go through, it is incredible that copies come out looking anything like each other! We are so spoiled in modern first-world terms with mass manufacturing that we sometimes completely forget what bespoke means for consistency...

So your comment caused me to re-read that same page, and you're right it seems much of it is done by hand. I actually decided to reach out to HC via the contact link at the bottom of the PoD site, and unfortunately I got a "undelivered mail return to sender" error in my inbox. Has anyone made an order with them recently, or otherwise interfaced with the customer service team managing the PoDs? Care to share the proper email address, since it seems their contact form is broken?

If I might refocus the topic a bit, I think this message got buried. Anyone got any ideas?

gobbledygook wrote:

Trotter wrote:

gobbledygook wrote:

Stu wrote:

I think there is a point where reasonable complaint can tip over into "entitled whinging" and just looking for things to be indignant about (which is a modern social phenomenon).

Get over yourself.

Please do not make personal attacks on this board.

Calling someone's opinion "entitled whinging" is personal enough to warrant an answer of the same kind.

This is your last warning, please do not make personal attacks on this board.

Caudimordax wrote:

Caudimordax wrote:

So your comment caused me to re-read that same page, and you're right it seems much of it is done by hand. I actually decided to reach out to HC via the contact link at the bottom of the PoD site, and unfortunately I got a "undelivered mail return to sender" error in my inbox. Has anyone made an order with them recently, or otherwise interfaced with the customer service team managing the PoDs? Care to share the proper email address, since it seems their contact form is broken?

If I might refocus the topic a bit, I think this message got buried. Anyone got any ideas?

A fair question. I have seen in the past few weeks three or four other people who have been in the same boat - either with questions about POD titles, or with orders made a few months ago that seem "lost" and no response when they ask for updates.

I would guess that COVID-19 has had a serious impact on them, both in response time and in the book-making process, but that is just a guess. All I can point to is the following information they have on the website at https://www.tolkien.co.uk/delivery-returns/

If you are experiencing problems with our delivery service, we will make every effort to assist you. Please contact us at: [email protected] or call us on 0844 576 8112 during business hours (8.30am-5.30pm Monday to Friday excluding UK Bank Holidays and Public Holidays).

Thanks for the response. Well, it is [email protected] that seems to be out of service, given that my emails can't even be delivered. I think you're right that Covid-19 has likely seen an ancillary service fully neglected–not sure what the technical cause of an email address going "down" might be, but I could see it happening with no one at the office to nurture such things.

Caudimordax wrote:

Thanks for the response. Well, it is [email protected] that seems to be out of service, given that my emails can't even be delivered. I think you're right that Covid-19 has likely seen an ancillary service fully neglected–not sure what the technical cause of an email address going "down" might be, but I could see it happening with no one at the office to nurture such things.

No way [email protected] can be out of service. I've been talking just today and yesterday via this email and I get responses a day or two later. Try to write from your another email address or even from another domain. Maybe their firewall for some reasons rejects your domain or maybe your email address is blacklisted (do you remember any reasons to be?).

Caudimordax wrote:

It is [email protected] that seems to be out of service, given that my emails can't even be delivered.

My emails deliver to them now but last year I also had the same trouble. Emails would instantly bounce back as 'not deliverable'.

Amedautrui wrote:

Caudimordax wrote:

Thanks for the response. Well, it is [email protected] that seems to be out of service, given that my emails can't even be delivered. I think you're right that Covid-19 has likely seen an ancillary service fully neglected–not sure what the technical cause of an email address going "down" might be, but I could see it happening with no one at the office to nurture such things.

No way [email protected] can be out of service. I've been talking just today and yesterday via this email and I get responses a day or two later. Try to write from your another email address or even from another domain. Maybe their firewall for some reasons rejects your domain or maybe your email address is blacklisted (do you remember any reasons to be?).

Interesting! So, I tried that email directly, rather than via their contact portal (I figured, what's the difference?) and this time it got through! Thanks for the help

I took a look at the 2000/2001 India paper editions and there are some pages where variation in darkness of the type can be seen, albeit it didn't seem so pronounced.

It was mentioned somewhere in the thread that someone created a mockup of what a properly deluxe HoME would look like. Been scouring the forums and haven't turned anything up. Anyone got a link for science?