Ordering difficulties

Anyone else having zero luck in calling in an order? The lines always busy or it doesn’t go through. No one at FS is returning emails. I’ve called a dozen times and no response. From multiple phones!

I’m stateside, any other Americans having issues?

Yes. I sent an email that was not responded to after a week when I had problems ordering online. A second email was responded to within 24h with an apology. I was advised phone staffing is low at present and staff are working from home, but lines are open between 8am and 10pm GST. I was unable to get through by phone and just got a busy signal. I’m also in the US.

I tried calling several times the other day to ask about shipping ... and it was busy with each attempt.

I placed an order a week or two ago ... used standard shipping ... and realized it said no tracking is available with standard shipping.

Now I have no clue as to when to expect delivery.

This past Christmas I ordered with express shipping ... in 'November' ... three weeks later it still had not shown up. They resent a rush shipment so I could have it for Christmas (great customer service as always) ... And a week later I received the package.

Then Mid January a giant white potato bag showed up with a giant orange clip on it at my door step. I assume the original package got held up in customs (for a month or more).

I called FS and they said to just donate the books.

Their customer service is great ... but it sucks not having any tracking for packages here in the states.

>3 thisGuy33: I've placed a lot of orders over the years, and the vast majority have arrived 3-4 weeks later. Occasionally I got lucky and received a shipment in 10 days. These were usually smaller orders. I have had orders take more than 4 weeks, but not often. Right now, though, I've seen estimates of 2-4 week delays for international mail delivery, which I'm sure was why FS only offered expedited shipping early in the pandemic. Since I hate to spend money on shipping, my order is coming standard, but I'm not expecting it anytime soon.

Before the pandemic, I was starting to get shipments in about a week, with tracking. Things are now taking 3-4 weeks to get to California.

I have never placed an order over the phone. I always order on the website and typically get a shipping confirmation a few hours later.

I live close enough to JFK, that my orders, depending on the day of the week, almost always arrive within 2 weeks using standard shipping. During the pandemic, with the exception of books from Australia, all orders were timely and more often much faster than the initially projected arrival.

I haven’t been motivated enough to call but at least since the Clash Of Kings was released I’m unable to place an order online. I can’t log on to my account and I can’t place an order without an account and when I use my email it says account already exists. I have tried over a dozen times for weeks. I have tried on windows OS and Mac OS, desktops, laptops, iPhones, and iPad. Even cleared cookies. Reset password. No luck. I recognize their websites have always been glitchy and temperamental but this is actually preventing sales. The only reason I haven’t made a bigger fuss with FS yet is because I’m not in any hurry to order.

That sounds really weird and frustrating! I hope that it gets resolved soon.

>7 UK_History_Fan:

Try to send them a mail about the account issues? Even if it is in a few days, maybe someone will respond and help? Sounds like your account had been locked in some way... :(

I placed an express shipping order on 3rd May and it still hasn't arrived. Tracking info just says "exported from UK". Is is coming by ship? :-( :-( These days FS orders have become a game of patience. I think it might take a month more at least. And this is supposed to be express.

Few days ago, I got my email's reply withing an hour. Previously they used to reply at most in one day.

>7 UK_History_Fan: I can’t log on to my account...
I have had exactly the same problem for the last few weeks, with all the same symptoms. I too have tried logging in with multiple browsers/devices, deleted cookies, reset password, etc.
I get a "Error 503 first byte timeout" each time. I emailed FS over a week ago and have had no reply (apart from the usual automated acknowledgment). I haven't chased them up yet, making allowance for current circumstances.
I too have not been in a great hurry to order, but the pressure is beginning to mount!

>7 UK_History_Fan: >12 Hrodberht:
Same problem here. There is no point changing browers, deleting cookies etc as it's clear now that the issue is on their side. I sent them an email several weeks ago and had an exchange...but their web team was unable to pinpoint the source of the problem. However, a week ago I needed to make an order (Snow Leopard and Something Wicked, before they ran out) so had to call customer services. While on the line I remembered that my shopping basket had several old items sitting in it, leftovers from the New Year Sale which I didn't purchase. I asked them to clear the basket and...bingo! The account started working again.

However, there is a sting in the the tail :-) I tried to log in again just now and the problem was back. My hunch is still that this has something to do with items being in the shopping basket which are either sold out or no longer exist in the database. The browser is unable to retrieve them, hence the timeout.

I'm in 'ROW' btw. Maybe this issue only affects accounts on certain servers.

>13 Levin40:

I haven't had any login problems myself but, just thinking out loud here, if you were able to get into your account after a phone call to support and a clearing of your basket, what if you also changed (or had support change for you) your username/email address?

For the last hour or so, I've been trying to check out and pay an order. But it's impossible to check out with Paypal, the page keeps getting stuck. I don't even want to risk that with my credit card, my bank is very security conscious and will block my card if a website doesn't function properly and things seem fishy to them. I hope the website's checkout will be functional again soon.

>15 SF-72: Sometimes if you call your bank ahead to notify them of the impending transaction that can smooth the way so your card won’t get blocked. Try to work out the exact amt so when they see it come up it will go through.

>16 coffeewithastraw:

Thank you, I will keep that in mind for the future. Luckily, the Folio website finally functioned with Paypal after about 1.5 hours. I normally wouldn't mind and just wait a day, but this was about the current limited edition.

>17 SF-72:

That’s terrible that you had to try for so long to get it to function while worrying about missing the opportunity to get your book, but I’m glad it worked out in the end.

>18 coffeewithastraw:

Thank you, so was I.

My general impression is that the new website doesn't function nearly as well as the old one, at least not on a computer. Mobile phones might be better now, I wouldn't know.

>15 SF-72: Are you sure it was Folio? I was having issues with PayPal from another publisher’s checkout (PayPal was getting a stuck on a Bad Gateway error) around the same time you posted here - it had cleared when I tried an hour later.