Smashing Magazine - we smash you with the information that will make your life easier. really.

me too x_x

I too, like many others on here, ordered this book awhile ago and am beginning to fear that we are never going to see anything for our money.

While I do realize that there are often problems in the print production phase which can cause delays to publication, a two-month delay seems a little extreme. I know you keep referring us all to the newsletter link at the top of the page, but that was from September and showing us photos of the book being printed in September while telling us that we are going to have to to wait until the end of November for our copies, is just asking for upset people.

Perhaps if you gave a bit better of an explanation behind the delay (ie what does shipping delays mean, because you haven’t shipped them to us yet, right?) then people may not be quite so annoyed.

All I know is that I, like MIssy, will be asking for my money back if the delay goes beyond the end of November!

yes! exactly! WE WANT A REASON!!, by saying delays what do you mean? its the least you can do, tell us why there has been delays, what kind of delays, I trust you guys a lot, i love this website i cant wait till i get my book, but you know, it gets irritating, i want the best for you guys but just please give us a reason!

(SM) A newsletter containing a more detailed explanation for the delays has just been published.

I think it’s time to release an eBook to the people who have paid. Anything less than that is unacceptable in my view. The situation may be out of your control, but that means you didn’t do due diligence and choose good service providers on this. I have not bought this book, was planning on it, but not at the moment. Maybe if an instant digital download is available for purchase with in the next two weeks or so, I’ll reconsider.

Hello there! Smashing Magazine has been extremely helpful for me. My favourite website about design definitely gets the support from me! I will be ordering your book soon. :)

I think the Smashing team did a great job during the years, providing first class material and creating a stunning community. Ok, there’s a delay, so what? They’re not moving to Caymans with your/our money, they’re the same guys and this is their FIRST book, and you can also get it with a discount. What more do you want? Blood?
It seems like this book is a matter of life and death for some people, can’t really understand this.

damn ! waiting sucks ! hope we will get this books with some goodies and stickers :)

I’m getting fed up of the people who think there’s nothing to complain about. They’d soon complain if they were kept waiting for their new Mac, or car, or must-have gadget! I paid my money in good faith and accepted the initial delay. But as someone else wrote here they obviously did not get their ducks in a row before publicising it.

I think Smashing owe us a damned good explanation for the delays. And not some newsletter or site announcement – a personally addressed email or letter to every individual who has paid for something they’ve not received.

One thing’s for sure, I won’t be buying anything from them again unless it’s already in the bookstores and I get what I pay for immediately.

@Missy (#38): You’re right, I do complain a lot when my new Mac, car or must-have gadget is delayed. But those items are already available/build/in store/on-the-way and weren’t on pre-sale while still in development. So please try to see it from their view; they build a complete new book with help help of the community (us) and made the pre-sale available while the book wasn’t completed and everybody knew that.

About the delays; I’m sorry to hear it (I ordered the book like everybody else) but as long as SM can give the quality as they always have given I don’t complain. An more detailed explanation could be helpful, but everybody who can think by himself/herself can think of all the reasons that can cause a delay (especially these times).

SM: “All I want for Christmas is… The Smashing Book!”

I think I messed up my shipping adress, forgot to put the floor and apartment:D

Have the books begun to ship? or can i still e-mail you guys>

(SM) Don’t worry, we’ll fix that. Just send us your updated address (and order number) via email.

How does one go about canceling a pre-order? (Convinced my job to buy all the designers in my dept one, after I already preordered! Haha)

(SM) Now that is the best reason for cancelling that we ever heard. :) Thanks a lot! Just send us your order number via email and we will cancel your order for you.

Thank you, Johan. You beat me to the punch.

Working for a marketing/publishing company, I know what it’s like trying to get anything, let alone a book finalized, printed and distributed. These guys were nice enough to provide its readers with a discount. Whether we get it on time or late, we still win. It certainly beats paying the retail price when it hits the shelves… but if it’s worth your hasty convenience…

I can personally speak for myself by saying that my life has certainly gone on just fine as I wait.

yo SM,

just ordering your book, hope you not make more delay, waiting for november.. :)

It’s a popular item (to say the least) among the community; the pre-orders must be huge, not to mention estimating the inventory needed for the release date.

So shipping is probably accommodating for all of this. Then there is less chance of an inventory shortage, or people receiving their copy much later. You don’t want to be receiving it, when AJAX 2.0 is the new buzzword. :-)

Think of it this way, November will be cold and snowy. Which gives you more time to be indoors to read it for the 3rd or 4th time. :-)

Josh

Kindly give the ISBN-13 for this book. Thanks

(SM) The book does not have an ISBN-13, sorry.

CommentsPosted in sexual assault �Whenever people ask me why I still like Green Day it makes me laugh. ,

recomment: How does one go about canceling a pre-order?

(SM) Just drop us an email including your order number.

Seriously guys!!! are you ever going to ship these books?!! it’s been 3 months since I have paid you for a pre-ordering! does this book exist at all?

(SM) Yes, it does exist (now). :) The books will be shipped on November 23rd.

Is it possible to remove the pre order?

(SM) Just drop us an email with your order number.

@Kuang EXACTLY!!! atleast communicate the problems to us, not just give us some stupid statement like:

“Update (18/10/2009): Again, we sincerely apologize for the delay and we promise that we will ship your book to you as soon as possible! Thank you for your patience and trust – we will do our best to meet your expectations!”

We paid for the book, the least these guys can provide us with is information about the delays…I’m so tired of waiting, its just too much.

(SM) A newsletter containing more detailed information has been published now. Sorry for being not clear enough the first time.

When can we expect the book to ship? 1 Week? 1 month? Half a year?

How long time is “as soon as possible”.

(SM) It will ship on November 23rd.

I’ve already sent an e-mail to smashing asking them who I contact to go about canceling a pre-order. No one has gotten back to me, or answered my 2 other posts about this issue. This is unacceptable. Please respond to my e-mail or one of these comments so I can take appropriate action before you ship them (whenever that may be).

Thank you.

(SM) You should have gotten a response by now. Sorry for being so slow, we got a bit overwhelmed by the numerous support questions.

I think the director don’t even read those comments. They don’t even respect their customers.

Come on! You all act like addicts who desperately need there fix. So the book comes out a bit later, so what! You won’t lose anything with the book coming out in november do you?

Now i think of it.. the book must be great if people react whit this amount of anger when it turns out it ships a bit later. Glad i ordered it! :-)

@Hillie – No doubt the book is highly anticipated, but it’s very bad karma not to keep deadlines, as we all know in the freelance biz!

:) almost forgot I ordered it :o. Keep up the good work guys. Can’t u tell us more about why and where these problems are?

Let those who never missed a deadline cast the first stone. (not me …)

[Although it seems you have all the time in the world so you will have finished your projects on schedule.]

I think I am more annoyed at the fact that I have given them money and then received no helpful information, and a 2 month delay.

Personally I have always felt that transparency is the best policy, if they openly gave an update every week during the delay telling us the woes they are getting into and the work they are doing to overcome it I would find it a much more enjoyable delay experience. A nice insight in to what companies go through to get their first book published, might even make a nice tutorial article.

@hillie
“Come on! You all act like addicts who desperately need there fix. So the book comes out a bit later, so what! You won’t lose anything with the book coming out in november do you?”

Its not a bit late. A bit late is like a month or so. Any longer and as a customer you start to worry. Plus the shop we all ordered this book from does not respond to any of his customers. So you got multiple delays and no direct communications. Now what do we do? If for a bold move they would close the site and take our money. Then what? If 1000 people ordered a book thats a lot of money. People get scammed on the internet every day. I love the website and it has been a great resource for me and i believe a lot of webdesigners. But the cold reality is that i don’t know the people behind smashing personally. The only way to respond is through here!

@tom foster
“I think I am more annoyed at the fact that I have given them money and then received no helpful information, and a 2 month delay.”

exactly how I feel! I could of let my voice heard a lot sooner but I choose to remain calm and wait it out. You know what made me pissy? I had to check the website to see they made a 18/10/09 news update. Not even a email update to someone who had ordered the book. How hard can it be to send a newsletter for those who ordered the book?

@hillie

“I don’t know if there is enough going on for a weekly update, because i can imagine there is a lot of waiting en testing involved in the proces of book printing but i agree it would be great if they let us know a bit more about the books progress.”

“btw i must admit i am a bit annoyed about the fact that they delay the release date everytime youre about to expect it in your mailbox but i stay with my opinion that thats not a reason to go and wright angry comments. ”

I know all about deadlines that are too ambitious. We all make mistakes. But you don’t miss deadlines by months. I agree that there is a lot of testing but thats not months. If the book is done it’s all up to the printing company. If the printing company has a good paper supply company you get samples of the paper you wanna use. hell the printing company themselves has a good stock to choose from for the cover and the inside of the book. the printing company will make make three of four example books so the customer can choose the kind of paper they want. Now all they have to do is print, glue and finish(cutting) the book.

Off course we are a bit upset. Not angry. Angry is when you start yelling,flaming and proclaim physical harm to another person. We are all trying on a calming way get a response from the person(s) who are responsible for the book.

I haven’t said this but I paid €24(€17.75 without) with postage for this book. I find that cheap. Actually too cheap. They are going too use coated paper for the inside. Thats more expensive then for instance offset paper. Probably a decent 250-350 gr coated paper for the cover. Off course the glueing and finishing. The margin on this book must be thin.

I have stop waiting for the book. I know i cant get it. I think i was one of the first person who order this book,

i was very eager to hold it in my hand but unfortunately. noooooooooooo hopes to get it :(

Yes me to. I was just changing the adress for shipping and i just notice that the book as been Shipped.

Hope its for real.. since SM havnet announce anything..

(SM) It hasn’t shipped yet, sorry. The status message in your account is a bit misleading. See the current newsletter for more details.

Almost 2 months waiting. Surreal :S

Hey guys i just got this as an answer to a mail i send i witch i asked if i needed to worry about the status of my order:
—

thank you for your inquiry and your patience. We are as you keenly looking forward to hold the first Smashing Book in our hands.

Finally, the book has been printed and is now on it`s way over the ocean. The first copies of the Smashing Book will be shipped November 23, 2009. An invoice will be attached.

We thank you again for your trust and the pre-order!
We’ll make the wait worthwhile, and we will keep you updated on the book’s progress.

In the meantime, you can continue to enjoy a steady stream of insightful articles online.
Best,
Michael

How can I change the shipping address?

(SM) Please send us an email with your order number.

Sweet. Just read the first chapter of the book via email.

Thanks for keeping those who pre-ordered up to date.

You guys are the best,

- Evan

I just recieved the notice that my book will arrive late November. The real problem is that I ordered it almost 2 months ago and in that time I have found a new place to live and will have moved by that time. I don’t know if the book is coming through UPS, FedEx, or the USPS but I now have to hope it’s the USPS so the book will be forwarded to my new address.

Can’t wait! Thank you guys!

This is what I did receive today:
“Your Smashing Book has been printed! It is currently en route to our shipment facility, where it will arrive in mid-November. Because not much can go wrong now — unless the ship gets seized by pirates :) — we expect no further delays and can finally announce a shipping date:

Monday, 23 November 2009″

So another month – :(

Eine Stellungnahme, warum ihr so lange braucht, wäre absolut angebracht, Jungs. Euren Vertrauensbonus habt ihr definitiv aufgebraucht….!

Why can’t I preorder if I’m in the US? hmm..

(SM) You should be able to pre-order in the US. Strange. Please send us an email with more details so that we can help you to complete your order.

It’s apparently not possible to change the shipping address on the order as many have asked without an answer.

Is it at least possible to get my money back?

(SM) The newsletter triggered quite a bit of support questions, so we had trouble responding to everyone in time. Sorry about that. E-Mails do not get ignored. Please E-Mail us your order number and we’ll see that we can help you ASAP.

Again: is it possible to cancel a pre-order?

(SM) Please send us your order number via email.

Normally how long does it take in order to deliver from your place to VietNam in case of using ground mail and in case of air mail?
Reply ASAP OK
Thanks

(SM) Our postal provider didn’t give us delivery times to Vietnam, sorry. I would guess that it takes several days via air mail and weeks via ground mail. The books get shipped from Germany, so if you have any experience receiving mail from Europe, please share with us.

I waiting for the book at my doorstep. Already ordered a month back.

Hello guys,
Lets get serious, could you please inform every body where the problem relays?
You are going to loose your fantastic reputation if you continue that way, i mean you are the profets of comunication..is this everything only blah blah or what??

if someone from SM could answer,paypal doesnt accept my order…i am from serbia…
this is what i get:
http://i33.tinypic.com/2m5dmhf.jpg
what do i need to do?
thanks

Hello!
I wish I had news about the book. Soy de Buenos Aires, Argentina, I like to have
for Christmas.
Sorry for my bad English!

—————————

Hola!
Me gustaría tener novedades acerca del libro. Soy de Buenos Aires, Argentina, me gustaría tenerlo para navidad. Perdon por mi ingles tan malo!

I am one of the people who purchased this book as soon as you advertised it on your front-page. I know that I will receive it but maybe because of the delays… you can give us a freebies :) like car stickers, shirt, cap, mug or any collectibles :)

It’s all good. Still can’t wait to get it (in December).

“Despite our best intentions, some deadlines cannot be met. The books will
not be shipped as announced on November 23rd, but _on December 5th_.”

This is totally a D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R. First because we don’t care if your shipping company got kidnapped by Johnny Dep in Somalia’s coast or decided to sell fish in Singapore instead of shipping our book.

Or is it something common for you? Are those companies advertising on your side bar delaying your payments as you do with our books (yes! we paid them!)? (Oh sorry! our developers got sick in {exotic country} and we will pay you not november 23 but december the 5th!!) DO you afford that? Do you feel comfortable?

I think that at least you would need to have a little decency and give money back to all of us who bought your book and still ship it.- Not a good business? Well, you should have thought about it when you decided to create a book – otherwise, keep working online!

Sad to say that I think the contents will be good and from thinking I would have a great book, Im starting to think (as many others for sure), that I will get something for what I’ll say ” oh yeah, the book that took loooong to arrive and…. is just another book on the list…

DI SAS TER

HEHEHE THE BOOOK WILL BE FINALLY SHIPPED ON PDF…… OR MAYBE WE WILL GET THE PRINTED “THANK YOU PAGE” At the end of the boook……..

Guessing if that’s the reason Amazon released the Kindle worldwide?……………

Just got the email about the FURTHER delays. What the hell guys! You’re a fair way through utterly destroying the trust that you’ve built up with your users for so long.

If we hadn’t paid, i could understand but we’re paying customers and I assume that there are thousands of us! That’s alot of money, use it!

Seriously! this is ridiculous at this point! What are we getting extra for this long wait? Not to mention that your apology was cute the first 2 times but come on guys! are you realizing that we won’t be trusting you the next time you come out with a great book and you won’t be getting this many orders? This really is a shame!

I still love Smashing Magazine.

Thanks for the update, I know this must be tough on you guys.

I am so disappointed in this book. I’m pretty sure that it will still be as great, but i thought i was going to receive it waaayyy long ago. But w.e Ill wait, i hope theres some freebies bundled, if the book is delayed one more time im going to cancel my order. I understand, for the most part, the delays are not caused by you, but this book needed to be placed on preorder after you guys had have the physical book, not before it.

Life doesn’t always play out as we’d like.

Probably the worse way to start an email about another delay on the book. Out of your control – we understand… just could of left that bit out.

Disappointed after reading once again the books been delayed…………..How long have you had our money? Surely some kind of compensation is due for people who ordered Way back in August i think it was.

Maybe a gesture like those who order air delivery get money back as if the had ordered the cheaper method and those who ordered the Cheaper Method actually get there delivery by Air Mail.

And why do we get a email 3days before it ships you must have know earlier it was not going to happen. You guys worked for Micorsoft pervioulsy?

5th of December? No, its a joke, isn’t it? I was really patient for all this time, calmly reading the dates are pushed again and again, but seriously, its not funny any more! I paid in August. And all this explanations, because these and those let us down, come on! Instead of giving so precise dates like 23rd November, you could have added one month to it just in case…. Why you don’t print it in Germany anyway, you would save all of us and yourselves all this hassle. Really bad for SM, because I can see lots of people are now very angry and many users will leave the blog, you should think about something more to give to keep the good image than just ridiculous explanations.
I just hope the book is worth waiting so loooong.

What I’m worried about is the content, I thought it was outdated already. I’m glad the content is timeless and can still be very useful in years. It’s just sad that, a birthday present for September turned out to be a Christmas present now :D

Hey Guys, Sad to hear about the book being delayed but i understand its not all your fault :P I bet you will make it up to us all, i have an idea…shhhhh…your next book….we early adopters all get a nice discount :D (Providing you wanna go through it all again :P)

I suggest this new addition to the chapter – The Smashing Story:

– “The ship that turned the fate of Smashing magazine”
you guys still have time to add this page allowing the the “Singapore Ghost shipment”

– “Smashing magazine turns from web based industries to investment industry”

Totally disappointed

Keep the faith!

Greetings,
Is it possible to send final printed PDF for our reference till we get the final printed book.

Regards,
Panduranga

Hi SM. I ordered Smashing Book at 11/11/09 but still it has not been on my hand. When will get this book?

Order Num: 700005751

Hi SM, just read about that asian company which keeps in hostage European books :)
May I give you an advice ?
Please, stop announcing shipping dates, if you don’t really own the book .
I’ll be glad to receive a mail from you ONLY when the book will be posted from your warehouse.

Regards

It is really funny, reading some of the messages. Sure people are disappointed, but angry, frustrated, irritated ?? Come on give yourself some break.

I have been following SM for quite some time now and have found really really useful stuff out there. So much useful that I want to do designing ! But is SM charging you for that kind of information ? It could very well have been a paid site !

Give those guys a break. Production delays do happen! Atleast they had the courtesy to inform us. They could have very well been silent and let things pass.

It takes guts to be honest, and thats what SM is all about. Its about sharing the knowledge that one has!

I dont mean to be harsh on anybody, but just wait for it, I am sure we will all forget these delays !

Hello SM Team,

Please send PDF before content of your book gets outdated and older.

Thanks

I just ordered the book.
The emails still says that the book will be send in the middle of november.
If i have known about the problems then probably i would’nt ordered the book.

Why is there no warning before you place the order??
The book is a christmass gift, and if it is not delivered on time, i would be very disapointed.
It would also be the last thing i will order from smashing.
At least give the right information in the email.

Can anywone tell me if the book will be delivered before christmass?

Although I hate how all these issues coming with printing and shipping, Smashing Team learn a lesson on how to choose companies in China. They tends to promise you everything but doing nothing. Period! Choose a big company. Visit their factory. Do everything you can before you paid.

Well, I learn a lesson too. Don’t pre-order books from someone who has no or less experience on printing

By the way, it is sad that you send books back to Europe then delivery
Since I am living in Hong Kong which is pretty close to China :(

This reply is not complaining for anything. It is just the 1000th reply!
Looking forward to hold the book in my hands :)

When will the book appear????

Mir gefällt ehrlich gesagt eure Kommunikationspolitik nicht, dass ihr mir die ganze Zeit Zwischenstände berichtet. Ich will nicht die Geschichte, ich will einfach nur wissen, wann das Buch geliefert wird. Ernsthaft: Es regt mich jedes mal auf, wenn ich eure Mails lese.

What is SM’s explanation for not releasing a PDF version to the paying customers?

Yes pirating is a valid concern, but printed or not, it will still occur. They could use protection, such as Adobe Digital Editions or the like. Sure a lot of people do not care for this, as it usually requires an accompanying application or being tied to one machine. However, at this point it would be far better than nothing.

Several other well established sites offer PDF versions (Safari, sitepoint, etc…), and are doing fine.

We’re now reaching the five month mark from the delays. Regardless of where the fault lies, not compensating your paying customers in some way is mind boggling. Not to mention the impact on future orders and SM itself.

Joshua

How do I buy this from Iran? I do not have access to credit cards here.

Excellent, thank you Smashing Magazine!! Patience pays off, and I can’t wait to get stuck in.

Well done.

I just got the email. Thanks for keeping us updated!

Delays happen and things don’t always turn out as we had hoped. I’m so excited that the delivery is just around the corner!

You guys stayed professional and let us know the status of everything. I’m sure you learned a lot from the experience and I hope we can look forward to some awesome posts that will “SMASH” us with lessons and insights that will help all of us avoid some of the headaches that you undoubtedly experienced.

Thanks again, SM. I’m looking forward to curling up with my new book!

Weihnachten :-)

I pre-ordered the book when it was first available, but I’ve moved since then. (I’m in the US.) How can I ensure that it’ll arrive in the right destination? (I’ve already notified my local office to make sure all things should be forwarded to me, but I wanted to see if there was a way I could check the “status” of the book.)

I’m wearing my Smashing Party Pants in eager anticipation of delivery!

Hope you don’t send me a phone book by accident…!
heh

Got the mail regarding the shipment!! Thanks Smashing Magazine!! How long it will take to reach Bangalore, India…

YAY!! Well done Smashing Magazine. You got there in the end. Time for you guys to breath out, sit back and have beer. Greetz aus Koeln!

Please give me shipment details & how to track my order….

“Your Smashing Book has shipped!” Ive received this in the 2nd December. How long it take to arrive Portugal?

Yippie! I have received mine today!!! Thanks guys. My location is in Germany, for those who are still waiting.