News: Very Serious Problem with NCP

Just so we’re clear, NCP stands for New Concepts Publishing.

I am NOT one of their authors. Unfortunately, I’m a very pissed off customer.

I ordered FELINE HEAT By Madelaine Montague in print from NCP on 08 February 2008 and paid priority shipping (my first mistake). The total of this transaction was $16.74 for which I used Paypal. I received my confirmation email from both NCP and Paypal.

One of my good friends who orders from NCP quite often told me I was an idiot for paying priority shipping since there was no way the book would get to me in a timely manner. I shrugged that off however and retained high hopes of seeing the book soon.

After a few weeks, I grew concerned about my order and wrote an inquiry email to NCP customer service. That email was sent 19 March 2008. I received no reply.

I emailed again 01 April 2008 and yet again received no reply. 07 April 2008, I enlisted the help of an NCP author who I chat with on the loops to post my problem to the NCP author loop in hopes of speeding along the process and it did nothing.

I thought I might be able to catch an NCP rep at RT Con 2008 and went armed with my receipt (and a few friends as backup). It probably would have worked if NCP had made an appearance.

All my previous plans having failed, I contacted Paypal. At this time, I’d like to note that NCP’s website clearly states “Out of stock books ship in two to six weeks. Books in stock usually ship within a few days.” That’s very nice of them to say that but waiting six weeks means trying to reverse charges through Paypal won’t work since the statute of limitations has run out.

On 21 April 2008, I made Peirs Anthony aware of the situation and the efforts I had made as well as contacting the Better Business Bureau (I just received an email today — 29 May 2008 — stating NCP hasn’t answered them either).

Still nothing.

From 21 May 2008 to 24 May 2008, I sent an email everyday in hopes of bugging them enough that they would simply give me the money back so I would leave them alone. Alas, that hasn’t worked.

Today, I sent one last email, which I’m hoping they reply to because my next stop is a legal office to file a lawsuit. It’s stupid to sue over $16.74 but I’ll do it in a heartbeat because I don’t like paying for stuff, not receiving it, and then being ignored. Just so it’s clear, my legal fees are free thanks to being a military spouse.

In the beginning, I had no intention of doing half the stuff I’ve done, including writing this post, because I figured it was a clerical error and would be handled as soon as I sent my first email asking about my purchase. Too little has happened (actually nothing at all), so I’m of the “let what happens happen” opinion at this point.

I don’t know what’s going on with NCP and I don’t care. I do know that I’m a customer and they have blatantly stolen from me and because of that I will never buy a thing from them again and will never recommend them to anyone looking to buy. Sorry to all those great authors who write for them, but crappy customer service is a deal breaker for me.

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