Conlan Press

Since my sister finally got her book yesterday I can now write about all the problems the publisher/seller gave me. In April I looked at my sister's Amazon Wish List (her birthday is in July) and went through all her suggestions and picked the book that I knew she would really like - it is based on a cartoon she loved as a kid. The book could not be bought on Amazon and so I ordered it through Conlan Press' website. I had four choices for the book: (1) to get just the regular book, (2) to have the author sign the book, (3) to get the author to personalize the book or (4) to get the author to both personalize and sign the book. I chose the last choice and wrote the personalized text in the online order form.

In May (several weeks since I ordered the book) I e-mailed Conlan Press and asked them about my order. A few weeks later (in June) I decided to call the company in CA since I had received no reply from them. I spoke to a guy who from the start gave me nothing but excuses. I told him that the book was a birthday present and that I really needed it. He started telling me that his company was small and that a female employee who handled everything had left suddenly and they were trying to pick up the pieces. He said that since it was for a birthday he would make sure the book was signed and sent that Monday (it was a Friday that I called.) I told him that I was not "Oprah" and did not need all his excuses - just the book. He said he didn't need the "abuse" I was giving him and so I told him I expected the book to be signed and mailed on Monday as he said and when he tried to give me more excuses I hung up on him. A few minutes later he called back and asked if I could be "civil" with him so we could resolve the problem. I was biting my tongue so I wouldn't tell this CA laid-back idiot what I really thought of him. The call ended and I was expecting the book in a few days.

The book never arrived. I was waiting another week to call back and see where it was (since it could have been mailed and just in transit.) I then received a generic e-mail from the company explaining that my book was being delayed because they were a small company and a female employee was getting divorced and had left the company to work on her personal issues. It did not mention the call I had made to them about getting the book that Monday and so I called them again.

I explained everything to the guy I spoke to (including about it being a birthday present and I had been told before that it would be delivered by a certain date and that date had come and passed.) He started out with the same excuse as I have received from everyone at this company - about the female employee. I told him that I had heard that excuse for months, but that this time the mistake was due to a male employee (the one I spoke to the first time I called.) He kept repeating that they were a small company and that it was misplaced, etc. I told him that if they were a small company then it should be easy to know who had made the mistake and to correct it. He did a stupid laugh at that and said that perhaps I had made the mistake. After hearing him blame me I went off on him and told him what I thought of him and his company and told him that I had better receive the book within the next few days or I would file official complaints with anyone and everyone in CA (including the Feds) and then I hung up.

A few days later I got the book - which was personalized and signed, but had the corners pushed in. I wrapped it and mailed it to my sister - who lives in another state. As I mentioned above she finally got the book - her birthday present - yesterday (only 2 weeks after her birthday and 3 months after I ordered it.)

I would suggest that no one buy anything from Conlan Press in California. Throughout my experience with them they have been nothing but unprofessional and arrogant. They do not care about Customer Service or about filling their orders promptly - even though they charged my credit card a few days after I placed the order and didn't send the item to me for 3 months (usually a company charges the card right before they ship it.)The employees I personally dealt with at Conlan Press all seem to have the CA laid-back, I don't care about anything, but everyone should care about me attitude. These are people who have a business and should want to please their customers. Instead they act like old, washed-up hippies.