Book Boxes and Missteps

I recently got a book box.  I purchased the Piper Rayne box from Hello Lovely.  I bought the first round, and while I was slightly disappointed because the merch that came with the box didn’t make sense.  But it wasn’t a big deal to me at the time because I was in it for the books, and I got the box when they said I would.  

 I gave it another chance with the Sara Nay Jock Box.  I was disappointed again because one of the books was the wrong size, and there was no communication about it.  After contacting Hello Lovely, I was told they were reprinting the books and would re-issue them. Great, I loved that since I have a need for all the books in a series to match on my shelf.  That replacement took FOREVER to get.  I understand that there are supply shortages and printing is at a premium right now, but there was not good communication on when that replacement was coming.  Once that information was finally given, it took forever after I sent the misprint back to get the right one… so long that I actually wondered if they forgot.  Eventually my book came, the merch in this box was pretty good so I could forgive a little.  And my special editions look very pretty on my shelf.

I saw that they were doing the final 3 books of the Piper Rayne Hockey Hotties series and keeping the old covers (because apparently recovering is all the rage right now) so I wanted to get it.  The shipment date was supposed to be beginning of October.  Now again, I understand that there is an issue getting printing time, but at the end of October, there was still no box… still not update on the website when the box would be shipped… no email communication stating that the box was delayed.  So I emailed.  I got a reply saying that the box would be shipped at the beginning of November.  Okay… that’s good, only a month late I can live with that.  However, the beginning of November came and went and not box… no update… no nothing.  I just let it ride, because looking at the website almost every box they have is delayed.

So, November 18th… my box shows up. I am excited because it finally got here. Then I open it.  The swag is eh. I got a shirt for the Florida Fury, and while it states it’s a family retreat there is NO logo for the fury.  It looks like a t-shirt for a day camp.  The rest of the swag was just eh nothing great, but not the worst.  But then I get to the books.  So as with the first box, I receive the novella prior to the 3 books and the 3 books themselves.  However, the novella is SMALL… and I mean SMALL!!! It’s like a pamphlet sized book.  WHY??? That is my real questions.  Why would a company not match their products with the way they did the first box.  Now I have 7 books that are one size and one mini book.  I truly don’t understand the business practice of this company.  If you are constantly pushing back box releases don’t put dates on them.  If you are constantly having issues with sizes and formatting maybe outsource one person to do it.  KEEP records to show how you set up the original box so that everything matches.  I buy books in a series and books boxes so they can look nice on my shelf and are uniform.  Having a book that is a good 2 inches shorter than every other book in the series is frustrating. 

This whole box is frustrating.  I bought in it August, paid for it in August, and am disappointed in NOVEMBER.