Dear Customer
The books were printed and were delivered in time for me to commence packing for despatch of all backorders on Tuesday 20th June as I promised you.
However, once delivered, upon inspection, it became apparent that the books had not only been printed on paper of a (slightly) inferior quality than requested, but the colour of the paper was cream, not white! (See the CQB website & Facebook page, for a photo of NQR alongside Gentleman &Warrior to highlight the difference). The paper selected was not requested by me, and the printers (CPI Antony Rowe Ltd., a large and experienced book printers) have acknowledged that they were at fault, and that coming after a delay in the expected original lead time to production.
Whilst I considered sending the book out as it was to all customers, it has always been my objective for NQR to match G&W for style and physical quality. The cream paper used for NQR was lower quality, slightly translucent, and some photographs appeared to lose some definition, presumably because of the colouring. Having spent over ten years of my life on this project, I saw no room to accept such a compromise, and I thus ordered the books re-printed to the correct, original spec.
It is therefore with considerable embarrassment that I have to inform you that once again, the release date for “No Queensbury Rules” has been pushed out.
CPI have informed me that although they will try to get the reprinted books to me sooner, unfortunately the likely delivery date to me is 10th July, because they are “so busy”. Clearly their “customer service” is lacking something.
This is not the first time I have used CPI for books, and it is also (unfortunately) not the first time I have experienced problems with them. However, it is highly unlikely I will go to them again, and I currently would never recommend them to anyone else – except in the negative sense, ie I recommend them as a company to avoid.
Those of you who have placed orders that include other books, please e-mail me if you would like them sent to you now, rather than waiting for the complete order. There will be no cost to you; I will bear the extra p&p myself.
To everyone, I thank you for your patience and kindness. I hope you will be satisfied when NQR finally reaches you, and I will also add something extra for you all as a personal “thank you” for being so understanding.
Paul Child.
(A very pissed-off) Director of CQB Publications (UK) Ltd.