Will Logos honor these $0.00 Pre-pubs?
I pre-ordered Making Time: A New Vision for Crafting a Life beyond Productivity (on Aug 27, 2024) and Nine Words from Jesus: A Manifesto of Hope to Thrive in the Present and Prevail in the Future (on Sep 7, 2024), both for $0.00. I'm checking up on them now and I'm confused by what I'm seeing:
For Making Time, why is my price showing as $11.39?
For Nine Words, the book is out already but the product page is giving me the option to purchase (not at $0.00!).
My question is whether Logos plans to honor the $0.00 pre-pub price for these books? @Jason Stone (Logos), your help would be appreciated with this query.
Best Answer
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You have to contact Customer Service, either via the chat feature or by calling and they will take care of this. I also had these two books in my prepub order. I just got off the chat feature with a Logos Customer Service rep and it was all taken care of in about 8 minutes. you just need to confirm the last four digits of your card on file and they will process the order.
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I see the same thing on the site. My guess is since you ordered as pre-pub when it was $0, you will get it for that. Since it is getting close to publication, the list price is up now.
Someone from Logos would be better to answer this, as again I am only guessing.
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There was a snafu a few weeks ago in which a $2500 package was (mistakenly, I presume) made available for $40 for a few hours on a Saturday. Logos honored that.
"The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of Conservatives is to prevent mistakes from being corrected."- G.K. Chesterton
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I pre-ordered those as well and they are showing the same. It's curious that we haven't received Nine Words from Jesus when it's been released already… That said, I've received every other free pre-pub I've ordered, even when the price subsequently wasn't free.
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Not sure what you mean by resolved. No change on my end…
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I'm also not seeing any change.
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same for me
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I agree, it should be resolved - but it's not.
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In the past Logos has always honored any mistakes in pricing. I imagine that is going to be true here. Jason could clarify just what he meant, however, so you'll know.
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Bridgeport, CT USA
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@Jason Stone (Logos) can you explain what you meant here? I'm unsure what exactly was "resolved", as the issue remains unchanged from when I first posted (except the second book is now live and, like the first one, is also allowing me to add it to the cart for purchase).
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Apologies for the delay in getting back to you, but we'll have an update soon as I have just reached out to the team for details.
Sr. Community Manager at Logos.
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You have to contact Customer Service, either via the chat feature or by calling and they will take care of this. I also had these two books in my prepub order. I just got off the chat feature with a Logos Customer Service rep and it was all taken care of in about 8 minutes. you just need to confirm the last four digits of your card on file and they will process the order.
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@Kenneth Neighoff Thanks for the heads-up; I'll contact CS tomorrow.
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Hi everyone, all customers impacted by this will receive an email early next week with more details.
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Hey Mitch, thanks for this. I'll wait for the email then.
Have joy in the Lord!
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Coming back to say thanks again. I contacted CS, got them both, and it did only take a few minutes. Next time I'll think twice before posting here and wasting people's time.
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Wait, what? Wasting people's time? You helped a lot of people solve a problem they didn't even know they had. Much appreciated.
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Agreed! We can find a lot of time-wasting posts and this was not one of them.
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And now we know the answer. No to $0.00 on the pre-pub (at least for Nine Words, but Making Time seems to be in the same boat), but they are offering half off to make it up to people.
I'm going to pass… I pre-ordered it entirely for the "ooh, free book!" factor, rather than plans to read this particular book. How about you guys?
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I got an email from Logos that said they would cancel my order due to their pricing error. I periodically look for free books on Logos and this came up. Too bad. The message says:
We recently discovered a pricing error with your pre-order of Nine Words from Jesus: A Manifesto of Hope to Thrive in the Present and Prevail in the Future. A technical difficulty caused the product to mistakenly be listed at $0, and we need to cancel your order.
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I'm going to pass too.
I have so many books that I got at full price, at discount price, or for free, that I still want to read, so it makes no sense to spend $5.70 on two more.
I've discovered great books and great authors through free books before, that I eventually read cover to cover. But at $5.70, not gonna happen with these two.
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By the way, new pre-order for $0.00
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Wow, so it you contacted cs last week it was given to you freely as offered. If you waited for them to act they give you a
laughablehalf off the current list pricewhich is basically the same as the last pre-pub price. First time I've ever heard of Logos not honouring a price. Not impressed @Jason Stone (Logos) Either it was a right mix up with too many people jumping on board or their has been a sea-change.Edit to reflect that the list price has been lowered to what was the pre-pub price and the discount has been taken off that. I confirmed this only works if you are logged in.
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I suspected they'd do something like this when Mitch @ FL said an email would be sent out. Why the need to send out an email days later if they planned to honour the pre-order price?
I saw this one today and wondered if it will turn out to be a similar scenario 😛
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I would like an explanation on why those who contacted CS got the book and those who waited patiently now don't.
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No, they did not honor the $0.00 price, but they gave a link to a 50% off the current $11 and change price. They said it was a technical mistake and they cancelled the order for you. I’m fine either way! I didn’t even know I had preordered this book Nine Words 😂
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I can confirm, this truly is a $0 product. The publisher wanted it distributed at no cost.
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Thanks, Mitch.
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A technical error sounds like a publisher goof with limited kick-in.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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Welcome to the private equity / subscription era of Logos, where your prepub price is now subject to change, and the policy of erring on the side of the customer is now out the window. I'm half expecting my $4.99 prepub of the hardcover physical version of Unseen Realm Expanded Edition to be cancelled next. If that happens, I'm done.
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CS used to honor this in the past but with my recent order they refused. Policies must have changed…
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I see I'm not the only person who has been affected by this. I ordered the "nine words" on September 16th and was told yesterday over four months later that they had "recently discovered a pricing error" and that I could buy it now at half price.
It's a bit pathetic that Logos now want $5.70 for it. Things must be really bad in Bellingham if they are so desperate.
This would never have happened under Bob
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I would expect to have some reasonable expectation. I’m not a blank check writer. I may have to cancel some pre-subs
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Has this been changed again? I received the email saying my Pre-Pub was canceled and I could re purchase at 50% off, but when I look on my Pre-Pub Dashboard, it's showing active at $0.00.
I'll take it if it's free. I don't need to buy it since I doubt I'll read it anytime soon, but I'll always take something free.
Dr. Nathan Parker
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Allowing some customers to have it for free and then forcing other customers to pay half price is going to further breed resentment among Logos customers. This is not an acceptable way to handle the issue.
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When CS said no, I just deleted it on my end. I get why they said no though
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I think this is pretty terrible. Do you not have a Fair Trading Act, or Consumer Guarantees Act, or something similar over there in America? In my country, unless the company can prove a genuine error in the advertised price, they're obligated to honour it. If the error is discovered after a sale, it's too bad for the company. So is 'pre-pub' a way to wriggle out of any legal commitment because it's not a 'real' sale?
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In my country, unless the company can prove a genuine error in the advertised price, they're obligated to honour it.
@RJ It sounds like this would be easy to do. Clearly, the publisher did not want the books to be distributed for free, so it was an unauthorized error to list the books at $0.
is 'pre-pub' a way to wriggle out of any legal commitment because it's not a 'real' sale?
Correct, a pre-pub price is not a sale price.
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This is a fair question.
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To answer your specific question about FTA and CGA - there are some equivalents but they tend to be at the state level. So Washington (where Logos is headquartered) does have a Consumer Protection Act; but just like the CGA in New Zealand, it is not automatic that a company is forced to sell goods at the mistaken price - intent is a factor as well as other factors. So you could make a complaint to the Washington Attorney General asking them to investigate (unlikely I suspect) or you could initiate a civil action yourself. All that to get a book that, by the sounds of things, most of us were only interested in because it was free.
If this was an ongoing repeating pattern then I think action would be warranted. I've been a customer of Logos for more than 20yrs and there have been many hicups and mea culpas along the way. Some of their advertising has at times been laughably hyperbolic but not unfairly deceptive. The changes in ownership structure and how they may impact on strategic decisions is going to be interesting but they are going to be far more far reaching then a couple of pre-pubs that were mispriced in error.
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Agree. Not a legal issue, both literally and practically.
But a commercial one. I had a Japanese seller of hichiriki's (ancient instrument). I ordered and paid. They went to the hichiriki maker and discovered under-priced. Didn't blanche, in informing me, my new price. I didn't blanche in downsizing my hichiriki. Seller, buyer.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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While I agree that it doesn't look good for some of us to get the books for free while others are being asked to pay, I can't see where "forcing" is coming in. If Logos had charged your card for $5.70 when you actually pre-ordered at $0.00, then that would be cause for naming such an act as "forcing" the customer to pay something.
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Forcing, as in, if you want this book you placed an order on for free, you now have to pay for it instead.
The big issue in my eyes is that Logos is setting a precedent going forward that prepub prices can be changed without notice, even after the order has already taken place. There’s absolutely nothing stopping them from repeating that on every prepub I currently have on my account, citing any reason they want to. This was previously unthinkable, but now it’s a real possibility.1 -
Are you telling me that you didn't suspect there was an error on a pre-pub price of zero?
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I don't think this is normal practice for Logos to cancel an order due to a mistake. I think it would be illegal if this was regular practice to try to get more money. I wouldn't make it a big issue at the moment. However, it is better practice in my opinion to honor all orders especially when the terms of service do not speak to canceling orders (as far as I can tell). But I'm assuming the 50% is a compromise, which shows many of us don't really "need" the book.
The disappointing thing is the lack of response to perceived unequal treatment.1 -
I know you asked Jon, but there have been a lot of 0.00 pre-pubs, such as Launching Multipliers: Equipping Christ-Centered People for Contagious Influence book mentioned in this thread. I have nine $0.00 pre-pubs in my account (I like free books lol). I can tell you, I didn't suspect an error. I can see it now after they mentioned it, but before no.
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I do understand this perspective, and I think a brief apology and explanation would be helpful. I would raise the possibility that the publisher was contacted and requested specifically that the books not be distributed for free. In this case, it would be entirely wrong to go against the publisher's wish.
I also think it would be a bit exaggerated to make a big deal out of a situation where one was not given something for free. One can speak of being disappointed, sure. But one cannot speak of being wronged.
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Exactly, I didn’t suspect an error either. Any time I order something on Logos I assume that the price I order at is the accurate price, as I previously had no reason to think otherwise. Now, after this experience. I can no longer make this assumption, and will worry that the price I supposedly locked in at with a prepub could change at any time. As a result, I’m likely just not going to order prepubs anymore.
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I don't think you should believe prepub pricing is untrustworthy. There have obviously been 2 recent exceptions and these were both at $0.00.
My purchases are now largely prepubs; plus books on sale - especially at 50% off or more.
I ordered the 2 books in question for $0.00 and because they were listed for $0.00 for many months I had no reason to suspect this was an error, as normally where there is an error it is corrected almost immediately. These 2 errors are a very rare exception.
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