Golden Tarot

Gardener

Hang in there, Kat

Yes, we are all waiting so eagerly for your beautiful tarot deck. For months (years for some) we have been admiring the images onscreen, and we are all so very very hungry to have the physical cards in our hands. But we are happy to wait patiently, really we are. I'm sure they will get here eventually. Don't worry.
 

lark

Yes kat, please don't worry we are patient folk here....
How ever long we have to wait it will be worth it
Your deck is a classic beauty.
 

snuffy

you know, i'm starting to think that when this thread pops up from time to time and i end up re-reading it a few times over... it only fuels that blasted golden tarot hunger more!

this is one cycle i don't so much mind perpetuating, though ;)
 

Jeannette

As we're now getting a lot of panicked emails over at the 'Garden, I thought perhaps I'd better add a few comments here, in the interest of "rumor control"...

The information we've received corroborates what Kat has already reported. USG has *not* cancelled this title. The latest delay apparently has something to do with the shipment having been held up in China. As of a message I received from my contact at USG on 19 February, it was expected to arrive "by the end of the month."

I don't know what information Amazon has that would have caused them to cancel all preorders for the Golden Tarot, but we have been assured that the copies that we have preordered for our customers should be delivered to us with no problems. I am starting to receive requests from folks whose Amazon orders were cancelled to be added to our preorder list instead, and we'll continue to honor as many as we can at the 20% discount. But even though we recently increased our preorder request with USG once again, I don't know how many more I can fulfill unless USG allows us to increase our order once again.

Therefore, we do invite anyone who wants us to add them to our preorder list to write, but we ask that you please be patient in awaiting a confirming response, as we are already rather backlogged on messages from these past few days. We'll do our best to accommodate everyone that we can.

On behalf of Dan and myself, I want to thank all of our customers for their continued patience and support during these frustrating but unavoidable delays.

-- Jeannette
The Tarot Garden
 

Jeannette

Just Remembered...

It just occurred to me that I should have included the following in the above:

For anyone who writes to request that we add them to our Golden Tarot preorder list, you can get on the list faster and get a quicker acknowledgment response if you also let us know whether or not you want your copy to be signed by Kat (I think there's probably some information about Kat being kind enough to sign copies for Tarot Garden customers earlier in this thread). Requesting a signed copy will probably add about a two-week delay to the delivery after we receive the decks, because we'll have to send the materials to Kat in Australia, and then she'll have to sign them and send them back here to the U.S. But if you're prepared to wait a bit longer for that extra-special copy, then be sure to mention whether you want the box or a paricular card signed when you email your preorder request.

Preorders should not be PM'd, but should be sent to us directly at info@tarotgarden.com (or any of our email addresses, but please not through the Aeclectic system, because those requests are hard to backtrack in case of problems with our preorder system). We do not require prepayment with preorder requests.

Okay, I think that covers it this time.

-- Jeannette
The Tarot Garden
 

Aure

Does someone know the answer to one thing that is puzzling me in this thing, do U.S. Games print their cards in China and if so, why? I don't think it has to do with quality or even low costs. And the shipping seems to take a long time.

Actually, I have contacts in Finland to a printing firm that prints football cards etc. with good quality and low cost. If only they could have licenses to print tarot decks... Maybe I'll someday create my own and publish it (as my husband has urged me to do)...

I am starting to suspect that the online store I've usually used, Bookplus, might be ordering through Amazon since they labelled the product unavailable about the same time as Amazon.

I really have to have this deck! I know I would cherish it like a family heirloom... My only problem is that I don't have a credit card, so my options of ordering are limited..
 

retrokat

I didn't know that my deck was being printed in China until my own copy (finally) arrived. Almost all of the US Games decks I have were printed in Belgium. I too suspected that the delays were at least partly because it's being made in China rather than their usual arrangement with (some of the world's best) printers in Belgium.

The quality is very good, though. And US Games told me that there is no way that they could have produced such a high quality deck AND a heavy-duty box AND a nearly-200-page mini-book for RRP of US$25 unless it was done in China.

I'm getting swamped by emails re the Amazon cancellations, but there's nothing I can do. The deck got pulled from Amazon once before - and I expect this time the reason is the same as that first time, a lack of communication between the publisher and distributor, and perhaps the distributor not checking with the publisher before decising to lose patience and delete it from their stock list. It's VERY frustrating, and also costs me money (all those 5% commissions were starting to add up!). The really hair-tearing thing is that it's happened sooo close to release (if US Games "next week" is true).

Some people will have placed their Amazon orders thorough Aecletic too, so poor Aeclectic will lose those commissions as well. *sigh* Same with Jeannette - with her preorder discount, sending me cards to sign etc, she certainly won't be making anything out of this first flood of orders, and it's a lot of work for her to sort out too! I'm sure that Jeannette and Solandia, like me, are just determined to get you your decks ASAP and aren't concerned about making money as our primary goal, but it's nice to be paid for one's work too!

I still haven't heard from US Games about the Amazon cancellations. One of the many buyers who emailed me actually got a response from US Games Customer Service, and are now getting their deck through there. Hmmm.

Perhaps if the people who emailed me also email US Games, they might get the message that... AMAZON HAVE CANCELLED ALL THE PRE-ORDERS! Grrr.

I'm off to email US Games Customer Service now. Perhaps I'll get a response.
 

gregor

Amazon

I too had my pre-order cancelled. But I found that amazon was quite happy to let me order it again (though at the more expensive rate), despite the "not available from any of our sources" message.

I wonder if people who ordered it at the more expensive rate had their orders cancelled? (cynical....).

bizarre...
 

Khatruman

Re: Amazon

gregor said:
I too had my pre-order cancelled. But I found that amazon was quite happy to let me order it again (though at the more expensive rate), despite the "not available from any of our sources" message.

I wonder if people who ordered it at the more expensive rate had their orders cancelled? (cynical....).

bizarre...
Arrghhh, same thing happened to me. They simply cancelled my order without asking me first, even erased all record of my having placed the order. Luckily I held on to the confirmation I received when I originally pre-ordered it. I wrote them a message, letting them know that I have seen messages from the author, Kat Black, and that it IS available, or will be, that is. I told them that I fully expect to pay the price I was guaranteed when I ordered it and I have proof of the purchase price I was given when I ordered it. Furthermore, that I still receive the free shipping offer that was part of my original order.

I will hold them to that promise. I think you should also, as well as anyone else whose order was "cancelled" so that they could get you to pay the full $25.

Amazon is getting big for its britches, and needs to be taken down a notch or two every now and then :D
 

retrokat

Tall Tale or True?

I just heard from US Games - they were all off at a Trade Show for a few days hence no response earlier. Now I've been told the reason for this last delay.

After all the other reasons that have added up to the deck being 6 months or so late, this has to be the most bizarre. Lucky I'm not the paranoid type....

The shipment was unloaded from (The Slow Boat From) China on the West Coast, then was put on a train to get to US Games on the East Coast. In Vancouver, there was an avalanche and the train got derailed. So all the freight has to be sorted out and sent by road or whatever.

Hopefully that means it should all be sorted pretty soon. Unless they're all covered in mud or something.

So... if you ever DO manage to get hold of your copies from this first edition, you'll know it's already had a more exciting life than most of us ;)