2000 AD - The Ultimate Collection

[Mattofthespurs]

I've said it once and I'll say it again. Hachette's customer service is awful.

Eaglemoss' is very good but their warehouse move recently has let a lot of people down.

DeAgostini on the other hand are the worst of the lot.

They make Hachette look like the best in CS.

[IndigoPrime]

To be fair, Hachette's in some ways quite good. I have _never_ had any trouble getting replacement copies for items with damage. My subscriptions have arrived like clockwork. And the Facebook Messenger people have at least in the past been relatively communicative if you can give them a few days.

But, man, you'd think I was trying to get something out of them this past week rather than subscribe again. It's bonkers.

[sintec]

Following the conversation about Time Killer I've been considering how the change from weekly episodes to a compiled book affects these stories.  The culmination of this line of thinking was a desire to get a better picture of when the various different strips ran and which things were contemporaneous.

To that end I took the Dredd index posted on the Mega collection thread by abelardsnazz, added the info about the strips from the Ultimate Collection and then ran a script over the data to produce approximate dates for each episode.  This turned out to be way more of a pain than I initial expected due to varying release schedules for the Megazine and Prog, missed issues and other such fun.  Anyway I think it's now in a state where it's mostly reasonably accurate (I've been checking dates against Barney and in most cases it's usually no worse than a few days out) and I thought it might be of interest to others here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bxJ3aSc82OEkdvvIb2BA0CIlpqWuQWBjehOpvU1vZFw/edit?usp=sharing

If you see any glaring errors please let me know.  I'll aim to keep this updated as the Ultimate Collection continues.

[abelardsnazz]

Wow, great to see my index being put to expanded use! Be interesting to see this expand.

[Rately]

I'm utterly confused by the responses I've had from Hatchette recently.

Had contacted them as I had yet to receive the Nemesis figurine. First e-mail they told me it would be dispatched and received with my next order. Didn't arrive, so I e-mailed again and was told I wasn't a Premium subscriber. I've received all the Premium subscriber gifts thus far, but now I appear to have been downgraded, and the fact it takes a good week or two for a response doesn't help.

[robert_ellis]

I'd stick to messenger - it seems to work. Log into your account on hachette website and you should be able to see if you've been Premium all this time - its an extra £1.50 per book. Send them a screen grab with your subscription number. I can't iterate enough that calling or email doesn't seem to work. I've had both figures replaced in about 2 weeks. all the best.

[Rately]

I'd stick to messenger - it seems to work. Log into your account on hachette website and you should be able to see if you've been Premium all this time - its an extra £1.50 per book. Send them a screen grab with your subscription number. I can't iterate enough that calling or email doesn't seem to work. I've had both figures replaced in about 2 weeks. all the best.

Cheers, Robert!

Will do!

[bernardsfingers]

I'm utterly confused by the responses I've had from Hatchette recently.

Had contacted them as I had yet to receive the Nemesis figurine. First e-mail they told me it would be dispatched and received with my next order. Didn't arrive, so I e-mailed again and was told I wasn't a Premium subscriber. I've received all the Premium subscriber gifts thus far, but now I appear to have been downgraded, and the fact it takes a good week or two for a response doesn't help.

The premium subscription has only had 2 gifts so far - the Nemesis figure & the Judge Death figure. There's also the covers book which was entirely unrelated to the premium subscription. All the other gifts were part of the standard subscription.

[robert_ellis]

Good point bernardsfingers!
The Premium figures are lovely things, especially the Nemesis the Warlock statue. The are painted well and have a bit of weight to them. Here's to the Halo Jones figure coming next!

[oddballuk]

I'm guessing subscribers haven't received their latest copies yet (27 & 28, charged on the 14th)?

[robert_ellis]

I haven't had 27 & 28 yet and I subscribed from the start.

[oddballuk]

I haven't had 27 & 28 yet and I subscribed from the start.

Same.

Hachette says there's another Opt-In/Out letter coming too as if I've changed my mind since the first one!
Hopefully this doesn't muck up the release schedule even more.

[Arkady]

I'm guessing subscribers haven't received their latest copies yet (27 & 28, charged on the 14th)?

Nope, and also charged on the 14th.

Because I'm a nerd with a rage against Hachette's customer service I've been keeping a log of my payment/arrival dates, with one or two uncertainties where I was away:

Issues 03-04 paid 22 Sep arrived 29 Sep/06 Oct?
Issues 05-06 paid 20 Oct arrived 02 November
Issues 07-08 paid 24 Nov arrived 05 December
Issues 09-10 paid 22 Dec arrived 08 Jan
Issues 11-12 back-ordered 18 Jan arrived 22 Jan
Issues 13-14 paid 02 Feb arrived 09 Feb
Issues 15-16 paid 30 Mar arrived 10 April
Issues 17-18 paid 27 Apr arrived 09 May
Issues 19-20 paid 25 May arrived 04 June
Issues 21-22 paid 22 Jun arrived 03 July
Issues 23-24 paid 20 Jul arrived 31Jul/1Aug?
Issues 25-26 paid 17 Aug arrived 28 August
Issues 27-28 paid 14 Sep arrived

In other words, it's late based on recent trends, but not record-beatingly so.

</nerd>

[bernardsfingers]

My copies of 27 & 28 just arrived - although I've not opened the packet yet so haven't read the letter yet.

[bernardsfingers]

Actually I've just read the letter & it's almost exactly the same as the previous one - i.e. contact us to cancel receiving this item you never showed any interest in the last time we sent this letter. Bit pissed off - thought they might have had a different letter for people who contacted to cancel previously asking if they'd contact if they'd changed their minds. Obviously that would be too sensible/complicated - I hope there's not a similar disaster waiting subscribers!