Andy Battaglia of Comics Etc. in
Regarding the statement by Rochelle Dvorak about UPS shipping; the information given is inaccurate. UPS does pick up on Christmas Eve and always has done so. Rochelle is confusing things with New Year's Eve, when UPS does not pick up. Please refer to the UPS shipping schedule on their Website:
In the
New Year's Eve - December 31, 2006*
New Year's Day - January 1, 2007
Memorial Day - May 28, 2007**
Independence Day - July 4, 2007**
Labor Day - September 3, 2007**
Thanksgiving Day - November 22, 2007**
Day after Thanksgiving - November 23, 2007***
Christmas Day - December 25, 2007**
New Year's Eve - December 31, 2007***
New Year's Day - January 1, 2008**
* Delivery of Saturday Air Packages only, no pickup service available
** UPS Express CriticalSM available 365 days each year
*** Delivery and pickup of air and international packages only
In addition, we should take note that Diamond has been able to operate within this schedule in the past without having a delay the week after Thanksgiving. This is a fact and not subject to the faulty memories of retailers or distributors. Christmas and New Year have resulted in a one-day delay and there is nothing different this year that would explain an added day to the schedule.
When I asked Diamond for an explanation this is what I was told: 'Due to delivery delays in past years (UPS not being able to get all of our customer's product to their stores by the release date) we made this decision to be fair to all customers.'
Once again I got the explanation that Diamond is afraid customers will travel to other markets to get their comics a day early. In addition, customers might buy the comics on eBay if one store has them before another. Comics are sold on eBay long before they arrive in stores and no one selling on eBay can deliver anything until they actually receive the books.
The other scenario is also quite ridiculous: no one is going to travel to another city to get their comics a day early. And if there was any truth to that, why is Diamond not delaying comics to
Another factor Diamond has ignored is that stores have to be able to schedule their employees for these days and not all employees are available every day of the week. Diamond is causing great hardship to stores in terms of lost sales and employee scheduling, but as of yet, I have not talked to a single person at Diamond who cares about this. It's all about the bottom line and we are the victims.
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