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Elibron.com: Still in biz?
July 25, 2006 | 5:24 am
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By David Rothman
Jane at Dear Author wants to know about Elibron.com, and I’m curious, too. The site is down; the phone, unanswered. Anyone having trouble getting paid?
Update: The site is back up.
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Comments:
I’ve been wondering the same thing. I’ve ordered many books from them over the years — glacially slow, but always reliable. I ordered something from them on July 9th and got a confirmation email. Their Google cache is as recent as July 23rd.
Hi Roderick and David
i am a editor from germany, had an order done by elibron and got no answer.
I would be glad, if somebody would give me a message, if there are news about the elibron- reprints.
Rolf Kittler
My sympathies, Roderick and Rolf. I’d encourage both of you to return to this comment here–this exact spot–and keep us posted on your efforts. Publishers and readers used the TeleBlog as a watering hole to discuss the mess at eBookAd, and I invite them to do the same to discuss the current ones. Best of luck. David
Do any visitors have insight into the MOSCOW end of this enterprise?
After all, the bulk of Elibron’s amazing offerings were drawn from a large-scale Russian digitalization project intended to produce funds for the Moscow State Library, and they may have another print-on-demand or e-book outlet for their product even if Elibron has really flown the coop.
On the other hand, Elibron’s computers have been down for extended periods without explanation in the past.
Please note that Elibron’s site is back on line as of this posting.
Thanks for the info, Michael! Have done update at top of blog. – D
Well, I have personally bad experiences with Elibron. They sent me a score with pages missing. And, as always, I got no answers to my emails.
Still, silly of me, I made another order few months ago. I have got no confirmation email though the order is visible in my “account” page. And, of course, the goods I ordered have not arrived.
I suggest everybody avoid Elibron. It’s no good.
I placed an order Aug. 7 and got nothing, was charged nothing, heard nothing. Have made inquiries and still heard nothing. I think they are out of business or only sporadically filling orders.
It seems I am one more victim of Elibron. Having paid for a book over three months ago, quickly got a message from them telling me they would dispatch it within a few days and never heard from them any more. They ignore messages, do not refund the cash I have paid and do not deliver the book. So, fellows, the second best* thing to do is to help other people staying away from them. Best luck next time with a reliable seller.
* The first best thing is having them responsible for cheating people. Should anyone learn how to accomplish this, please tell us.
Yes, folks, similar experience, ordered a swag of books in August with instant reply stating that books would be sent “within 28 business days”. Since then, no books, no charges and order still on web page – which was up a couple of weeks back. Emailed customer support thrice and thrice-times no response. Went to web page and… yes its down. Hence a Google search and voila! This magnificent web-page. And there I was feeling all alone and lost. Goodonya mine host, you have made my day
There is a sliver of hope that all is not lost. After waiting for full 6 months and not getting any response from the company, I filed a complaint with Better Business Bureau. Books arrived quickly thereafter. I don’t know if it’s serendipity. BBB has not heard back from them either. I wish Elibron would survire despite such a poor reputation, because of simply what they can offer. But the act needs to be cleaned up!
So……. here’s the Address for the BBB in MA.
http://WWW.bosbbb.org
email: info@bosbbb.org
Phone; 508-652-4800
235 W central st, Ste1
Natick MA 01760-3767
I have been wailting for a book from Elibron for since 23 October 2006 now 8 December. They took my VISA payment saying the book was on its way. No site or answer to email, nice to find this site and hear fellow sufferes. Will contact BBB
13th December – noticed last night the Elibron site was live, this morning my book arrived!!!!
Me too! Ordered about 6 books back in June. Order displayed on site etc. Waited 2 months; no books. Waited another few weeks, sent an email. No answer.
Suddenly template Elibron email showed up saying (again) – ‘books will arrive in 28 days’ etc.
That was October. Now January 2007. No books.
Like others, having looked, I cannot find any contact details of any sort. The only thing noticeable is that it is the “Adamant Media Corporation” – that takes/receives the money. Who they are I have no idea.
On October 30 order status changed to “shipped” via USPS Economy M-Bag, but the tracking number was not informed. Three months past, no book. Customer service continues non existent. I tried USPS: they were very kind but told me that, in the absence of the tracking number, nothing could be done. A few days later, I tried BBB, following GD’s advice. Again, I was treated very kindly … and the case was immediately closed! I asked for an explanation, and that was promptly given: BBB let me know that Elibron (which is their database) refuses to take any message from them. Next step ? Any suggestion ? I believe that the least we all can do about this is to spread these news so as to help other potential victims to fall into this trap.
PROBLEMS WITH ELIBRON: DO NOT GIVE UP!
After six months waiting, I finally got the book bought from Elibron. While struggling with this unreliable seller, it was good to learn that I was not alone trying to make them respond for their acts. So, fellows, do not give up, keep trying: e-mail them one thousand times, file a complaint with Better Business Bureau, the same with USPS, tell other people about them etc.
ELIBRON: NEVER AGAIN.
Do not ever deal with Elibron – if not actually dishonest they must be totally incompetent. I ordered about $300 of 8 facsimile books in August 2006 – paying a premium for priority mail delivery because they were for a research project. Received promise that they would be sent within 29 business days.
In November started sending emails. No replies until early December, when they charged my credit card account, stating that the books had been sent. This was a great example of Sod’s law because, in frustration, I had ordered the books from Amazon about three days beforehand. The Amazon books arrived before Xmas 2006. The Elibron books did not arrive until late January (turned out they were not posted when Elbron said they were) – AND ONLY 6 OF THE 8 BOOKS ORDERED WERE IN THE PARCEL! Repeated emails elicited no response. The matter is now in the hands of my credit card company.
DO NOT EVER DEAL WITH ELIBRON – THEY ARE DREADFUL
I am glad I am not the only one although I would not wish this experience on anyone! The music score I ordered is available from nowhere else on the web as far as I can ascertain so I was pleased to find it on Elibron. I should have trusted my instincts when the “problem with this site’s certificate” warning came up but it’s not alone there. So I placed my order and, just like you fellas, I got an email saying 28 days to despatch. That was 1 Feb, so maybe this is just a normal delay. However, my account says “Order received” not despatched!
Ho-hum; good job it’s not an urgent matter and they haven’t debited my card yet … I shan’t use them again. Good luck everyone.
I placed an order yesterday and tried to phone to confirm the order as it is quite urgent. The phoneline is disconnected. I now see the Adamant address, 50 Cutler Lane is on sale for $2,000,000. Its not looking good.
One order I placed arrived here in New Zealand within days. The other I placed hasn’t arrived after two months…
I served as website editor and music consultant at Elibron’s American offices from 2000-2002.
Elibron (a.k.a. “Adamant Media”) was the brainchild of Russian entrepreneur Andrei Volgin. He envisioned a series of kiosks (in malls, coffee shops, etc.) where one could order a book printed on demand as one might order a chai latte. It sounded, and sounds, like a delightful idea.
Of course, very little came of the notion. The digitization project in Moscow proceeded smoothly if a bit indiscriminately (as I saw during a trip there in 2000). During my brief tenure, I doubt if we sold even a hundred books. Never once did I see the site advertised. A planned pilot kiosk in Boston came to naught.
Funding problems led to the termination of my employment in mid-2002, at which point Volgin told me he believed the company would probably be sold. I have no idea what happened after that.
Chuck Guzis made some comments that vanished during a database problem. I’m restoring them below.
For months, I have been trying to download one of the online musical scores. Each time I, or anyone else tries to purchase it, the web site simply returns to the original page without doing a thing. If one attempts to put one into the shopping basket, the message comes back “unpurchaseable e-book”. Numerous support request messages to elibron have gone unanswered.
For what it’s worth, I did succeed in downloading a music score back in December, 2006. Once.
Today I note that the elibron.com website returns only a series of hashmarks. I wonder if they’re gone for good.
is the elibron thread still active? i really, really, really want some books elibron publishes. 3 to be exact. i don’t give my c.card details via the internet. i telephone the seller direct..i’d rather pay my dime to talk, than risk a stolen number via a hacker.
anyhow..IS elibron still in business? has anyone ever found out how to access them? i submitted a query to them via their contact/feedback form about 3 days ago. should i stop holding my breath? will they ever reply? they do carrry some very unique titles..i really hope they have not gone out of business.
if anyone knows anything, anyway to contact elibron pls let me know.
put elibron in the subject line..i get loads of spam..i’m fast on the delete button.
roslyn
quest_of_rachel@hotmail.com
Oh dear! I ordered a copy of an old document from Elibron about two weeks ago. I have not heard a thing from them and am thinking of cancelling my PayPal payment. Furthermore their site is down! It is hard to believe that they could be deliberately out to rip people off, as they have some very obscure titles on offer, and it appears by correspondence on this page that some people are eventually receiving their orders. But it is a worry that they should be so SLOW and incompetent. Maybe it is a one-person operation and the owner gets completely snowed under?
Okay, so elibron is obviously not a reliable source. But many of us still need what they offer. Is there another supplier we can use?