The Book People Lucky Dips

bexr

susanmc wrote: »

Thanks Bexr

Could you let me know how you get on with their reply. A few people have said that if they had unsuitable books they were sent a whole new set. Thanks for the list of books. I think you're right about the content. She is a very good reader but might not be interested in reading some of the books.

Hi susanmc!

Recvd a reply email today from "Pippa Proud" at TBP (their dedicated VIP Passport Points holder's customer manager!) saying...

"Please be advised that 3 replacement books have been despatched today which are suitable for ages 6-9 years. Please donate the 3 unsuitable books to a local charity or library with our compliments."

So, I've been given replacements for the 3 books that I 'complained' about (two from the 9-12yrs range and one from the 0-5yrs range), rather than being sent a whole new set.

I am pleased that they have (a) responded relatively quickly, and (b) have sent replacements for the 3 books rather than a whole new set. After all, it is a' lucky dip' and so I feel I only have the right to have replacement books for the books that were included in my original pack in error.

I will update again once the new books come through...

susanmc - I've PMed you a list of book collections The Book People are currently selling that may be more suitable for your daughter than the lucky dip pack. If I could reverse time, I wouldn't bother with the lucky dip, but find a book collection and pay the extra couple of pounds to know exactly what I was getting. (However, I do think that the lucky dips are great for 0-5 yrs and the teenagers. The problem with the 6-9 yrs range is that an average 6 yr old is still 'learning' to read whereas an average 9 yr old is reading 140page books fluently! Too big a range to cover in a lucky dip.)


Cheers
Bex x

charlottesmummy

My non fiction arrived today, pleased with most of it.

I got

Bogart
the little prisoner
dictionary of word origins
mums on babies
the essential plato
counting sheep, the science of sleep
help yourself with the Kumars
bbc gardaning world
the fall - fiction
whistling for elephants - fiction
total £108

I phoned about the fiction books and the other persons order on my account, they said they would pass it on to the senior manager to look into.

Yorkshire-Lady_3

<<<<<< Tapping fingers on table whilst STILL waiting for 0-5 LD to be delivered after they sent the wrong one to me.

Sally x

orchid-96

I too got the scoubidou book with my under 5's pack never mind am quite pleased with what I got...I have ordered a fiction and non fiction adult lot now, although I might in future go for the ones where you know what you will get - it is quite exciting though when you open it up and look through what you have got...

elona

Idid not want to take a chance on the lucky dips but have managed to order a set of four "high school musical" books for about £4- a set of Meg cabot books (6 for about £6) and a Jacqueline Wilson book for £2.99.

Last Christmas I ordered a set of ten "Ally's World " books (10 for £9.99) - thinking DD would love them - she was not impressed!

Not till we gave one each to her school friends as a Christmas present and they all went "Wow - I love these and my mum won't buy them as they are so expensive!"

She was then delighted to get the set as a birthday present in January and I had another set hidden away for emergency birthday presents through the year for her friends.

Where else could you get a present that cost you £1 - looks as if it cost a fiver and the recipient is delighted?

aubergine

I complained about the non fiction selection listed earlier - not so much that it wasn't to my taste, but that the image in the brochure was not representative of what I got. They muttered about how it would be better if there wasn't a picture, but offered a second lucky dip for free which I took. This one is far better, although still bears little relation to the image in the brochure.

This time I got 11 books!

Essential Hegel £4.99 (another very slim book about a philosopher)
Counting sheep, science and pleasures of sleep and dreams-Paul Martin £7.99
Age of Capital 1848-1875-Eric Hobsbawm £12.99
Judi Dench-John Miller £8.99
Chambers Beyond Sudoku £5.99
Whistling for the elephants-Sandi Toksvig (fiction!) £6.99
Ashes Fever,how England won the ashes-Ian Stafford (hb) £16.99(I live in Scotland)
Gi plan-Azmina Govindji & Nina Pudefoot £7.99
Mums on pregnancy £9.99
Behind closed doors -Jenny Tomlin (hb) £12.99
Trade secrets, Christmas £7.99

A quick spreadsheet of what the people on here have listed reveals that the 4 most often received books; winning their spurs (only 1 person seems to have avoided this), Mums on babies, Liz Taylor biog and the sleep book are not represented in the brochure and of the 24 books shown only 5 seem to have been received in the 7 lucky dips here in addition to around another 25 not shown. Given that pregnancy and Spurs (and the Spurs book is 10 years old, and like I said I live in Scotland, although my Dad is an Arsenal supporter!) are fairly minority interests they're only going to get away with these if the others are good.

Perhaps most notably the history and philosophers which seem to have been received by most people aren't hinted at in the pic or text. Also, it seems that the later selections may have been better than the earlier ones - I wonder if they got rid of the most awful books first???

seabiscuit_2

My List of non-fiction:

The Plant Programme
Without Mercy
The 3 Apple a Day GI Diet
Richard and Judy Wine Book
Mums on Babies
The Boer War
The Essential Hagel
English Olimpick Games
Counting Sheep
Desmond Lynam's Autobiog

Of those, I'm interested in absolutely none of them

charlottesmummy

seabiscuit wrote: »

My List of non-fiction:

The Plant Programme
Without Mercy
The 3 Apple a Day GI Diet
Richard and Judy Wine Book
Mums on Babies
The Boer War
The Essential Hagel
English Olimpick Games
Counting Sheep
Desmond Lynam's Autobiog

Of those, I'm interested in absolutely none of them

while the selection might not be for you is there no one you can give them too, I think I was only interested in 1 maybe 2 of mine, but have another 3 or 4 will be christmas presents. which makes the £7 great value.

spuds_2

I am a big Book People fan, but it seems a bit misleading if so few people are receiving any of the books shown in the catalogue picture - a lot of those listed above sound like 'bargain book shop' books that go for £1 each anyway. I am wondering if these are the books they couldn't shift when they had their week-end warehouse sale a while ago. It would explain where all the good stuff went.

dianadors

I got the "You can Scubidou" and I have bought a pack of Scubidou strings for 75p. I am making a little tote bag for them to go in and I know just the little girl who would love to receive this for Christmas. A great gift for less than £2. I am also giving the Richard and Judy wine club book and a bottle of my cheap red wine from my french holiday to a friend that I normally spend £15 on. Again this combination will cost less than £2.00 All the girls teenage fiction books will find suitable homes as pressies - most are suitable for my dd. The Hollyoaks one she wouldnt touch with a barge poll - but one of her friends will love it. I am putting this in a free LK Bennett beach bag (that I got with a free copy of Instyle) along with a couple of free sachets of sun tan lotion and a beach towel (£2 from Asda). Again, a fab looking pressie for £2.70. I must say that I enjoy Christmas shopping much more now that I dont spend a lot on it and I have to actually put some thought into what I buy. Incidently - I have seen a few of the books that I have received in my lucky dip still on sale at the full price in other shops.