Linguaphone Printing Not Good

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Peluche
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Linguaphone Printing Not Good

Postby Peluche » Wed Sep 27, 2017 8:04 pm

I bought Linguaphone Portuguese. For such a high sticker price (around 130 euros shipped), I'm quite disappointed by the printing and binding.

The typesetting is bad, it doesn't appear aesthetic. The book says transferred to digital print in 2005, so that probably also contributes to the bad quality.

The book is a paperback book which is also a disappointment, surely 90£ (sale price) warrants a hardbound (or semi-hardbound) book?

Compare to a company like Hueber:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/319305254X/

There was a previous edition of the book. They redid the typesetting, and changed the audio/text in a couple of places: instead of the old currency the current book lessons use Euro. No other changes. there is that much commitment. And all for 25€
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Re: Linguaphone Printing Not Good

Postby Seneca » Thu Sep 28, 2017 6:28 pm

That is a shame. Having purchased random Linguaphone courses from the modern printings all the way back to the reel-to-reel days, the current era is rather shameful. No self-respecting company should put out junk like this.

Hard-bound that can lie flat is not too much to ask at these prices. And don't get me started on the Linguaphone "carry case" :twisted:
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Re: Linguaphone Printing Not Good

Postby Peluche » Thu Sep 28, 2017 8:48 pm

Seneca wrote:That is a shame. Having purchased random Linguaphone courses from the modern printings all the way back to the reel-to-reel days, the current era is rather shameful. No self-respecting company should put out junk like this.

Hard-bound that can lie flat is not too much to ask at these prices. And don't get me started on the Linguaphone "carry case" :twisted:


Agreed. Another thing which is shameful is that they are using digital printing, which is like photocopying. It comes off in the way letters are printed at the book, non-uniform fading in the letters.
Surely their business can't be THAT bad?

They also charged an exorbitant amount for shipping: 22£ from UK to Germany. For one course :(
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Re: Linguaphone Printing Not Good

Postby Speakeasy » Fri Sep 29, 2017 3:16 am

@Gemuse,

I understand that you are not pleased with your recent purchase from Linguaphone and that you feel that you have just cause to post your complaints on this forum. As I have yet to see a rebuttal on the behalf of the publisher, I feel obliged to assume the role of the Devil’s Advocate ...

1) The Typsetting is Bad
Have you informed Linguaphone of your dissatisfaction with the product? If so, what was their reaction? If not, I urge to do so. In the meantime, perhaps you could append a sample page of the typesetting that you found so unaesthetic.

2) Warrants a Hardbound Book
You want a hardcover edition? Tell me, which other publishers of language-learning materials routinely bind their books in this manner: Hueber, Langenscheidt-Klett, McGraw-Hill, Cengage, Assimil, Random House, Dover, and the like? As the vast majority of publishers of educational textbooks ceased binding in this fashion in the 1980’s, why would you expect Linguaphone to maintain this costly practice?

3) Exorbitant Shipping Charges
Over the past year, I have placed a significant number of orders for materials to be shipped to me in Canada from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Germany. I suggest that you take note of the dimensions and the weight of the package that you received and, taking into consideration the shipping mode that you confirmed, that you compare the price that you paid to the posted shipping rates. My experiences suggest to me that the “exorbitant amount for shipping: 22£ from UK to Germany” reflects the current tariff structure.

4) High Sticker Price
I have copies of all of the Assimil and Linguaphone courses (both levels) for all of the languages that I have studied. While I do not wish to start a separate debate on the matter, I am under the impression that a regular Linguaphone course is equivalent to approximately one-and-a-half Assimil courses. So then, putting the shipping charges aside, I find Linguaphone’s “high sticker price (around 130 euros shipped)” to be reasonable. Unless I’m missing something here, you entered into the transaction as a fully-informed adult, nicht wahr?

5) Surely their business can't be THAT bad?
I have absolutely no information concerning Linguaphone’s business situation; nevertheless, I do read the media. If their situation is evenly remotely similar to that of publishing industry at large, not to mention the situation of the small specialist publishers in the home-study language-learning sector, they are probably fighting a doomed rear-guard action in the forlorn hopes of staving off bankruptcy.

Gemuse, I generally enjoy reading your informative posts. Unfortunately, this time around, you are coming off as someone who is uninformed, who is disconnected from what has been happening in the publishing industry, and who is looking for sympathy in the wrong place. I suggest that you contact the vendor and, if you are dissatisfied by their response, I urge you to return the item for reimbursement. Having done so, please report back to us on your experience with their Customer Service Department.

Speakeasy
PS: According to at least one version of the legend of the Devil's Advocate, the Advocate's skill at arguing the defendant's case is so overwhelming that, irrespective of the defendant's actual culpability, his client (the Devil) is found not guilty and is freed. The villagers, incensed over the perceived miscarriage of justice, seize the Devil's Advocate and hang him.
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Re: Linguaphone Printing Not Good

Postby Peluche » Sat Sep 30, 2017 1:06 am

Speakeasy wrote:@Gemuse,

I understand that you are not pleased with your recent purchase from Linguaphone and that you feel that you have just cause to post your complaints on this forum. As I have yet to see a rebuttal on the behalf of the publisher, I feel obliged to assume the role of the Devil’s Advocate ...

1) The Typsetting is Bad
Have you informed Linguaphone of your dissatisfaction with the product? If so, what was their reaction? If not, I urge to do so. In the meantime, perhaps you could append a sample page of the typesetting that you found so unaesthetic.

I will let them know.

You have to physically see the print. Also, the book doesnt open well, so photocopying is difficult.

Speakeasy wrote:2) Warrants a Hardbound Book
You want a hardcover edition? Tell me, which other publishers of language-learning materials routinely bind their books in this manner: Hueber, Langenscheidt-Klett, McGraw-Hill, Cengage, Assimil, Random House, Dover, and the like? As the vast majority of publishers of educational textbooks ceased binding in this fashion in the 1980’s, why would you expect Linguaphone to maintain this costly practice?

Because of the 130 euro sticker sale price.

Take Schubert. Their Begegnungen books, which have like 300 pages including the answer key, audiio cds included, are in color, and have double the footprint of Linguaphone; and cost 25 euros.
Linguaphone has two books so make it 50 euros. Now, if Linguaphone is charging 2x that amount, for smaller books, in black and white, that have not been updated in 30 years you bet I want the books hardbound.

Speakeasy wrote:3) Exorbitant Shipping Charges
Over the past year, I have placed a significant number of orders for materials to be shipped to me in Canada from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Germany.

Shipping from UK to Germany is much cheaper than shipping from UK to Canada.
It's two books + Cds for heavens sake. Amazon marketplace sellers charge 4£ per book, so that would make 12£ shipping. Abebooks has similar shipping prices. I've received 3x bigger packages from the UK for under 15£

Speakeasy wrote:4) High Sticker Price
I have copies of all of the Assimil and Linguaphone courses (both levels) for all of the languages that I have studied. While I do not wish to start a separate debate on the matter, I am under the impression that a regular Linguaphone course is equivalent to approximately one-and-a-half Assimil courses. So then, putting the shipping charges aside, I find Linguaphone’s “high sticker price (around 130 euros shipped)” to be reasonable. Unless I’m missing something here, you entered into the transaction as a fully-informed adult, nicht wahr?


If the production quality was comparable to that of Assimil, then absolutely, I have no problem paying 130 euros.
I also have Assimil's Portuguese course. It is semi-hardcover. The pages are sewn together like in a hardbound book. The printing is excellent.

What you are missing here is that I entered the transaction expecting professional production quality. This is the worst printing I have seen in recent times (with one exception: I bought an old version of Hugo's German, for about 10 euros, which was digitally reproduced from the 90 year old original


Speakeasy wrote:5) Surely their business can't be THAT bad?
I have absolutely no information concerning Linguaphone’s business situation; nevertheless, I do read the media. If their situation is evenly remotely similar to that of publishing industry at large, not to mention the situation of the small specialist publishers in the home-study language-learning sector, they are probably fighting a doomed rear-guard action in the forlorn hopes of staving off bankruptcy.


This portuguese course is 30 years old. I don't see any high continuing costs like for the publishing industry
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Re: Linguaphone Printing Not Good

Postby Speakeasy » Sat Sep 30, 2017 2:24 am

@Gemuse,

Your latest arguments are a repetition of your initial posts and, in my opinion, they lack perspective and substance. Your quarrel is with Linguaphone and, unless I have missed something particularly fundamental here, pleading your case in this forum will not advance your cause with the vendor. Given your level of dissatisfaction, I suggest that you promptly return the materials for reimbursement.

As an aside, I have a copy of the Linguaphone Portuguese course to which you have been referring and I have no complaints with either the quality of the materials or with the pricing.

EDITED:
Replaced "Dutch" by "Portuguese"
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Re: Linguaphone Printing Not Good

Postby Seneca » Sat Sep 30, 2017 11:46 am

Gemuse wrote:
Speakeasy wrote:2) Warrants a Hardbound Book
You want a hardcover edition? Tell me, which other publishers of language-learning materials routinely bind their books in this manner: Hueber, Langenscheidt-Klett, McGraw-Hill, Cengage, Assimil, Random House, Dover, and the like? As the vast majority of publishers of educational textbooks ceased binding in this fashion in the 1980’s, why would you expect Linguaphone to maintain this costly practice?

Because of the 130 euro sticker sale price.

Take Schubert. Their Begegnungen books, which have like 300 pages including the answer key, audiio cds included, are in color, and have double the footprint of Linguaphone; and cost 25 euros.

Wow, that is a nice price especially considering the audio inclusion. When you say double the footprint, do you mean in terms of languages covered? Do you know if there is a place to get a list of all the languages Schubert makes a course for? If they are on par with Linguaphone for content covered, they'd make a worthy competitor for Assimil from a French base if their product line was wide enough.
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Re: Linguaphone Printing Not Good

Postby Peluche » Sat Sep 30, 2017 8:31 pm

Seneca wrote:]
Wow, that is a nice price especially considering the audio inclusion. When you say double the footprint, do you mean in terms of languages covered? Do you know if there is a place to get a list of all the languages Schubert makes a course for? If they are on par with Linguaphone for content covered, they'd make a worthy competitor for Assimil from a French base if their product line was wide enough.


I meant the physical size.
Schubert/Hueber publish a lot of books and textbooks, and are not really comparable to Assimil. They are usually all in German base though. The publishes website contains the list of books.
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