If you preordered Eureka, you overpaid for shipping due to an error on my part — I’m sorry for the screw-up! I just finished manually processing partial shipping refunds for all Eureka preorder customers, so you should see yours in your account shortly.
When I calculated Eureka’s shipping weight for preorders, I somehow got it wrong. Given that this was a matter of converting a number from 0.28 lbs. (the listed weight for our mailers, which I didn’t actually have on hand until the end of the preorder period) to ounces, then adding that number (mailer weight) to another number (book weight), this is pretty embarassing. I mean, math’s not my strong suit, but addition should be within my reach…
I was only off by a few ounces, but the difference was significant: 2 lbs. are different rate bands for the U.S. Postal service, so dropping below 2 lbs. meant that everyone who preordered the book overpaid for shipping. The average refund was around $2.
This was entirely my fault, and I wanted to set it right as soon as I’d mailed out everyone’s books and knew for certain what shipping actually cost (which happened yesterday). I view this as a customer service issue for the folks who buy our products, and a fulfillment lesson learned for me. (Next time around, I’ll have my wife — who’s a financial analyst — check my math!)
If you’d like to confirm your post-refund shipping charge, you can check it against the USPS’s rate charts:
- Priority Mail rates (U.S. customers): Scroll down to the second chart, Pricing (Retail Prices), and check your zone in the “2” row in the “Weight up to (Lbs.)” column
- First-Class International rates (international customers): Scroll down to the Packages (Small Packets) chart and check your zone in the “32” row in the “Weight Not Over (ounces)” column
I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you, and, again, please accept my apology for the error.
