Blatant plug time. Apologies but...

Discuss the television and film adaptations of Enid Blyton's stories.
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Lucky Star
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Re: Blatant plug time. Apologies but...

Post by Lucky Star »

Thanks for dropping in Gary, its good to know you're still with us. :D Just let us know when your book appears and you'll have a clutch of orders right here.
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Re: Blatant plug time. Apologies but...

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

Yes, I'll certainly be in the queue for Gary's book when it's written. :D

8)
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Re: Blatant plug time. Apologies but...

Post by Dick Kirrin »

So will I. OK, thanks Gary. I'll check my bank statements if I really was refunded then.

Cheers

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Re: Blatant plug time. Apologies but...

Post by fred1234 »

Gary Russell wrote:Thanks Nigel but it's worth reiterating this. If/when the book does exist, it certainly wont be through Hirst Books. Tim Hirst assured me everyone who had prepaid had now been refunded. I don't know if that's true, so Fred's reminder was quite timely. Any new publisher will not be associated with HB thus because you paid Hirst doesn't mean you will have paid the new publisher. You wont.

I have never been refunded by Hirst for the book.
This matter is on going to the point that several people have reported him to Trading Standards.

You may wish to check out this thread here:
http://www.zetaminor.com/roobarb/showth ... Publishing

and here:
http://gallifreybase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=148488
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Re: Blatant plug time. Apologies but...

Post by fred1234 »

Anyone who has not been refunded can email Paul Castle (email address below) with a copy of their Paypal Statement for the book. If you are having difficulty finding it, "find a transaction", set the date, and then use "Hirst" within a "Last Name" search, should appear.

paul.brax.castle@googlemail.com

edited to say from Paul Castle via Gallifrey Base Doctor Who forum:
Can they please be clear that I am totally independent of Hirst Books/Publishing and doing this just because I know I can get the information through to Tim. I am just the bloke with a ladder that can get over Tim's walls of incommunicado. I don't want people rounding on me if come November I have failed. At the end of the day, Tim holds the stock, and only he can pay off his debt. But I am not someone who he has ever ignored.

If someone could copy and paste all of the above I would be grateful.

Paul
Last edited by fred1234 on 03 Oct 2012, 10:18, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Blatant plug time. Apologies but...

Post by Wayne Pyer »

I was one of the lucky ones that had an instant refund without even applying. I to look forward to Garys' book, which will be the perfect companion to the DVD box set. :D
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Re: Blatant plug time. Apologies but...

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I'm sorry to hear that some people haven't been refunded - I hope you're able to get your money back from Tim Hurst.

Please let us know if you do write the book, Gary, even if it's some years from now. I'm another one who would love to read it.
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Re: Blatant plug time. Apologies but...

Post by Cameraman »

I am doing an article on the late Richard Carpenter, writer and creator of Catweazle and screenplay writer of some of the 1970's Famous Five material. The article is for a TV trade publication that is now web based.

If you are okay with it, I will also put it in here as a little stocking filler near Christmas. :D
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Re: Blatant plug time. Apologies but...

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Sounds good to me, Cameraman - I'd certainly like to read it, thanks!
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Re: Blatant plug time. Apologies but...

Post by JHM »

Hello, does anyone know a valid e-mail address of Tim Hirst? I had pre-ordered and paid for the book and now have requested the refund under tim@hirstbooks.com and info@hirstbooks.com But both addresses do not work any longer and the emails come back as undeliverable. http://www.hirstpublishing.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is no longer available, too. I wrote to the address paul.brax.castle@googlemail.com and did not receive any response. Paypal will not help, because the payment has been made too long ago. The whole thing looks of premeditated fraud. Tim Hirst has disabled the e-mail addresses and plays possum. What would you recommend me to do (I live in Germany)?
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Re: Blatant plug time. Apologies but...

Post by Lucky Star »

I doubt it's a premeditated fraud because everyone else who asked for a refund has got their money back long ago. Why have you left it so long? I think you may just have missed the boat here. As far as I know the publishing company no longer even exists.
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Re: Blatant plug time. Apologies but...

Post by dsr »

I don't think it's premeditated fraud. More a fraud that grew up by accident, like most frauds - he took someone's money intending to produce a book, and when the book didn't come out, he found it easier to keep the money than to pay it back.

As you may gather, I didn't get my money back either. And I did ask, several times.
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Re: Blatant plug time. Apologies but...

Post by Fiona1986 »

Every time I see this thread pop up I feel very grateful I decided not to pre-order the book. Not because I anticipated this sort of problem, but because I was undecided if I wanted to spend money on a book about the 70s series when I'm a much bigger fan of the 90s series. I thought at the time that if the forumites gave it a good review I might get myself a copy later on.

Unfortunately, the only way to get money back from people is to take them to court (which isn't always successful) and would be ridiculously impractical over whatever the book cost (£10 or £15?)
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Re: Blatant plug time. Apologies but...

Post by Loony the Dog »

Lucky Star wrote:As far as I know the publishing company no longer even exists.
I've looked through a few Companies House records on the internet and it appears that Hirst Books, the director of which is Tim Hirst, is a dissolved company so it's practically closed down. If that's the case then there's not much hope of the book getting printed, I think, unless they're opening again as a new business. Maybe some will get a refund as I've seen on his Twitter account that someone has got one. :)
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Re: Blatant plug time. Apologies but...

Post by Morgan Jones »

Here's what Gary posted towards the end of last year:
Gary Russell wrote:If/when the book does exist, it certainly wont be through Hirst Books. Tim Hirst assured me everyone who had prepaid had now been refunded. I don't know if that's true, so Fred's reminder was quite timely. Any new publisher will not be associated with HB thus because you paid Hirst doesn't mean you will have paid the new publisher. You wont.
So basically, if and when the book does get published it will be through another publisher.
Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult...
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