And I thought that Elsevier were ignoring us because of the small scale of
our business...!
I ended up dealing with them direct, but since I agreed a very large price
(in UCN terms) have had no peep out of them.
-----Original Message-----
From: Brocklehurst, Melanie
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 02 December 2002 16:36
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Elsevier
We've been trying since the early summer to get a price for Science Direct,
in any shape or form. Unlike Ros, we've been working through EBSCO but I
understand from our customer account executive that Elsevier just don't
respond at all to her e-mails: she even asked me if they'd bypassed her and
come straight to me, but no such luck. Unfortunately, our Elsevier titles
are a tiny drop in the ocean compared to the amount Ros is prepared to
spend, so it looks like we'll just have to forgo electronic access to these.
I was wondering about trying to contact them directly, but now it looks like
it's not worth the bother!
Melanie Brocklehurst
Knowledge Management Librarian
Stenhouse Library
Kingston Hospital NHS Trust
Galsworthy Road
Kingston-upon-Thames
Surrey KT2 7QB
Tel: 020 8546 7711 ext 3502
Fax: 020 8974 5763
mailto:[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: M Ros Doig [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 02 December 2002 16:15
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Elsevier
Dear All
I am sure there are many of you out there like us who are having/have had
extreme difficulty trying to work out exactly what you can afford to take
vis a vis Elsevier print and electronic next year.
The process has been going on for months here and has become extremely
frustrating because the person we are dealing with takes weeks to answer
emails.
I very much feel that because we can't afford to take Science Direct in its
entirety then we are by default unimportant to Elsevier as a customer and
get treated accordingly.
I am very angry about the slowness of communication and the lack of response
to emails. I also asked if we could have a visit and it was agreed in
principle with some suggested dates but have I have heard nothing since and
the day has passed.
We are potentially prepared to spend around £45,000 pounds with them. We do
not spend anywhere near this amount with any other publisher and this in
fact is nearly 15% of our total print spend.
The problem is really that since we can't do without their journals and they
know it, they have us over a barrel with no incentive to good customer
relations because they know we'll have to pay up.
If the decison was mine I'd cancel everything tomorrow because I've run out
of patience.
Has anyone any suggestions as to how we might proceed? or indeed has a
similar experience.
Perhaps this list could have a Customer Service award each year for best and
worse service. I'd nominate Ingenta for the best - they've been brilliant
with anything I've asked and so prompt. No prizes for guessing who's at the
bottom of my list.......
Best Wishes to all
Ros Doig
Ros Doig
Serials & Inter-lending Librarian
University of Derby
Learning Centre
Kedleston Road
Derby
DE22 1GB
Tel. +44 1332 591204
Fax. +44 1332 622773
Email M.R.Doig@Derby .ac.uk
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