Newsletter gift: how to download the free book! [see information in post #4]

aljmc

Dave, when I click on your link I immediately load the PDF version on a browser tab. Re your "disregard the $9.99" in your email I assume you mean that one can navigate to the Apple store, disregard the $9.99 price tag, then download the iBooks version. Apple will not charge me for the book since my Apple ID is on some list you submitted to them. Am I right? Notice how I saved you answering an email by posting to the forum ;)
Thanks again, Al

lparis

I received an email from dave_teare@agilebits.com this date which gave the appearance of offering the MacSparky's Email Field Guide as a "gift". See below. I clicked on the link and downloaded the book, and was promptly charged $11.54 including tax for the book. So how is this a "gift?"

I certainly am NOT ENJOYING this "gift."

Please repair the obvious error.

Thanks.

Larry Paris

MacSparky’s Email Field Guide (100 MB)

Don’t worry about the $9.99 price tag; I’ve taken care of that for you already :)

This book also comes with several great videos and interviews. You can download these separately from here:

MacSparky’s Email Field Guide Videos and Interviews (1.2 GB)

I hope you enjoy your gift!

curtpusa

I just downloaded the "free book" from the iBooks store and was notified my credit card would be charged $9.99. Am I to assume this will be nullified somehow? Thanks for the book if turns out to be free, otherwise not so thankful ....... Curt

Megan

Hi everyone,

I'm so sorry to hear that there's been some confusion regarding this book download. Let's see if I can clear things up:

• Clicking on the link MacSparky’s Email Field Guide (100 MB) in the newsletter will open a browser tab with the book.
• Simply use the File > Save As menu (or 'Export to PDF' if you prefer) to save the book onto your computer.

Unfortunately, there's no way to distribute the book to you all using iBooks, which is why we've provided the link which will allow you to download the book directly from our servers.

If you accidentally purchased the book instead of downloading it directly from us, please contact iTunes and inform them of the situation. They should be able to refund your purchase and get things straightened out.

Update: If you can't get a refund for the iBook purchase from Apple, David Sparks has told us he will provide you a free PDF of one of his other books, so please let him know!

Again, I apologize for the confusion! If you are unable to download the book directly via the link provided, please let me know and we'll investigate further.

Penelope Pitstop

The screencasts embedded in the pdf don't seem to work. Am I missing something?

RichardPayne

and first youtube link goes to a missing video.

mosca

Moreover as I accidentally closed the newsletter having the link to download the MacSparky's Email Field Guide, is there anyone that can tell me where recover it?

In the AgileBits Inbox I haven't anything.

Thanks in advance

kenwarburton

Following on from the email '1Password - A Year To Be Thankful For', I downloaded the iBook 'MacSparky Email Field Guide' which 'Dave Teare' stated the cost of which 'I've taken care of that for you already :)'. I now find that Itunes have charged me £6.49 for the download. Am I the only one this has happened to? Comments? Suggestions?

Stephen_C

Please read this post on this forum.

Edit: @kenwarburton‌ I have merged your post with the relevant thread on this forum.

Stephen

mosca

Any suggestion to recover the gift newsletter?

Please

philabel

I've clicked the link four or five times on two different devices, the tab opens but it fails to open the book.

Megan

Hi @mosca,

Please send your information in to our team at support+forum@agilebits.com, we'll see if we can help out.

Hi @philabel,

Just to confirm, you're looking at the MacSparky’s Email Field Guide (100 MB) link, right? Which devices are you trying it on?

ftorri

Following the email received saying "I’ve taken care of that for you already", I have dowloaded the "gift" using the provided link. At the end my Paypal account was charged 9.99 USD but there was no automatic refund as expected ....
Please let me know how to manage this problem. This is not a gift but a real issue and misleading way of communications

Thanks in advance for help....

rob

Hi, @ftorri‌. Please see Megan's first post above (post #4).

curtpusa

Good luck trying to get anything back from iTunes. I've pretty much given up on getting my $9.99 back. Some gift.

Ben

I apologize that iTunes is not participating in this offering. I will point out that the newsletter states:

Just click the link below for your free copy of David’s insightful book

It makes no mention of going to iTunes for a free copy or that refunds through iTunes will be possible.

We do not run the iTunes store and as such we cannot issue refunds for items purchased there, but you can request a refund from Apple here:

• http://reportaproblem.apple.com/

Thanks.

sWeber

I'm one of the unfortunate ones who downloaded the iTunes version of the MacSparky guide and was charged $10.79. Your email, for anyone deluged with email on a daily basis, is confusing.

A reader can easily see that there's an interesting e-book for which Dave will cover the expenses and then go back to the first listed link to that e-book and, reasonably I think, believe she is following your instructions for receiving the gift. This is, after all, a person reading through a lot of messages. It's not an expense I would have taken on if the procedure had been clear.

It's ironic, isn't it, that the offer to help people tackle email overload ends up, through its confusing wording, making a nice gesture into a burden?

It would be a very fine gesture indeed for Agilebits to reimburse the iTunes charge.

Ben

It would be a very fine gesture indeed for Agilebits to reimburse the iTunes charge.

Unfortunately we have no way of doing that, however you can request a refund from iTunes here:

• http://reportaproblem.apple.com/

rob

@curtpusa and @sWeber‌ and others:

Megan's post has been updated with another option for those who accidentally purchased the iBook version:

If you can't get a refund for the iBook purchase from Apple, David Sparks has told us he will provide you a free PDF of one of his other books, so please let him know!

sWeber

@bwoodruff‌ and @RobYoder‌:

I understand this dilemma - mistakes happen! I've requested a refund, with no response from Apple yet. I'll request David's PDF if Apple demurs. Thank you for being responsive.

rob

Thanks for your understanding and for the update, @sWeber!

danco

I downloaded the pdf with no problems. But it does say "this PDF download includes the PDF file, which you are now reading, and several folders with all of the screencasts and photo galleries from this book." As far as I can see, these folders are not present.

If your gift doesn't include them, that's fine. But if it is supposed to, I would like to know where they are or how to get hold of them.

rob

Hi, @danco. The email newsletter included a link to the extra goodies, too. It's below the link to the PDF. Sorry for the confusion there!

danco

No, I should be sorry for not reading the email carefully.

Megan

Hi @danco,

As you can see from the thread above, you're not the only one who has been a bit confused by some of the wording here. :) We'll do what we can to avoid this confusion in the future!

philabel

Hi Megan

Yes, that's the link I was using. I tried on both Mac and iPad.

Megan

Hi @philabel‌

Thanks for getting back to us! That's odd, opening the link via your Mac should work just fine. Could you let me know which browser you've been using?

Each browser handles files differently: when I open the link in Safari, the PDF opens in a new tab, but when I open the link in Firefox, the file is automatically downloaded into my Downloads folder. If you've been using Firefox, check to see if you might have the file downloaded already!

philabel

Hi Megan

I've tried Safari on both Mac and iPad. I've looked in my Mac's download folder and the file isn't there.

rob

Hi @philabel‌, when you open the PDF in Safari, you'll need to move your mouse to the bottom of the window until some buttons pop up. You should see a download button there (it will have an arrow pointing down). You can use that to save a copy of the PDF to your Downloads folder.