Frank,

Don't mistake samples for proofs. The only thing we got to proof was the sections on the history of the club, the history of the Oliver corporation, and the board and chapter contact info. We never saw a single proof of the pictures to be used, the layout, or the member and collection information, and we had no control over that. What Harris Connect sent us is the same thing everybody else got, books. Part of the agreement was that they would give the HPOCA a few free sample copies of the book, which were shipped to us, by UPS. So we got those a few days before everybody else started getting theirs in the mail.

I was at the meeting when the Harris Connect representative made his proposal. He had samples of other similar books they had done, and they looked very nice. The also do the alumni book for the college Becky graduated from, and it is nice as well. We had every reason to believe that they would do the same for the HPOCA.

I too am a bit disappointed with the quality of the book. I shelled out $100, just like everybody else did, to get my own copy. (The samples belong to the club, it's up to the Board to decide what to do with those copies.)  I have been doing the magazine long enough that I know those pictures could have looked better. I spoke with a representative from Harris Connect just a few minutes ago, and he told me that the reason some pictures are missing is that not everybody sent in a signed release form for their pictures, or their picture quality was so low that they couldn't be used.

I still think that Harris Connect is a responsible company to deal with, if by no other proof than that they have a toll free number to call if you want to return the product. If you don't like the book, call Harris Connect Customer Service, and they will take care of you.

If you want to get into a debate of &quot;The Buck Stops Here&quot;, then yes, The HPOCA board and staff is ultimately responsible for allowing the use of club logos, membership info, etc to go into a publication such as this. I will argue against that logic with this: the board was responsible enough to work with an established company that has a customer satisfaction policy that includes refunds. They even printed their contact info for just such an event on the page 2, opposite of the contents page.

I'm not trying to stop people from expressing their opinions of the book, but if you call us, we can't do anything more than give you the Harris Connect Customer Service number, because they are responsible for the book.