MovieChat Forums > The Last Unicorn (1982) Discussion > Was anyone else here ripped off by Conla...

Was anyone else here ripped off by Conlan Press?

posted 15 years ago by peccadillo
26 replies | jump to latest

Well, I've officially waited over a year. Back in the beginning of January, 2009 I (and supposedly some one-hundred other people) purchased through Conlan Press the "Special Edition" Deluxe Last Unicorn hardcover, which included three handwritten pages, a personalized autograph, and a hand-drawn unicorn sketch.

I still receive their newsletter, and when I contacted them recently for more information about my copy, they were quick to reply and assured that it had been completed and would be mailed within a week.
I've been given the run around countless times now, and still have received nothing for my money.

Has anyone here had a similar experience? Is there anyone out there that has actually received their book?
For the record, I've spoken multiple times with Connor Cochran and he and everyone else has been very friendly and understanding. However, I strongly caution anyone who's thinking of purchasing anything at all through conlanpress.com. I wouldn't buy from them again.

I don't know where else or who else to contact in regards to this. I'm just hoping to hear from other fans you've been dealing with the same thing.

[–] Mousuke 15 years ago

Sorry to hear about the trouble you have had I didn't get that deluxe edition, but I got the signed hardcover edition and they were very quick with sending it out. I did have some trouble a few years ago when the deluxe Two Hearts got announced- I ordered it, but they had trouble with the publishing company so never received it.

I hope you get your book soon, it sounds like a really wonderful edition. Connor has always been very friendly and helpful so I'm sure that there is probably a problem out of their control, rather than them intentionally fobbing you off with excuses.

[–] peccadillo 15 years ago

That's what I figured.
Still, though, it's been a year, and you would think they'd have produced something after all this time.
I know the copy of the book itself isn't really costly; it's just the handwritten pages/drawing/autographs that really consume time and effort.

If nothing else, I do appreciate that they at least respond to me when I contact them.

Although it would be nice to have something to tell my family when they ask "Did you ever get that book you paid eighty bucks for?".

[–] Mister_Chief 15 years ago

I had a similar problem with a company I purchased a sword from a couple years back. They didn't have the scabbards for the sword in stock at the fair I bought it at and they claimed they would send one to me in three weeks. About six months later I still didn't have it and I'd sent them countless letters about it, all with the same "We'll ship it right away!" nonsense and whatnot.
I'm bad at writing good letters so I got my mom to compose a straightforward, threatening yet in a nice, "do this or you'll eat it" way and I got the scabbard three days later.
I have no idea what happened to the actual e-mail or I'd give it to you as an example. I know that she mentioned something about contacting their corporate office to complain or something along those lines.

If the company you ordered the book from has made them, you should be able to get one some way or another. If they haven't then I'd just ask for your money back.

EDIT

Oh forgot to include that you should put the purchase number thing (can't remember the exact name) and your name and address in your e-mail or they might try to play you. That's what I did, and I hope this helps a bit.

[–] pavoniata 9 years ago

So... did you ever get your $80 book from Conlan Press?

I'm still waiting for mine all because of the stupid sketch. Emailing Conlan Press repeatedly and sending their Facebook page messages is getting me nowhere.

[–] VisionsOfAzure 15 years ago

I am in the same predicament as you. It has been over a year and this book was a gift for my daughter. The last I heard I was the third or fourth one and would be receiving the book soon. I am going to contact Consumer Protection and see what they say my next step is. The publisher took the full amount for a product they have yet to deliver. Thanks to the internet other potential customers will be informed of the (lack of) service we all received.

[–] PinkWeeds 15 years ago

I've been waiting 6 years for the Two Hearts Hardcover/Last Unicorn Audiobook with squat! Not only that but their recent newsletter clearly states that despite the past several newsletters that have gone out saying that they are almost finished, has not yet even gone to press yet! And not only that but it will not go to press until some artist draws the freaking pictures! I'm about to blow a gasket on Connor Cochran- he may be very polite and nice to speak to but he is still a worm and a no good, rotten, dirty worm who steals from people none the less.

[–] VisionsOfAzure 15 years ago

I sent the link to this forum to let him know how his business's image is being affected by his all talk no action towards his customers. We do not care if he had to move his office or what committments he had. He took the money for the product and did not deliver the goods. We all have things going on in our lives and jobs, but we don't come up with excuses to stall meeting our committments. We just do it and get it done.

[–] bbanzai88 14 years ago

I'm part of the group as well. I actually forgot about the whole thing, it's been so long. I saw Peter and Connor just a few weeks ago at a convention and didn't bother dropping by their table.

I notice that the original board entries regarding the deluxe edition has been removed from IMDB, I assume to be archived. I wonder if there's any way to bring those back.

[–] rsglover 10 years ago

Happened to me too. Paid for the Last Unicorn Collectors Edition Hardcover back in 2009 and now in 2014 I'm still waiting. Connor Cochran gets very rude and argumentative when you try to press him on why the book hasn't been shipped. I filed a complaint with the BBB and don't really know what else I can do. My suspicions mind suspects they are keeping customers money and selling the books again on eBay.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] XmonsterXmashX 10 years ago

My mom bought me the comics back in 2010 I believe. I received four of them and it took about three years to get the other two! We just had to keep hassling them.

[–] mlost 10 years ago

For over 6 years now I'm still waiting for the Special Deluxe Hardcover, too.
Sometimes Connor answered, but lately he didn't even answer anymore. It seems that Connor has employed new customer service staff this year, and a guy (Chris Rickert) answered very quickly. He assured me that Connor is still working on it. But I'm not sure, if this is just sweet-talking.
It's a scandal that after 2200 days they weren't able to sign and ship 180 books of that deluxe order – and it looks like they're pulling this scam regularly.

[–] redroses_blueworld 10 years ago

Like Mousuke, I too ordered the deluxe Two Hearts. It has been so long now that it's hard for me to remember what exactly happened in regard to the printing troubles. Luckily for me, I want to say that I received an e-mail from Connor about it and I want to say that he offered to either cancel the order or keep the order active. I cancelled the order I think because at that juncture, I'd been reading about issues that people were having and I simply saw the writing on the wall. I do remember Conlan Press as perpetually sending out the "We've had trouble moving forward with the printing, but rest assured we're close now" notifications. Whatever the case, it's disheartening to hear that customers were taken advantage of.

[–] peccadillo 9 years ago

Well, Peter is suing Connor Cochran.

The whole dirt business is laid out here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/3vu9aw/peter_beagle_is_suing_connor_cochran_conlan_press/

[–] LeMarchand 9 years ago

Although I actually (eventually) got my order from CP, albeit in a different format. I ordered the comics pre-release and they messed up ordering stock past the first issue; ended up getting an autographed GN instead. I've always thought that it seemed a bit of a rinky-dink firm that was flying by the seat of its pants; however the excuses often seem plausible.

If (as he seems to be implying) Peter is suffering from dementia, I feel for him and his family. My own father suffers as well. It took us years to get a diagnosis as the GP would just ask a "standard" set of questions which happened to be ones he could remember the answer to. Although he presents very well, his mind isn't as healthy as his body and he will come up with the most ridiculous stories that to him are true. For example, it was hard enough for him to get his own car into the small garage - but he swears that he had to phone the police to remove 10 cars illegally dumped there a few months back! If Peter is in this sort of state it's a horrible, horrible thing to happen to anyone.

No tears please, it's a waste of good suffering.

[–] the_green_monster 9 years ago

I've been waiting 13 years for an Autographed edition of Two Hearts. And according to The Last Unicorn Facebook page monitor, the won't be sending it.

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/law/last-unicorn-scribe-peter-s-beagle-alleges-elder-abuse-fraud-manager-126613.html

Peter is now sewing Conlan Press for elder abuse, fraud and defamation of character. Connor is sticking back by accusing Peter of being senile and an alcoholic.

http://supportpeterbeagle.com/wordpress2/

Here is Peter's new secret page asking for support. The issue is that Connor has claimed rights on Peter's intellectual property and it's a wonder Peter own's his own name right now. Connor also hasn't been paying taxes on his side project that he opened with Peter as a way of gaining complete control over Peter's Intellectual Property. It's really disgusting what Connor has been doing with him.

~It is very rare that a person is taken for what they truly are.~

[–] the_green_monster 9 years ago

Also despite Connor's constant insistence that Peter has dementia, Connor insisted that Peter see 2 neurologists who both examined Peter fully and said that he was the picture of health and in the 91% for his age. And despite Connor's constant claims that money and funds were tight and that they needed to keep pushing sales of merchandise, and begging fans to house Peter during the past 3 year tour where Peter only had about 30 days off during the whole time- Connor was actually making millions on that.

~It is very rare that a person is taken for what they truly are.~

[–] pavoniata 9 years ago

I'm in the same situation as the OP. I paid in early January 2009 for a copy of that Extra Deluxe autographed hardcover book w/ unicorn sketch. I've often wondered how many other people are being jerked around by Conlan Press waiting for Connor to finish the sketches in these books.

For the first couple years various customer service people at Conlan Press would respond to my inquiries on the status of my book. It seemed every time I got a response it was from a "new" person because the "old" employee was no longer with the company. (high employee turn over should have been a huge red flag)

There was a 3 year stretch where CP completely ignored multiple emails I sent and I had no idea what was going on or if they even still had my book.

CP has never gone out of their way to voluntarily contact me directly with information about my book throughout this ridiculous ordeal. The vague info in the sporadic Raven newsletters is worthless. The only way I've ever gotten info from CP is from me contacting them first. If you are a legitimate, professional business your customers should not have to hound you via email to get information about their orders.

January 2015 was the most recent communication I had with CP after Chris Rickert got involved. The only thing she offered me was to keep waiting indefinitely for Connor to finish the sketches or I could request a refund... after 6 years of waiting (now 7 years.) I don't think so. The book is already personalized for me and with the legal crap and alleged health issues Peter is currently dealing with I doubt I'll ever get another chance to get anything personally inscribed by him again.

The least CP could do is offer a free bonus gift to those of us who are still waiting for our books because Connor can't make the time to finish the sketches.

I'm glad I resisted ordering anything else from Conlan Press since it was taking them so long to ship my book. They will never get another dollar from me. If I'd known they were going to jerk me around for 7 years I never would have ordered this damn book in the first place.

At this point my attitude towards the entire TLU franchise is so soured by this experience I get annoyed thinking about anything to do with TLU. It has tarnished my enjoyment of one of my most favorite and most cherished childhood movies.

[–] pavoniata 9 years ago

I finally gave up hope of ever receiving my Extra Deluxe TLU book and I requested a refund last month. Connor responded in an email on April 19th and he also left a voice message on my answering machine saying a check would be sent out "right away" AND (!) he also wanted to still send me the book anyway... "after the sketch is completed." Yeah, if that sketch hasn't been completed after 7 years I don't anticipate ever receiving the book. I just want my $82 back.

It is now May 6th and I still have not received the check.

Getting this random voice message was super weird because I don't recall ever giving Conlan Press my phone # except way back in 2009 when I originally paid for the book with PayPal. The way he spoke he seemed really insistent to get me on the phone, like he enjoys having a captive audience to talk to, it left me feeling super weird. I HATE talking on the phone in general so I had no intention of calling him back for any reason. I feel like he is delaying the check since I didn't play along by calling him.

[–] pavoniata 9 years ago

June 17 still no check. Just more excuses... "I'm waiting for a payment to arrive, once it's deposited blah blah blah.".... "an employee had medical issues and needed surgery." Connor went into much more detail about this particular excuse. I would be mortified and furious if my employer went around blurting out specific information about my personal health matters to random clients.

[–] the_green_monster 9 years ago

It's illegal for him to discuss his employee's health issues. Someone should call HIPPA on him for that. Seriously, he could get into a lot of hot water for using his employee's health as an excuse for not sending out orders when contacting customers.

That man is a total slime ball. He has been scamming everyone, including Peter in order to fill his own pockets.

~It is very rare that a person is taken for what they truly are.~

[–] GabrielleHalliwell 9 years ago

I found the fastest way to get my money back was to mention reporting him to the better business bureau.

I waited years for my deluxe Two Hearts, and when I decided I had waited long enough and wanted to cancel my order, we went back and forth for awhile until I flat out told him I would report him if I did not get a refund.

I decided to give him a second chance when I ordered a special edition Last Unicorn that was supposed to come personalized with a drawing and a Schmendrick short story. I waited a lesser amount of time but still a couple of years. When I once again decided it was time to cancel he assured me I was next on the list to receive my book and even offered me the deluxe comic book at a reduced price if I did not cancel my order. This odd reply confirmed my suspicions that I would probably never receive my book, so I of course canceled and was refunded.

"You crazy witch!" Phoebe Halliwell, Charmed.

[–] pavoniata 9 years ago

Threatening to report him to the BBB had no effect in my case unfortunately. Probably because CONnor is well aware the BBB wouldn't do anything for me since it had been more than a year. So my complaint is archived in the BBB's records but it isn't visible to the public on their site. I would not be surprised if there were many more hidden complaints like mine, which doesn't do any good to help warn people how big of a fraud Conlan Press is.

The complaints I submitted to the FTC and the WA AGO were accepted and are currently being worked on so we will see if that gets any results. He didn't care when I mentioned seeking help from these agencies either so I'm half expecting he will just ignore them too because nothing about Connor Cochran is normal.
He is an absurd little man that fancies himself the self-appointed King of Unicorn Land and Master of all the Unicorn Pals, and if you don't indulge this delusional fantasy and allow him to trap you in a private conversation so he can regurgitate his egotistical pity party then you are SOL getting anything you are legally owed from his sham company.

[–] pavoniata 8 years ago

In case anyone was wondering, Cochran still has not refunded me the $82 I paid him 8 years ago and based on the BS-filled response he gave to one of the complaints I submitted last year I'm sure he has no intention of ever doing so.

[–] 9 years ago

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