On May 16, 2015, as a Mother’s Day activity, my mother and I attended a screening of “The Last Unicorn” in Providence, RI, which was then followed by a Q&A session with the author of the book “The Last Unicorn,” Peter S. Beagle. After this session the employees running the event told us (the audience) about various merchandise we could purchase either then and there or to be shipped at a later time. I purchased what was referred to as the “Bigger Better Beagle Bundle” from Conlan Press, as well as various books and merchandise which I brought home that day. This “bundle” was supposed to consist of a brand new edition of the book “The Last Unicorn”, a companion edition of its sequel “Two Hearts,” a remastered DVD or Blu-Ray copy of the film “The Last Unicorn,” and a newly published coffee table book of art and concept sketches from the film “The Last Unicorn.” We (the audience) were told that this “bundle” was still in the process of being published but would ship no later than January 2016. The “pre-order price” of this bundle was $135, which I considered to be a fair price. I never received an invoice either on paper or through email for this “bundle,” which was the first red flag that I had been scammed. January came and went and there was no package shipped to my house and no communication from Conlan Press about why there may have been a delay. I have tried to contact the company numerous times but have never received a reply. I am sure there is no “bundle” in the works, and this is part of the larger Conlan Press scam involving Mr. Beagle and his work, as well as the work of other artists and merchants.
Janna Mihalco
On January 8, 2009 Connor Cochran of Conlan Press contacted me in an email offering me the opportunity to purchase for $82 a special hardcover copy of The Last Unicorn book he called the “Extra Deluxe” version. It was supposed to be personally signed to me by Peter S. Beagle, and also include some extra pages of handwritten text by Peter, plus a unicorn sketch by Connor. | On 1/18/2009 I sent the $82 PayPal payment to Conlan Press and eagerly awaited my special book. | 2/10/2009: I emailed Conlan Press asking for an update on my order because I had heard nothing after sending my payment. I did not receive an order confirmation email or an order number, only a PayPal receipt. This should have been my first red flag something was wrong with this company. Connor responded the same day reassuring me my order was good and I would be contacted as soon as my book was ready to ship, but it was taking them significantly longer to complete the books than they expected. | In fact, Connor would admit in a general email update to everyone waiting for an Extra Deluxe book that he and Peter hadn’t even begun to work on adding the signatures, the extra text, or the sketches to ANY of the 200+ books until FIVE MONTHS after he began taking our orders. | After that it was one melodramatic excuse after another as to why the books were taking so long to finish and tedious email “updates” repeatedly promising the books would all be finished soon, just keep waiting!… keep waiting!… | I sent numerous emails over the years to Conlan Press trying to keep in touch on the status of my book. Several of my emails went completely ignored. Or I would get some reassuring excuse from Connor, or I would get a delayed response from a new customer service employee because the old employee had been replaced abruptly, which gave Connor the convenient excuse to throw his employees under the bus by claiming they left everything in chaos… we’re picking up the pieces as fast as we can… be patient… keep waiting, your book is getting so close to completion!… Just keep waiting… Keep waiting!… | Rapid employee turnover should have been another red flag that something was seriously wrong with this company. | Another red flag was the fact that Conlan Press has never gone out of their way to directly contact me first about my order throughout this ridiculous 7 year saga. Legitimate, professional businesses do not make their customers hound them via email to beg for scraps of info about their overdue orders or their refunds. | On April 18, 2016, after 7 years and counting of being strung along, I requested a full refund. Connor responded the next day and promised a refund check would be sent “right away.” | It is now June 25, 2016 and I still have not received a refund check. (That is 2,716 days that Connor has been holding my payment hostage.) Connor either ignores my emails or he responds with more melodramatic excuses, blames his employees, and keeps making more empty promises that the check will go out “this week” … “right away”… “soon” … Just… Keep… Waiting!…