|
Sri Lanka
05 Sep 2010
15:38 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
About Us
What is Viator Publications?
What is the meaning of "Viator"?
Looking for your books
How do I search for a book?
How can I know if the book I want is in your stock?
Ordering
How do I order the book(s) I have seen on your website?
Will you tell me when my order's confirmed?
When will my book be sent to me?
Will you tell me when my books are sent?
Can I order books from you if I live outside Sri Lanka?
What happens if you haven't got all my books in stock?
How we send books to you
How long will it take for my books to arrive?
OK but how much are you going to charge me for such a service?
Why do you ask for a telephone number?
How come you can give such a good rate for shipping by express courrier?
Payment
How do I pay then for my book(s)?
Which credit cards do you accept?
Processing Your Order
Is it safe to use my card over the Web?
Other services
What are the other services Viator is offering me?
Tell me more about your Viator Bibliography!
Can I suggest some book(s) related to Sri Lanka which is (are) not at the moment in your bibliography?
Contact Us
If I've a question or a problem, how do I get in touch with you?
[top] ABOUT US
What is Viator Publications?
Viator Publications is a publishing house based in Sri Lanka which is marketing its books both online for the International market and traditionally through bookshops within the island. We've been trading since 2000, first of all with our own books and have now added publications from independent authors and other publishers to our offer.
To be in the the position to ship your order within 24 h, we keep an inhouse stock of each and every book which is for sale online.
The company founders are Lisa Bewley and Philippe Fabry.
What is the meaning of "Viator"?
Viator means "traveller" in Latin (de "via", road). But during the Middle Age it also carried the meaning of "messenger", and sometime of "ferryman", taking you from a World to another.
We have choosen this name for our publishing house because of all these meanings that we found very appropriate for our editorial line: taking you for a journey to another land or culture, bringing you messages from distant lands, but also more symbolicaly "ferrying" you to a different world, the world of the Other, full of discoveries and amazements.
Beside that, we are ourselves travellers and we have been visiting dozens of countries and living for the past twenty years in Asia, out of which, ten years in Sri Lanka.
[top] LOOKING FOR YOUR BOOKS
How do I search for a book?
A / If you are looking for a specific book, you can use our Search engine which is on the top right side of our website.
1 - click in it and erase the words "type your text here"
2 - type a key word, the title of a book or the name of an author
3 - click on the "ok" button on the right
B / If you are interested by books on Sri Lanka, in English or in the French language, simply visit our site.
You will find books:
1 - on the Home page
2 - in our Viator catalogue which has a link from the Home page. click on "The Viator books".
3 - from the complete list of the books we are marketing by clicking on the thumbnail on the left, in the blue vertical strip, written "Books".
C / Now you might also wish to enjoy a very special service Viator Publications is offering: a bibliography totally dedicated to Sri Lanka. Whether the author, the subject, the publisher, etc. is Sri Lankan or sometimes, simply because Sri Lanka is mentionned, the book is listed in our bibliography.
At the moment, the online Viator Bibliography comprises almost 3,500 titles and it's updated regularly.
How can I know if the book I want is in your stock?
Well, if it's online it's in stock.
We have a certain number of copies with us of all the books which are on sale.
[top] ORDERING
How do I order the book(s) I have seen on your website?
Extremely simple.
A / CHOOSE
You can select the book(s) you want:
1 - from our Home Page website where some of our books are on display
2 - from the complete list of the books we are marketing by clicking on the thumbnail on the left, in the blue vertical strip, written "Books".
3 - from the Viator catalogue which has a link from the Home page. It's called "The Viator books".
B / ORDER
Once you have selected a book, click on the words "order this book". This will take you to the Order Form where your order will be processed in 5 phases mentionned as follow:
1. Your order | 2. Verification | 3. Process choice | 4. Information form | 5. Receipt
In the phase "1. Your order", you can add more books to your order and request as many copies of each as you wish.
Note that, while adding books, the shipping charge REMAINS THE SAME: 8 EUROS ONLY.
Then follow the next phases one by one.
C / PAY
Once you have completed the phase "4. Information form", you are given another possibility to verify your order before you can click on the button marked "Pay Now" which will connect you to the securised payment system of the bank.
And that's it, you have placed your order and we will send it soon.
Will you tell me when my order's confirmed?
We issue an acknowledgement of receipt as soon as we receive a confirmation by the bank that your payment has been processed succesfully which confirms your order.
When will my book be sent to me?
Once your order has been processed and accepted by the bank, within hours your book is packed and given the same day to our express courier company for shipping.
Will you tell me when my books are sent?
Of course! And if your order is notified to us on a working day, it should be the very same day.
Within hours following your order, your book(s) is packed and given to our express courier company for shipping.
Once the company has collected the parcel, we send you by e-mail its AWB (Air Way Bill) number which allows you to "track" your parcel on the web site of Aramex (www.aramex.com). You can follow its journey to you almost "live".
It usually takes 3 to 4 working days to reach its destination.
Can I order books from you if I live outside Sri Lanka?
Of course and, as a matter of fact, our system is meant for people living far away from the island. And since we believe that you should not be penalised by the distance, whatever is the country you are living in, we have decided to charge, for shipping, the same fixed amount. 8 Euros only (as you'll pay by credit card it will be debited to you with your order in your national currency at the actual official bank rate).
We insist: 8 Euros only whatever is the destination or the size of the parcel.
And Yes, by Express Courier. A fast and reliable service we, at Viator (don't forget that it means "traveller" in Latin) are very proud of.
What happens if you haven't got all my books in stock?
That shouln't happen since we have in stock a certain number of copies of all the books which are on sale on line.
But let's say that your order comes just after a big order which has exhausted our stock and we momentarily don't have it in stock. No worry, we'll get your book (if it's a working day) within hours as most of the publishers and suppliers are within a few km radius from our office in Colombo.
[top] HOW WE SEND BOOKS TO YOU
How long will it take for my books to arrive?
At Viator we are very proud of our fast relivery service. We have even some records like an order received in the afternoon at our operation centre in Sri Lanka and delivered the following morning at a London address.
Or an order delivered to Costa Rica only 48 h after we received the order in Sri Lanka (we are still wondering which route it took and how many connecting flights it makes!)
But let's put aside these "records". It usually take 3 to 4 working days, depending also whether you are residing in the capital of the country or in the countryside (a domestic partner is usually in charge of that part and it takes of course a bit more time).
OK but how much are you going to charge me for such a service?
Well, here is the good news:
ONLY 8 EUROS
Yes, you read it well: 8 euros only WHATEVER is the DESTINATION and the SIZE of the parcel.
Why do you ask for a telephone number?
To make sure you will get your order as fast as possible. In fact, this is a requirment from our express courier company (Aramex) which is concerned by finding nobody at your place when they deliver or an incomplete address.
With a telephone number, they have one more chance to find you quickly and organize the delivery rapidly.
Otherwise your book(s) will be sent back to us in Sri Lanka...
How can you give such a good rate for shipping by express courrier?
Mainly because it's paid by the discount we get from the publishers and distributors. We also have a good commercial relationship and understanding with the courier company.
[top] PAYMENT
How do I pay then for my book(s)?
The credit card it the easiest and fastest way for the transaction.
If you wish to pay by T/T, Bank Draft, etc., please contact us
But be aware that these type of payments are much slower and there are commissions and charges to pay.
Which credit cards do you accept?
Visa, Master Card.
Processing Your Order
Once your order has been processed and accepted by the HSBC Bank (Hongkong and Shangai Banking Corporation), we receive a computer generated message confirming the payment. This is taken by us as the "green light" to process your order.
Within hours, your parcel is prepared and given the same day to our express courier company for shipping.
Once they have collected it and confirm the AWB (Air Way Bill) number, we send it to you by e-mail. This AWB number allows you to "track" your parcel on the web site of the courier company (www.aramex.com) and follow 'live' it's journey to you.
It usually takes 3 to 4 working days to reach its destination.
Is it safe to use my credit card over the Web?
As safe as it can be. Your payment will be processed directly by the bank HSBC (Hongkong and Shangai Banking Corporation) on its own system, not ours. And they use the safest standard available: Secure Standard Link (SSL) encryption to ensure the highest security for credit card and personal details submitted over the Web.
[top] OTHER SERVICES
What are the other services Viator is offering me?
1 - Well, first, have a look at the VIATOR BIBLIOGRAPHY we put online for you. This is a FREE service. Thousands of books related to Sri Lanka in several languages are listed and the search engine will help you to discover more about books or subjects you are interested in.
2 - Then there is our RESEARCH SERVICE. In case you are desperate to find a book or if you simply want somebody to look for a specific title which is available here in Sri Lanka, we can look for any book(s) for you. The cost of this service is only a little 8 euros.
3 - Then you can enjoy our POST CARDS which are on sale in Sri Lanka, the MAPS we have designed and that you are free to use if you wish (PDF Format), and a selection of PHOTOS taken by Philippe Fabry. There is a search engine there too where you can enter keywords like "beach", "tea", "Buddha", etc. in English or in the French language (then it's "plage", "thé", "Bouddha", etc.)
Tell me more about your Viator Bibliography!
The Viator Bibliography is in fact a major tool for us, for our in-house work. As a matter of fact, it's is for our own research that we have built it up over the years. Still today, we put a considerable amount of time and energy into updating it. The data base we are using daily is of course a lot more elaborated and complete than what you have online. Almost 80 fields, including one for the photo of the cover, the subject of the book (very often the text published on the back cover of a book), an extract of the book, it's printer address, it's weight, etc. are part of the data that we try to feed our data base with for each book. It's naturally a permanent 'work in progress' since books are published daily, but the books recorded are very unequally documented, depending on the sources we have had access to (the weight for instance is recorded only if we can check it ourselves by having the book in hand). This is one reason for not putting all this information online. It would be also too big a file and too slow to download.
All books in our bibliography are related to Sri Lanka a way or another. Whether it's the author, the subject, the publisher, the printer, etc.
All languages (using Roman script only for now) are taken in account. Of course, there is a majority of books in English (78%). But there are quite a good share of books in French (15%), in German (3%), in Italian, in Spanish, Portuguese, etc. The search engine allows you to select books by language if you wish.
Only books, or sometimes booklets, can be listed in the Viator Bibliography. Not articles from specialized magazines or publications.
No restriction is made on the type of books we enter in the data base but it's true that we have a preference for history, archaeology, literature, arts, traditions & customs, etc. Less attraction for scientific subjects or for law for which, anyway, we don't have easily access to information.
Can I suggest some book(s) related to Sri Lanka which is (are) not at the moment in the Viator Bibliography?
That would be great and we would be very grateful if you do so.
Kindly provide us with all the possible information you can.
The minimum should be (in order to be able at least to put it on the bibliography online) the following information:
Title:
Sub-title;
Author(s):
Date of publication:
Place of Publication:
Language:
But the if you have more about this book and want us to add it to the main data base send us as much as you can. It could include the ISBN number, Publisher name and address, number of pages, size of the book (in cm, width first. eg 14 x 21 cm, or whatever).
Now if you really want to promote a book extensively, we can even send you a form to fill with ALL the fields available.
All that can be done by e-mails.
[top] Contact Us
If I have a question or a problem, how do I get in touch with you?
Please don't hesitate and just send us an e-mail. We'll do our level best to answer to all your questions and find solutions.
|
|
|
