Errors in Sir Alex Ferguson’s book leads to refund
By Mike Dyce
Jul 19, 2012; Manchester, UNITED KINGDOM; General view of Old Trafford Stadium. The stadium will be one of the venues for soccer during the 2012 London Olympics. Mandatory Credit: Joe Toth-USA TODAY Sports
Legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson released his highly anticipated autobiography last month and it be fastest-selling non-fiction book in the United Kingdom on record. While it was highly anticipated, one reader didn’t enjoy it. According to the Daily Mirror, he wrote the publisher, Hodder and Stoughton, and complained about “as many as 45 factual errors.”
That led to the publisher offering a refund to one particularly disgruntled customer. The CEO of the company, Jamie Hodder-Williams, reportedly replied in an e-mail to the customer and personally offered a refund.
Hodder and Stoughton CEO Jamie Hodder-Williams is quoted as having written:
"“We did in fact go through several stages of fact-checking with this book, with a reading from within Manchester United as well as from a specialist football fact-checker.“Although a very large number of corrections were made we plainly did not pick up everything.“Possible corrections that have so far been helpfully pointed out are being checked and will be included in future reprints.“I am sorry that you feel that your expenditure on the book was not worthwhile. If you would like to send the book to me at our head office address, stating where you bought the book and at what price, we will refund your expenditure and postage.”"
A spokeswoman for Hodder and Stoughton verified the story of an angry customer point out errors is quoted in the newspaper as saying:
"“A member of the public did write in saying that he had found errors in the book and was not happy. He didn’t say what the errors were.“We have written to him and said that if he is not happy with his purchase he should send in the book and we will refund the purchase price.”"
The Daily Mirror points out the following errors:
- He said he had Roy Keane for 11 years when it was 12
- He praises Rio Ferdinand’s performance against Manchester City in 2009 when he meant 2010
- Stated that he got a pacemaker in 2002 when it actually happened in 2004
- Said Ryan Giggs made his debut at 16 years old, when he was actually 17
The Daily Mirror even ranked the top ten inaccuracies in Fergie’s book here.