Well, I am not saying sue BBTS. I am saying if you are desperate enough, if you had a letter drafted by your lawyer (or friend who is a lawyer) BBTS won't deal with the hassle and give you back your money.

Also, they do reserve the right to change the rules at any time, this is true. But if you purchase something under the existing rules at the time, both you and the vendor are held to those rules. You and the vendor have a legal binding contract at time of purchase. You can not change the rules later on anyone. It is like making alcohol illegal today and jailing those who did it yesterday.

So moving forward they have a right to say, no returns. But if when you purchased something and on their site it said, 30 day return policy, they are obliged to honor it. That is true. Not rumor or something I am making up. I did not major in law, but took 3 years of it.

Also, to be clear, I don't want people suing BBTS. They are the victim as well. They are more so the victim then we are. However, BBTS should:
1- stop selling the figure that is broken or make some effort to let the consumer know it is has QA issues and a newer version is available.
(Not all people, like I said go and read reviews and such. We are part of the fandom and we know. What about a wife who's husband loved Rodimus for whatever reason. She hears there is something she could buy him and gets him v1 without knowing the QA issues. How is she to blame or to even know? I mean, I understand doing your homework on electronics and cars, but outside the fandom how many people you think do their homework on toys, no matter the cost.)
2- Force Takara to take back the items. Takara should be forced to take these back.

Yes, most companies make mistakes, but they also do things to fix these mistakes. What has Takara done to fix this? Released a new version? That doesn't fix it if they don't have a recall. Even with the Iphone they were offering free sleeves to fix their issues. Most companies offer free fixes to their clients when issues arise. I mean, even KO companies do this for christ's sake. Just not Takara.

Also, let's keep in mind that we clearly see that Takara has cut back on QA. It is not that they are making a mistake. It is that they cut back QA to make a greater profit. Well, this bit them in the ass. Only problem is, it didn't bite them in the ass, it bit the purchaser of the MP09 in the ass. Takara is left unaffected.

I think you took more of what I am saying a consumer can do if they are desperate. My point, maybe poorly made, was that Takara is to blame and that BBTS should return all their stock and force Takara to refund their money.

If not Takara has no reason to fix their companies problem with QA. Not sure

Not sure if what I am saying will never happen, but if it doesn't I really feel bad for the fandom moving forward. I know we can vote with our wallets, but considering our fandom has people paying 3x the price for an early release, we are not the most united fandom in getting companies to do what is right.

As mentioned above, Apple offered free case which resolved this issue. KO companies offer replacement parts to broken KO toys. Takara does nothing.

I don't think a company is out to screw me. Takara could give a shit less about you or me or anyone else. They care about making a buck. The formula is, where can we cut cost to increase profit.

QA is the cost cutting. If they are not effected at all by their cost cutting because the cost is passed to us, then how will they learn.

Also, don't be naive and think that any company really has the consumers best interest in mind. They could care less about us. Look at:

- Banks and lending practices and how we paid for it
- Pharmaceutical companies releasing drugs they know can kill patients and getting the government to do joint action lawsuits to avoid the company from going broke.
- Car companies releasing cars that they know internally are bad (GM)
- Investment companies selling their clients stock they know is bad so they can make money on the other end.

And so on and so on. Toy companies are no different. If no law was passed against lead in toys, we would still see that now a days if that was the cheapest available product that would yield the most profit.

Problem is, no one gets their hand spanked any longer.

 

i don't think bbts even order stuffs directly from takara anyway, they probably bought it from other wholesaler that has office in Japan, that makes them 2-3 steps removed from direct contact with Takara. i don't think bbts supplier is going to be taking back the broken rodimuses...rodimii?

 

If that is true, then customers should follow this route. I mean I would hope that BBTS had this available to them. Maybe my post wasn't too clear on it, but I do feel bad for them.

I would hate to be on the hook for $60K. I just couldn't pass that along to customers.

 

This may have been asked in the news thread, but anyway...


I wonder if there will be any special markings on the new version (Rodimus Convoy v2.0, etc) that will differentiate it from the original version? Or maybe a certain marking on the figure, slightly different color, etc?

Reason I ask, people are speculating that customers may try to be shady and buy the new version, put their old version in the new box and try to send it back for a refund.

My question is, if there's nothing (on the box, etc) to separate one from the other, what's to stop the online retailers from filling orders for the new version with the old version, so they can clear out their old stock?


EDIT: Has there ever been such a QC uproar in the history of the MP series? MP Starscream (original green MP-03) perhaps?

 

If you're already an owner of MP-09 the most convenient thing to do would be to wait for the US release of him (where it will probably hit a $60-70 price point) and the qc issues will hopefully also be resolved in that release. Then display one in robot one in vehicle mode, I suppose.

Of course there's always the evil alternative of repackaging/returning a QC fixed US release of roddy with the 1st release of the JP version. While I don't support this, I know it's going to happen already.

 

Thundercracker is supposedly all screwed up as well. I have yet to open mine.

 

BigBadToyStore.com


Pile of loot is only allowed to be canceled within 15 days.

Return policy is 30 days and must be UNOPENED.

 

That one, I can somewhat understand because the mold had been used numerous times before (all versions of Starscream & Skywarp, etc), the overuse may have resulted in TC's imperfections.

But from a brand new mold/initial launch? Even Megatron didn't have this many complaints, I don't think? A bit flimsy because of the skinny legs, yes, but nothing major.

 

Yeah, Megatron was a nightmare, but could be because of complicated transformation. Not sure if it was QA or that the figure was hard.

Starscream was bad, I think the plastic snapped and cheap.

Optimus was solid and so was Grimlock.

 

And this is exactly why I'm holding out against pre-ordering MP-10 (until the reviews of QC are in). The whole MP-09 debacle is leaving a horrid taste in a lot of people's mouths as far as I can see. I suppose BBTS could exchange a broken MP-09 v1 with a new MP-09 v1 (within their allotted time frame) if a customer asks for it, but I do agree that they as a company should probably stop selling the v1 altogether, knowing the issues it has (going back to the whole knowingly selling defective product).

BBTS was extremely courteous toward me in exchanging a defective TF product for a new one. For this, BBTS has my loyalty and support. I certainly don't envy their position right now and can understand the change in their policy. (Otherwise they'd take a huge loss.) There are no easy answers, but (respectfully) contacting them for clarification and perhaps an exchange for a new (but same v1) product may be in order if not too much time has passed, as I understand the situation correctly.

 

Hello software development model.  

 

I bought MP-09 and was happy to do so. If I wanted the 2nd version, I wouldn't expect BBTS to foot the bill for it just because some other folks broke theirs or left theirs in their pile of loot for like EVER - I'd get off my ass and just buy another one. And then if I really liked it better, I'd sell my first one.

OR - if I was mad at Takara about it, I simply WOULDN'T buy anything else that they made, like the 2nd version for instance.

But I wouldn't expect BBTS - who has ALWAYS been there for me - to pay for it for me. Sorry. Personal responsibility needs to come into play sometimes.

 

So stores are screwing people by not taking back products going on 6 months old?

............

I don't know if toys are the only products some people invest in, but after a store's return policy ends, that's when it's on whether the MANUFACTURER provides warranty for their product.

So it wouldn't be the stores, it'd be Takara "screwing" people over.

 

I doubt this will happen, because any release that happens in the US will have less paint, and different plastic, if previous moulds are anything to go by.
You can forget about that nice sharp spoiler too, possibly those articulated fingers, and quite likely some of the chrome exhaust things. I wouldn't expect to see stuff like the buzzsaw either, much too much of a choking issue.

 

I don't see any bad business here. Rodimus came out a while back and now you want the store to take somethign YOU don't want because something better is replacing it.
If I buy an 2011 car 4 months before the '12 comes out, do you think the dealership will allow me to return my car (full value) for the new car? The thought is laughable.

These online guys are small and can not afford to eat the $200 you want them to because a better product is coming out. If it was a BnM store like Walmart...go for it but it isn't going to happen with the smaller onlien retailers.

I see no wrong in what BBTS is doing.

 

Take a look at the not so cool stuff 2011. People return other figures in the packaging and Walmart takes it back.

BBTS is the victim here. The only thing I would recommend is that they stop selling the V1 Rody as they know they have QA issues.

Also, your argument is flawed. If I bought a 2011 car and the breaks failed and the engine died, and this was a known flaw and the only fix was to buy a 2012, then there would be bad business.

Same thing on the toy end.

 

All of this is making me scared to open up the MP-09 that I already have, lol.

It comes packaged in robot mode, right? If all I want to do is pose it, no transformation, not using the trailer...will there still be possible QC issues?

 

Well Payton,

If your afraid, then sell it if you can. This way you can get the one which has fixes and not have to worry.

Some peoples came with broken leg panel as soon as they opened the box.

 

i would guess BBTS have probably already lost some money on this, between returns and people hitting cancel when the QC issues became known.

 

Fair enough, I wasn't playing the defect card. But even with defects it is the car company that deals with the fixes not the dealership.

So boo Takara, BBTS and the others are the victim here....Are you telling me that Takara couldnt fix these problems before hand? I'm sure they could they just sent out a first batch to cover the cost of the fixes. Bad business.