Not all round stickers have the same adhesive tolerances. Especially when they're made from (clearly) a different material and with a more noticable resistance to peeling than their predecessor.

Right, FunPub charging for tracking is absurd; that being said, I don't think I've EVER seen an option to pay for tracking information. Every time I order something (with the exception of the Archive sale), I have an email sent to me with tracking information once it ships.

However, it's NOT absurd to charge for insurance. USPS includes up to $50 insurance on priority mail. I'd bet my bottom dollar that FunPub pays less than $50 per unit (and there's nothing wrong with that), however they DO sell them for well over $50 per unit on the club store so that MAY come into play. Not only that, but once you log in and look at your "figure shipments", you'll see that they all cost $49. I think the additional insurance thing is for the other carriers & other shipping methods.

I'm not sure if I'm misreading this, however this year priority mail shipping for my subscription service came out to $41.10. That's approximately $6.85 per shipment. I would say they're "dead-on balls accurate," or maybe I owe them $5 or so. As someone who ships things out USPS priority mail on a regular basis (using their website, so I save a buck), there's about a dollar difference either way per shipment.

I'm not trying to call this out or anything, but what type of language did you use, and how did you approach it? Did you nag it on after you received your lame response (I'll give that one to you, that's a pretty underhanded way of saying "piss off")?

This, I TOTALLY agree on. Once they had to start paying folks back, then removing the shipping price from the labels altogether is a VERY shady thing to do, and hurts the club more than it helped it, IMO.

I would say that I covered what I could, the best that I could. But again, I agree that Pete should (at some point) come back in here with a resolution that is ready to be implemented.

 

that's on the "we are working on it and know it needs to be fixed" list....

maybe in 2025...

 

Are you able to, GB?
Seeing as though Pete has had ample time to address the issue and has neglected to do so, what can you tell us about the proven (lets not even pretend that it isn't) fraudulent manner in which the club caters to its international fanbase?

I want to know why they
*Charge over and above the actual postage
*Why these amounts are not available on postage cartons
*Why do they only admit an overcharge once a member has reported the excessive amount and
*Where do the profits gained from the excessive shipping costs end up?

 

what are the chances of a correct sized head for P/CP? and maybe some double sided fists for him as well

 

For a few years now, the one issue I've tried never to comment on is International shipping. I simply don't know enough even to make an educated guess.

 

This pops up under the two shipping methods after i selected to do the installment payment method......

add Insurance to order ($7.00 per installment) Insurance includes delivery confirmation and signature required if available.

** If you elect not to take the insurance offered we have no responsibility for replacing lost, damaged, non-delivered or misdelivered items.


As you can see...they are directly telling you that if you don't pay them an extra $21 ($7X3 installement payments) that you have no tracking # and no chance of getting "a broken or lost package replaced"......

I did not pay the extortion /insurance for TFSS 2.0 and have never been emailed the tracking #.....

and when i asked the Question about the extra fees for the insurance and tracking that they get for FREE with the priority shipping....first they ignored me....then after asking it in different posts on their site on different days...whoever monitors their page told me that i needed to call into the customer service area for FP....and then when i tried to reply back it would not let me post a reply @ all on their page....


I like the club and the figures they offer....but now we have no classified pages being printed anymore...all the online content has been vaporized with no ETA about getting it restored....


So that leaves me with the feeling that FP is doing nothing that will cost them $$$...they are in the game for maximizing profit off every person they get to buy their stuff off their company.

And as to the posting from the earlier questions that i asked....I had to pickup my last TF from the post office due to a misdelivery to my next door neighbor....and the Postal Employee @ their counter was the one who told me that i should contact the sender and tell them that they need to seal the box correctly with tape....one circle was torn off one size and the other was 1/2 pulling away....she directly told me that they (the postal Service) would not process a damage or lost item claim on that package due to it be incorrectly sealed....

When a claim is filed for damage or lost...she said they (postal Service) need to see the physical box to see the type of damage or to see if the box was cut or torn....

So I'm definitely done with the TFSS bullshit....since Pete and FP won't answer or deal with these concerns....


Fuck ya Fun Publications...you lost another customer.

 

I think opting for insurance will have you screwed on receiving DCN via email, too. I did insurance on FSS1.0 and never got tracking (unless I logged into MasterCollector). That being said, they DID set up FSS to be "surprise shipments." As someone who loves surprises, I can dig that.


As you can see...they are directly telling you that if you don't pay them an extra $21 ($7X3 installement payments) that you have no tracking # and no chance of getting "a broken or lost package replaced"......

That is rather strange, although again, they set all this up to be part of the "surprise" element.

I totally agree, and not having the website & other online goodies really leaves me left feeling like all I'm getting is a $43 toy and comic. A good toy & comic that I'm happy with, but nothing to really make me feel like a "member" of anything.

I'm not implying my disbelief in you, although it sounds like at some point in transit the stickers were manipulated. I actually had to use a knife to cut through the stickers on the FSS2.0 boxes in order to open them, as it was too much work trying to peel them away. Granted, like I said earlier, I'm only a 4 hour drive from FunPub, so there's a lot less changing of hands between here and there, and live in a city with only 300,000 people, with a top-notch local post office (seriously, they go above and beyond all the time). That being said, I think you're right. They should be taped for the "just-in-case" scenarios, like what you're going through.

I don't think this is the ideal way to handle the situation, as in my previous CSR jobs, I've been explicitly told to disregard someone who becomes belligerently irate, and that it's an acceptable loss. Believe that or not; and the company churned stupid profits each year.

Trust me, I totally understand being angry about the situation. And Pete's absence in a thread he recommended creating probably isn't mind-settling either; however almost ALL of the complaints/questions since his last post are repeat-questions or are readily answered.

As far as checking the international shipping charges thing out, he could very well be trying to get to the root of that problem. And either one of two things have happened/are happening.
1. The problem is in the process of being rectified.
2. Brian told him to stop, and that it's out of his (Pete's) control. And to stop taking requests/questions on the company's missteps/future plans.

 

I'm betting this has been asked already, but how do you decide with the theme for each Botcon is? Do you brainstorm a couple ideas and pick the best one?

 

Well if Pete has been muzzled by Brian, you would think he would be better to either just post he won't be answering any more questions or have the admins close this thread.

I seriously don't expect FP to change and/or to make an honest attempt to correct anything.
Those web resources (the archives and the forums) are gone...FP is just too timid/weak to state it up front to members that they have no intent on restoring them....

Seriously, think about it folks...If they have the resources/knowledgeable folks under their employment to make changes to the online registration site for Botcon each year...Why can't they get a website and web forums back up and running?!?!?!

Anyway...like i said...I'm content with not giving them anymore of my $$$ anymore.

 

That would be ideal... But did you ever hear the story of Orson's World??? When he was told to "stop," that means "immediately."

Well, you see....

And that's totally okay, however I think going about spouting that "they don't care, and they're just existing to take all of your monnies" is over-shooting it just a little bit...

 

My thinking about a week ago was the same as your second possibility, and as much as I'd like to have us warned that he is not allowed to answer questions that challenge the policies and procedures Brian set up and implements, I wouldn't want him to risk losing his job by doing it. (after all, if it wasn't for Pete, it would be a lot of hit-and-miss toys & conventions from the GIJoe fans running FunPub)

I don't think I was "belligerently irate" or posted "repeat-questions" to deserve being ignored, but I did recently post a creative hypothetical about FunPub on the Australian fansite, purely to see if it gets back to them and become an "excuse" to ignore my legitimate questions here (see category 2 below). So probably worked in proving my theory.

Hearing from a significant number of people contacting me privately, and in this topic, it appears that people are not allowed to ask certain questions, or else they are intentionally ignored or mistreated for one of two reasons...
1. To hope they eventually give up and go away because there are plenty more customers out there to fall back on.
2. To hope they lash out in frustration, and be labelled as belligerent to justify ignoring them in the first place. (some of the people in this topic have ended up in this category... not overnight, but over a long period of mistreatment... which only FunPub could have prevented from happening)

Unfortunately, I'm heading off back into category one, which I was in for a while until this topic popped up. And until Pete is allowed to answer those questions, or Brian comes in to answer them himself, at least they'll be happy to know that another rational voice has been silenced once again.
(And to think that I went to some trouble to almost get Frank Welker to show up at this year's BotCon Golden Ticket reception, as a way to get him to have a quick taste of BotCon, so that he could be more likely to commit to a full Convention in future - I never claimed to be representing anyone or speaking on behalf of FunPub, I just told him about when and where the annual convention was on this year, and proposed the GT event as a way he could test the waters - if he had been able to go, I would have just told him who to contact at FunPub to make arrangements... but in the end it wasn't necessary.)

I've been waiting a long time to instigate some creative fan-projects with the Official Club when it appeared FunPub could be trusted, but with the Australian Transformers club hitting our 20th Anniversary soon (as the worlds longest running authorised TFs fanclub by Hasbro, so I might have a "little" experience in running a club, liaising with Hasbro and many other official entities, and working HARD to maintain a positive public image with thousands of satisfied members over the years), I've run out of time waiting for them to prove themselves as reliable, so just have to go through Hasbro instead (which is more difficult to do, but I now have no choice if I want to give these loyal fans a rewarding experience with THEIR club... a club that they can be proud of to other people and have something to show for it in the 20th Anniversary).
.

 

Man, I really should have known that this was gonna end up being another "Orson's world" situation with buttock-loads people unreasonably bitching about everything, which drowned out all the REASONABLE people's criticisms. Great job, TFW, great job  

 

*sigh*

Why can't we have nice things?

 

Because the club have treated their members with the same level of respect, haven't they? Oh, i totally understand.

This thread has only been abandoned because the clubs business practices have been exposed & Brian or another in charge has put the muzzle on.

 

Yeah, I already cancelled my renewal following this past Botcon. When a TFW mod asks reasonably phrased questions back on page 7 that remain unanswered, this just seems more justified:

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...perceived-missteps-funpub-7.html#post11571838

It's been said before about FP: I like their product, but I hate giving them my money.

It's a sentiment I agree with too much these days, to the point that I'd pay the same to almost any other company for the product, but not FP. Customer service at BotCon is often excellent, once you find someone who can/will help. The Convention itself is disorganized on many levels, the "senior" staff (I REALLY can't throw talented CS reps like Heather under the bus) are condescending, and the offensive comments that Brian made at this past BotCon (and have been swept under the rug) were just the final straw.

I've got to commend the mods here, and the OP, hardreturn, for working to keep this on point, for cherry-picking unanswered questions in an effort to get answers, and for the general civility in the thread, in spite of some rightfully heated moments.

In the end, though? The lack of explanations, the snide responses and personal value judgments from Pete over the tone of FP customers, and the general continuation of a depressing trend of customer service at the top level are just more of the same.

I'd be happier with fewer toys, more answers, and more respect. Plastic tchotchkes simply can't buy away my dignity at this point.

And the worst part? It makes me disappointed at this point. Not even angry, just disappointed that an organization run by adults, charging prices that will guarantee an audience of adults, can't actually handle things in a mature fashion.

But at least I've learned not to expect a response from FP at this point.

 

^See the true cost of your operations FunPub  

After all these years you made McFly use his first post and it ended up being a sad one about the official Transformers club ..that ain't how this world should work.

*hugs McFly but only lightly so McFly can back off quick if McFly does not like hugs*

 

Out of curiosity, what offensive comments are you referring to? I was present at the TCC Roundtable, and I don't recall ever being appalled by anything Brian said. I get that hating/disliking Brian is a "thing," and in more cases, than not it's deserving (to a degree), I will admit. But "offensive comments" being made at this year's BotCon is striking me as new.

 

IIRC, I believe the "offensive comments" being referred to is the portrayal/impression that Brian gave of the Asian worker in one of his explanations of something that "wasn't FPs fault."

 

Oh. Really? I mean taken out of context, I can see that rattling some cages.. But I don't know, I think that's a rule-breaking topic if we were to further dive into it, so I'll drop it.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

has anyone gotten a ship notice on the autobot tanks yet?

we got that email last week that they are preparing the last shipment for TFSS 2.0