I had to vent a little because of the poor experience I had recently. I had ordered 2 Henkei figures from them because they were the only story that had them in stock at the time. This was April 20th. I ordered Ironhide and Hound (the second batch, which was a pre-order). Ironhide was in stock. Since Kapow requires payment immediately I had hoped they would ship Ironhide since it was in stock, but when I asked about this they responded that they ship the entire order once it becomes in stock.

So I figured no big deal and waited. 3 months later, all online stores have Hound in stock except Kapow toys. I send an e-mail every 4 or 5 days asking about my order. They screwed up the online system and switched my orders so it shows that it shipped out, but that's a whole different story. The point is I wanted to keep on them because of this mix up, just in case they thought my stuff did ship and never send it.

I get the same e-mail every time, Hound is coming this week and will ship out as soon as it gets in blah blah blah. A month later, after a few more e-mails, I am told it is in and will ship tomorrow. I finally get a dispatch notice and patiently wait for the order.

My package arrives and of course, Hound is there, but no Ironhide. I send another e-mail and get a reply that says "we're sorry the Ironhide we put aside was damaged so we couldn't sell it to you. We sent an e-mail about this when we dispatched the package, please check your junk mail or let us know if you didn't get it." Which translates to "we sold it to someone else and didn't want to tell you, also we hoped you forgot about Ironhide so we didn't intend to refund your money"

I have received every e-mail from them since ordering and of course I don't get this key e-mail that miraculously vanished somewhere on the internet tubes.

They finally refund my money, and I will never deal with this shady company again. I've heard that people have had to keep on them constantly to get their orders but this was after I had ordered. So anyone got a Henkei Ironide for sale?

 

my experiences with Kapow have been nothing but great. Also, they are probably the best TF retailer in the UK. Really can't say that I've heard any complaints about them at all, unlike epic heroes.

Sorry you ddn't get what you wanted but it seems to be in the minority from what i've seen.

 

good experience everytime I dealt with them.

 

i've had great experiences with them as well, bought henkei stuff and superion + magnus FP kit as well without any problems.

 

isnt red leader the boss of kapow toys, I would hit him up if it is.

 

The one time I dealt with Red leader with a sale (KO red Mirage), pre-Kapow, that was awesome. No complaints whatsoever.

That said, I do remember a while later I tried to work out a deal with stocking some stuff for his online store and getting a similarly prolonged exchange of communication, so I know exactly where you're coming from.

 

I see Kapow flashing on top of this forum. I am weary of whom to shop from when I read stories like this.
So far, of all the places I've shopped from, I haven't had any issues.

 

Yes, and I would agree with contacting him with any issues.

As for myself, I've personally bought more from RL than I have US dealers over the last short while. I've had VERY good experiences with Kapow! Toys.

 

I too have only had good experiences with Kapow Toys.

But! They always seem to have things a bit later than other places.....or at least their estimation of when items will be in stock is way out. That could just be due to the manufacturer though.

But yes, sounds like you just got a bad situation which escalated.

 

I agree, this is probably exactly what happened here. The "lost email" excuse is always tell-tale and not to mention lame. Just admit that you sold it to someone else, geez.

 

I do most of my online TF shopping with Kapow, and have found their service to be second-to-none. On the one occasion I had a problem with an order, they went out of their way to resolve it. I would recommend them without hesitation.

I'm also wondering how you arrived at that 'translation' because that does not sound like the company I've dealt with numerous times over the last two years.

 

OK I gotta step in here.

If you get an e-mail from Kapow, or hear anything from them regarding your order then it is true. On the extraordinarily rare off-chance that something goes awry, then you can be damn sure that it is a genuine mistake, such as we all make from time to time since we are only human after all.
They would NEVER EVER try to fob you off with lies or try to rip you off. I have been using Kapow for many years and have spent, by now probably over a grand or more, and have had nothing short of immaculately perfect service each and every time.

Their communication and customer service is by far an away the best I have ever experienced from an online company and I would even go as far as to say that it is the best customer service I have ever known. Period.

I have asked for parts of a multiple order to be shipped seperately where some items are in stock and others are not and they have always obliged, free of charge!
Their packaging is second to none and I always receive my Transformers in perfect condition (which is saying something for me as I am incredibly fussy!)

They are always friendly and go above and beyond to be helpful and efficient. I cannot believe anyone would have a bad word to say about them.

The cherry on the cake is Andy, otherwise known round these parts as board member 'Red Leader'. Just the nicest guy anyone could meet. He even offered to help me revise a large pre-order I had placed a few months back when I was made redundant (fortunately that wasn't necessary and everything worked out ok).
I finally got to meet him at Auto Assembly recently and he was just as cool in person.

You will probably find many more people adding positive comments about Kapow after this post as they are well regarded by all who have used them.

In conclusion, I can only say that if you have a problem with any aspect of the service they have provided, contact them by e-mail or PM Red Leader and I guarantee you they will resolve your problem completely to your satisfaction.

Kapow are the greatest without equal. Give them a chance to prove that to you.

 

Never had an issue with Kapow Toys. I'm far from a "power user" like some of the dudes in here but everything I've ever ordered has been prompt, well packaged and the communication from the staff great.

Saying that, sometimes things go wrong and writing off a store with hundreds of satisfied customers over one incident seems crazy, especially to go off on a long rant about how shady they are. Does not really compute :/

If y'all wanna talk shady, ask me about Bills Toys and Games, yo.

 

Sorry about your experience with the store, I'm the primary owner and all I can do is apologise for the lack of apparent service you have had from us.

I wish sometimes I dealt with all orders myself but its simply not possible so I will have to find out whats gone on with yours and make it right, it wont be too hard as there are only 4 people who work here  

I've PM'd you with regard to sorting it out for you and again can only apologise for the experience you have had, I would just like to add that we're not in the least bit shady as cock ups do happen but I am aware that is of no help to you after 3 months and no Ironhide, it is worth noting that the 3 month wait in question wasnt a delay it was simply the length of time between when we put the pre-order up and the actual item was released to retail.

Its worth noting there are no excuses as to why your order hasnt gone smoothly and any and all feedback you have for us is more than welcomed.



Kind regards

Andy

 

I have nothing but praise for Red Leader and Kapow Toys. He is my first (and often only) port of call for Transformers now and has been for about 18 months. Yes, I buy from other stores and people, but those times are few and far between as he normally has what I want at a good price.

No-one is perfect, and Kapow is no exception. Over the 18 months that I have been buying from them there have been a couple of errors. All of which have been understandable and rectified excellently. Simple stuff mainly, a couple of items sent to me twice (sent them back and recieved the money for the shipping and a little extra to compensate for my time; was offered a free figure both times but turned that down), and one being sold after I'd reserved it (another figure that I wanted was offered at a reduced price in compensation for the error and had a freebie in the box, too). On the more positivie side, Red Leader has tracked things down for me, provided needed parts, offered advice on selling stuff myself, and generally performed above and beyond the call.

I met Red Leader properly recently at Auto Assembly. He is as cool and generous in person as he has been over our email conversations. Maybe I'm just naieve and/or gullible, but I would personally take him at his word that the Ironhide was damaged. He's a good guy, I promise you. Anyone at the 2010 AA who met him or dealt with him over the weekend will agree with me, I'm sure. Send him a PM. He's a reasonable and helpful guy.

Sometimes things get delayed. Be it customs on either end, the simple fact that air travel hasn't been all that reliable of late, or release dates being pushed back. There's little that can be done about that.

I'm beginning to sound like a plant send by them to defend their honour and dignity. I assure, that is not the case. I simply believe you to be in a very small minority. When I started getting back into collecting a couple of years ago, I made a thread asking about online stores and who was reliable. Kapow was praised in that thread. I continue to further, and add, to that praise.

To characterise them as "shady" seem more than a little unfair. One bad experience felt by one person does not a bad company make. Were Kapow truly shady and of ill-repute, they would not still be in business and people would not be buying from them. When a store is consistently bad at providing what they claim to supply, people like us will tell other people and that store will, quite simply, lose all of its business. Kapow is still here, that should speak for itself. Ask some other people, I am sure that there are plenty of tales about how good Kapow can be and, indeed, is.

As has been said by others, drop Red Leader a line. A PM here, anything. I encourage that wholeheartedly.

 

There's a lot of praise of Kapow Toys in this thread, and I'm in no doubt that it's well-deserved, BUT, that being said, waiting 3 months for something you've pre-paid for is not okay.
By taking your money, any company owes you to deliver, and if that's not possible, source the item you've paid for from elsewhere or refund your money, asap.

I'm sure this was an honest mistake, and that Kapow is going to fix it. I just had to chime in to offset all the s from the yay-sayers. After all, the OP started his topic because he was frustrated with the situation, not to hear Kapow lovestories.

Just my 2c, no disrespect meant to any party.  

 

It's more a case of trying to reassure the OP that his situation will get some resolution to his satisfaction as Kapow are not rip-off merchants, but a quality vendor.

 

Indeed. The use of the word "shady" required refuting.

 

Sure, shit happens but they will always go out of their way to fix it up for you. I always recommend people to buy from Kapow simply because I know that Andy is such a great guy who takes everything seriously and professionally. Everyone can make mistakes, but calling Kapow shady because of one mistake is almost a bit insulting IMO.

It's just not possible to have a poor experience with Kapow Toys, as they will make things right if anything goes wrong.

[/thread]

 

The point of the 'lovestories' is to counter the OP's point that Kapow are 'shady', and the baseless accusation of selling the toy he intended to buy topped off with claims that they lied to him about it, which does not sound like the company so many of us deal with repeatedly because of their good service. I'm sorry that the OP had a bad experience with them, but it's not typical and folks should be able to counter this with stories of their good experiences.