About a year ago, I made my first 3rd party purchase from a well known vendor and the communication and delivery was flawless...no complaints whatsoever. Just recently, I placed a rather large bulk order (10 figures at almost $1,300.00) with the same vendor and again, the delivery and communication was flawless. It was after I received my figures where the communication went from responding with a few hours pre delivery to radio silent post delivery...I had a QC issue with a few figures and kindly requested the vendor to contact the 3rd Party (being that they obviously have a business relationship with the company in question) to help resolve my issue. Aside from receiving an initial response from the vendor stating they will follow up with the 3rd party company, my subsequent followups have been ignored. Curious to know, are my expectations realistic in regards to expecting the vendor to follow up with the 3P company in terms of resolving my issues, especially after a big order? Or am I unrealistic in my expectations and the onus should be on me to contact the 3rd party vendor in hopes of resolving the QC issue on my own. Also, what is a fair expected turn around time before foregoing the vendor route due to lack of communication and take it upon yourself to hopefully resolve the issue?
Which etailer is this, and what QC issues and for which figures? Standard North American Etailers, well, at least The Chosen Prime / Toy Dojo / BBTS and Captured Prey, will try to help their fans out alot, sometimes even exchange the figure. Was it one of these etailers?
you are not wrong. my experience has been though, the vendor and manufacturer do most likely have a language barrier. plus these chinese companies are not very good at giving updates on replacement parts the process is mostly notifying of a problem.. the manufacturer will indicate if they can provide replacement parts... if they can, its just a matter of waiting for them to fall out of the sky. most likely you are looking for updates the vendor doesnt have nor can they get.
Yes it was. It's been a little over a week since I received the initial response that they will look into it, however after subsequent follow ups requesting an update, it's been radio silence. Am I being unrealistic in expecting a response after only a week? I guess what has slightly irked me is no response when asking for a simple update where a one-liner would have at least let me know they are still looking into it and will get back to me in x number of weeks OR for them to say they had no luck and for me to follow up on my own.
Impossible to say without some sort of timeframe. When you say "subsequent followups have been ignored." - does that mean they didn't get back to you within 24 hours?? Because that's unreasonable. Does that mean they didn't get back to you within a week? Because then you have something to complain about.
This is correct. Once we have put in the request for parts, unless we have an extra figure to cannibalize, we are as much in the dark as you are as to when the parts will magically appear.
It's been a little over week since there inital response that they will be looking into it...I followed up a few days ago and nothing. So to answer your question, yes it's be a little over a week and I have yet to hear back...again, quite surprising as the fulfillment and pre-delivery communication was on average a few hours. For almost a week go to by with no response in regards to my QC issue is concerning. Thank you for your input in letting me know that I'm not being unreasonable. Much appreciated!
you can only update people with "i dont know, ive done everything i can, its out of my control" so many times im doing that right now for some people with back ordered honda air bags.. they get mad at me, but, its literally not my fault.
And I'm perfectly fine with that type of response because at least you provided an update. I haven't received a single update since my initial request a little over a week ago. Again, it's a well known American vendor so language is certainly not a barrier.
i actually appreciate you not wanting to call out the vendor. I'll just say in my experience, the vendors that have been listed in this thread are generally pretty good at responding to emails even if it's just a "hey still waiting on parts". The only "well-known" American vendor that I've used that has had lackluster response at times is TFSource. Sometimes it's good, sometimes not. No real consistency that I've noticed, hence me switching to Toy Dojo for most of my purchases. **edit** it's also worth noting if your issues are bad enough, you're well within your rights to just ask for an exchange rather than waiting on parts. Treat them like you would a brick and mortar.
it will also depend on the 3P as well, some are much better than others at getting replacement parts out
I guess it also depends on your local state and federal laws regarding consumer rights? Here in Australia those rights are spelled out pretty clearly in our local laws and I'm pretty sure its a retailers responsibility to make good on a flawed product they sell. At least locally, passing the buck on to the manufacturer is not acceptable. The retailer is ultimately responsible as they are the one who sold you the product and the one who took your money. If they are unable to source replacement parts, they should provide a replacement figure. Failing that, a full refund would be expected. Now it's a bit less precise when it comes to the time frames for making good on that, and I expect it'd take several weeks, possibly several months before you'd reach the point of requiring external, legal intervention. I know US laws are not nearly so clear and can depend on the state where the store is located. That's one of the reason's I hate buying from US retailers (other reasons are expensive international shipping and murderous currency exchange rates). Trying to navigate the morass of US law, especially as it relates to an international customer can be messy. Throw in international shipping charges for returns and replacements, who pays for what.. it get's too hard sometimes. That's the irony - Chinese ebay sellers and paypal buyer protection can sometimes be a safer experience than the more reputable stores for a foreigner. I know that if an ebay product isn't up to standard, I can pressure the ebay seller to make good and Paypal has my back. Visa payments and international online stores are a much trickier proposition. Having said that, I've only really had one QC issue bad enough to warrant contacting the retailer, it was from TFSource, and thanks to the 30 day limit on their warranty (a limit that we DON'T have here in Aus) I was less than satisfied with the result. If it had been a paypal/ebay purchase, I may have had more luck. My advice would be to keep the pressure up on the retailer for a resolution, but stay polite and courteous. If you are unsatisfied with the resolution (or lack thereof) there may be some kind of local organisation to contact about consumer rights? Also, if you need to, look into what kind of protection your credit card may offer (assuming you bought with a card). I've never has cause to go through a credit card provider for consumer protection, but they may be able to help.
This is kind of a weird series of replies, in a pretty weird niche market, so lets break down what expectations here should be. In most other areas, if you had a flaw with the item you bought, you wouldn't walk into Sears and say "Hey call Black & Decker and see if they can send me a screw they forgot to put into this drill at the factory" - then call a week later to see if they got the screw yet. You'd exchange the drill for another one and go on about your way. Unless you tried to initiate that sort of exchange with your vendor and they shut you down for whatever reason/policy, then I am not really sure I can qualify your frustrations after what sounds like a week of queries. It sounds like you asked the vendor a favor instead of a remedy to the transaction they could perform, and asked for one they couldn't guarantee. And they probably totally followed up on it, but we all know how long it takes for just the completed figures themselves to arrive anywhere, I can't imagine how long it might take the manufacturer to secure a single part and ship it in a reasonable amount of time etc. Or even look around to secure and guarantee to send it. Of all the vendors mentioned and that you verified it's one, my experience with each has been flawless, and their customer service was always top notch. I think if you're going to play in the custom toy hobby, this is just something that can occasionally happen and you should be aware of the risks of it given the nature of it all. It's probably not an easy or quick fix, so I would up my patience quotient a little if it was me, or ask for an exchange/refund if that's not something I felt I could do/ignore every time I looked at the damn figure. Good luck. EDIT - Also, it's basically CNY - you're probably sol on receiving anything older or sold out anytime in the next 6-8 weeks - that's a bummer.
It takes at least a month, sometimes two, for parts to be made, or sometimes shipped / received to the etailer from the manufacturer. At least, that is my experience with FT / MMC and directly, or their etailers, and especially if it is for just very newly produced products. Also, it can be longer sometimes. Pls consider that around Chinese New Years, ie we are very close, everything is shut down factory wise. If it is another third party them MMC / FT, not sure, some of them dont respond back to etailers too quickly, or well. As well, who is the etailer? Some of them, especially BBTS, depending on the problem, will issue you a new figure and take back the old. Some may take it from an existing open box figure. Sometimes, you may be able to contact other etailers and ask for help. I ask again, which etailer did you deal with, and which products (name of product and company name), this will help me guide you better, as there may be work arounds that I may be aware of, or maybe not. Also, state the issues. You can, if you want, send me a pm...
I usually deal with BBTS and if the figure is defective, as others said, I request a new one. I have only had to do this twice but they were very helpful right up front, usually just wanting a picture of what the problem is. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for an update at this point and if they can't give you a good estimate, you should then just ask for another in exchange. You seem very polite and that usually goes miles with customer service reps (which happens to be part of my job so I know). As long as you don't go all "HE TELL ME!!! T-H-E-T-D-O-N-O-T-R-E-P-L-Y-T-O-E-M-A-I-L-S!!!! SCAMMERS!" (LOL, sorry, that shit still cracks me up) on any of the vendors people mentioned, they should take care of you.
The first year or so that I was in the third party game, I can remember having similar frustrations with our e-tailers. Over time, I slowly learned that collecting third party masterpiece figures is a hobby that requires a ton of patience. I encounter QC issues left and right, with all of the third party companies. Our e-tailers bend over backwards to help us out with these, but I have found that you have to give them some time to help you out. With the exception of BBTS, it isn't like these guys have a hundred guys working customer service issues. They are small operations and they are often helping dozens of us at a single time. It can be frustrating at times when you want an issue squared away asap...but the realities of our hobby are such that you will only be happy if you remain patient at all times. The patience thing goes beyond getting QC issues addressed too. It is inherent in the constant stream of release delays, communicating with the third party companies themselves, on and on. Patience, patience, patience. It is the only way to really enjoy this game.
The sad truth is that some of the third parties are amazing and get parts to us fast, and some are the exact opposite, and of course the rest are somewhere along the sliding scale in between. It can often take multiple followups and inquiries to even get acknowledgement and confirmation that they will fix it, and that's only if the company can be dealt with directly. Some can require going through middlemen because they don't speak English and won't deal directly with anyone who doesn't speak Chinese. And even if we might have more stock of the figure to cannibalize, that can hurt a lot to do, as we may never get that figure fixed after and lose an entire saleable piece. Even if fixed, it usually can't be sold as new since it had to be opened.
Last year I needed a part for one of the Badcube Evil Bug Corps and was freaking out about it, including complaining about the retailer (The Chosen Prime), who were 100% not at fault. After someone explained to me just what getting the parts can entail, I apologized to them and have tried to be much more patient and less of a jerk. It's much better to be patient and cooperative, plus they're just toys, y'know? They're luxury goods, nobody needs them to survive, and I'm sure we all have cool stuff (and other cool robits ) to occupy our time while we wait. I also try to limit my exposure to these problems by reading/watching lots of reviews and impressions. But the best QC and materials in the world aren't going to stop the occasional lemon from being shipped out. It's the nature of mass-produced goods.
