Fans Toys FT-25 Outrider (Masterpiece Trailbreaker)

Discussion in 'Transformers 3rd Party Discussion' started by 0ursisthefury, Aug 29, 2016.

  1. divinecomedy

    divinecomedy Board Certified Fans Trollar

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2010
    Posts:
    30,244
    News Credits:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    362
    Likes:
    +30,304
    I still have 300 plus dollars outstanding with him. Just went and read his "announcement". Was it written by some primary school kids? He also asked for proof that chargebacks can't be done. I mean seriously? It's a well known fact that after a certain amount of time, banks will not refund you the money. I agree, this guy should be in jail.
     
  2. Starganderfish

    Starganderfish Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2015
    Posts:
    7,756
    News Credits:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    247
    Location:
    Australia
    Likes:
    +11,923
    Yep. It's simply another delaying/obfuscating tactic. Considering he stopped responding to peoples emails more than two years ago, how is any conversation around refunds supposed to go? I had almost $5k refunded by my bank after months of back and forth and getting Office of Fair Trading involved. He blatantly lied to me, to the bank and to Fair Trading and ended up ignoring their communications as well. Techinically the dude still owes me money for the FT Soveriegn I ordered, never received and the bank was unable to refund due to being past the expiry date. Not even going to bother.
    Apparently Australian consumer protection laws are a little weird. There are all sorts of regulations and rules that are supposed to protect the customer, but there is zero process in place to actually enforce them. Unless he get's taken to court for fraud, there's apparently no consequence for stealing tens of thousands of dollars via an online shop. Walk into a store and pocket a candy-bar without paying though and the police will book your arse in no time flat.
    I keep hoping the guy will rock up to a local convention or something, get recognised and then beaten to a pulp by his former "customers".

    Sorry, way off-topic.
    Still no official word from dallianj on the delay of this?
     
    • Like Like x 1
  3. DaFinchi

    DaFinchi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2018
    Posts:
    159
    Trophy Points:
    122
    Likes:
    +312
    I usually go with OhMyPrimus who are cheap, only require a deposit and have been fine if I've needed to make changes. Thanks for the tip, though - I had no idea at all Show.Z offer free shipping! They look pretty reasonable too - I'll add them to the slate :) 

    Have to disagree on your interpretation, though. If something has been indefinitely delayed, if there are no longer any plans to produce or release it, the planned release of that item has been cancelled, regardless of whether a similar item is released years down the track. Otherwise, by simply saying something is indefinitely delayed, one can get away with never cancelling something and never offering refunds.

    I suppose the problem is that 'indefinite' means both 'unlimited' and 'unspecified'. But as you'll see from the screenshot, FansToys implied they had no plans for release and advised me to seek a refund. YMMV but that's my view. I've (probably?) had pre-orders delayed for as long as other folks here and have never tried to get my money back until now.

    Did they just vanish with a load of peoples' money, or...?

    Someone got a PM reply saying the item has been delayed but not cancelled.

    In further news - and in the spirit of full disclosure - two other notes.

    1) I got my money back from PayPal, so from my perspective, that's alright. TBI didn't lose anything, and nor did I.

    2) During the course of the dispute, TBI forwarded PayPal an email they assert was from FansToys, claiming the item has been delayed only until Q1 of 2019. I've not seen the mail and obviously have no way of knowing whether this was legitimate. TBI have, I think, played fast and loose with the truth before... but *if* it's true, FansToys have now circulated three slightly different versions of events: (a) no plans to release, indefinitely delayed, get a refund; (b) plans to release, it's delayed not cancelled, but no word on timing; (c) plans to release early in 2019.

    Maybe some folks are lying... maybe FT have changed their minds... I dunno... if I've wasted everyone's time with this, I do apologise, but I figured you'd want to know this latest potential factoid too.

    I've no longer got any skin in the game, but formal public word from FT would be nice.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 8, 2018
    • Like Like x 1
  4. Mormolyce

    Mormolyce Throbbing Member

    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2016
    Posts:
    3,323
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +3,925
    Weirdly, they did that minus the "vanish" part.

    Honestly have no idea how they haven't been shut down.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  5. Starganderfish

    Starganderfish Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2015
    Posts:
    7,756
    News Credits:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    247
    Location:
    Australia
    Likes:
    +11,923
    From what I can tell its because of the dodgy consumer protection laws in Aus. Unless someone charges PC with fraud and takes him to court or contacts the federal police, there's really nothing anyone can do. Some folks where talking about getting together a lawsuit against him but who can afford that?
    It still amazes me that the Premium Collectables site is still up and he's still apparently doing business. At the very least, I would imagine his bank would have been after him for all the fraudulent claims and chargebacks against him? My refunds pretty much all came through my bank or through zippay. and there's no way either company would just write that money off without at least contacting his bank to seek redress. I'm not surprised that screwing over individuals had zero consequences for him, but I can't beleive the banks would ignore tens of thousands of dollars worth of chargebacks and fraudulent transactions without at the least shutting down his accounts.
     
  6. DaFinchi

    DaFinchi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2018
    Posts:
    159
    Trophy Points:
    122
    Likes:
    +312
    And here was me watching The Checkout and thinking we had really good consumer protection laws here.

    Very much an indirect way to crack the nut, but it is worth raising an objection with the Financial Services Ombudsman? Regarding this company, the ATO and whatever service he uses for online payments, on the grounds that they're failing to handle a fraudulent company? That costs nothing for the complainant but just showing up costs the banks $8000 in legal fees. If twenty folks did this at the same time, that may be enough of a pain to the relevant companies to take action.

    Also props for your 'IMHO' tag :)  Could have done with reading that before posting :) 
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 8, 2018
  7. Starganderfish

    Starganderfish Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2015
    Posts:
    7,756
    News Credits:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    247
    Location:
    Australia
    Likes:
    +11,923
    I did go through Office of Fair Trading and they were completely useless. Not sure about the Financial Service Ombudsman. For me, the banks actually did a reasonable job and complied with their own policies and processes and I got my money back, so would be a tough complaint. And there's no telling how many differemnt banking and financial services he's moved through over the years, so they may have been doing the right thing as well, he just moves on when they start to get suspicious.
    (Edit: I just googled the ombudsman, and I do remember investigating that at the time. I think in the end because I did get a positive result from my bank, and they at least complied with all their own policies etc, I wasn't going to have much of a leg to stand on to lodge a complaint or dispute. If I could prove that PC's bank was doing the dodge, I might have been able to make more noise, but I had zero evidence on what they actually did.)

    My favourite trick was that he had his company registered in Victoria even though his premises were n Qld and that's were everything shipped from. He actually tried to derail my complaints by tellig me to go throgh Victoria Faior Trading rather than Qld.
    In the end, I got back almost everything I was owed, I've helped a number of others to lodge their complaints and provided advice and support to them. In the end it becomes better for my mental health to try not to dwell on it. I heard a little while ago that there were a number of agencies sniffing around his practices and he was going to be facing some legal action, so I imagine it's only a matter of time till he get's sprung.
     
  8. eatingcake

    eatingcake Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 16, 2014
    Posts:
    1,068
    Trophy Points:
    197
    Likes:
    +646
    So , uh, what's the consensus? Delayed, delayed indefinitely, dropped?

    @dalianjj we need some answers here!!!
     
    • Like Like x 1
  9. DaFinchi

    DaFinchi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2018
    Posts:
    159
    Trophy Points:
    122
    Likes:
    +312
    Fair shout.

    Yeesh. Learning life lessons all over the place about ordering bots online.
     
  10. Starganderfish

    Starganderfish Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2015
    Posts:
    7,756
    News Credits:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    247
    Location:
    Australia
    Likes:
    +11,923
    It can be messy. It's why I've abandoned any kind of pre-order. And I've taught myself to try and be chill about the ups and down in the hobby. (not always sucesfully of course)
    I mainly buy from TaoBao now where the savings are on order of 30-40%. With that money in teh credit column, even on the very rare occasion when something misfires I know that the money I've saved long term more than makes up for it. I had an MP-36 KO go missing in warehousing and I ended up just writing off the $80 or so it cost. The retailer was trying his best and long term I've saved hundreds of dollars or more on other transactions, so it was better to just move on.

    Fortunately for you, PayPal came to the rescue and you got your mobeney back. Maybe down th eline FT WILL release their trailbreaker, maybe they won't, but at least you're not stuck in limbo waiting! Say what you will about PayPal and their fee's and sometimes crazy decisions - they have always been good to me about protecting the comsumer.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  11. DaFinchi

    DaFinchi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2018
    Posts:
    159
    Trophy Points:
    122
    Likes:
    +312
    Ditto.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  12. dalianjj

    dalianjj Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2005
    Posts:
    754
    News Credits:
    42
    Trophy Points:
    257
    Likes:
    +4,358
    This figure got redesigned, same as ft21 berserk.
     
    • Like Like x 19
  13. edgecrusher

    edgecrusher "She wanted nothin', and I delivered." TFW2005 Supporter

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2015
    Posts:
    15,980
    News Credits:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    332
    Location:
    Valley of the Sun
    Likes:
    +23,768
    Where does that place them in the production schedule?

    What's up next after Hydra and Quietus finally ship, Hoodlum?

    How are the Aerialbots coming along?

    Thanks.
     
  14. Starganderfish

    Starganderfish Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2015
    Posts:
    7,756
    News Credits:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    247
    Location:
    Australia
    Likes:
    +11,923
    Thanks for the information. So it will be released, just not for a while. That's about what I thoght.
     
  15. pezley

    pezley Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2004
    Posts:
    3,251
    Trophy Points:
    312
    Likes:
    +7,258
    So if we put it at pre announcement phase that's around 2 - 3 years away..
     
  16. Starganderfish

    Starganderfish Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2015
    Posts:
    7,756
    News Credits:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    247
    Location:
    Australia
    Likes:
    +11,923
    I'd say probably 18 months to 2 years realistically. They've already done a lot of the groundwork on the design, just doing a re-design. They could do it pretty quick if they wanted but there's a lot in the queue already It's really going to depend on their schedule. With two combiners underway, they'll have a number of gaps between indidivual limb bot releases to squeeze in other stuff? Personally I'm not really worried about Trailbreaker and am content (for now) with KFC's Blitzwing That may all change when I see the new versions, but that's future-me's problem.
     
  17. deathsheadII

    deathsheadII Not a Bounty Hunter yes?

    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2010
    Posts:
    21,004
    News Credits:
    11
    Trophy Points:
    372
    Location:
    brighton uk
    Likes:
    +17,676
    this is one that really didn't need a redesign looks wise as looked good from the renders already
     
    • Like Like x 2
  18. ChromeMagnus

    ChromeMagnus Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2015
    Posts:
    34,432
    News Credits:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    327
    Likes:
    +25,474
  19. zfarsh

    zfarsh Big Penguin Chief

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2008
    Posts:
    18,003
    News Credits:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    387
    Likes:
    +8,255

    Hoodlum should be next after Hydra, expected in December / January was my last update i got from them a few months back.

    Would like to know about Aerialbots releasing / preorder stage too, as all we know is that they will make an appearance or some news at TFCon Chicago.
     
  20. CyclonuS_ZerO

    CyclonuS_ZerO Uni-con

    Joined:
    Apr 30, 2007
    Posts:
    6,422
    News Credits:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    337
    Likes:
    +3,802
    Thanks for the update sir. NOW we know what's going on instead of other people spouting he said she said speculation.