Furycat - if you're in Oz, there are other options (but they are few). As this thread is about PC specifically - just PM me and I'll mention a couple of others that I use. Prices aren't as good as PC, but they're my backups for stuff that PC doesn't carry or sells out of.

 

Seems like that might be difficult, many of the comments say they don't respond to emails. I've not had luck with getting replies however I received 3 items so far in wonderful condition. I have 2 items that have been out for a few months now but I haven't received them yet.

I found this interview on the web if anyone is interested. I've basically given them all my business since the 2nd half of last year and thus far feel they are worth the wait.

How Premium Collectables builds and maintains customer loyalty - Internet Retailing


Update don't be fooled read this whole thread before making your conclusions!

 

Also, a bit confused by this statement, as they had MP-36 pre-orders open for AGES. I ended up buying two... but one on 15/Nov and a second on 30/Dec. I was actually a bit worried that they were overselling, but supposedly they just had a bigger allotment since this is a standard MP and not an exclusive/ehobby/TTMall release.

 

I preordered in... January I think? In any case, I think I looked a few days later and it was out of stock again.

 

Okay... am I losing my mind here? I can't figure out how to create an account on PC. There's a login section which says "Existing Customers" but usually there'd be a "create an account" option and there isn't. Can't seem to find it anywhere on the website.

 

The new account setup is during checkout from what I recall. The CNYs month or two means I may not see anything for a while and I cant tell then if my stomp x and dumpyard were just being held for other items or not because so many of those final items in my early orders are awaiting one figure each.



Update don't be fooled read this whole thread before making your conclusions!

 

I went through checkout when I placed my Megatron preorder, didn't see it there either unless I missed it.

 

That sums them up pretty well. I'm a new customer, and have only bought things there in the last say 5 months.

I used to read the two threads over at OTCA for PC, but man the ten tons of bullshit in their just made me really angry. So I promised myself I would not post those threads ever again, or even read them seeing as half the posts are feedback about lack of communication etc, then like 1/3 of the posts are "customers" who attack those who give honest feedback, bit of stockholm syndrome if you ask me.

Anyway, I've been happy so far with the 3 things that have arrived. It would be nice if they ever updated their ETA, but they don't as I've seen from looking at first listings (eg Titans Wave 3), still no sign of them, nor any update about when they might ship (started showing up at OZ retail in December, which was annoying as I had already pre-ordered online, and still waiting as of today for them............)

Meanwhile Carnifex, Allen and Simba all arrived roughly in their ETA which was nice.

The low prices (and local shipping) seem to be the single best feature of PC. The other stuff about messing people around on refunds when items don't turn up months past their ETA, lack of or poor communication is just not good for ANY company. Which is why some folks (previous high volume and high $$$$ customers) warned me not to shop there.
I have no issues with the site so far, they have shipped what they had, when they had it, and the few queries I asked over email were generally responded to within a weeks time.

But I don't read or post in either PC thread over at OTCA, it's a headache just thinking about it, and the weird thing is, it REALLY stands out as some people were suggesting that PC had some sort of relationship with OTCA where they made certain suggestions.

I mean I had some users there WARNING me that the owner of PC reads the PC threads (Which I already knew). As if that was a bad thing for some reason, I mean if you have good customer service, it would be a good thing of course, good customer service involves good communication obviously. The suggestion was that PC was not happy with some of the threads and what was being said. So rumors, truth? I don't know.

I don't care and I don't want to know, or even waste me time thinking about it. Online retails should be click/pay/deliver etc, hassle free other than lost /damaged items.
And this is last time I will post in this thread, which hopefully won't turn into the mess that is these two threads.

Premiumcollectables (PC) (Australia) feedback - Ozformers Transformers Collectors Australia

premiumcollectables (Australia) new items and updates - Page 280 - Ozformers Transformers Collectors Australia

I read the interview from the link above in this page, and man reading the facebook comments from December to January and it's a real head scratcher..........
Also, most of the FB posts asking Q's usually don't get any kind of response, to be fair it seems they prefer to email people directly, but it does seem odd when their is a query that could easily be sorted not to tell everyone at same time on facebook.





you can find their facebook page here which is *sometimes* useful for updates on new stuff for pre-order, but I find it easier just to click through each section of the site.

Premium Collectables | Facebook

Well, I will say there has been some improvement with their FB page having more regular updates of new stuff over last couple months.

And apparently over Dec/Jan they put in some new customer support system / or email or whatever it is, that is supposed to be more efficient that whatever was going on before (I have no idea what is different). Time will tell!

The main reason I buy stuff from them, is not just the cheap prices, but often if you get the same thing from overseas, you pay like $50 AU + in postage, for the same thing that costs me $10 to get shipped from PC (or free shipping if over $100 AU WITHIN Australia)

Also, the discount points that accumulate as you spend more and can be redeemed in their stores for discounts off your next purchase are a very awesome.
It means that DX9 Sixshot instead of costing me full retail of around $150 AU, instead I got it for half of that, plus $10 AU shipping. VERY NICE!

I'll be using them for all the upcoming Titans Returns toys (as cheaper than kmart retail here) provided I happen to find them online in the week they are released, as limited quantities means stuff often sells out in a day or two, or sometimes in 24 hours of being put up for pre-order.

I did manage to order all of Wave 3, + Megatron and Sixshot (below regular aussie retail price) at PC before they sold out, which was nice. I guess someone cancelled their Sixshot Titan order, as one day it was sold out, the next a couple more were available, which usually doesn't happen except for cancelled orders.

 

Yea I read that article too. I got quite the chuckle out of it. I wonder if any of the people who have complained on their fb page have been "sought out" as the owner claims to do. I genuinely would like to know.

I'm surprised people still order from them. If you read the comments on fb, it's highly negative by people that have ordered. If this were on amazon, ebay or any other site that had a review system, I highly doubt they would get any orders at all. If people are going out of their way to warn other about a particular business, I'd say that's a pretty big red flag.

 

Plenty of people continue to order from them, and seem quite happy to. As with most things in social media, the tendency tends to be towards the negative. I.E. - the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I do it myself regularly... occasionally I'll post a "kudos" message on FB or Twitter when it comes to a customer/supplier relationship, but 90% of the time I interact with their social media to complain, in hopes of gaining a quicker/better response to my need through social-media-shaming. That usually works with large companies that have dedicated social media staff that jump onto things straight away (phone companies, internet providers, etc). Conversely... pretty sure PC has one person doing FB and one person doing Twitter, and I'd venture a guess that it's a second job for both of those people (I have nothing to back that up other than a hunch).

They've grown big (sales volume), very quickly. You can see it in the numbers - their order record system is a straight increment. At the end of 2015 they'd processed approximately 3000 orders (I think that covered part of 2014 as well). A year later, at the end of 2016 - that number had jumped to 13,000... that's a 3x (or more) increase in their order base from previous year.

They've struggled to keep up, and communication suffers. The owner has said in the OTCA forums mentioned above that he could increase staffing to try and improve communications, but the result would be higher prices to offset the extra staff, and he didn't believe that's what the majority of his customer base wants. Business decision, and the only way to vote is with your money.

I am choosing to give them my business. I'm not their friend, and yes - I'm annoyed sometimes, but in the end I get my stuff at 25+% less than other (quicker shipping) retailers sell it for. For me, I want more for my money, not sooner for my money. YMMV.

PS - the "relationship" mentioned between PC and OTCA is simply that OTCA is/was Australia's largest organised forum around TF, and PC occasionally offers members of that forum a special discount on particular items ($10 off the listing price of MP-36 for example) as a token gesture to their (mostly) Australian customer base.

 

Clearly we don't want higher prices.   That is most likely the biggest reason they have so many orders, another is they are the best source in the local area for variety of items.

They have posted that they are humbled by the support and how much they have grown and the support. I read the statement above from you and wonder with 13,000 orders, could PC hire a person and not raise prices? In 2015 they had 3,000 orders and at the end of 2016 13,000 total, that means 2016 was around 10,000. that's more than 300% but they don't want to to hire another person? I am genuinely confused by that. If your growth was so unexpected, your business model had x amount of people to handle y amount of orders it doesn't make sense to me why you could not hire another and not affect your margin. A shipping person or a lookup order and email back should be found for a reasonable wage.

Makes a lot of sense to me to post a calendar with expected dates unless you do not source everyones preorder items at the same time. Surely they have to track that information anyway. If you buy qty 200 of something and pay for it, wouldn't you need to know when those 200 are coming in since you laid out the cash for it? I understand not being able to respond to 200 individual emails on that same product. Which is why I think the Calendar would go miles for their customer service standing.

They aren't under any obligation to explain their operation in detail so make no mistake. I respect the intention to bring more affordability to fans but the execution still plays in to some degrees and with some small changes it could go a long way.



Update don't be fooled read this whole thread before making your conclusions!

 

There's also Welcome to Collectors Drift as an option. It does look like they are more expensive than Premium Collectables. However, their site does say they use AUD for prices. For all I know, Premium Collectables uses USD, since they seem very similar to US pricing. It does seem like they have a bigger offering of 3rd party transformers to pick from however.

You might also want to check out this thread: Is there anything like a comprehensive list of e-tailers that sell 3rd party stuff?

Collector's Drift & Premium Collectables are the only ones I know of in Australia, but maybe you'll spot something else that works for you.

 

I doubt hiring 1 or 2 staff members dedicated to emails is going to jack up the prices significantly... Especially in this case where your business has quadrupled in the last couple of years.

Having your business grow is a great thing, but unless you are aiming to get in and get out leaving some customers high and dry, you have to put more money into your business to accommodate the growth. Delays in answering your customer's emails by a few days is no big deal. A week? still pretty reasonable. 3 weeks+ or no reply at all? you're starting to harm your business' future.

There must be a ton of repeat/chaser emails that can be avoided if they are answered in the first place as well.

 

They're default pricing are in A$ I believe, but you can select whichever currency to suit. They have gcreations Optimus for A$149, FT Phoenix @ A$199, both includes shipping in OZ. Hard not to buy from them as an OZ collector. Main catch is full payment upfront, and hardly any updates on items becoming available.

 

This was posted on Facebook less than an hour ago. My post asking a VIP member to try emailing them was removed.


***** CUSTOMER APOLOGY******

On Behalf of Premium Collectables, I would like to apologise for the lack of responses to customer queries for the last 2 weeks,

A major fault with our EMAIL server was identified in relation to auto reply emails being sent to customers.

Unfortunately this was not related to the email address itself but our Triage CRM TOOL which was showing all enquiry had been responded to that was receiving the out of office notification

when it is clear from customers it is not the case.

This has cause many customers to become upset with the lack of replies even after our holiday period ended

It is not acceptable to have your query remain unanswered and we are fully to blame and apologise.

the issue as of Today should be resolved and no out office reply should be coming through.

On Monday 23/1 .

As further token of apology we will be offering 20% off to any new order placed over $100 until the 24th.

We Thank everyone for there continued support
and will be ensuring incidents like this do not happen again.

PC OWNER



Update don't be fooled read this whole thread before making your conclusions!

 

This is welcome news. However, how do you get the 20% off applied?

 

That's unclear. The indication is that they might just have it applied across the whole store for the valid period.

 

The site says to use the code "email" at checkout.

 

oh thanks.

 

ooh wow 20% discount is really something...

i dont mind longer delivery time
as long the store is honest AKA not a scammer.