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Friday, February 7, 2020

Sometimes, the Little Things Are the Big Things


My experience with vendors and manufacturers in the hobby is that they almost always offer excellent service.  Orders are filled and delivered quickly even from overseas.  I have grown accustomed to this almost universal, first-rate customer service.  OK, there are times when expectations fall short but these instances are few and far between.  Recently a few transactions stand out having surpassed my expectations.  Three of these recent encounters, I highlight below.

Lancashire Games always provides good figures at good value.  Shipping is always quick and communication superb.  Shipping is set to a percentage of total order value as is typical from many UK vendors vendors when shipping to USA.  Sometimes, the postage estimate is off but usually the actual is close to the charged.  On smaller orders, the difference can be exaggerated.  On my last order, however, charged postage was double the posted postage (BP20 vs BP10).  A quick email to Allan and a refund of the postage overage appeared in my PayPal account with a courteous explanation.  Outstanding!          

19th Century Miniatures has been a key supplier for my 1859 project and a small pile of Russian SYW figures.  Turn-around from order to delivery is usually within two weeks.  In the past when receiving figures that were not properly cast, figures were replaced without question.  The transaction I describe to today goes above and beyond my expectations.  What happened?

In mid-summer 2019, 19th Century Miniatures announced a new line of French for the French Revolutionary War.  Always interested in sampling new figures for possible inclusion into my 1799 project, I ordered a number of bags of infantry and cavalry.  When the order arrived, the figures looked good but some sculpts were not as crisp as expected.  One noticeable attribute of the infantry was that some of the legs seemed rather thin.  I thought not much about the casting quality since no figures had yet pushed into the painting queue.  Three dozen were primered but were left to linger.

In December, I received an email stating that the French infantry neither met their sculpting expectations nor quality control.  To rectify the situation, they offered to replace any infantry purchased from the new FRW line for free.  After a couple of email exchanges, a box of replacement French infantry is on its way.  I look forward to comparing the old sculpts with the new replacements.  Awesome customer care, right?   
   
Finally, a recent ebay purchase arrived in a less than pristine state.  The postal box received some rough handling in transit.  Had the contents been well-packaged, I expect no damage to have occurred.  As it was, the game was simply put into the USPS Priority box with no packing materials.  While I still rated the seller highly in all categories, I noted the packaging shortfall in my comments.  Less than a week later, an envelope arrived with the game, Merrill's Marauders (MM), and an apology.  Very commendable gesture and certainly a surprise.

With little interest in this WWII theater, I put the game aside.  Only this week was the game pulled out, read, and put on the table for a game.  As a solitaire game, MM is terrific and perfect for someone restricted to play on the kitchen table while a broken leg mends.  Expect to see a review of this little gem soon.

Seems I recall one more example of going above and beyond but that transaction fails my memory for now.  I am sure others have experienced similar levels of commitment from vendors.    

32 comments:

  1. Those are certainly excellent experiences Jonathan. I have to admit to no significant issues in recent years. My only gripe had been with the postal service at this end, although I can’t complain about my last parcel - NorthStar Miniatures advised me last Friday that my order had been shipped and it arrived the following Wednesday...so five days to go half way around the globe (and a day is lost with the date line), to clear customs and be delivered.

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    1. Wow! That is very impressive delivery speed! Eureka Miniatures USA is well known here for its shipping speed. Sometimes, I think Rob has my order in the mail as I place it! Two day turn around is typical for the 3,000 mile journey.

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  2. Hear hear! I can hardly think of a bad transaction involving wargames vendors and manufacturers. We are lucky to have som many a good people in the hobby. Hope the leg is on the mend! Cheers, Aaron

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    1. Aaron, we are lucky to have so many helpful people lending an eager hand in drawing down the bank account!

      Leg is on the mend but still several weeks remain in cast...

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  3. In 50 years of wargaming I have only ever come across one firm whose treatment of me was dreadful, I see them at shows and refuse to buy anything and scowl as I pass. The rest are good and some fantastic.

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    1. My experience is the same. Almost universally great service. A few bad instances but sometimes the universe conspires against us.

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  4. It’s great to hear positive stories. And good that you give recognition Jonathan.

    Maybe one of the features of the wargame material supplier sector is that it is largely run by enthusiasts who have a genuine interest (passion even) for the products they provide.

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    1. You hit the nail on the head with your assessment of vendor enthusiasm. Most are highly motivated, small businesses with a passion for the hobby. We are lucky to have such dedication and energy in the people providing our toys.

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  5. These are happy customer service stories Jon - it's good to share these. The eBay story is especially gratifying. My own relationship with eBay is getting more distant by the week - I very rarely buy anything now, and I have stopped selling stuff altogether. Recently I bought a pre-owned book on eBay, and it never arrived. It seems the book was returned to sender without my ever seeing it, so I guess something went screwy with the postal service or else with the clarity of his addressing. Whatever, all sorted out and I got a full refund - I declined to have another go at buying it. Because I didn't give the seller any feedback (on principle, since he states in his listings that only 100% feedback is acceptable) he sent me a series of fairly abusive emails telling me how I had jeopardised his credit rating etc. I've blocked him, and warned him I'll forward any further communications to eBay. Another nail in my dealings with eBay, and another reason why your own experience is so pleasing.

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    1. Tony, I appreciate your encouragement. I didn't want to sound too self-indulgent but I enjoy giving credit where I think credit due.

      Your situation must have been a bad postal address to have it returned to sender. I once sent a package to Canada from Washington State, USA. The package took forever to arrive. Finally getting the tracking information, I discovered the package traveled from USA to Canada via Tokyo, Japan! How that happened, no one knows.

      As for ebay, I still sell boardgames occasionally in an attempt to keep the hoarding in check but fees are getting a bit steep. As for buying, I continue finding boardgame and book bargains frequently. Service is almost always perfect.

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  6. I've always had good experiences with vendors. Usually under 2 weeks shipping times from Europe. Interestingly, I just placed an order with a company for the first time, Spencer Smith Miniatures.

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    1. Spencer Smith? Is this a new project on the horizon?

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  7. Pendraken Miniatures, Leven Miniatures and Commission figurines have always provided me with excellent service, hence my continued usage of them. I can't think of a bad experience from either Ebay or Amazon, with lost/missing items replaced with no questions asked.

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    1. I am with you, Steve! A bad experience from a vendor is truly rare. As nundanket says above, this hobby is run by enthusiasts.

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  8. Hobby time is all about quality time and enjoyment, from whatever quarter, it all adds into the mix of pleasure and I think we are pretty lucky in this hobby that there is a strong section that works hard to promote the best of the hobby and I include bloggers, traders, show hosts etc in all of that.

    As I think about it, pretty much all my transactions have been pretty positive, an easy thing to take for granted, so good for you for highlighting the good practice with a cheery post.

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    1. We are lucky, Norm, to have the time and resources to pursue our interests.

      Glad you enjoyed the cheery post! We may be aging but we are not all curmudgeons.

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  9. Great to here positive feedback Jonathon

    Cheers
    Matt

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    1. Good to share these triumphs of excellent customer service, I think.

      Thanks, Matt!

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  10. I echo your comments on the two miniature vendors, Jonathan. Alan at Lancashire has been fantastic to deal with over the years, and although my move to 28mm and 54mm means I haven't bought anything off him in a while, I'm always tempted to check out his new offerings. I have always had great dealings with 19th Century Minis, and buying their Lasalle packs they were happy to package them with extra command for my 16 figure units. Great to acknowledge them both.

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    1. Great to hear that my experiences are not isolated, Nathan!

      I, too, have had good success with special requests in package contents from 19th Century.

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  11. I also agree with most of the comments...always had great service from Connie and rest of the team at Old Glory for example. One gripe I do have about many of the U.K. companies is that they won't remove the 20% VAT when sending outside the EU (isn't really relevant now) but as they don't have to pay the UK government, they are just pocketing it...some that I have challenged use the justification that they have a set price point, others cover it off by having two prices on their website, one including tax the other excluding tax...but they are identical! Notable exceptions to this are Front Rank and the Perrys, as well as Caliver...who also ship anything free of charge if you spend more than £30, which is pretty low!

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    1. Keith, Old Glory is another company that always seems to go above beyond. While I have not ordered from OG of late, in the past, they have been quite accommodating in changing packaging to suit my needs. OG offers many good (some great) products for great prices.

      I appreciate Front Rank and Perry for their removal of VAT for non-EU buyers. Most welcome, indeed!

      How Caliver can offer free shipping on miniatures' purchases over £25 is amazing. Wish others could follow suit on that.

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  12. Nice,positive post, most of my experience have been pretty good too!
    Best Iain

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  13. I was very happy with Lancashire Games too. Some Shops in Germany want that you order at least for 40 €. My wife said, that it's reasonable as the expenditure for package etc. is too much for small manufacturers. But I Need only small numbers of guns for example very often, as I get enough of crew in plastic. The guns by Lancashire are looking nicely detailed (alhtough their figures would not fit in my collection).
    It's a nice gesture to write if you are happy with manufacturers. Sometimes I have the impression that at least in Germany we gamers prefer to write about bad experiences. However it is very interesting to learn about good companies too.

    Cheers,

    Amtmann B.

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    1. Thank you for your reply, Andre'! If you are interested in buying only a small number of figures or guns in 15mm or 18mm, perhaps, look into Eureka Miniatures for SYW pieces. Figures and guns are sold individually so you can order as many or as few as you wish.

      It is good policy to point out the good as well as the bad, I think!

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    2. I'm a 1/72 fanboy as you know, but was so happy, that the 20mm range of Lancashire Games did fit in my collection very well. Many thanks for your comment nevertheless. :-)

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    3. Glad the 20mm Lancashire Games' figures work for you!

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