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I recently ordered the War Machine Prime MkII and Hordes Primal rulebooks from FRPgames.com. The prices were reasonable and the shipping was prompt. When I opened the box, however, I found that the Primal book (a hard cover) was in somewhat poor shape. The lamination (or whatever you call it) on the hard cover was lightly detaching from the spine and corners. I know this is not a newly published book and that it is a minor detail that does not effect readability BUT I did pay for a new item that was not listed as being in anything but new condition. I also paid more money for the hard cover edition rather than getting the paperback as I wanted a better looking book. (By contrast, the WMmkII book was in perfect condition.) I do not plan to return the book because it would amount to an unnecessary hassle and the hard cover editions are now out of stock. (I have sent them an e-mail with the same content as this post and will update the thread when/if I get a response.) I just want to put this out there in case anyone is thinking about ordering from FRPgames.com.

I'll be interested to see the follow up. As I've often said, the proof of a company isn't so much how little they may or may not cock up, but how they behave when they have done so.

Prompt e-mail response, already received:

FRPGames wrote:We apologize for any inconvenience. Your message has been forwarded to Management. Perhaps they can work something out for you.

So it's nice that the wheels are moving so quickly, I just hope they take me somewhere.

I found their shipping costs too much. Negated the savings I made on my order

I got my Sabol Motorpool from them. Even with shipping across the globe to Europe and customs/tax, it was cheaper than buying from Germany (the only semi-local retailer at the time).

Darkness wrote:I found their shipping costs too much. Negated the savings I made on my order

In my case, the savings was $17 and the shipping was $6. My LGS carries neither book.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Again, a quick response:

FRP Games wrote:Very sorry for this issue, we do not sell any "used" books as new.

I believe we can still get more of the HC version. Would you like a new one? We cannot promise that our restocks from Privateer will be of better quality... I know their stock on this book has been sitting around for quite some time.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance!

And I wrote back:

Manchu wrote:I would not like a new copy of the book. While I am dissatisfied with the copy, I cannot see the point in returning this copy to possibly receive another one in the same condition. What I am trying to point out is that there ought to be some description of the less than optimal condition of the book available to those who might be interested in purchasing it. When I agreed to purchase this book from FRP Games it was under the assumption, tacitly supported by the lack of warning to the the contrary, that it would be in the same condition as the Prime Mark II book I also ordered. The simple phrase "may be shopworn" would allow customers to better decide whether they wish to purchase a product rather than feeling deceived or otherwise disappointed when they receive the item.

I also had a substandard experience with FRP games about a year ago. I ordered 2 minis that were in stock. A week later I hadn't gotten anything, and I called and was told one of them was actually out of stock. A month later, still had no contact, no product, and called and was told it was out of stock and they didn't know when it was coming in, but definitely soon. Month later, same story, I asked for and got a refund.

Bit of a mized bag in terms of results. Good communication is obviously a plus for them, but it seems people feel they could do more with it. Whilst it's nice to be told 'it's out of stock, unsure when it will be back in' it is infinitely better to be given a date that they will be re-stocked, even if it's some time in the future. I guess the lack of a given timescale could be seen as brutal honesty, but also a lack of care as to fulfilling an accepted order.

No communication with them today. Given their track record of same-day communications so far, I think that might be the last I hear on this subject.

From dealing with FRPgames several times now, they do generally have some decent prices on items; however, until recently they did not have a very good track record with updating their website with items that were out of stock. I would get an email a day or so later saying the item was out of stock and would be a week or two until it was in to ship to me.

Combine that with they charge you for regular shipping when they really ship 3rd class, even in the US it takes around a week to get something in. Thats what generally keeps me from ordering from them now.

Manchu wrote:No communication with them today. Given their track record of same-day communications so far, I think that might be the last I hear on this subject.

Manchu wrote:And I wrote back:

Manchu wrote:I would not like a new copy of the book. While I am dissatisfied with the copy, I cannot see the point in returning this copy to possibly receive another one in the same condition. What I am trying to point out is that there ought to be some description of the less than optimal condition of the book available to those who might be interested in purchasing it. When I agreed to purchase this book from FRP Games it was under the assumption, tacitly supported by the lack of warning to the the contrary, that it would be in the same condition as the Prime Mark II book I also ordered. The simple phrase "may be shopworn" would allow customers to better decide whether they wish to purchase a product rather than feeling deceived or otherwise disappointed when they receive the item.

Well, you did clearly tell them there was nothing they could do to give you satisfaction, so what did you expect?

Actually, the change in their business practice that I mentioned would be satisfactory. Some other sort of conciliatory measure (rather than pointless trade of damaged copy for which I did not bargain for another damaged copy) to make up for this less than upfront method would also be appreciated.

I buy alot of Flames of war stuff from them, and there shipping is Great, and the the price is fairly cheap too... I did have some problems with items being damaged or in poor condition, but it was at the DC fault not there.

Darkness wrote:I found their shipping costs too much. Negated the savings I made on my order

This is what prevents me from buying more with them too...

I pretty much only use them when the stock something the Warstore doesn't...

It looks like I will be using theWarstore exclusively from now on. Sheesh, you go out of you way to try something new . . .

I just fixed an order from them (a mistake on my end), and they have worked out to be an incredible deal.

The main reason I got anything from them in the first place, is because they stock Milliput. I added a bunch of GW stuff to my order, and ended up saving a huge amount. I got 3 Eldar Warwalkers, something I have been debating purchasing due to the cost, at a very solid discount; along with a few other items as well.

All in all, I ended up saving 20-30% on my entire purchase, not even counting the great deal they had on Milliput. Less than half the price of my local Ace hardware, and at least 30% cheaper than other online stores. You have to buy enough stuff to counter out the shipping, which if I am not mistaken, is like one dollar more than the Warstore, for the entire order.

Wrex is having a good day now.

FRP's site is just nicer than the Warstore's, whose site actually bugs the crap out of me. Frpgames is easier to navigate, and much easier to understand. They have picked up the phone every time I called, and helped me with any issues I had.

Compare them side by side, simply on the site alone. Stuff like this, makes a huge difference to me.

(http://thewarstore.com/) (http://frpgames.com/)