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Man, I have never had this before.

My copy of Grind that I pre-ordered came with one too many Cygnar light-jack torsos and one too few Cygnar heavy-jack torsos.

So, having had mispack problems in the past, I sent an email to AJ at the Privateer Customer Service desk. He'd gotten me replacement arms for my Dervish when I got the wrong ones and the correct legs for my Behemoth.

This was back in November of last year. I got a nice prompt reply verifying my address and was told parts would be sent right out.

A month later no torso. I emailed back and received apologies and verification that they would send again right away. That was just before Christmas, so I expected it to take forever to get here.

So now it's February... I still haven't played a game of Grind because I don't have a complete Cygnar team. I've sent a final frustrated email to PP to see if they will finally help me out; then I'm going to shelve this thing I spent $70 bucks on for good.

Anyone else having this problem with the PP guys? It's really out of character (nothing but fast, apologetic service in the past).

Yeah, it took me a couple of months recently. to get something. I've had better
luck with their customer support form on the main site than I've had from the frontdesk email.

I needed a replacement Kodiak arm (was missing from the box), and it took a few trys of them shipping one out before I finally got one.

Never had any problems with PP's stuff myself, although I think the one area where GW at least clearly can't be complained about (notwithstanding their legions of other problems and issues). Missing one guardsmen head? New box of ten guardsmen arrives 5 days later like clockwork. Missing a hive tyrant arm? New Hive Tyrant shows up monday, no questions asked.

I have also been waiting for a body for my spriggan since november also and have sent at least five emails

Try this one. Direct email didn't work for me, but the contact form did.

http://privateerpress.com/contact

That sucks. Going off on a tangent for a sec, I got a crushed box of assault marines on Ebay once, and when the seller wouldn't help me out, I called GWS, told them that it was shrink wrapped and crushed, and they absolutely stepped up. Asked for 2 numbers on the box, told me to keep whatever i could salvage from it and I had a nice new free replacement box a few days later. I was very impressed.

Since I have just started dabbling in WM, this is unpleasant news.

My DL came without a leg and a head so I used a normal lictor to make DL. They are sending me a whole entire DL which I will trade for something else.

I've heard a lot of people say they needed 3-4 tries before getting a replacement from PP, with PP claiming they sent it out every time. I find it hard to believe that 3/4 of their outgoing mail somehow gets lost in the post.

I've never had this problem with their UK branch, though. And I've had a lot of experience with them, seeing as how about 1 in 10 PP kits are mispacked.

Yeah, I haven't personally had a problem, but I know people at my FLGS who have had missing pieces in 40k boxes. A phone call later, and a new box is en route. Definitely one thing I am very happy with GW about, especially all the bad things I hear about other aspects of the hobby.

I've had to send things back to GW freepost address for a replacement to be sent, never had something free sent out as a sorry.

Local kid got an incomplete box of Bloodknights (one horse had two left sides, no right side) and boom, new box sent out, kid wound up with 9 Bloodknights.

Years ago I ordered a load of GW stuff through their bitz catalogue in store. Things like plastic spoked wheels, some skeletal horses and black coach parts (to extend the 2 horse coach to a six horse coach), a few individual metal minis. Anyway when the order arrived and we went to the store to collect it was incomplete, no skeletal horses or wheels and other bits. So the staff simply made up the order by grabbing blisters off the walls to make it up, we ended up with four skeletal riders, simply to have the horses, and a whole galloper gun just to get the wheels. Ironically the reason I had ordered the plastic wheels in the first place was because my first galloper gun had miscast wheels and I asked for replacement wheels but they sent the wrong sort so I gave up and ordered them through the store.

Anyway, if that was a regular feature of the "bitz service" then no wonder they packed it in.

Well hopefully third time is a charm. Just got another email from AJ and sent him my address again to make sure it's correct (although I checked and it was the first time).

We'll see what happens!

This happened to me last year - I got two right legs in my Avatar box. I emailed (can't recall if I emailed the front desk or used the form) twice - each time they said they'd sent it, confirmed my address, but nothing ever showed up. I gave up.

My Avatar is still in the box, but maybe I'll try again now that I'm missing a couple of Bloodrunner arms too...

Glad to know it wasn't just me.

Privateer's customer service used to be real good in their early years, but it started regessing a while ago (at the end of 2008-ish I think), along with Privateer's overall quality control. A lot of complaining about these issues started to pop up at their forum as well.

The impression I got is that they started doing too many things at once. Monsterapocalypse, Grind, the new website, adding Retribution, expansion books for Warmachine and Hordes, new rules editions for both, the same people working on all that attending events, shifting people around at positions within the company, etc.
Too many projects and too few people tasked with too many things. It is getting over their heads. Putting unpainted previews on their website is another example of not being able to keep up with things.

TBD wrote:Privateer's customer service used to be real good in their early years, but it started regessing a while ago (at the end of 2008-ish I think), along with Privateer's overall quality control. A lot of complaining about these issues started to pop up at their forum as well.

The impression I got is that they started doing too many things at once. Monsterapocalypse, Grind, the new website, adding Retribution, expansion books for Warmachine and Hordes, new rules editions for both, the same people working on all that attending events, shifting people around at positions within the company, etc.
Too many projects and too few people tasked with too many things. It is getting over their heads. Putting unpainted previews on their website is another example of not being able to keep up with things.

Plus they've been losing prominent staff members left and right, so I imagine the company is full of n00bs right now.

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:Local kid got an incomplete box of Bloodknights (one horse had two left sides, no right side) and boom, new box sent out, kid wound up with 9 Bloodknights.

If I were you Duce, I'd make Mad Doc go to GW on my behalf then and demand why I'm the only person in the world who has to send back their mispacked/defective product...

That is kinda weird though, I was under the assumption GW just told everyone to keep the stuff.

lord_blackfang wrote:Plus they've been losing prominent staff members left and right, so I imagine the company is full of n00bs right now.

It sure sounds like it. I'm kinda glad I haven't bought anything from PP yet after hearing some of this, lol...say what you want about GW, at least they know how to make things right.

Or maybe GW just has goons at the post office that purposely lose replacement PP product? Hmm...

I could deff. see GW having inside men in the post office stealing all the PP stuff haha. I purchased 3 kodiaks and a butcher and all parts are accounted for, however the stories makes me nervous to purchase more.

Hmm. I thought PP cared about it's customers unlike that "other" giant TTWG company whose name I won't mention because unlike PP they don't value their customers and yet their customer service is second to none while the company who "supposedly" loves its customers and treats them with respect has, what I'm seeing for myself, pretty crappy customer service.

Isn't it ironic? Don't you think?

Fateweaver wrote:Hmm. I thought PP cared about it's customers unlike that "other" giant TTWG company whose name I won't mention because unlike PP they don't value their customers and yet their customer service is second to none while the company who "supposedly" loves its customers and treats them with respect has, what I'm seeing for myself, pretty crappy customer service.

Isn't it ironic? Don't you think?

When I first started in this hobby, I bought the WHFB rules set with Bretonnians and Lizardmen, got my GW white primer and went to town priming like the noob I was. Way too much white primer turned those mini's into globs of white. About a week later, I went back and purchased those old 1 pose plastic chaos warriors. As I was checking out the same manager of the store who sold me the box set and gave me my first demo asked about the Brets and Lizards. I told him the mess up and he took the store copy sprues and gave them to me, apologizing about not telling me how to properly apply white primer. I only buy my mini's from that GW store because of that dude.

I'd never had a problem with PP before in terms of replacing parts etc., though sometimes it did take a little longer (a couple of weeks at most) to get parts out to me.

GW's service has always been exemplary. One of the few nice things one can say about them.

Vaktathi wrote:Never had any problems with PP's stuff myself, although I think the one area where GW at least clearly can't be complained about (notwithstanding their legions of other problems and issues). Missing one guardsmen head? New box of ten guardsmen arrives 5 days later like clockwork. Missing a hive tyrant arm? New Hive Tyrant shows up monday, no questions asked.

QFT. I once had a Vindicator with a Warped Vindicator Sprue, they sent me out a whole new Vindi box!

Hey! I forgot about it, but I now realize. Out of the 4 or so PP WM kits I've gotten so far, 2 were technically wrong - one had an extra piece (smokestack) and one had the wrong head (but the included one was cooler, and about the same size) so in practice i guess my orders have been 50% screwed up somehow.

I don't know if I'm just lucky but I got some Iron Fang Ulhans and once horse tail was missing. I used the contact form on the website, got a response the same day, and received the piece within a week from PP.

I've only purchased four things from PP. Epic Asphyxious, and a Skarlock Thrall, which both came just fine with the correct number of parts. A pair of Boneripper Bonejacks, that came with five legs, no complaint there. A plastic Cryx Helljack, which has all the parts it's supposed to, but the cards are much lighter and feel rougher in quality than the cards from the Cryx Deck.

lord_blackfang wrote:

TBD wrote:Privateer's customer service used to be real good in their early years, but it started regessing a while ago (at the end of 2008-ish I think), along with Privateer's overall quality control. A lot of complaining about these issues started to pop up at their forum as well.

The impression I got is that they started doing too many things at once. Monsterapocalypse, Grind, the new website, adding Retribution, expansion books for Warmachine and Hordes, new rules editions for both, the same people working on all that attending events, shifting people around at positions within the company, etc.
Too many projects and too few people tasked with too many things. It is getting over their heads. Putting unpainted previews on their website is another example of not being able to keep up with things.

Plus they've been losing prominent staff members left and right, so I imagine the company is full of n00bs right now.

They have? Explain/linkage please. Not heard of this before. Did they jump or were they pushed? New company in the offing perhaps? INFO MAN! INFO! And define prominent. Big Cheeses, or well known Customer Service Spods?

Sorry, that seems a little aggresive. Is meant to be said in a silly, overdramatic way.

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
They have? Explain/linkage please. Not heard of this before. Did they jump or were they pushed? New company in the offing perhaps? INFO MAN! INFO! And define prominent. Big Cheeses, or well known Customer Service Spods?

Sorry, that seems a little aggresive. Is meant to be said in a silly, overdramatic way.

To my knowledge, they've lost at least 3 important people:

PPS_Kevin, head of organized play
PPS_Biggie (don't know his real name), head of Pressganging
Eric Yaple, the lead developer for Monsterpocalypse

I don't know any particulars of their departure. It is not to be discussed on the PP forums.

There are people who know, but I only got in as a Press Gang member right before it
happened, and it's not like I'm on the inside of it. PPS Biggie is still a Press Gang member,
but he works for Pokemon or something like that (his name was Dan Brandt).

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dan-brandt/7/148/323

Not sure about the others.

Intriguing. If it's not to be discussed on their Forums, it doesn't sound like the comings and goings were entirely voluntary. At least it gives that impression.

Despite not really liking their games, I would hate to see yet another Games Company falling apart at the seams. Competition is good for the market, and primarily, good for the consumer. Certainly GW seem to have had a kick up the arse, given their recent rise in model quality, which had become a little 'meh' a few years back.