Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

 joeforever wrote:
Hi guys. With all the GW hate I here now and then I feel like I have to share a little experience that I just had that shows they aren't all that evil after all.

I just got a box of the Fine cast Warp Spiders that were a pretty bad cast (lots of bubbles).

Thanks for sharing this positive experience

I love GW customer service. They have replaced my mini when all I did was just to say the quality was no good, wasn't even asking for a replacement of parts, and they sent me a new mini at no cost to me.

Also they replaced my Tyranid Limited edition codex when I showed them pics of the warpage. Hardly ever used, read 3 or 4 times and then I just used my iPad version.

GW at least puts their money where there mouth is.

I have also had a similar situation and was very happy with there CS.

I laugh reading the comments of people who get there items replaced instantly, free of charge, without proof of purchase or proof of defect and without needing to send the defected product back just because you told them so and expect that to be "company standard"

I mean Maccas doesn't even let me keep my cheese burger if I ask them to make me a new one! They throw it in the bin!

I laugh reading the comments of people who get there items replaced instantly, free of charge, without proof of purchase or proof of defect and without needing to send the defected product back just because you told them so and expect that to be "company standard"

This is the part that, to me, makes GW stand out, above and beyond, what should be expected of CS... and it's also the part that makes me fear for their continued existence. I wonder if GW has ever done cost analysis on their replacement process?

 skink007 wrote:
I am happy that GW has good customer service. But the thing is, customer service is supposed to be like that. Just because GW seems to be better than the average experience these days doesn't deserve any praise beyond, "hey you're doing what is expected."

Also, perhaps they don't argue with you because they are perfectly aware that they have a botched product and they don't want you to spend too much time thinking about it.

Very true but it's nice that they don't give you a hard time like allot of other companies out there.

 joeforever wrote:
Hi guys. With all the GW hate I here now and then I feel like I have to share a little experience that I just had that shows they aren't all that evil after all.

I just got a box of the Fine cast Warp Spiders that were a pretty bad cast (lots of bubbles). I called them up (about a twenty minuets before I'm posting this) and told them what was wrong and have to say they have one of the most friendly customer services reps I've ever talked too.

I was on the phone with the guy without having to wait at all on hold and was finished in under eight minuets. In that time he made me a new account for their website (the old ones got deleted when they changed their site) and ordered me a new box of models which should arrive around Friday, for free of course. That's a $50 box!!

I didn't even have to argue and fight with the guy to do it (like most places now a days).

Overall the best customer support experience I've ever had.

A positive thing about GW is that they sold you a gak product, and then made you wait however long it's going to ship the replacement to you to get what should have been in the original box? Ehhhhh...

Time...money...


I've also had good experience with their CS department. But, this was only necessitated by a bad experience with their quality control department. Call it even maybe. Positive is pushing it.

There have been quite a few threads like this before.

My only regret is that i hadnt heard about there customer service when I got a Space Marine battle force missing 3 sprews. :(

bodazoka wrote:
I have also had a similar situation and was very happy with there CS.

I laugh reading the comments of people who get there items replaced instantly, free of charge, without proof of purchase or proof of defect and without needing to send the defected product back just because you told them so and expect that to be "company standard"

I mean Maccas doesn't even let me keep my cheese burger if I ask them to make me a new one! They throw it in the bin!

Instantly and free of charge... yes. Without proof of purchase or defect, that's up to them, I think when it comes to failcast they know there's so many faults that it's not worth their effort trying to get everyone to show proof of defects.

If people are using GW's system to get themselves free models when they didn't have faulty ones, I can't really speak to the dishonesty of gamers and the lack of checking from GW. But yeah, if I get a faulty product I expect it to be replaced promptly and free of charge, ya know, how the consumer protection laws say.

I've now got 2 faulty Lord Commissars sitting on my desk. I don't really want a 3rd faulty one, I just wanted one good one.

Also I've known people to eat almost an entire maccas meal and then complain about it and get another one, lol.

 Kroothawk wrote:

 joeforever wrote:
Hi guys. With all the GW hate I here now and then I feel like I have to share a little experience that I just had that shows they aren't all that evil after all.

I just got a box of the Fine cast Warp Spiders that were a pretty bad cast (lots of bubbles).

Thanks for sharing this positive experience

That was my thought. "I bought a defective product, but these guys are awesome because after some hassle, I finally got a non-defective product!"

Makumba wrote:
My friend told GW that his set of obliterators was miscast
twice , when in fact it was not . got 6 oblits for free. So that is probably one of the good sides of finecast.

Sad.

Great to hear all the good experiences, to bad it gets abused.

My positive thought is they'll go bankrupt soon and might get bought out by a company that gives a damn.

GW has always had 1st rate customer service - say what you like about everything else they've always upheld a very high standard of customer service.


I do wish that they'd bring in some kind of validation system, nearly everyone who can afford GW models has access to some form of a camera. I know it adds another layer but it might at least discourage people from abusing it. Any abuse that causes a significant amount of cost for GW is only ever going to harm GW and affect the rest of us (prices go up more!).
Of course anyone out to scam will likely get away with it (though I'm sure/hope GW keeps some kind of internal tracking on people who get sent out replacement goods).

As for their policy on sending out whole model kits that likely is cheaper for them because it means they don't have to mess up their production line. Also because a spur isn't cast alone and is often part of a set of sprue sections if they take one sprue out of the line up that leaves a whole box of remaining sprue parts for the rest of that model defunct. They could hold onto those and patch them up, but chances are with the scale of their production line-up (and with the fact that errors are more likely to repeat in the same places) chances are they'd end up with a huge backlog of spare parts. So far easier and cheaper (storage space costs as does organising it) just to keep production running as normal and pluck out a whole box/blister to replace the faulty goods.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

hobojebus wrote:
My positive thought is they'll go bankrupt soon and might get bought out by a company that gives a damn.

Or the bank buys them out and shuts the whole thing down.

Or the company gets sold in bits which kills off the franchises as no one single entity ends up owning all the parts


I honestly don't get the people who wish GW to die at the same time as loving what they produce.

We remember a better company from the 90s and hate what it's become now, GW won't willingly change so we need to kill the beast in order to save the games we like.

To quote a certain rapper, "GW has 99 problems but CS ain't one."

I bought a Necron Annihilation Barge recently. Got home, And the instructions where missing. So I told my store about it and they contacted GW to see if GW could send the instructions to build it. And GW said "We dont have any lose instructions." and instead they sent me a second Annihilation Barge for free. So I got two full Annihilation Barges for free.

That GW routinely send out replacements without asking for the faulty product back only speaks to how little it costs them to manufacture the kits. It's more economical for them to let you keep the kit than reimburse you for postage and file and destroy the kit. They don't do it out of the kindness of their hearts or PR, it's merely bottomline.

Now, that they acknowledged your complaint is what they're obligated to do by law, so I don't see how this fact earns them praise.

Well the resin models are completely useless to them, they can't recycle the resin. If they asked for them back, it would purely be to discourage you from fixing the faulty product and selling the other one ebay.

I don't know a single positive thing about GW. Any recreational company I've encountered has the same level of customer service from them.

I was impressed by their return policy during the Finecast debacle, you could return 8+ boxes at once of defective models no questions asked. Then I realized I could go to Macy's and return a pair of pants I wore for a week simply because I don't like them, no questions asked. Then I realized it actually isn't a very special policy they have. It's actually a basic part of customer service. Moreover the finecast returning was more of a customer-initiated product recall because these were low-quality unusable products going out in huge numbers.

Though I mean they're better then DirectTV and the DMV, yeah. Does that count as a positive thing?

macy's let you return clothes after a week of wearing them, i bet not....
you could have had it a week, left a tag on it and not worn it and return it, BUT wearing it, 1 mark and not a chance.

GW is brilliant, they know what they have problems with and they dont mess around, this is a good thing, though in fairness to them, id make you email in a picture of the defective model next to proof of purchase before sending you anything. because THATS normal customer service. just sending freebies... nah thats just losing money, hell we even have someone here saying he is basically stealing from gw cos he can HAHA... which is plain wrong.

edit: my list of positive things is their CS, the model range... some may hate them some love them, im in the latter, o/c there are models i just dont like... hello mutilators, even if they had amazing rules id be finding a counts as real quick.

Positive things?

I like most of their model range, sure there are often aberrations like the Taurox but most of them times I love it.

Also as much as people keep complaining about the incessant stream of new releases, it has been a godsend for someone like me who just likes to read the fluff.

 ausYenLoWang wrote:
macy's let you return clothes after a week of wearing them, i bet not....
you could have had it a week, left a tag on it and not worn it and return it, BUT wearing it, 1 mark and not a chance.

GW is brilliant, they know what they have problems with and they dont mess around

They don't mess around? Why in the hell did they release FC in the first place if they "don't mess around"

edit: my list of positive things is their CS, the model range... some may hate them some love them, im in the latter, o/c there are models i just dont like... hello mutilators, even if they had amazing rules id be finding a counts as real quick.

I think most people lie somewhere in between. I like the overall expansive nature of the range, individually speaking there's more models I don't like than I do like, only a few armies I genuinely like everything (actually, probably only DKOK to be honest). I dislike their hero scale.

So yeah, not really love or hate so much as shades of grey.

Makumba wrote:
My friend told GW that his set of obliterators was miscast
twice , when in fact it was not . got 6 oblits for free. So that is probably one of the good sides of finecast.

*shakes head*
This is why we can't have nice things.

How long do you think it will be before GW tightens up the policy and asks you to return the faulty minis (and in some cases it has happened already) because your friend is abusing a system of goodwill?

If GW start asking you to send back the faulty model, even if they pay for the return shipping, it will be the end of me buying anything in finecast. It's just not worth my time to have to send a model back, potentially several times, before I can even start painting it.

I enjoy opening a model and seeing it finished and on the table, not opening a model and then frakking around for weeks until I can even get my paint brush on it.

 Psienesis wrote:

I laugh reading the comments of people who get there items replaced instantly, free of charge, without proof of purchase or proof of defect and without needing to send the defected product back just because you told them so and expect that to be "company standard"

This is the part that, to me, makes GW stand out, above and beyond, what should be expected of CS... and it's also the part that makes me fear for their continued existence. I wonder if GW has ever done cost analysis on their replacement process?

I'd assume their replacement costs are analyzed and built into the high price of their models...at least, you'd think so.

Yep, it is their one good customer service practice.

 Grimtuff wrote:

Makumba wrote:
My friend told GW that his set of obliterators was miscast
twice , when in fact it was not . got 6 oblits for free. So that is probably one of the good sides of finecast.

*shakes head*
This is why we can't have nice things.

How long do you think it will be before GW tightens up the policy and asks you to return the faulty minis (and in some cases it has happened already) because your friend is abusing a system of goodwill?

Exalted. Frauds ruin everything.

I agree that their service is good, but if things were taken care of like they were supposed to I should have never had to deal with them twice already.

The first time I ordered some stormtroopers and one or two other things, and they sent me a completely different order (it was Azrael so I wasn't too mad, 4++ shenanigans!). Told me to keep the incorrect order and re-sent the other.

The second time I ordered some Valhallans and the box arrived with a grand total of 9. I guess point costs aren't the only thing they can't add up correctly... Once again though, they were happy to send me the last model with no hassle.

Basically I've found that they're pretty prone to making mistakes right off the bat, but will at least take care of it after the fact.

 jasper76 wrote:

 Grimtuff wrote:

Makumba wrote:
My friend told GW that his set of obliterators was miscast
twice , when in fact it was not . got 6 oblits for free. So that is probably one of the good sides of finecast.

*shakes head*
This is why we can't have nice things.

How long do you think it will be before GW tightens up the policy and asks you to return the faulty minis (and in some cases it has happened already) because your friend is abusing a system of goodwill?

Exalted. Frauds ruin everything.

Indeed, although I find GW to be somewhat reprehensible at times and they deserve a lot of the gak that gets thrown their way, but their customer service has always been the one beacon of goodness remaining in that company. Frankly I don't care if you do it, but announcing it on a public forum no less, where everyone and anyone; (including GW) can see it makes you look daft and they'll just police it more due to several individuals need to brag.

 jasper76 wrote:

 Grimtuff wrote:

Makumba wrote:
My friend told GW that his set of obliterators was miscast
twice , when in fact it was not . got 6 oblits for free. So that is probably one of the good sides of finecast.

*shakes head*
This is why we can't have nice things.

How long do you think it will be before GW tightens up the policy and asks you to return the faulty minis (and in some cases it has happened already) because your friend is abusing a system of goodwill?

Exalted. Frauds ruin everything.

Indeed. It's customers who end up paying for things like that.

All costs will be built into their budget. This will include replacements for defects. Cost trends budget are what drives prices (That's why we see price hikes in mid summer, when GW will have completed their budget for the financial year). He may have not literally paid for those models - but in actual everybody is paying for his actions.

GW Customer service has ALWAYS been flawless for me, from back when I started at 3rd ed till now any problems where solved instantly.